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Yahaba Shigeru was scared of eventually getting bored after realizing the routines he and Kyoutani Kentarou fell into after entering college.
This, of course, was unreasonable since they had routines before and now they’d changed to fit them and their needs, and they’ll change again.
So he relishes in it, he relishes in the pattern and stability of it all, a strange but accurate reflection of his whole relationship with Kyoutani.
This is how it goes.
-
Let the world know that Yahaba does not like mornings, but once moving into the old, cheap apartment with Kyoutani, they’ve gotten more bearable.
Kyoutani wakes up first, always five minutes before their alarm goes off, no matter what time it’s set for. Yahaba's never awake for it but Kyoutani's complained about it more than once after the fact.
Yahaba’s eyes open enough at the shifting in the bed to turn and watch Kyoutani’s shirt ride up, showing the taught muscles of his back. Yahaba’s daily sigh of yes I’m gay what is anyone gonna do about it causes Kyoutani to turn around and attempt to peck him on the forehead.
There's been varying degrees of success, some hitting the mark and some kisses ending up for the pillow or Yahaba’s shoulder depending on how late the previous night went.
After a laugh or two, Kyoutani heads to shower, Lord knows how he does it. Yahaba cannot imagine getting up earlier than necessary to stand under water for ten minutes.
But it’s all for the best since the smell of coffee is what wakes Yahaba back up after the sound of running water lulls him back to sleep.
He finally moves, doing his own stretching and standing. He stumbles his way towards their tiny kitchen to drop a kiss onto Kyoutani’s shoulder when he reaches around to pour the two of them much-needed coffee.
Depending on Kyoutani’s appetite and Yahaba’s willingness to do anything, their breakfast varies but it usually ends up being either cereal and yogurt or eggs. If the weekends are clear, pancakes could be what ends up on the table.
But today is an average Thursday, so Yahaba tries not to spill any cereal onto the counter, aiming to pour it into the bowl that already has a base of vanilla yogurt for Kyoutani and strawberry for himself.
A passing kiss on the neck makes sure the Yahaba doesn’t fall asleep standing up and he glances over to see Kyoutani grab two spoons. Yahaba brings their meal to the table where he props his feet up on Kyoutani’s thighs as they eat in the quiet.
It’s the best way to start the morning, Yahaba had decided this after a week. It’s completely different from the mad scramble that he had to do daily back in high school, looping his way around the house with his younger brother close behind.
This gives time for leisure and to mentally prepare for whatever the day may hold.
More lazy pecks on anywhere except for the mouth fill the next few minutes, post-breakfast and pre-brushing teeth breath is a force to be reckoned with, so they head there next.
Yahaba’s blue toothbrush sits in a cup next to the sink while Kyoutani’s red one lies in front of it, head hanging over the sink. They have different preferences for toothpaste too, but they both met in the middle ground to cut down on costs and so they could have their preferred yogurt flavor.
Every time he sees it, a memory of Oikawa Tooru’s voice echoing ‘it’s all about compromise, Yahaba-chan,’ while they watch Iwaizumi Hajime and Kyoutani say their goodbyes a few feet away at the train station, the train itself preparing to bring the former senpais to Tokyo and the rest of their lives. A small smile never fails to force its way onto his face.
The first real kiss always happens with Yahaba’s back facing the mirror and Kyoutani’s forehead resting against his.
The first real words are also spoken here.
“Mornin’.”
“Hello to you, too.”
-
Since it happens to be Thursday, they both have classes. Two in the morning and one in the afternoon for Yahaba and the opposite for Kyoutani. They did their best to match their schedules as closely as they could, but they did have two widely different majors.
And so, they meander their way out the door after dressing and a exchanging few more kisses.
They wake up early so they can both not rush breakfast and not rush their way to school. Kyoutani had to fight tooth and nail against Yahaba to even convince him to try. And then he had to deal with a grumpy Yahaba after he said he'd give it a shot.
It was a process, but all for the best.
And now the two of them walk hand in hand on their way to the campus with minimal snapping from Yahaba. A true miracle.
They had chosen their apartment strategically, for cost and for location. The neighborhood they ended up in houses lots of college students so they usually see the same characters on the journey to and from. Which is good since they can see the same, more strange people from day to day.
The people watching and snarky commentary while breathing the morning air is refreshing.
The arrival to campus differs every day, depending on the time they get there. The afternoons are more packed but since both of them have an eight a.m., there’s only a few other suckers who got stuck with the early lectures.
