Chapter Text
“No, I know. Yes. Of course. That information was submitted to your office back in April, and it’s going to be October in a few days now. Yes. I understand, but -”
An old office phone was cradled between Tsukishima’s neck and ear, the cord stretching awkwardly across the small distance from the desk to the window. He was speaking in Portuguese and he could tell that his unusual accent was absolutely being clocked by the Portuguese man on the other end of the phone based on his dismissive tone of voice. Tsukishima resisted the urge to actively hit his head against the window he was leaning against.
They had been trying to secure this grant for months now. Adamastor, a company headquartered in Portugal, had been working to develop more of a philanthropic reputation in the public eye. Their latest attempt was issuing a number of grants to different museums around the world. Unfortunately, it was becoming exceedingly obvious this was their first time organizing a large project like this. Tsukishima was just about at his wit’s end.
“Sir, I just need to know…yes. Yes, we are very hopeful you will choose our organization. I look forward to your email.” He finally was able to hang up the phone, sitting down in his dilapidated office chair and burying his face in his hands.
Once the museum had figured out that Tsukishima was able to speak both English and Portuguese in addition to Japanese, he had been gradually pushed into more and more of a behind the scenes role that utilized those skills. He was currently spending most of his time researching grants from Europe and North America to supplement the museum’s budget. It certainly wasn’t the job he expected to be doing when he graduated, but he couldn’t complain that much. It paid the bills, and he was able to stay with the museum he’d been working with in some capacity or another for ten or so years now.
It was comfortable.
He even had an office to himself, small as it was. It had a south facing window which more than made up for the size. He moved some of his plants from his apartment over to take advantage of the sunlight, hoping to make the otherwise drab room feel a little bit more homey. The coffee on his desk, brewed in the break room downstairs, was somehow already cold. Tsukishima took a gulp anyway, doing his best to keep any drips off the sweatshirt he was wearing. One benefit of coming in on the weekend is that he had no public facing responsibilities and could wear whatever he wanted.
The downside was…well, he had to be here over the weekend.
After scrubbing his hands over his face a few times, he typed up a few notes about the phone call he’d made and wrote down some next steps for the grant project. He scrolled through his endless to-do list, seeing if there were any items he would be able to knock off relatively quickly before he needed to leave.
“Tsukishima, what are you doing here?” He heard a stern voice calling from the hallway outside his office. When he looked up, his boss was standing in his doorway, arms crossed over her chest.
“Good morning, Ms. Yamada,” he said, looking past his laptop to make eye contact with her. His long time mentor had aged gracefully into her gray hair, dressed today in a flowing skirt and sharp dress shirt. “I came in late on Monday after the volleyball tournament last weekend, I’m just catching up.”
“Yes,” Yamada replied testily. “I know you also stayed late on Wednesday night to help with the family event that was going on…even though it technically is outside of the scope of your position.” Tsukishima gave her a guilty smile.
“I’m aware,” he conceded, “Which is why I’m here this morning to make up the time.”
The manager of the children’s programs was an old classmate from his college program who was always happy to have a second pair of hands. Tsukishima had a bit of a vested interest, mostly because he used to be the one in charge of making sure everything was hidden well enough.
A small smile crept onto Yamada’s face. “Very well. From what I overheard in the hallway, it seems like you were able to get in touch with the grant director at Adamastor?”
“Technically, yes,” Tsukishima said, actively trying not to groan. “I wasn’t able to get much information out of him though. It seems the person they hired to run this whole venture is not very experienced.”
“I trust you’ll be able to sort it out,” Yamada said genially, taking a step into the room to touch the edge of the garment bag hanging on the edge of the door. “But more importantly, don't you have somewhere else you need to be today?”
He sighed. The Sendai city museum and botanical gardens were run by the same organization and shared a lot of staff behind the scenes. Yamada had traded in a few favors with her counterparts over at the botanical gardens to help Tsukishima secure the venue for Akaashi’s wedding. She knew exactly where Tsukishima needed to be today.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, turning back to his laptop. “But I have a half hour or so before I have to leave. The wedding is just next door.”
