Game On - A Haikyuu!! Mafia AU

- Chapter Twenty-one -

·Recap·

The plan went from going steady to spiraling downward so fast Akaashi could barely keep up.

Kuroo had seen Hinata.

———

Tadashi Yamaguchi never expected to be thrown into this business.

All violence and fear and blood and endless loss, just to have the media's spotlight pointed at a mafia and essentially have a big bold target painted on the chests of the cadets.

According to some, being hunted was half the thrill.

After his father was killed mercilessly under odd circumstances, Yamaguchi just wanted to learn to fight so he could protect himself as well as the rest of his family from being steered down the same path.

That decision led him to Karasuno, and he only figured he'd stay with them for a few weeks, learn what he had to, and leave before he'd have to pull a trigger on an innocent person and be 'officially' declared a member of the mafia.

But then Tsukishima Kei happened.

He'd always felt a little intimidated by people taller than him, but this time that certainly wasn't the case. It was uncomfortable in a way, how said blond was exactly like a magnet and Yamaguchi just couldn't get away.

Before he knew it a couple weeks drew into a month, and then one month into two as he tried to continuously remind himself he had to leave, that his family was waiting for him.

But every morning when he'd wake up and walk out into the main room to see who was up, he'd always be greeted by Tsukishima, voice low and still faintly raspy from sleep as he'd look up from a book he was reading or something and murmur "morning, Yamaguchi."

Yamaguchi's heart completely betrayed him.

He'd eventually developed the nickname 'Tsukki' and never referred to the blond as anything else, and before he knew it his nights were spent in the cadet's room with him, bothering him a majority of the time to the point Tsukishima had one time just placed a hand over Yamaguchi's mouth and kept it there for a few seconds while glaring at him.

On other nights, interactions would be rather gentle and soft-spoken. Yamaguchi had one time managed to sneak Tsukki's glasses off and slide them on himself instead, leaning back and grinning in triumph as he tried to mimic the blond's voice. "The name's Tsukishima Kei. I hate everyone here and I'm the only smart one."

If he knew better he actually thought he heard a small huff of a laugh before the glasses were pulled off his nose.

"That's not how I sound." Tsukki had mumbled while fixing the glasses again on himself, and before he realized it he had reached out and gently brushed the backs of his fingers across Yamaguchi's face.

He had withdrawn his hand quickly as if the contact had burned, and cleared his throat as he gestured to the door as a signal for the boy to leave. "I'll see you in the morning."

That routine had carried on for several more weeks, and Yamaguchi had eventually come to love the other cadets too. The suite was starting to feel like home, and the arms of his fellows wrapped around him as they laughed and ruffled up his hair was beginning to feel like he'd always known it.

On one of the rainy nights, all the cadets gathered by the large window and watched the downpour while passing out blankets and bunching up on the couches after dragging two of them together, telling one another their backstories.

That was when Yamaguchi realized he couldn't leave.

He had grown attached to all the others, and felt a pang of sadness ring through his chest as he moved his head to Tsukki's shoulder, surprised when he wasn't shoved off or moved away.