They part ways at the library located at the center of the campus, Yahaba heading towards the main building to drop off a copy of his draft for the next newspaper and then head to Public Relations.
On the other hand, Kyoutani has to go to the back of the campus, where the science building is located. Yahaba would not want to be him, a biology class so early in the morning, but Kyoutani had always been a morning person. Yahaba will never understand.
Either way, it’s lucky that they both managed to get into a college that had great courses in journalism and zoology.
Kyoutani wants to be a veterinarian, but having that Bachelor’s degree in zoology in advance would only help him. It had surprised Yahaba when he first heard of Kyoutani’s dream but the more he thought about it, the more it fits his boyfriend. Despite whatever bad-boy appearance he tries to keep up, it all dissipates once he’s in the same vicinity of any animal.
It really hit Yahaba when Kyoutani had shown up at his door at the end of second year, months before they officially started dating, soaking wet with a kitten wrapped up in his arms. Yahaba likes to say that’s the first time he fell in love with Kyoutani, when it really had happened the first time he saw the boy spike and grin wildly after he succeeded back in junior high.
He always found it a little bit pathetic, and he does not want to face the teasing that would definitely come from any Seijoh member if they knew. A part of him knows that Kyoutani would be flustered by that bit of knowledge, and as much as he wants to see that face as soon as possible, Yahaba kind of wants to drop that news during his vows or something cheesy like that. For the effect of it all.
Anyway, the kitten is now living happily with Watari in an apartment complex that allows animals. That was one of the downsides of the place they live, the no-animals rule, but it was lenient, made known after Yahaba and Kyoutani had a stare-off with the old landlady while holding an injured dog and she had just waved them off with a warning to have it out of there by the next week.
Much to Kyoutani’s chagrin, the dog is living with his moms and not with them, but she’s thriving nonetheless.
Yahaba’s shaken out of his daydream about his lovable dork of his boyfriend when the teacher walks into the room and clicks on the projector, the first words already a promise of an eye-wateringly boring lecture.
-
Lunch lands anywhere from eleven to one but they always end up eating together unless a project needs to be worked on with somebody else or if one of them falls sick.
There are a few restaurants they rotate through, but they mostly frequent a hole-in-the-wall restaurant run by the kindest family they’ve ever met. This is where they go today, Yahaba meeting up with Kyoutani at the library where he’d been studying under a tree.
The walk there is full of idle chatter, mild complaints and updates on what happened during their classes.
Thursdays in particular are exciting since there’s a guy in Yahaba’s Creative Writing course, his second class of the morning, who won’t stop talking about the ‘brilliant’ novel he’s concocting. In actuality, it's just the typical dystopian young-adult story that no one can escape from these days that consists of a one-sided male protagonist that all of the women lust after and other characters that run in the same complexity vein as him. What makes this one really special is that it's written by a man who doesn’t know how women work.
As a homosexual male growing up with two brothers and no sisters, Yahaba can’t exactly comment on that, but he is pretty sure that no women wants to go through an apocalypse type setting with only heels, a tube of lipstick, and a conveniently torn outfit that's description is painfully detailed in all of the wrong ways.
Yeah. Exhilarating.
But Kyoutani gets a kick out of the new plot points Yahaba feeds to him and they’ve started to make their own mock book based on that one.
This one stars a man of a name that happens to be similar to the aspiring author that they draw inspiration from, and he gets to go through the world's end with booty shorts and a bottle of hair gel. If it ever gets written and published, it'll be a real page turner. Hopefully it can even be translated into film.
So it’s not so bad after all, the feeling of wanting to punch a wall after hearing this kid repeatedly interrupt everyone’s writing time with his unironic shrieks of ‘eureka’ and ‘this is the best thing anyone’s ever written’ is replaced with a happy buzzing as Kyoutani’s eyes crinkle at the edges and his mouth stretch into a mocking grin.
They enter the establishment giggling to themselves and make their way to their designated table near the back. The same lady takes their orders with a smile and ruffle their hair as she walks away.
A tradition they started was ordering for the other person, initially as a joke, but now it’s a good way to get the other to try something new. Most of the time, they are just trying to work their way through the menu and not purposefully get something the other person isn’t a fan of.
There are some days, though, where Yahaba is feeling evil and will order something with mushrooms for Kyoutani only to have the favor returned when Kyoutani orders Yahaba a meal with tomatoes.