“It will all be waiting for you on Monday, my dear,” Yamada said, with a note of finality in her voice. “You work too much, you know. You need to let loose and have some fun every once in a while.” Tsukishima closed his eyes, wanting to push back, but knew in his heart she was probably right.
“Fine,” Tsukishima said, closing his laptop with a click. “I’m leaving now, are you happy?”
Yamada chuckled. “Who’s getting married again?” she asked, taking another look at his suit through the clear plastic front of the garment bag.
“Just some old friends from high school,” Tsukishima said vaguely, moving to stand.
Bokuto proposed to Akaashi after his graduation from university, over two and a half years ago now. They had both been procrastinating the actually getting married part until they had been presented with the opportunity to buy the apartment they’d been living in for almost six years now. Bokuto was able to sign the paperwork on just his income alone, but it triggered something in his brain - marriage brought protection and stability in financial dealings, and Bokuto wanted nothing more than for Akaashi to be protected and stable. So, a wedding.
“Are they the same high school friends you lived with for four years?” Yamada said, trying (and failing) to contain a smile. “You can’t fool me. If you are the best man, they are more than just some old high school friends.”
Tsukishima sighed, trying not to obviously roll his eyes at his boss. He moved across the small room to reach for the garment bag and his backpack full of things they might need at the venue.
“Yes, Ms. Yamada,” Tsukishima said. “The same ones.” She took his larger hand into her smaller ones, patting the back of his hand.
“You are a good friend,” Yamada said. “Do your best to make sure they have everything they need, but remember that you are also allowed to have a good time at the wedding, yes?”
Tsukishima huffed an exasperated breath out of his nose. “Yes.”
She released his hand and turned to leave. “I expect to see some sort of photographic evidence that you enjoyed yourself on Monday,” she called over her shoulder as she walked out the door.
Tsukishima gave a fond sigh as he packed up his laptop. He walked over to the small mirror hanging on the wall and took in his reflection. He looked tired. There was some concealer buried in his backpack somewhere that should at least help hide the dark circles under his eyes. He touched the black earrings he had put in today instead of the usual clear plugs he wore when he was working at the museum or playing volleyball. He tried unsuccessfully to smooth out the curls that were developing at the nape of his neck and behind his ears - a sure sign he was overdue for a haircut. It probably would have been a good idea to get one before the wedding, but with the way his schedule had been, there was no way he could have fit it in.
Good enough. He shouldered his backpack and grabbed his suit before locking up his office and heading out the door.
Tsukishima’s footsteps echoed through the stairwell as he headed towards the back exit of the building. He pushed open the door to the loading dock and the cool air felt amazing after a few hours of being stuck inside a stuffy office. It was finally starting to cool down from summer, and today felt almost crisp even with the sunshine. It really was the perfect weather for a wedding.
He was looking forward to today, really he was. Ever since Tsukishima graduated and moved into his own apartment, he made an effort to still meet up once or twice a week for lunch with Akaashi. They usually spent the time complaining about their respective work days and talking about the latest drama in their shared friend groups, so when the words “Will you be my best man?” came out of his mouth, he was flabbergasted. Honored! But it took him by complete surprise.
After he said yes, Tsukishima was dedicated to making sure everything went off without a hitch. They had spent far too many weekend afternoons sprawled on Akaashi’s couch with a laptop on Tsukishima’s chest hashing out the details of the wedding. Bokuto would join them when he was in town, bringing along ideas “from Osaka.”
The two of them danced around it, not wanting to bring up that Hinata was Bokuto’s best man in front of Tsukishima. Obviously, it made sense it would be Hinata. Kuroo moved to Tokyo after graduation and got busy with work and with Kenma. And when Hinata moved back to Japan and ended up on the same team as Bokuto, they became all but joined at the hip. They lived in the same dorms, went to the same practices, hung out at the same bars. The two of them were closer than they had ever been.
Tsukishima had told both Akaashi and Bokuto over and over that it wasn’t necessary, that everything happened a long time ago, and everyone had moved on. He wondered if they continued to do it mostly out of habit at this point. Even Yamaguchi and Hinata had long made up by this point and, well, Tsukishima had moved on in his own way too.
The first and last time Tsukishima saw Hinata in person after his return from Brazil was a few years back when Hinata had first played Kageyama and the Adlers in Sendai. Yamaguchi and Yachi came up for the game from Osaka and strong armed Tsukishima into coming as well.
But even Yamaguchi wasn’t aware that Tsukishima had used his Frogs badge to get into the stadium before the game even opened for spectators, too anxious to sit around waiting in his studio apartment for another moment. The better of the Miya twins (Osamu, not Atsumu) clocked him on his third lap pacing around the stadium, making him sit down and eat a piece of onigiri before sending him on his way.
All of his old Karasuno classmates went out for dinner after the game. Everyone got along well enough, but Tsukishima still did his best to avoid talking one on one with Hinata. His heart felt too fragile, even then, to risk tearing open the wound that had finally managed to heal closed.
Regardless, it had been almost four years now since they had their falling out. If he was being honest, it felt like that had all happened in another lifetime. He felt like he was a completely different person now than he was when he was 19 and still busy being mad at the world for conspiring against him, instead of trying to see his role in the way things played out in his life, for better and for worse.
That part took a lot of therapy.
And at the end of the day, he made his peace with the way things happened. He never really ran into Hinata, their circles slowly pulling apart over time. Kageyama moved to Italy last year to play volleyball in the European league and Yamaguchi and Yachi were still living in Osaka for the time being. Yachi had landed a prestigious graphic design internship and Yamaguchi had a couple years under his belt at a large electronics company headquartered in the Osaka suburbs.
All that said, the vast majority of their mutual friends were going to be present at the wedding today. It would be embarrassing for everyone if they couldn’t manage to interact like well adjusted human beings for just one evening.
Tsukishima walked briskly into the botanical gardens, nodding curtly at the man staffing the front desk before continuing inside. He wandered into the back hallways of the gardens, heading towards the rooms that were used exclusively for hosting weddings.
“Why can’t I just wear my clip on tie? No one notices when I wear it to those stupid dinners!”
Bokuto’s booming voice could be heard from the hallway. Tsukishima took a bracing breath before walking into the room.
Even though there were two separate rooms for the two grooms and their wedding parties to get ready in, of course they had decided instead to crowd everyone into the larger of the rooms, all in various stages of dress. Tsukishima was happy to see everyone managed to be wearing pants at the very least.
Kuroo was standing in front of Bokuto, pushing the collar of Bokuto’s dress shirt up towards his face and pulling a tie around his neck.
“Because it’s your wedding day!” Kuroo said with a smirk, his fingers deftly tying the dark purple tie into a crisp knot.
Kuroo was already mostly dressed in a suit that looked just like the one Tsukishima had slung over his shoulder. Kuroo was also in Bokuto’s wedding party, along with Bokuto's older sister who was sitting in a chair along the wall chatting animatedly with Akaashi.
“Tsukki-poo!” Bokuto tried to turn his whole body towards the doorway where Tsukishima was lingering. Kuroo grabbed him by the tie, keeping his body turned towards Kuroo as he tightened the knot around his neck and smoothed the collar down over top.
Bokuto still craned his neck to look over at Tsukishima, his golden eyes glowing with excitement. Tsukishima decided he wouldn’t call Bokuto out for the horrible nickname.
Just for today though.
“Sorry I’m late,” Tsukishima said, a bit of guilt running through him, everyone else seeming to be running ahead of the schedule they had planned.
“You aren’t late Kei,” Akaashi said, somehow having appeared next to Tsukishima without him noticing. He took his hand to the small of Tsukishima’s back to pull him into the room. “It’s just that everyone else is early.” Akaashi glanced accusingly at Kuroo as they passed by.
“Hey, we just got to Sendai super early! It’s not my fault there wasn’t any traffic!” Kuroo said in defense, releasing Bokuto once his tie was in place.
“It might have been that you were too excited to sleep, so you made it my problem and dragged me out of bed so we could get on the road early.”
Kenma’s voice deadpanned from behind Tsukishima. Kuroo looked over towards the door and scrunched up his nose.
“Heaven forbid I get excited about my best friends getting married!” Kuroo said cheerfully, turning back to not-so-gently pat the side of Bokuto’s face.
