Promise (Tsukiyama)

When we were young

Tsukishima Kei is only in primary school when he meets Yamaguchi Tadashi for the first time. He is strolling home from school, hands stuffed in the pockets of his purple hoodie. Suddenly, he comes across four other little boys his age. Three of them are towering over the fourth boy, shoving him and his backpack into the dirt. They all laugh and point at the smaller boy in the dirt, shouting things at him that Tsukishima can't quite make out. He takes a moment to examine at the small boy in the mud; his hair is brown with a light tinge of green, and his eyes are a brilliant brown. Also, across his face is a heavy dusting of freckles. The boy is looking up at the others in terror, tears building up in his eyes. One of the boys realizes that Tsukishima has been standing there and calls out, "What do you want?"

Tsukishima's lips curl into a smirk as he mutters, "Losers," underneath his breath. The bullies get annoyed and run away flustered, leaving the boy in the dirt alone. Tsukishima stares at him and sees a look of terror yet admiration in the boy's eyes. He walks away from him, thinking that that was the last time he will ever see him.

Soon after that moment, the boy, whose name is Yamaguchi, decides to idolize Tsukishima and follow him around. To be honest, Tsukishima doesn't know what to think. No one has ever thought he was cool, much less idolized him. At first he sees Yamaguchi as an annoyance and constantly tells him to go away, but soon comes around and realizes that he enjoys Tadashi's presence. They stay friends all throughout primary school, middle school and then into highschool. Yamaguchi is the only one who is there with him through everything, even when Tsukishima calls him annoying or tells him to shut up. That's just how good of a friend he is.

Tsukishima attends Karasuno High School with Yamaguchi in tow. It's a big relief for him since he doesn't know what he'd do without Yamaguchi at this point. Yamaguchi knows Tsukishima better than he knows himself, and vice versa. They have a certain level of understanding with eachother that they don't have with anyone else. For example,  when Yamaguchi is the only first year not in the volleyball team's starting line up, Tsukishima can immediately sense a change in him. Yamaguchi starts training harder and practicing late into the evenings. He starts becoming more focused, and even encourages Tsukishima to put more passion into volleyball. Soon, Tsukishima realizes that the Yamaguchi Tadashi infront of him is different. He's more prepared, more driven, and more determined to rise to the top. "This Yamaguchi can do anything he puts his mind to", Tsukishima thinks, "he's a man who walks ahead of me.

When their third year arrives, Yamaguchi is made captain. Tsukishima is not surprised. After all, he has trained harder than anyone he knows, not to mention that he is much more "captain material" than him, Kageyama and Hinata combined. During this period of time, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi also decide to become a thing. Boyfriends. It is obviously a slow development, and has many embarrassing moments that Tsukishima refuses to talk about, but they are happy. It's so nice to be able to just hold Yamaguchi's hand while they walk home and to kiss him goodbye every night. Everything is perfect.

But then, college comes. Yamaguchi sits Tsukishima down one evening and says that he wants to talk. He obeys and sits down. Yamaguchi takes a deep breath and grabs his hand.

"Listen Kei, remember when we said that we would always keep our relationship strong, no matter what?" he says.

Tsukishima nods, "Yeah. Of course I do."

"Well..." Yamaguchi looks down and sighs before looking back up to meet Tsukishima's eyes, "I'm scared. I don't ever wanna lose you..."

"You'll never lose me," Tsukishima says automatically.

Yamaguchi shakes his head, "I know that. I just need... you to promise me."

"Promise you what?"

"That nothing will change in our relationship once we start our own journeys in college. I want you to promise me that we'll always tackle things together, as a couple."

Tsukishima brings Yamaguchi's hand up to his lips and plants a gentle kiss on his soft skin, "I promise," he says before leaning forward and kissing him.

Now, Tsukishima has returned to his apartment, the moonlight lighting up his face. He zooms into an old picture of Yamaguchi from his phone gallery. The photo was taken back when they were still together. They are sitting together in Tsukishima's living room, and he has his arm draped around Yamaguchi's shoulders. They look so...happy. Tsukishima feels tears running down his cheeks as he stares at the picture. The man in the photo is no longer his Tadashi; he wants nothing to do with him, and it's all his fault.