Good thing Kyoutani loves tomatoes and Yahaba tried to only eat mushrooms for a few days when he was eight, since they always end up sharing anyway.
-
Because it’s Thursday and both Yahaba and Kyoutani have the afternoon class or two, their phones are continuously pinging with notifications from the other.
bitch
check the dm i sent you on insta coward
asshole
i cant watch it in class idiot
bitch
weak
asshole
dumbass
It’s become a habit that neither can shake, despite the fact that they should definitely be paying attention. They just get bored.
bitch
ken theres this one guy in class who has some fuckin great thighs
asshole
stop checking him out
creep
bitch
aw are you jealous
asshole
you wish
bitch
haha i bet youre blushing cutie
asshole
i hate you and everything you stand for
It probably says a lot about the two of them that they turn to goofing off so quickly but if anyone else heard the monotonous tone of their professors, they’d understand.
asshole
im gonna throw a chair out the window
bitch
do it i dare you
do it
asshole
i will
watch me dickhead
bitch
wait dont
asshole
why not you just told me to
bitch
please tell me you werent actually thinking about doing it
kyoutani oh my god
asshole
look dickhead if you had to listen about organic chem from the oldest man alive you would consider it to
bitch
touche
just dont get yourself expelled jesus christ
asshole
no promises
There are more concerning conversations to be found in their texting history.
bitch
do you think oikawa-san can play recorder
asshole
what the actual fuck
bitch
i mean
out of all of the third years hes the one whos most likely to do something like that
asshole
im gonna block you
bitch
i take it back
asshole
good
bitch
its definitely hanamaki-san who would learn recorder
asshole
i hate you
bitch
i feel like matsukawa-san would join him on kazoo or something
yknow what i mean
asshole
no
bitch
former seijoh third year band
asshole
stop
bitch
never
-
After a long, long day, they walk back to their apartment together to get some studying done, though studying usually turns into naps after days with multiple classes but nobody needs to know except for the two of them.
And nobody needs to know they usually only make it to pulling their books out and setting them on the coffee table before flopping back onto the couch. One thing leads to another and Yahaba and Kyoutani are pressed against each others chest, sleeping through what's left of the afternoon.
Good thing Kyoutani’s supernatural internal clock wakes him up at a reasonable time for dinner and they can pick themselves sluggishly off of the sofa to shake off the tiredness.
Since they moved in together, they decided to actually learn how to cook which has resulted in less than stellar results but they’ve kind of gotten the hang of it.
Having the 'hang of it' means that they can definitely make rice, kind of make toast and eggs, and have a small success rate when it comes to anything else.
It’s usually Kyoutani who grumbles out what he’s hungry for and Yahaba goes along with it because he’s not too picky. They’ll sort through the ingredients in the fridge and pray that they won’t have to go shopping.
Thank the heavens that they don’t today and they have all the ingredients for some fried rice. They don’t even have to make new rice because they accidentally made too much the day before. It’s a good day for small mercies.
Yahaba puts on what he calls the ‘happy screaming’ playlist that consists of songs to be happily sung as loudly as possible, which is what he does as he spins his way around the kitchen to get everything ready. He stumbles and slams his hip against an open drawer, but powers through to belt out a high note.
“You look stupid.”
He grins at his boyfriend while rubbing the sore spot, “Well, if you’re dating someone who looks stupid, then you’re more stupid.”
“Whatever.”
The actual preparation and cooking of the meal is quick, a practiced dance choreographed for the two of them. Yahaba always jokes that it's when they practice their telepathy, they work in unison and pass the needed tools to the other when needed and without prompt.
When they're done, they throw the used dishes into the sink and Yahaba takes a moment to throw them a nasty look because he knows what’s coming after they eat. He looks away in time to see Kyoutani fondly roll his eyes and they head to the couch, hands full of drinks and hot food. Yahaba places his things on top of the books balanced on the table before flopping down with his back against the armrest, placing a pillow over his lap and lifting his legs for Kyoutani to slide under.
Second nature movements, it all feels like a comforting instinct. Instead of bored, he feels strangely relaxed by the ease they have together.
It was a smoother transition than he had expected, going from bashing heads with Kyoutani to dating him. They’ll still banter but it holds no malice now. They still wrestle around but it’s not aimed to hurt or knock sense into the other. It’s just another form of skinship that they have.
Nothing like bickering and play-fighting as a love language.