“Don’t be mad at Tetsurou for being excited!” Hinata called out out from the hallway. “It’s an exciting day!”
Tsukishima turned towards his voice quicker than he probably would like to admit. He hardly noticed the pointed look Akaashi gave him because when Hinata rounded the corner into the room it was like everything else went a bit fuzzy.
It wasn’t that he was unrecognizable, but he was so different from the version of Hinata that lived rent free in his memory.
Hinata’s hair was shorter, curlier than Tsukishima remembered from high school. He was wearing his dress shirt without the jacket, and his frame was just…wide. Hinata had always been muscular, but the last couple of years had somehow shaped his body into something unfamiliar to Tsukishima’s memory. His chest, his arms, even his hands, somehow? They all looked different, physical evidence of the years of work he put into improving himself.
With a wide smile plastered on his face, he was carrying a box of flowers, mostly pins to be attached to suits in shades of yellows and purples and whites with plenty of greenery. He followed Kenma to the back of the room, placing the box down on a table.
Tsukishima was not entirely surprised to find that Hinata still carried some sort of magnetic power over him that he couldn’t quite break free of. He found himself staring openly as Akaashi joined them at the back table, leaning over to sort the various arrangements to make sure everything was accounted for.
Hinata must have noticed his gaze, meeting Tsukishima’s eye for a moment and giving him a small smile. It almost felt private, just for him, though he knew that was mostly just his mind playing tricks on him. He tried to return the smile without looking as unhinged as he felt all of the sudden.
A hand unexpectedly came down to clap Tsukishima on the shoulder, knocking him out of his reverie and causing him to stumble a bit. He looked over and glared at the rooster haired man standing next to him. Kuroo was wearing a smug grin that made Tsukishima want to punch him. Just a little bit.
“Hello Kuroo,” Tsukishima bit out. He still refused to call Kuroo by his given name, even though they all mostly did at this point. They had known each other for almost a decade after all. But it was always a bit more complicated with Kuroo.
“Kei, always a pleasure,” Kuroo crooned. He, on the other hand, had entirely abandoned his old nickname for Tsukishima after he decided to try and make things work with Kenma. Tsukishima always assumed it was a request from Kenma, but it still took a while to get used to.
Even though they lived in different cities now, they still saw each other pretty regularly due to the nature of Kuroo’s job. He was always hanging around tournaments and other JVA events, and seeing as Tsukishima was contractually obligated to do a set amount of JVA events per season, their interactions were inevitable.
Tsukishima just hummed noncommittally, hoping Kuroo would decide to move on without his usual commentary. Wishful thinking.
“I see you are already looking a bit distracted today,” Kuroo said quietly, leaning in to keep his voice from traveling.
“I have no idea what you mean,” Tsukishima muttered, doing his best to keep his face neutral. Kuroo let out a cackle, louder than he probably intended to.
Kenma looked over and fixed Kuroo with a glare that would have struck fear into Tsukishima’s heart if it had been directed at him. Kuroo just blew Kenma a kiss, causing the shorter man to roll his eyes and turn away.
Kuroo met Tsukishima’s eye and pointed two fingers at his own eyes and then over to Tsukishima’s face. His meaning was obvious to Tsukishima. I see what you are thinking, you can’t hide from me. Tsukishima gave him the sourest face he could manage, causing Kuroo to let out another laugh.
“Hey man, don’t let me stop you,” Kuroo said with a teasing grin. He turned away and made long strides over towards where Kenma was standing with Hinata and Akaashi, wrapping his arms around the smaller man and nuzzling his face into the crook of Kenma’s neck, causing Kenma to flail and try to drop out of Kuroo’s grasp entirely. Hinata laughed at them before turning back to talk with Akaashi.
Tsukishima stifled a small grin before walking over to the far corner of the room, starting to quickly change into his suit. He hated sticking out in a crowd, and his ratty old sweatshirt in a room full of suits wasn’t doing him any favors.
His years of volleyball locker rooms had cured him of any hesitation he might have had about changing in a room full of people. This situation was much less aggravating than the Frogs locker room. One of his teammates, Koganegawa, was notorious for wandering around buck naked talking to anyone who would listen to him. At least here everyone was too wrapped up in what they were doing to pay him any attention.
