Chapter Text
It’s strange, Tadashi muses, that he’s hearing Kei’s voice after all these years; it’s especially strange considering the fact that it seems to not have changed at all in all that time. It’s still airy and child-like, and it holds a true, genuine confidence that Kei most definitely doesn’t have anymore. What makes the situation more strange -- in Tadashi’s opinion -- though, is the position in which they’re in.
They’re in the park they first met-- which shouldn’t be all too strange, considering it’s only a block away from Kei’s home; they both walk past it on late night trips to the convenience store during sleepovers, and meet there before school. What makes it strange, however, is the position they’re in; Tadashi, at fifteen-going-on-sixteen, is curled in on himself like he was when he had first met Kei. There are faceless teens surrounding him, one frozen mid-punch, one mid-kick, and the other pointing and laughing, but no sound comes out. A quick look around shows that the entire park -- people, animals, and foliage alike -- is quite the same. Frozen, faceless, and all seemingly facing towards Tadashi and Kei.
“Tsukki? What’s going on?” Tadashi doesn’t expect a response, but it’s still common for him to ask, even despite the fact. Which is why he’s so surprised when Kei opens his mouth to speak.
“You’re dreaming, of course, idiot,” Kei says this as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world, and maybe it is. Why else would everyone be frozen like this, if not because this was all a dream? “Just look around.”
Ah. Right. Kei talking really should have tipped him off-- Wait.
Kei is talking. Talking . Something he hasn’t done since he was cursed by a witch in junior high.
Dazed, Tadashi says, “...You’re talking...”
“You can do whatever you want in dreams, Yamaguchi,” Kei says with his “I’m-annoyed-please-stop-talking” voice that Tadashi still remembers from elementary school, but Tadashi is just so… Amazed . Confused. Happy . He grins.
“You’re talking, Tsukki!”
Kei sighs, his head in his hands, but Tadashi can see the smile tugging at his lips. “I am.”
“That’s amazing! And your voice hasn’t changed a single bit!”
“Don’t remind me, please ,” Kei groans, and Tadashi giggles.
“Sorry, Tsukki! I’m just so excited .”
“I can see.” Kei says with a soft smile, one that causes Tadashi’s heart to speed up and his face to flush.
“I want to talk about everything with you!”
“I don’t think we could possibly talk about everything, and even if we could, we have a time limit, you know.”
Tadashi frowns. “Time limit?”
“This is a dream, you know.” Kei deadpans, eyebrows raised.
“But--” A loud, shrill sound cuts Tadashi off, and it rattles the entire park. People around them start moving, heading to their destinations, completely unaware of the loud ringing breaking the world apart. “Tsukki, I want to stay asleep. I want to hear your voice!”
Kei smiles once more, though this time it doesn’t send Tadashi’s heart fluttering; this time, it has Tadashi holding back tears as he tries to stand and hug Tsukki, tell him for the millionth time he’ll find a cure for him, but a falling sensation begins to overwhelm him and he’s suddenly slipping out of unconsciousness, black filling his vision.
When Tadashi’s eyes blink open, he sees it’s still half an hour before he has to be up, and so he hits the snooze button and rolls over, rubbing at unshed tears. He’s quick to fall asleep again, and he drifts off into another strange dream, this one involving a mooing chicken and a horse named steve (he should really avoid coffee before bed).
Once again, however, his peaceful sleep is interrupted by his damn alarm clock .
Blinking, Tadashi groans, and he slams his hand against the alarm clock on his bed side table, instantly regretting doing so when pain blooms in his palm, fully waking him. He curses, and sits up in bed, blinking his bleary eyes awake. When his eyes focus on his alarm clock, he finds himself cursing once more, and stumbling out of his bed, legs tangling in his blankets and tripping him. Groaning, Tadashi crawls his way over to his closet and pulls his uniform out, hurriedly pulling it on, and hauls himself up. He’s going to be late meeting Kei and get left behind again if he doesn’t hurry.
Tadashi is quick to brush his hair and teeth, and rushes down the hall to the kitchen, where his aunt and cousin are already settled for breakfast, Auntie Kou spooning mush into Akira’s mouth. Tadashi picks up and apple and kisses Auntie and Akira on the head, scooping his bag up from the hall on his way out.
Tadashi is out of breath when he reaches the park by Kei’s house, and he finds his best friend waiting, two coffee’s in hand, and looking impatient. When he finally collapses against Kei’s side, trying to catch his breath, Kei is ready with a note in hand. He hands the note and one of the coffee’s to Tadashi and starts to walk ahead.
You’re late...Again.
Kei’s managed to make his handwriting look like the feelings he’s trying to express, and Tadashi has since managed to decipher the different tones in his short notes. Kei’s carefully written note conveys annoyance, and paired with the look Tadashi is getting, Tadashi is quick to rush into an apology.
“Sorry, Tsukki! I slept in again, I know, but there was this really cool doc on last night and I couldn’t miss it! But it was american, so I had to stay up late to see it, and strained my eyes reading the subtitles, I’m sorry!”
Apparently, Kei was expecting this, because he taps the paper in Tadashi’s hand, signalling to him to turn it over.
I know, don’t worry. Just try to get more sleep, damn it.