Kyoutani’s thighs are strong underneath his, still full of muscle from his continued official play of volleyball. Yahaba’s have softened a bit, a fact that Kyoutani has made sure to let him know he’s more than okay with. Yahaba stifles a smile with his chopsticks full of rice.
Kyoutani flips to their favorite channel to heckle, mocking the laugh track and what are allegedly supposed to be jokes.
Couples who merciless make fun of things together stay together.
All too soon, their bowls are empty and the credits are rolling at the end of the objectively terrible episode, leaving them baffled in the face of whatever the hell just happened.
“Do we have to?” Yahaba is not above whining.
“It's gonna cake on and it’ll be a pain to wash later. ‘Sides, you don’t even have to wash them, you just put it away so quit your whining.”
He groans anyway that only stutters as he hits the floor, an arm dramatically flying up to grip Kyoutani, who pretends like he didn't just push Yahaba at a couch and instead raises an eyebrow at him like he's the dumb one.
“I hate it.”
“Tough shit.”
“You suck, have some empathy.”
“No.”
In the end, Yahaba finds himself dragged to the sink by his feet and a clean towel thrown onto his face, so he stands to lean against the counter and waits for the clean dishes to be passed to him. A different playlist, one that was made by a frustrated Yahaba after washing a large amount of dishes while Kyoutani watched, plays in the background. A more 'angry screaming' playlist, if you will.
A minor water fight or four later, they finished up and Kyoutani rewards Yahaba with a kiss.
“Was it that bad?”
“Yes.”
“Idiot.”
-
And every day, they bunker down on the living room floor to finally get some studying done.
Typically, it takes a bit for them to actually get focused since they’re both dumbasses who can’t help but bicker until they tire out. After, though, it gets peaceful and they get more of quiet quality time that they both love.
The rustling of papers, the scratching of pen against the paper and the clicking of the laptop keyboard lulls them deep into focus, every once and a while they'll look up and make eye contact that results in a smile or a small shoving war. In the end, they lean their arms against the other again to get back to work.
When the words begin to blur together into a mess of characters, hours later, Yahaba will call it a day and begin to tidy up his things, moving carefully around Kyoutani. They're supplies never fail to get mixed in with the others, but they prefer to be close together when they study, rather than sitting at separate tables or in different rooms.
A stretch lands Yahaba in Kyoutani's lap, the beginning of an age old argument, one that spans back to high school, when they would argue about anything and everything for the hell of it.
“You heathen, obviously showering at night is better. Get all of the day grime off of you before getting into bed.”
“That’s stupid.”
“You’re more stupid.”
“Clever.”
“I hate you.”
“I’m sure you do.”
Yahaba’s makes his way to the bedroom to prepare for his obviously superior shower at the proper time of day and calls, “We really need to stop being near each other, it’s weird when you’re sarcastic.”
“Tell me about it.”
Yahaba is so in love.
He thinks about that as he steps into the bathroom and turns on the water to wait for it to become hot. About how he managed to fall in love with who he viewed as his worst nightmare. But when he truly looks back to the first time they truly met and the winding road until now, he can see that he has always found Kyoutani as interesting and as someone he wants to get to know.
And maybe a part of him always knew that when he did get to know the boy behind the fiery eyes and fierce tongue, he would fall in love. Maybe it just terrified him to the point that he forced himself to repress it. And that is a strange parallel to his whole experience relating to his journey to this point, from finding out who he truly was after suppressing it and then getting to accept the part of himself after everything.
He stares at the soap rack that holds the shampoo that makes Kyoutani smell like home, and decides to use it instead of his own. There are many differences and many things that remained, some that just came with growing up and life continuing on in its ruthless fashion and others that came with the push from Kyoutani.
And that's what Kyoutani does for him, Yahaba realizes while drying himself off, Kyoutani constantly pushes him to be his best and then a bit more. He doesn't just provide comfort and a place to steady himself, he also makes it so he has someone to be better for.
Yahaba makes sure to kiss Kyoutani when they meet in the bedroom, Kyoutani already sitting cross legged on the bed in boxers and an old t-shirt.
“What the hell is that for?”
“I just love you, okay? No need to be an ass about it.”
“I love you too. Calm down.”
“Never.”
Yahaba's still in love when they finally tuck into bed, and when Kyoutani teases him about being the little spoon like every night.
He bears with it, content with the weight of Kyoutani’s arms around his weight, the constant feel of his breathing and heartbeat, and another soft exchange of 'I love you'.