The Man Who Ran Off With The Moon - [ Tsukkiyama Art Thief AU! ]

Unremarkable

Tsukishima Kei always did everything right. Occasionally, he could even border on exceptional. But usually, he was just good, and that was enough for him.

Tsukishima played on volleyball teams through highschool and college, fostering deep and personal connections that he still maintained as he aged. Some of his former teammates, Hinata and Kageyama, had gone professional, alongside many others he had played throughout the years.

 It was a point of pride for him, to know that at one time in his life he held his own on a team with people who were now household names in the small, fervent world of sports...But beyond that, Tsukishima didn't like to think back on volleyball or high school.

His current closest friend from that era was Tetsurō Kuroo. Their friendship survived partially from the other young man's insistence, and partially due to the proximity in which they lived.
Kuroo knew not to mention volleyball, Karasuno, crows, freckles, or any of the other things that would remind Tsukishima of the time when he had taken to the court.
A dark shade now hung over that period of life.

And because he was not reminded, in time, Tsukishima Kei forgot.

He moved on. He majored in biology. He stopped taking risks within his life and started eating the same thing for breakfast each day: toast, coffee, one piece of seasonal fruit.
He met a woman who was just as plain and practical. Her name was Ikumi, which she spelled with the Kanji that meant "fragrant." 

When he had first met her in the library, reaching for the same book on ocean dwelling microorganisms, that was the first thing Tsukishima noticed about her. She gave off an air of lemons and the almost indescribable smell of fresh water running from a clay pitcher.

The two fell into some kind of love, and, yes, it was definitely love. For a little while.

Tsukishima planned to marry Ikumi. They would buy their own house in the city. He would find a well paying job, possibly one that involved a center of public education, like a science museum. He had always liked dinosaurs.

Tsukishima Kei always did everything right...so it came at a great surprise to him when things started to go wrong.

After graduation and two years of dating, he took Ikumi out to a fancy restaurant that boasted an Italian trained chef called Narisawa. It was a good, safe, expensive choice. The ring was brought out on the dessert tray, because Tsukishima had seen that in a couple movies, and he figured girls liked that.
He looked up at Ikumi, kneeling as a mere formality.

"Oh... Kei. I-"

As Tsukishima embraced the blandness of life, the coupons and crosswords of adulthood, Ikumi had been outgrowing it. She longed for sporadic adventure, to go overseas, to be kissed in the rain or in the snow. 

Tsukishima had never wanted to leave Japan and he always carried an umbrella.

It was September, now. Tsukishima rolled out of bed in a one room apartment in Sanya, Tokyo. Construction blared loudly outside, the static trill of jack hammers. It made him want to bang his head on the wall, over and over.

Eeeeuuuugggghhhh.

Real estate was cheap there, and pack hungry developers were hunting the land barren. It didn't make for an enjoyable morning. Tsukishima ate his toast and fruit, before knocking back a cheap cup of coffee. There was a level of dirtiness to the apartment, clothes and trash strewn about, that had never been present in his life before. A few packages of ramen dwelled in the pantry, waiting to be consumed for dinner. 

Tsukishima was too proud to move back to Miyagi, too stubborn to ask for help, and too broke to do much of anything about anything.

Ikumi was probably somewhere incredibly dumb right now.. like Australia. Or Cincinnati.

He buttoned his khaki shirt, tucking it into khaki pants. Tsukishima felt like a moron in the mirror, the Unoen Zoo logo emblazoned across his chest.
It would be another long day of defrosting rats for snake food.

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oh hello hello
Mari here!
I thought I was taking a long hiatus from Wattpad after my last book because I'm doing a gap year / internship thingy (im 19, elderly by wattpad standards) where I thought I wouldn't have internet.... BUT i do and here we are and here I am so HERES A NEW BOOK!

Enjoy this thrilling emotional sexy crime saga lmao inspired by the reader that said I should try a tsukiyama fic