After tucking his dress shirt into his pants, he leaned over to reach for his tie and threw it around his neck to do up later. He turned around, slowly buttoning up his shirt, and was startled by a short redhead waiting there for him.
“Hi, er, Tsukishima,” Hinata said awkwardly, holding a boutonniere in his hand, one that matched the one attached to his chest.
“Hinata,” Tsukishima responded, trying not to sound as uncertain as he felt. He swallowed and nodded towards the small flower pin. “Is that mine then?”
Hinata nodded. “Yep! Yellow for the grooms, purple for the best men, and white for the others,” he said, holding out a pin. “And, uh, you can call me Shoyo if you want to. I mean, everyone else does. But you don’t have to, I just -” Tsukishima saw the bit of anxiety in his face and it gave him a bit of relief to know he wasn’t the only one feeling a little nervous about this interaction.
Tsukishima reached for his suit jacket. “I guess you should probably call me Kei then too,” he said matter-of-factly as he shrugged into his jacket, his tie still hanging loose around his neck. He could have sworn he saw a faint blush travel across Hinata’s cheeks. “The pin?”
“Oh, sure!” Hinata said, holding it out. Their fingertips touched briefly as he took it into his hand and wanted to just roll his eyes at the jump his heart gave. Please just chill .
“Here, let me help you avoid Tetsu’s fate,” Hinata said with a small laugh. “He managed to stab himself right in the nipple, and not in a fun piercing way.”
The thought of Hinata shirtless with pierced nipples flashed through his mind unbidden. Good lord. This was really going to be a long day if he already could not get himself together. Before he even had a chance to recover from that thought, Hinata had slipped his hand between Tsukishima’s jacket and shirt, the palm of his hand just barely resting against his chest.
Tsukishima stood motionless for a moment before his brain started screaming at him to move. With a start, he brought the pin up to the lapel of the jacket, gently pushing the sharp side of the pin through the layers of fabric, feeling it pass through to the other side and managing to stop just before it hit the back of Hinata’s hand.
“See, Kuroo was just being overzealous,” Tsukishima said with a smirk, slightly bending the fabric to pop the pin back out the other side before securing it closed, smoothing everything down. Hinata pulled his hand out after a moment and they both turned to look at themselves in the mirror along the nearby wall, standing next to each other in their matching suits. Hinata watched as Tsukishima used the mirror to finish tying his tie.
“We still clean up pretty good, hm?” Hinata asked quietly after Tsukishima had finished. Tsukishima turned to look over at him. Before he could respond, he heard Akaashi calling out from across the room.
“Kei, are you dressed?” he shouted, sounding a bit frantic. “I need you to go find my mom, she says she’s surrounded by ferns? What could that possibly mean?”
Tsukishima met Hinata’s eyes in the mirror, just for a second, before he turned to head over to Akaashi, reassuring him that he knew just where she was and that he would be back with her in no time at all.
~*~
One lost and found parent, a near catastrophe with dinner (cleared up with some stern words from Tsukishima to the catering company), and what felt like 50 different iterations of group photographs later, everyone was finally ready for the ceremony. Despite the relative chaos beforehand, the ceremony itself went off without a hitch. Walking out next to Hinata wasn’t half as awkward as he had been dreading, and watching Bokuto and Akaashi cry their eyes out trying to get through their vows was, well, adorable. He was standing next to one of Akaashi’s friends from college whose name he could never quite remember, and Washio, a Fukurodani alum, stood at her other shoulder.
Tsukishima really tried his very best to keep his eyes on Bokuto in front of him, but Hinata was right there , standing just behind his left shoulder. Hinata’s face was flushed, his eyes focused on Akaashi, filled with unshed tears of his own.
Tsukishima expected to have some sort of negative emotions being around Hinata after all this time. He anticipated feeling regret, jealousy, even anger. But instead he felt…nostalgia, maybe? Mostly it just felt like what it was - seeing an old friend who you used to know like the back of your hand and realizing that you no longer knew anything about them.
Maybe four years was enough time to have healed. Maybe they could try to be friends again.
Bokuto dipping Akaashi into a dramatic kiss pulled Tsukishima out of his thoughts, cheering along with the rest of the crowd. He followed them out of the ceremony hall and immediately went back into planning mode. There was a lot still to do to make sure the reception went off without a hitch.
But, just like the ceremony, despite the relative chaos behind the scenes, once the reception started, everything else just fell into place. The music was just right, the dinner was delicious, and the formal dances proceeded as planned. Both he and Hinata gave their best man speeches, both very different in style and content, but they managed to pull a few tears from family and friends around the room. He was glad to do it, but it was…exhausting.
After dinner ended and Tsukishima was mostly free of his best man duties, he found himself slinking over to the reception bar, extremely ready for a drink. He was honored that Akaashi trusted him to help, but now that it was over he was looking forward to not having to be the responsible one for the rest of the evening.
He took a seat, flagging down the bartender and ordering the sweetest looking of the cocktails listed on the menu. Before the drink could even come out, another man came to rest in the seat next to him.
“Atsumu,” Tsukishima said, turning to face the man next to him. Years of making small talk at JVA events while both having Bokuto as a friend had made the two acquaintances at the very least.
“Ah, Kei. The best man drinking alone at the bar?” he teased, ordering a beer for himself. “Don’t tell me you didn’t bring your man of the week with you.” Tsukishima stifled the urge to roll his eyes. He didn’t want to give Atsumu the pleasure of seeing him rise to take the bait.
“Very funny, Miya,” Tsukishima said lazily, deciding turning around on his stool to face the rest of the room, resting his elbows on the bar behind him. “I came alone. I don’t see you with a date either.”
Atsumu chuckled. “Jokes on you, you jerk,” he said, a breezy smile on his face. “I got a hot date with that guy over there.” He nodded towards a familiar group across the room.
Ushijima and Kageyama had made the trip back from Poland and Italy, respectively, for the wedding. They were, as always, glued to the other’s hip. Their relationship somehow only grew stronger with distance put between them. Tsukishima couldn’t help but be just a touch bitter, considering Kageyama was the first one to put the seed of concern about long distance relationships in his head all those years ago.
At the end of the day, though, it really was his fault for listening to relationship advice from Kageyama .
Standing in front of them was one Oikawa Tooru, currently pulling down on the skin underneath his eye as he went on some sort of rant with Ushijima watching on blankly. He must have made the trip back from Argentina as well. Tsukishima let out a small breath of…relief, was it? Being Atsumu’s date at least explained what he was doing here.
“He’s a real charmer,” Tsukishima said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Atsumu let out a huff of laughter. “Much like yourself,” he replied, just as sarcastically. Tsukishima looked over at him with a smirk, holding out his glass for Atsumu to clink his bottle against, which he did without looking.
Maybe they were becoming friends after all, in their own weird way.
The two of them sat in silence for a few moments before they both started tracking a flash of red hair that darted out from the other room, its owner landing squarely on Oikawa’s back. Hinata wrapped his arms around Oikawa’s neck, using his legs to cling on to his sides. Atsumu let out an irritated huff. Tsukishima looked over at him and laughed, turning up his chin as he did so. Atsumu scowled, turning to face Tsukishima.
“You know they slept together, right?” Atsumu said in a stage whisper. “Out in Brazil?” Tsukishima held back another laugh.
“No, I’m actually hearing that for the first time,” Tsukishima said dryly, taking a long sip of his drink. Atsumu didn’t seem to catch the sarcasm. Together, they watched Hinata drop off Oikawa’s back before the two of them embraced in a genuine hug. Hinata went to flick Kageyama in the forehead (affectionately, Tsukishima knew) before the four of them fell into what seemed to be easy conversation.
Tsukishima watched Atsumu turn around to face the bar, his face a bit sour. “Oh, you’re actually jealous?” Tsukishima asked snarkily, not entirely to distract himself from the buzzing feeling of some sort of long forgotten possessiveness brewing in his own gut.
“I’m not jealous ,” Atsumu spat out. “We aren’t serious anyway, what would I have to be jealous about?” Tsukishima hummed disbelievingly.
“How does that work?” Tsukishima asked, “He flies across the world to be your date to a wedding but then you guys aren’t serious? A years long international fling?” Atsumu turned to look at him with the most scathing look he could manage.
“You’re one to talk, you…” Atsumu paused, trying to come up with a good enough insult. “Serial dater? Serial dumper?”
“I see my reputation precedes me,” Tsukishima said with an eye roll, swallowing the bitter taste on his tongue, knowing from experience that trying to defend himself was a losing battle. “I suppose you’ll have to teach me your ways then. Years of casual hookups with the same guy but with no commitment? Sounds like it’s working out great for you. You get to have your fun without any of the bullshit.” Atsumu looked down into his beer.
“Yeah, it’s working out great,” he muttered, taking a drink. Tsukishima didn’t push him any further, seeing his sharp eyebrows pull together as he gazed blankly into his beer.
Tsukishima turned away from Atsumu and looked back towards the group standing on the other side of the room. He didn’t bother fighting the small smile that crept onto his face upon seeing Oikawa dramatically pretending to wretch at the sight of Ushijima pulling Kageyama in for a chaste kiss. He could hear Hinata’s laughter clear as a bell from across the room. The music shifted into a slower tempo and Ushijima pulled Kageyama away from the other two towards the dance floor.
Tsukishima’s eyes found Hinata’s, again. He pulled his face into what he hoped was a nonchalant expression, giving Hinata a polite nod. He could feel himself flushing all the way down to his chest, even though he couldn’t say exactly why. He just hoped it wasn’t visible from all the way on the other side of the reception hall. Hinata quirked a side of his mouth up into a small smile, leaning over to say something to Oikawa and nodding towards the bar. Whatever he said managed to pull Oikawa’s attention away from his old rivals.
Oikawa sauntered over towards the bar, and Tsukishima spun around on his stool to match Atsumu, bringing his drink to his lips.
“Your hot date is on his way over now,” he muttered to Atsumu before downing the rest of the contents of his glass in one large swallow. Atsumu let out a sigh before his face lit back up into its usual indifferent and cocksure state.
“Tsum-tsum!” Hinata called out as they approached, ruffling the long hair on top of Atsumu’s head with his hand. Atsumu batted away his hand, smoothing down his bleach blond strands with a small frown.
“Shoyo,” Atsumu said, holding out the last vowel in a whine. “You know how long it takes me to do my hair!”
“Yeah, and it still looks better after you let me muss it up,” Hinata said with a laugh. Oikawa leaned in between them to pull pieces of Atsumu’s hair back into place, his tongue sticking out slightly from between his lips as he worked.
“Don’t let him bother you Atsu, you know he doesn’t understand the first thing about what it takes to look as good as we do,” Oikawa said smugly as he finished, leaning back to admire his work.
“Hey, that’s why I keep my hair short! I can look presentable without having to have an entire tube of gel in my locker like Bo does.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say shortie pie,” Oikawa said, waving his hand dismissively before taking Atsumu’s hand into his own. “Atsu darling, come with me. I need to show Wakatoshi he’s not the only one who has a cute setter here to dance with.”
“Darling?” Hinata muttered under his breath, stifling a laugh. Tsukishima pressed his lips together to suppress a smile.
“So what, I’m only around to impress Ushijima then?” Atsumu said, raising an eyebrow challengingly, leaning in towards Oikawa. He didn’t really seem upset, it was more like they were performing some sort of odd courting ritual.
“Well, I don’t know. Do you think you are a more impressive date than little Tobio over there?” Oikawa asked, tilting his head to the side with a knowing smile. Atsumu glanced over towards Kageyama, who was currently busy awkwardly rocking side to side with Ushijima, putting forth an obvious effort not to stomp on his toes.
Atsumu focused back in on Oikawa’s face, a fire in his eyes that wasn’t there before.
“Of course I am,” Atsumu said, setting down his empty bottle on the bar with a clunk before rising to his feet. “But I know that’s not the only reason you keep me around.” He placed a hand around Oikawa’s shoulders that slid up to grip suggestively around the back of his neck. Oikawa simultaneously blushed and rolled his eyes.
“Atsu, not in front of the kids,” Oikawa said cheekily, breaking free of his grasp to flag down the bartender.
“Please, a couple of shots for the best men,” Oikawa called out, raising his hand in the air. “Dealer’s choice! Put them on my tab if you would?” The bartender nodded curtly and turned to pull a bottle of tequila off the rack.
“My treat,” Oikawa said, his voice filled with false sweetness. “Four eyes, lovely to see you as always.” Oikawa looked at him with an expression Tsukishima couldn’t quite clock. Tsukishima managed to nod awkwardly as Atsumu steered Oikawa away, leaving Hinata standing in front of him.
“Hey,” Hinata said, an unsure smile on his lips as he watched the bartender pour out two matching shot glasses worth of the amber liquid in front of them. Tsukishima turned so he didn’t have to look over his shoulder at Hinata.
“Hey,” Tsukishima echoed, sounding just as awkward as Hinata looked.
A silence hung in the air as the bartender wordlessly slid the two shots in front of them. They both started speaking at the same time.
“I’m sorry, I wish -”
“I should have -”
They both paused. Tsukishima let out a sigh, closing his eyes with a small smile. “I should have messaged you when you got back to Japan,” he finished, his chest tight. Hinata grinned at him, though it didn’t travel to his eyes.
“Eh, it’s alright, my number changed anyway,” Hinata said, sitting in the chair Atsumu had just vacated. “I should have reached out so you would have it.” Tsukishima’s chest tightened even further.
“Yeah, I get why you didn’t though,” he said after a beat. “And anyway, I could have gotten it from Tadashi. It’s on me.” He spun back around to the bar, gingerly lifting the shot glass in front of him up to his nose, pulling a face at the smell and setting it back down. Hinata laughed at him, his eyes looking a little less hesitant.
“It’s been years since all of that anyway,” Hinata said quietly, hesitantly, his fingers fiddling with his own shot glass in front of him. “It feels like we were just kids. Everything is so different now.”
Tsukishima stared at the bartop, a small smile on his lips. “You know, I was just thinking about that earlier,” he admitted. “Four years, it’s been?” Four years since we last talked? It went unsaid but Hinata knew what he meant.
Hinata turned to look at Tsukishima, his eyes filled with a look that hadn’t been directed at Tsukishima in a long time. It was almost hard to look at straight on, too bright, like staring into the sun. Seeing Hinata like this reminded him of the Hinata he knew all those years ago - intense, confident, caring. It made him feel a lot of feelings he didn’t want to confront at this exact moment.
“A lot can change in four years,” Hinata mused, leaving his glass and turning out to face the rest of the people at the reception. “For instance, everyone we know has apparently paired off. I didn’t really think about it until now but…” He gestured vaguely at the dance floor. Tsukishima’s eyes found the faces people he knew well.
Bokuto and Akaashi were near the center of the dance floor, wound up in each other, whispering sweet nothings into the other’s ear. Kuroo was pulling Kenma out to dance, maneuvering him so that they were pressed chest to chest. Kuroo started to guide Kenma into a poorly executed waltz. He watched as Kenma’s look of horror at being made to dance publicly faded into fondness as he looked up at Kuroo.
Oikawa and Atsumu, true to their goal, were dancing next to Ushijima and Kageyama. Oikawa seemed to be attempting to lead Atsumu in some sort of tango, even though it didn’t fit the music at all. Kageyama was shouting something at the two of them, but Ushijima’s gaze stayed on Kageyama, an amused look in his eyes.
“You aren’t wrong,” Tsukishima said, his gaze traveling over the other mostly unfamiliar faces of families and friends he didn’t share in common with the grooms.
“Well, I guess the two of us will just have to catch up then!” Hinata said, spinning back around to the bar and picking up his shot glass, nodding to Tsukishima to do the same. “Por nostalgia? For old time’s sake?”
Tsukishima lifted his glass, the corner of his mouth tilting into the hint of a smile. He moved his hand to gently bump it against Hinata’s before throwing the liquid down his throat. It burned the whole way down, turning into a warmth that settled into his chest.
“Sure. For old time’s sake.”