Tadashi laughs, though he can’t really breathe right; his best friend really does know him. “I will, Tsukki! No worries!”
Kei rolls his eyes, a silent I wasn’t worried , and Tadashi smiles brightly, trying to cover up the flush in his cheeks. They make their way to school sipping their coffee in silence when suddenly Tadashi remembers his dream.
“Ah! Right, Tsukki, guess what? I had a dream last night, and you were in it! And you were talking. We were at the park, and we were just talking. I don’t know what was going to happen, because my alarm clock woke me up, but you talked. You still kinda sounded ten, but you acted like yourself.” Tadashi giggles. “And then I had a dream about a chicken and a horse, but the horse didn’t have a normal name like snowball or something, it was named Steve . Imagine naming an animal Steve!”
Kei makes a noise of acknowledgement, and shakes his head. He pulls out his notepad of ready-prepared responses, and flips to a certain page.
You need to stop drinking coffee before bed.
Tadashi flushes in remembrance that Kei has to tell him that so much it’s in his ready-prepared notes. “I-- I know, ok!? But like I told you, the doc I wanted to watch was on late.”
Kei just shakes his head, and tucks the notepad away. The two continue on in silence, and Tadashi thinks back to his dream. Kei was talking . It’s been seven years since they met, and five since Tsukki was cursed. However cliche it is, Tadashi remembers it like it was yesterday.
Tadashi’s sitting in his bedroom working on a welcome gift for his Auntie Kou, who is coming to live with him and his mother, due to his mother’s heart problems, when Kei bursts in, looking positively pissed . Tadashi opens his mouth to ask what’s up, but Kei beats him to the punch, shoving a notebook into his chest and flopping onto his bed and pounding the soft mattress with heavy fists. Tadashi blinks, confused, and his eyes drift to his notebook. Hie eyes widen when he looks at the first page, unbelieving that the writing on it is Kei’s; Kei’s handwriting is neat, and thought-out. The writing on this page is sloppy, obviously quickly written, and there are noticeable tear stains on the notebook paper.
Tadashi reads, however, because he gets the idea that Kei wants him to, and his eyes widen. It really is Kei’s handwriting, it seems, and the tear stains are definitely excused, considering the content; the long note goes for three pages, but the part Tadashi is most focused on has him reading it over and over again. “So you know that weird lady that lives in the house down the street? Well, I lost a ball in her yard earlier this afternoon, and long story short, there were some words exchanged and, she said some words in a language I didn’t understand and now I can’t talk. I can’t talk. She said something about true love’s kiss or something. My mom is hysterical, and tried to find her, but her house is gone. She thinks I’m lying. I’m not, though. You know magic, right? You know I’m not lying. And now I’m stuck without a voice, waiting until ‘true love’s kiss’. How pathetic.”
The letter goes on for three more pages on how angry Kei is, and though Tadashi reads it all, he reads the first paragraph at least ten times, unaware of Kei’s eyes staring at him expectantly.
Finally, he drops the notebook to his lap, and looks at Kei. “Is this all true, Tsukki?”
Kei doesn’t even bother to tick his tongue out at the nickname. He just nods. Tadashi bites his lip.
“So… We just have to find a new way of communicating! That should be easy enough! And then we just have to wait until you find your true love and kiss her!”
Kei rolls his eyes, and holds his hands out for the notebook and a pen. Tadashi gives them to him quickly, giggling when Kei wrinkles his nose at the bright pink gel pen he gets. Kei just shakes his head and writes a note.
It could be years before I find my true love. So let’s just pretend this is permanent, ok?
Tadashi frowns. “If you say so, Tsukki…”
Tadashi still has most of that note memorized. He can probably quote the whole thing, in baby Tsukki’s voice (or, as good of an impression as he can do) and everything. His mind wanders to the “true love’s kiss” thing for not the first time since the curse was placed, and certainly not the first time since he developed feelings for Kei in their first year of junior high.
A tap on his shoulder startles Tadashi from his thoughts, and he blinks back to reality to see they’re in the club changing room, and that he’s the only one not dressed. Kei is there, in his gym clothes, and pointing at the door with raised eyebrows.
“Y-- You go ahead to practice, Tsukki, I’ll-- I’ll change on my own. Be down in a bit.” Kei nods, and leaves Tadashi be. He changes slowly, still tired from his late night, and downs the rest of his -- cold -- coffee before making his way to the gym.
“Come on, Tsukishima, don’t be a dick!”
“You just have to tell us if our quick is improving any. We won’t bother you any more after.”
Tadashi rolls his eyes at the sound of Hinata and Kageyama somehow once again bickering with Kei without getting any responses, and steps into the gym, walking up to the three other first years.
“Hinata, Kageyama, come on now… Tsukki doesn’t want to watch you guys do your quick a hundred times to see if it’s getting any better…”
“Then will you, Yamaguchi?!”
“Please, Yamaguchi-san! It would be very appreciated!”
Tadashi takes one second too long to respond, and the freak duo takes that as a yes, taking him by both wrists and dragging him to the court. Tadashi groans, and shoots a look over his shoulder to Kei that clearly reads a you owe me , but Kei just smirks and waves, clearly proud of himself.
At lunch, a girl comes up to them. She’s pretty, from their class, and not too loud. She and Kei would make a nice couple.
“Ah, