Koutarou stills, holding his breath and staring. Keiji stretches his arms slowly, elegantly, towards the ceiling. As his shoulders extend, reaching as high as possible, his black t-shirt lifts and reveals a delicious portion of tanned skin. His shorts are low on his hips, displaying two dimples low on his back and curving into the swell of his well-shaped ass, clearly outlined under the silky fabric. His fingers flex and his calf muscles tighten as he pushes up on his toes.
The ball slips through Koutarou's fingers and falls to the floor, the thudding bounce in the empty gym loud and attention grabbing. Koutarou glances down at his treacherous hands in annoyance and back up to where Keiji turns to meet his gaze.
A knowing smile curls the corner of Keiji's lips. "You dropped the ball."
"I—Yep, I was just—Uh…"
He really has no excuse. Not that he particularly needs one, Keiji is his boyfriend, but he feels like he should be truthful and there are people still around. Not here in the gym, but they were only just dismissed for dinner. The likelihood that someone will come in while he's in the middle of telling Keiji how much he wants to suck every inch of his skin and bite his ass, is high. Especially considering Koutarou's general luck in timing.
"If you two keep eye-fucking each other you'll miss out on dinner," Akinori says, poking his head around the door frame before leaving again.
"Wha—I wasn't—!"
"You were," Keiji confirms, picking up the ball Koutarou had dropped and pressing it against his chest. "We were. But you were telling me something before you got distracted."
"Right," Koutarou says, taking the ball to the equipment storage room and gathering his thoughts away from ravaging his boyfriend. "Have you noticed anything weird about Tetsu?"
Keiji nods, a single movement. "He's stressed about the team. But we've improved over the last two days, he seemed much more relaxed today."
"No. I mean, yes. But I know about that, it's more than that…" Koutarou trails off, frowning as he tries to arrange his thoughts coherently enough to explain himself. Keiji simply waits patiently. "With basketball Tetsu gets all intense, he withdraws into his own head until he finds a solution. Or, if it's more complex he gets all serious for a few days, working through it systematically. But this—this is frustration. That's not how he deals with basketball stuff."
"Perhaps the stress of being captain makes his problem solving seem different."
"Keij, I'm telling you it's something else."
"Okay. I believe you. But if not basketball, what? Tetsurou's problems at school?"
Koutarou shakes his head, no, and bites his nail as he squints at the floor, deep in thought. "That's also been bugging me. Tetsu doesn't give a shit what those fuckers think. I know he doesn't. Something else is getting to him. He's been so… Not himself."
"Have you tried talking to him about it?"
"Yep, he says it's just basketball. He's lying to me Keiji! Me, his bestest bro of all time!"
"Don't be so dramatic," Keiji deadpans. "Have you thought that perhaps Tetsurou is too fixated on basketball to realise that there even is anything wrong?"
Koutarou sticks out his bottom lip as his boyfriend's scolding. "No…"
Taking a deep breath, Keiji steps forward and takes Koutarou's hand between his. Despite the few inches of height he has on Keiji, Keiji's hands are larger and easily encompass Koutarou's. He loves Keiji's hands, worn and calloused from too much practice, but strong and deft, able to tear apart the oppositions defence with a basketball in hand and sharp mind focussed. Able to turn Koutarou into a shuddering, groaning mess with even the simplest of touches.
"I know you're worried about him Koutarou but Tetsurou will be okay. He has many people who care for him and we're all here when he needs us. He knows that. When he works it out or when he needs someone to talk to, he'll come to us, or Kenma, or Kei. Everything will be okay," Keiji assures, sliding his fingers between Koutarou's and squeezing his hand.
Feeling himself relax immediately, Koutarou exhales a deep breath and can't stop a goofy grin from spreading across his face. "How do you always know what to say?"
Instead of responding, Keiji leans in and presses a gentle kiss to Koutarou's mouth. Considering the sweetness of the peck to his lips, it's not supposed to be more than a comforting, affectionate kiss, but Koutarou catches Keiji's face and deepens it. Tilting his head, Koutarou licks shamelessly at Keiji's lips and gains access with ease as Keiji melts into the kiss.
At training camp they've been so focussed on basketball and have had no time to themselves. Yet Keiji won't stop his seductive actions, half of which are likely unintentional, Koutarou finds almost everything he does captivating. To say Koutarou is desperate for some time with his ridiculously attractive boyfriend is the understatement of the century. Seriously, why does he have to be so damn attractive?
Someone clears their throat from behind Koutarou, it doesn't stop him from sucking on Keiji's tongue though.
"Tetsurou said he'll eat all your meat if you don't come to dinner right now," Kei's says.
Koutarou laughs against Keiji's mouth and turns to see Kei standing at the gym's entrance. "Ha, dirty! Didn't know my bro was so gay for my…" his voice trails off as Kei's words sink in. Beyond the hilarity of them. "What? That asshole! He will rule the day he was born!"
"Rue," Kei corrects with a sigh as Koutarou sprints past. "Rue the day he was born."
He barely hears it though, especially since he's already halfway to the cafeteria. Koutarou is denied the opportunity of bursting through the doors all angry and cool, like a badass in an action movie, to defend his meat. His lacklustre entrance consists of sliding past the open door from running so fast, stumbling into the room and searching hopelessly for that head of black rooster hair in the bustling basketballer crowd.
It may take a while but he finally spots Tetsurou over the other side of the room and stalks over to him. Koutarou stops behind him and looms menacingly, his eyes narrowed on the back of a messy head of hair.
"What do you think you're doing, bro…?"
Tetsurou turns and grins up at him. "Where have you been, dude? It's roast night! I knew all the food would go quickly, so I loaded you a plate full so you could stuff yourself full o' meat."
Koushi laughs at the comment from across the table but Koutarou can only focus on Tetsurou. Sweet, innocent Tetsurou, who is truly the bestest bro ever. Koutarou's eyes go wide and he leans forward to envelop, a rather surprised, Tetsurou in a hug.
"I should never have doubted you!" Koutarou declares, squeezing him tightly.
"I…What?" Tetsurou asks, patting his arm and working hard to keep his balance on his chair. "I love you too bro, but it's meat eatin' time."
Koushi's laughter is joined by a familiar snicker and Koutarou's eyes open wide. He straightens and points an accusing finger at Kei who is now sitting across from Tetsurou, between Keiji and Koushi.
"I sense a sinister force at work!"
Kei rolls his eyes and Tetsurou asks, "What did Tsukki do?"
"He told Koutarou that you were eating his meat," Keiji explains, digging into his own food.
Tetsurou gasps dramatically. "I would never eat my bros meat!"
"I seriously can't tell if you guys are doing this on purpose or not anymore…" Koushi murmurs, his chin resting in his hand as he watches on with rapt fascination.
"Never mess with a dude and his meat, Tsukki!" Koutarou scolds.
"Oh, but apparently he's very good at it," Tetsurou says, his smirk wide as he winks at Kei, who is actually blushing. Koutarou's fairly certain that's the first time he's seen Kei blush. "Wouldn't want to deny anyone that satisfaction."
"This is your fault," Kei mutters to Koushi.
"The world deserves to know, Kei," he responds, playfully stern. "Honestly you should put that skill on your resume."
Koutarou's about to scarf down his food when he notices Tetsurou's hand clench into a fist under the table. Frowning, Koutarou focusses his attention on the conversation but doesn't understand what they're talking about.
"Aren't dudes generally better at it?" Tetsurou asks, his eyes downcast and focussed on his plate.
A smirk tugs at Koushi's lips as he shares a glance with Kei before responding. "Can't say, I've never liked girls."
"We're talking about blowjobs right?" Koutarou questions, his brow furrowed deeply.
"Yes and I don't think you clarified that loudly enough," Kei says.
"Well, geez, stop talking in code. Also that thing about dudes being better at BJs isn't legit. Keiji sucks at it… Wait, terrible word choice. Keiji is bad at giving blowjobs," he clarifies, squinting at the ceiling and dropping his gaze when someone kicks him under the table. One would think it'd be Keiji defending himself but it's Tetsurou defending Keiji, which is common. "Oh, uh, but he's fucking incredible with his hands, so I don't mind."
Tetsurou drops his head in both his hands and groans.
"Koutarou, eat your dinner," Keiji says simply between mouthfuls, completely unaffected.
In a need to change the subject Kei starts discussing some of todays practice games and training. Too busy stuffing his face full of delicious roast meat, Koutarou only half listens.
Training camp has been awesome. There is nothing better than spending a whole week away with friends, playing basketball. It's been hard work, getting the team up to scratch by doing extra training hours every afternoon. But for basketball Koutarou is always willing and able to go that extra mile. They still have far to go until they're up to State Championship standard, but every member of the team is working hard to reach that goal.
As Koutarou's finishing his dinner, a short, orange ball of energy bounces over to their table.
"Extra training! We're going to do more training, right? Right?" Shouyou asks, his eyes almost popping out of his head with excitement.
"Of course we're doing extra training!" Koutarou nods sagely.
"Okay, but, we're going to take it easy. You don't want to make yourself sick after dinner like Kou did his first year here," Tetsurou says, a sly smirk pulling at the corner of his lips.
Shouyou's face scrunches up in confused wonder. "You were sick?"
"Bro!" Koutarou groans. "You promised never to talk about it again!"
"One fateful night young Koutarou, being his over eager self, pushed himself beyond his limit—"
Koutarou jumps on a struggling Tetsurou, shoving a hand against his mouth. "And I played awesome! End of story!"
"He vomited all over the equipment storage room in the second gym," Keiji finishes.
Koushi snickers against his hand, Kei grimaces and Shouyou lets out a long "ewwwww."
"Keiji!" Koutarou whines at his betrayer of boyfriend, who merely shrugs his shoulders.
"You might want to stop smothering Tetsu, he's turning blue," Kei drawls lazily as he stands from his chair, his plate empty for a change. But then Tetsurou might have eaten his leftovers when Koutarou wasn't paying attention, it's happened the last few nights.
Koutarou's eyes widen as he turns to Tetsurou to see him struggling to breathe and he quickly removes his hand from his mouth. "Sorry!"
Tetsurou lets out a gasping breath and says sarcastically, "Thanks for your desperate concern, Tsukki."
A small smile pulls the corners of Kei's mouth. "Your health is always my main concern, captain."
From his position half sitting in Tetsurou's lap, Koutarou can feel his muscles go rigid as he quietly stares after Kei's retreating form.
"Bro?"
"Uh… let's get going to third gym, shall we Shrimpy?" Tetsurou says, shaking himself free of his strange daze.
"Training!"
Koutarou's first year in his middle school basketball club had been the most unnerving. It had been the year he was most aware of his homosexuality. He never kept it a secret or hid it, but he also didn't want to make his teammates uncomfortable in the locker room or showers.
"Dude, don't worry about it. Just because you're gay doesn't mean you're attracted to any of them and if that's what they think then they're ignorant, arrogant pricks who don't deserve your time. Just be yourself, you deserve to be comfortable in here too."
Even at thirteen Tetsurou somehow managed to be an overly logical, middle-aged man. It helped though, Koutarou has been comfortable around his teammates in the locker room ever since. Possibly even a little too comfortable.
"Dude, I am not having this conversation with you until you put on some underwear," Tetsurou grumbles, staring down at his bag while Koutarou stands before him stark naked.
"What? But you told me I deserve to be comfortable in here too."
"Yeah, well, you could afford to throw in a little respect for the people around you because you've been naked for a good half-hour and this is the first I've even mentioned it."
Koutarou huffs. "Fine… Bro, are you okay? You've been really grumpy."
"Do you have pants on…?"
"Yeah."
Tetsurou glances up at him, smiling tightly. "I'm fine, Kou."
"Is it Koushi? You seemed uncomfortable with him at dinner," he muses and feels like he's on the right track when Tetsurou's tentative smile drops. "Did he say something? Did he do something? Because if he did I'll… get Keiji to give him a stern talking to."
Chuckling, Tetsurou stands and pats him on the shoulder as he passes. "Nah bro, Koushi didn't do or say anything. Now get dressed, we need to get some sleep for more training tomorrow," Tetsurou says in his dad tone. He stops at the door and looks back at Koutarou. "It's just basketball stress. Everything will be fine, I promise."
Koutarou stares at the empty doorway when he's gone. You say that, but you look more unhappy than I've ever seen you, bro, he thinks. Tetsurou isn't a liar, but Koutarou can't bring himself to believe a single word he spoke, his dark eyes were far too sad and he doubts Tetsurou even believed them himself.
Sitting down on the bench, Koutarou folds an arm over his chest and rests his chin on his hand. Perhaps it's Kei. Perhaps they're arguing. But they seem to be friendly, bickering and bantering as usual. So why does Tetsurou seem uncomfortable with him sometimes? Why is there tension between them?
"Koutarou," Keiji's voice draws him from his contemplation and Koutarou glances up to watch Keiji's graceful movements as he approaches. "You're still naked," he points out.
He merely hums a response and reaches out to pull Keiji to him, burying his face against his stomach and wrapping his arms tightly around his thighs. Keiji's in his pyjamas, and as much as Koutarou loves seeing him naked, he's damn adorable in his Ravenclaw pyjamas, they're soft and warm and smell amazing.
"What's wrong?" Keiji asks quietly, carding his fingers through Koutarou's damp hair, the scrape of nails over his scalp sending shivers down his spine.
"I just want him to be happy," he mumbles against Keiji's stomach. "Like I am."
After a moment of silence, Keiji says, "Tetsurou will be okay."
"You don't know that."
"I do. I do know that. Because he has incredible friends like you who will always be there for him. Because he's lucky enough to have someone as amazing as you, Koutarou, to care about him."
Koutarou's fingers clutch into the material of Keiji's pants as he slowly looks up into the loving gaze of his boyfriend's dark green eyes.
The day he met Keiji everything changed; Koutarou's life was forever altered. It was instant, the whole world slowing around them and the pleasant racing heartbeat in his chest. In that moment, without a doubt, Koutarou believed in love at first sight. He may have been dramatic – as Tetsurou noted, continuously – but not a minute passed that he didn't think about Keiji Akaashi. He couldn't stop even if he wanted to.
"I love you. I love you so much. I love you more than I love basketball," Koutarou declares, wondering how horrible his life would be if that amazing day he met Keiji had never happened. "I love you more than anything. I couldn't love you more even if I tried. You're my family Keiji, I don't know what I'd do without—"
The rest of his words are lost against Keiji's lips, but he was never very good with words and doesn't need them anymore anyway. The urgency of the kiss breathes life to a fire inside of him and it gives Koutarou an idea of an even better way to express exactly how much he adores Keiji. He stands quickly, fervently matching the passion of Keiji's kiss and backing him against the lockers.
It's been a whole week since they've even made-out like this and it was only a matter of time before one, or both, of them cracked. They've been very physical from the start, from their first date when Koutarou said, "Keiji, I really, really, really like you. A lot. Can't stop thinking about you really. It's kinda crazy how much I think about you. N-Not crazy, crazy, just, it happens a lot and—" to be cut off in much the same manner, with Keiji's lips. They took it slow early but they've never been able to keep their hands off each other for long.
With an arm on either side of Keiji's head, Koutarou presses their bodies close and somehow manages to tilt his head to get a more open angle, even through the pleasure haze of Keiji biting at his lip. Keiji's hands roam the broad expanse of Koutarou's back, warming his cold skin, fingertips digging into muscle as Koutarou licks into his mouth.
Koutarou quickly craves to touch, his hands sliding down Keiji's lean sides, making him tremble as he touches sensitive ribs. At the hem of Keiji's shirt, his fingers find warm skin, but it isn't the touch he seeks, so he only lingers there a moment.
Koutarou loves every part of Keiji, but if he had to choose, he'd say his gorgeous face, followed shortly but that glorious ass. His fingers spread over Keiji's ass – a cheek in each hand – and squeeze the amazing firmness of it, the muscles tightening under his hands in response. Keiji's fit, he's incredibly well proportioned, so it's difficult to tell at times, but he trains as hard as anyone. He's strong and muscled and his body is amaz—
Goddamn it, why isn't he naked?
"Mm, Koutarou," Keiji says, pulling away from his mouth; he has to turn his head to do it as Koutarou has him pushed hard up against the lockers. "No penetration."
It's not exactly an easy task to make Koutarou blush but Keiji manages to do it with his bluntness more than anyone. He likes it, the fact that Keiji can make butterflies flap nervously in his stomach.
"I-I know," he mumbles and distracts himself by kissing Keiji's exposed neck, nipping at his skin and making him moan.
Keiji's hand slides down Koutarou's stomach slowly, indulgently, and his fingers push under the waistband of his boxer-briefs. Koutarou feels himself harden completely as Keiji's fingers wrap around him. Instinctively, Koutarou thrusts into it, groaning against Keiji's neck. He wasn't lying when he bragged about how good Keiji is with his hands, the control, the slow, smooth stroke, the unexpected changes, never following the same pattern… It's fucking perfect.
"Ah, no, Keiji," Koutarou moans, hating himself a little bit for removing a hand from Keiji's ass to grab his wrist and stop him. There is a question in Keiji's eyes when their gazes meet. "You've been too good to me lately. It's my turn."
There's a semi-annoyed, don't-be-ridiculous-we're-not-counting-orgasms expression on Keiji's face but Koutarou merely smiles and kisses him. Keiji knows he loves doing it, so he doesn't say anything as Koutarou kneels down in front of him.
Koutarou pulls Keiji's blue pyjama pants and underwear down over his hips, his fingers trailing his thighs, and they fall down around his ankles. Kissing and sucking his way down Keiji's hipbone, he runs his thumb slowly up the underside of his cock before stretching his lips around the tip. Koutarou pauses there, watching Keiji's jaw fall open and feeling his hips tilt forward, pushing himself into Koutarou's mouth. Koutarou lets him push in deep, focussing his efforts on relaxing his throat and letting his mouth open as wide as it can. He can't take it all yet, but he's well on his way to deep throating. Practice makes perfect.
When he feels the muscles in his throat start to get uncomfortable, Koutarou's fingers find Keiji's bare hips and he sucks as he pulls his head back. Moaning, his head falling back against the metal lockers, Keiji laces his fingers through Koutarou's hair, pulling hard and urging him on. Koutarou obliges, bobbing his head rhythmically, massaging his length with his tongue and sucking firmly.
Koutarou could come simply from the carefully quietened sounds of Keiji moaning his name and the blissful taste of his warm, hard cock in his mouth, but as he starts thrusting against nothing he knows he needs pressure. He reaches into his underwear and groans around Keiji's cock in relief, causing Keiji to moan loudly.
The desperation in Keiji's voice, the pure need, the need for Koutarou. Begging and pleading. His voice amorous and rich and warm.
Every part of Keiji is warm, despite what the assholes back at school think, dubbing him 'Ice Queen Keiji'. They'll never know how his beautiful, golden skin radiates warmth or how the heat of his mouth and intensity of his kiss can melt you or how those lazily lidded green eyes can be so warm and loving and a single glance can make you feel like the most important person in the universe. They'll never hear the soft noises Keiji makes when he feels good or witness the beautiful expressions he makes when he's coming. They'll never experience Keiji's vulnerability or touch or affection. Because these parts of Keiji are for Koutarou alone. And he's never letting go.
"Kou-Koutarou."
Keiji's fingers grip tightly at his hair and Koutarou feels his muscles tense as he swipes his tongue over the tip. Knowing, all too well, that Keiji's about to come, Koutarou takes him down his throat once more. Legs trembling and unable to hold himself up, Keiji slowly slides down the lockers as his orgasm overwhelms him. Koutarou falls with him and swallows everything, even through the mind-numbing pleasure of his own orgasm.
Feeling Keiji's body relax, Koutarou sits back in his position, kneeling between Keiji's legs. Keiji looks beautifully exhausted, his dark hair messier than usual and his green eyes heavy lidded. A blissful smile pulls at Keiji's lips as they gaze at each other and Koutarou's heart flutters like in all the cheesy romance movies he loves to watch.
Koutarou leans forward without hesitation and kisses him, slow and lethargic, lacking all their previous heat, but warmer and full of affection.
"I love you, Koutarou," Keiji says as he pulls back, still smiling. Still and forever ridiculously beautiful. "Even though you taste like semen."
His eyes widen. "Oh, sorry!"
Keiji pulls him forward to kiss him again anyway.
"Hey guys—Ohgodammit!" Tetsurou groans, his yelp thankfully muffled by his hand. Koutarou looks up to see him standing in the doorway, a hand plastered over his eyes. "Seriously? I was gone for less than fifteen minutes!"
Koutarou laughs. "That's all I need bro!"
"That is nothing to brag about," he responds, pointing a judgmental finger at what he probably thinks is where they are. "You're lucky I volunteered to come check on you instead of Keish. Though… part of the reason I volunteered was because I knew this would happen. Now get dressed, you really need to sleep."
"Koutarou will need a shower, he's covered in his own—"
"Yeah! Yeah, got it," Tetsurou quickly interrupts Keiji. "Just hurry, I'm sending Keish to come get you if you're not back in ten minutes."
When Tetsurou leaves, Koutarou turns to his boyfriend, wiggling his eyebrows. "Plenty of time."
"Shower, now," Keiji says, using his unquestionable tone.
"Can you help me?"
"No. We need to sleep. Do you want to be too tired to practice tomorrow?"
"No!"
"Exactly."
Kei stares up at the sun, its light not touching his pale skin from under the overhanging roof of the first gym, but that doesn't stop the sweltering heat from rolling a bead of sweat down his back. It's a hot day, the hottest they've had. Kei doesn't like the heat, it makes him uncomfortable, sweaty and exhausted. Although, to be fair, he's been sweaty and exhausted all week, no matter the heat.
There are only a couple of days left of training camp and Kei has survived all the extra time with Tetsurou without doing anything stupid. Even resisting Koushi's efforts to interfere.
He finds that focussing on basketball takes his mind off Tetsurou. Going so far as extra practices in third gym with the others, shooting practice by himself in the mornings and even regular conversations with Keishin about things he can do to improve. It's more than a distraction, Kei wants to get the team to Nationals, he wants Tetsurou and Koutarou to have the best year they can, to have the best chance for becoming professional basketballers.
To put all this, possibly futile, effort into something for other people, for his team, is something he never imagined himself doing. Kei doesn't know how to feel about it, all he knows is he can't stop wanting this for them.
"Hey," a low, dour voice greets him.
Kei knows that voice, has known it since middle school, snapping and grumbling at him, mumbling dumb, competitive retorts. He drops his gaze from the sun but doesn't turn to look at the dark head of hair approaching.
"What are you doing out here?" Kei questions. "Aren't you supposed to be playing?"
"Koushi's playing the second half," Tobio responds. At this Kei does look up at those steely blue eyes, wanting to discern if Tobio truly likes Koushi. "He's a real leader on the court, makes such intelligent plays and uses our teammates in ways I wouldn't have even considered. I have a lot to learn from him."
The small, albeit creepy, smile on Tobio's face is confirmation of his affection and Kei doesn't know whether to be happy or uncomfortable. Happy for Koushi, certainly.
"So you don't regret the move then? Karasuno hasn't been to Nationals in years." Kei comments. Tobio may have had recruiters watching him since he was thirteen but they could lose interest if he doesn't make it to the big games to play against the best players. Karasuno could be damaging to the possibility of playing as a professional.
"I didn't have a choice," Tobio answers, his gaze dropping to his hands. His emotions are always easy for Kei to read, it's why he's always been so good at antagonising him, but this hurt is deep, the kind that comes from those who are supposed to love you. A hurt Kei understands all too well. His parents. "But even if I did, I wouldn't regret it. Karasuno is a good team and I'll take them to Nationals."
Cocky bastard, Kei thinks. He can't really argue though. Karasuno is a good team, and with the added specialness of Tobio's elite skills, they're going to be the dark horse of the State Championship. Knowing their ability better than anyone, Kei knows they'll make it to Nationals.
"Nationals would've been a guarantee at Seijou."
Tobio nods, his eyes meeting Kei's for a moment before staring into the distance. "I know, I miss…" he trails off, frowning as if surprised about the words he was about to speak. He swallows. "I miss the team. But I'm happy here."
Kei narrows his eyes. Who does he miss?
"Because of Koushi. It's strange. Never thought you'd be able to take your one-track-mind off basketball long enough to notice the people around you, let alone be in a relationship with someone."
Tobio clears his throat awkwardly, pink rising to his cheeks. "It's difficult not to notice Koushi. And don't worry, Daichi already gave me the embarrassing 'don't hurt him or else' speech."
A smirk curls at the corner of Kei's mouth. "Oh I'm not worried, and Daichi is the least of your concerns if you hurt Koushi."
"I'm not going to hurt him."
"You can't know that."
"Fine," Tobio says, grinding his teeth. "I won't intentionally hurt him."
"That's a big word for you, you must really mean it to have gone out of your way to Thesaurus and Dictionary that one."
"I do mean it."
"Good."
Tobio may be a dumbass, but he's not mean or hurtful. He may not be Kei's favourite person, but even he can admit that Koushi and Tobio are good together and good for each other. They'll look after each other. Tobio bluntly pointing out things that Koushi wouldn't ever say out loud and Koushi comforting Tobio when he gets lost in his own head, when he gets all broody.
"And what about you? You seem… distracted. And your shooting isn't anywhere near as good as it used to be," Tobio says, his expression innocently curious when Kei's head spins to frown at him.
Kei was working hard to make sure no one would notice, and thus far no one has. Or, no one has mentioned anything. Which, members of his team certainly would, since they're endeavouring to improve. How could Tobio, of all people, notice?
"What are you talking about?" he asks through his teeth, venom lacing his words.
"Your form is messier, more forced," Tobio says, crouching into shooting position, imitating Kei's movements perfectly. "And you don't seem to be thinking as much when you play; you were always so careful and calculating. It's like you're not concentrating completely on the game, like your mind is on other things."
Kei clicks his tongue, going for nonchalance. "Trust you to be that invested in basketball that you're trying to help your opponent."
"I don't want to play you at State Championship unless you're playing at your best," Tobio says, scarily sincere, his blue eyes intense.
"Just focus on your own team, oh great genius," Kei responds mockingly and with a sneer, he goes to walk away, but Tobio catches his wrist.
"Ignoring it won't help. Whoever he is, just tell him."
Kei's eyes widen, his hands clenching into fists. "Koushi told you?"
"Koushi knows?" Tobio asks, his head tilting like a bird.
"Just—let go."
Kei jerks back like he's been burnt, annoyed and embarrassed. But he pulls back too forcefully and stumbles backwards. He feels his heel get caught and then feels himself falling backwards. He doesn't fall far though, he hits something solid. Or, rather, something solid stops him. A hand on his lower back to stop him falling and a hand on his shoulder to steady him.
"Woah, Tsukki, since when are you this uncoordinated?"
Kei quickly straightens and moves away, turning to face Tetsurou with surprise wide eyes and heat in his cheeks. Tetsurou's playful smile falls into a frown and he glances back at Tobio, squinting suspiciously.
"Are you okay?" Tetsurou asks, genuinely concerned.
Kei rolls his eyes. "I'm fine. Is the game over?"
Believing Kei's words, Tetsurou drops it and nods. "Yeah, Karasuno won. Better be careful Tobes, Koushi's playing pretty well with that team and he might steal your spot."
It's not true, Kei can tell Tetsurou is doing that jokingly-kind thing he does, but Tobio's eyes go wide.
"Then I'll have to train harder, excuse me."
Kei sighs, watching after Tobio and shaking his head. "Idiot."
"Ha, yeah, I wasn't even being serious," Tetsurou comments, grinning broadly.
"No, I was calling you an idiot. Why would you give him more motivation like that?" Kei questions accusingly.
"Wha—Tsukki! I was joking! How was I supposed to know he's so literal?"
Kei frowns at him. "Have you not met him?"
Tetsurou stares at him for a long moment, silently. His tan skin gleams with sweat and his dark hair is messier where he's raked his fingers through it in frustration or to get it out of his eyes. The breath-taking vision of him is complete as a smirk spread across his mouth and growing into full, mischievous grin. Tetsurou bursts into laughter, doubling over in a fit, and Kei swears he's never seen him laugh so hard.
Kei huffs and just stands there, waiting, pretending it isn't the most adorable and charming thing he's ever seen. When Tetsurou's laughter slows, Kei asks, "Are you done? Did you hit your head when Daichi accidentally knocked you over in that last game?"
"No, no," Tetsurou says, slowly catching his breath. He straightens and slings an arm across Kei's shoulders. "You're just fucking hilarious Tsukki."
Kei raises an eyebrow at him, Tetsurou simply smiling. Close, so damn close. Before he has a chance to do something stupid – because he really could just lean in and kiss Tetsurou right now, God does he want to–
Koutarou comes charging out of the first gym. "Third gym, third gym!"
"Dude, slow down, you're going to—" Tetsurou shouts out, wincing as Koutarou trips and falls over. "Good thing he plays in knee pads."
"For a few reasons," Keiji mumbles slyly as he walks past.
Tetsurou grimaces and Kei snickers at him, hiding his laughter behind his hand. Tetsurou, of course, shared the story of how he'd walked in on them post-blowjob straight after it happened. While it's not something Kei enjoyed listening to, the mortified effect it had on Tetsurou was rather amusing.
"Imagine walking in on your brother in that situation," Tetsurou had argued when Kei laughed at him.
Kei had grimaced, but pointed out, "Kou's not your brother."
Which had caused much drama, dramatic gasping and a "How dare you!"
"We better get going or Kou will get all pouty," Tetsurou says, disentangling himself from Kei and following after his friends.
Kei watches after him. And what about you. You seem… distracted. It's difficult not to be distracted by Tetsurou. He shines so brightly that Kei can barely see much else. But he'll have to work through it, train harder to get himself back to his best shooting.
I'm not going to hurt him. I'm not going to lose him.
"Do you think if I asked Keiji to marry me, he'd say yes?"
"No."
Koutarou gasps and Tetsurou smiles as he can imagine the exact horrified expression he's making, even though he's not looking at him. They're in the equipment storage room of the third gym and Tetsurou is digging through a box of whistles but they all look old and gross. With an annoyed sigh he straightens and dusts off his hands.
"Wh-Why? Do you think he doesn't love me enough?"
Tetsurou scoffs. "No—Wait, yes! I mean, no, that's not what I—"
Getting all flustered because his friend looks like he's about to burst into tears, Tetsurou takes a deep breath, wondering how they went from zero to almost sobbing.
"Can you just chill until I finish what I'm saying?" Tetsurou demands. Koutarou nods but his bottom lip is sticking out as he tries to stop himself crying. "Keiji certainly loves you enough to marry you, as far as I can tell. But, he's a pragmatic person. You've only been together four months, you're both in high school, which, you'll be leaving soon."
Koutarou sighs heavily. "You're right…But I wanna marry him."
"And you will. I know you're all old school and traditional with your big, happy family, and it's important to find 'the one' to settle down and marry. But it won't change anything, you'll be as happy with him as you are now. So why worry about it? Plus, basketball."
"Yeah, yeah," Koutarou says, his voice casual once more. "Basketball is your love, your passion, your everything. Ima laugh so hard the day you find someone to love. You'll have no idea what to do about it, probably won't even realise. And then, something will happen, and it'll hit you, like a truck. You'll realise you love them… and it will be beautiful."
Tetsurou snorts a laugh. "If I find someone. And that's probably years away you big romantic goof. C'mon," he gestures, moving towards the door. "Couldn't find a decent one to put my mouth on."
"I did," Koutarou says, wiggling his eyebrows.
Rolling out the basketball rack, Tetsurou grins and high-fives his bro. "Yeah you did."
They stop near the basketball hoop and Koutarou takes a ball to spin on his finger while Tetsurou checks that the basketballs are all pumped up properly and ready to use. At the other end of the basketball court Keiji and Kei are talking. Koutarou stops spinning the ball and focuses his attention on them, his yellow eyes narrowed suspiciously on them.
"They spend a lot of time together," Koutarou comments.
Tetsurou hums in agreement. "They have some of the same classes at school, they need to work together on the basketball court and they're very similar. Of course they're going to spend time with each other. Are you jealous? Your boyfriend is allowed to have friends you know."
"Not really pretty ones… I bet Tsukki is pragmatic enough."
"Chill bro, they're just strategizing for basketball," he reassures, finished checking all the basketballs and following Koutarou's gaze across the court.
"How do you know?"
"Well, when Tsukki talks about basketball he gets this intensity in his eyes, like he's seeing the entire thing play out in his head, and his lips pucker slightly in concentration. And see how his head is slightly tilted, he does that when he's shooting."
Koutarou is quiet and when Tetsurou turns back, he's frowning at him. "That's oddly specific… What does Keiji do?"
Tetsurou blinks. "Ah, I don't know."
A grey, winged eyebrow is raised at him. "You pay that much attention to what Tsukki does?"
"I guess," Tetsurou answers, for a lack of anything better to say.
He feels uncomfortable under the scrutiny of Koutarou's gaze. Tetsurou's aware of how concerned his best friend is for him, but this certainly has nothing to do with it. Kei has nothing to do with his moods. If anything, Kei helps with it. Whenever he's with Kei he feels better, more relaxed, Kei makes him laugh and smile.
To avoid Koutarou's gaze, Tetsurou turns back to see Keiji and Kei investigating the basketball hoop. During the day visitors use the third gym for other sports, so often when they come in here of an evening, the hoops – built with movable frames up on the wall – are pushed back. But the string seems to be broken and tied high up on the wall. Kei and Keiji glance at each other before Kei squats and Keiji climbs onto his shoulders with ease.
"Huh, good thing Keiji's light," Tetsurou comments, watching Kei stand.
"He's not light. I mean, he looks lean, but he's pretty solid. I didn't know Kei was that—"
Wondering why Koutarou stopped mid-sentence, Tetsurou turns his head to see already wide yellow eyes widening and an excited smile spreading across his face.
"Oh my God, bro! I have the best idea!"
"Sounds dangerous."
"I haven't even explained yet!"
"Don't need to. What's the idea?" Tetsurou asks anyway, always willing to go along with Koutarou's crazy plans.
"Squat down," Koutarou instructs.
"No, dude, I will not blow you."
"Bro, c'mon, I have the most romantic idea ever!"
Tetsurou sighs, smiling at his dork of a best friend. "Fine, fine."
With that, Koutarou beams and shoves Tetsurou down roughly by his shoulder. Once squatting, Koutarou climbs onto his shoulders and, unlike for Keiji and Kei, there is nothing graceful or easy about it. Koutarou is heavy, the heaviest on the team, the dude is solid muscle. While not impossible for Tetsurou to carry him on his shoulders, it's certainly difficult and requires all of Tetsurou's strength and balance. Especially when Koutarou decides to wiggle with excitement.
"This is going to be awesome!"
"It's going to be painful if you don't stop moving," Tetsurou says, getting a better grip of Koutarou's calf, where his kneepads finish.
As Keiji finishes pulling the hoop around to get it in place, Tetsurou and Koutarou approach them. Looking up at the hoop, Kei doesn't seem to notice until Koutarou reaches out for Keiji and pulls him close, in turn pulling Kei close.
Tetsurou really didn't think this through, because before he knows it Kei's wide eyes are right in front of him, so close that he can count each gold fleck in his pale brown eyes. He can feel Kei's sharp hipbone against his stomach and he can see the light dusting of freckles across Kei's nose and he notices for the first time that Kei's eyelashes are the same colour blond as his hair. Something tightens in Tetsurou's stomach as their noses touch and Kei quickly turns his head.
"Um… Kou?"
"Koutarou, this really isn't safe," Keiji says sternly but any further protest is muted by Koutarou's mouth.
Oh shit. Oh fuck. Oh God, this is not happening, Kei thinks, panic swirling is his stomach and making his heart thunder in his chest. Tetsurou's so close he can probably feel it. I'm going to kill Kou.
Tetsurou huffs a laugh, awkwardly amused, and Kei can feel the warmth of his breath across his cheek. He can feel every point of contact, thighs, stomachs, chests, and Tetsurou's skin is so warm under his clothes. Why are they the same damn height? If they weren't, he wouldn't have the opportunity to fuck everything up every time they looked at each other. If they weren't this would only be very awkward, instead of epically fucking awkward.
"I really didn't think this through," Tetsurou mumbles to himself and then attempts to get Koutarou's attention, failing as he's far too busy sucking Keiji's face off. Or, it sounds like it. At least in Kei's exaggerating, panicking mind.
Kei tries to ignore it, to focus on breathing like a normal person and get his heart under control. He tries to ignore Tetsurou's warmth and the rumbling sound of his voice in his chest and the tickling sensation of thick, black hair against his cheek. He refuses to have a panic attack because of a boy.
"Tsukki, are you okay?" He hears Tetsurou's voice distantly, he sounds worried. "Shit, Kou!"
In an attempt to free them, Tetsurou pulls back, but because of Koutarou's hold on Keiji, springs back quickly. In the movement, Tetsurou stumbles right up against Kei, their bodies pressed together. Friction. Pressure. Familiar, pleasant heat burns low in Kei's abdomen.
No, no, no, no, no.
"Kou!" Tetsurou growls, actually sounding angry.
Walled in by thighs and Tetsurou's gorgeous fucking face, Kei has no options and in his panic he does the first thing he thinks of. He opens his mouth and bites into Koutarou's thigh; his thigh-high kneepad tastes horrible, like sweat, but it's better than getting hard against Tetsurou.
Koutarou screeches, the sound initially muffled by Keiji's mouth, but gets louder. Especially as he rocks back, the jerky movement unbalancing Tetsurou. Keiji and Kei probably would have been fine if Koutarou wasn't holding onto Keiji for dear life, pulling them with him.
"Ohfuck—"
It happens quickly, a flailing of limbs and panicked gasps and cusses. Somehow Koutarou pulls Keiji clear of Kei's head in the fall, at least Kei thinks that's what happened because Keiji doesn't land on him. Kei lands solidly, somehow less painfully that he thought. He hit his head on something solid on the way down, but apart from that he feels fine.
Until he feels arms around him and realises how he landed. Or, rather, who he landed on. Kei's been here before, head resting on a solid chest and legs tangled.
Eyes shooting wide with panic, Kei uprights himself hurriedly and hopes Tetsurou doesn't notice. Which, of course he'll notice; kind of difficult not to notice a six foot tall guy landing on you. Tetsurou's looking up at him as he tries to get up and Kei freezes.
"Are you okay, Tsukki?" Tetsurou asks, his dark eyes concerned as he sits up on his elbows, his lip swollen and bleeding. "Your head…"
Kei blinks and opens his mouth to respond, but no words come out.
Tetsurou's eyes wander slowly down Kei's body and Kei watches his Adam's apple bobs as he swallows hard. Kei follows his gaze and realises that he's straddling him, hands resting on his stomach for balance. For a stupid second Kei doesn't want to stand up, to get off him, he wants to lean down and kiss Tetsurou. He could. Tetsurou isn't saying anything, simply watching him, but Kei can see hints of discomfort in the tightening of his jaw and the way his dark eyes dart away.
I'm not going to hurt him. I'm not going to lose him.
Panicking has only done more harm than good. So, slowly, Kei stands and walks away. He can feel Tetsurou's eyes on him as he leaves.
"Huh, where's Tsukki going? What happened?" Koutarou asks.
"You happened," Keiji replies.
"What? What did I do?"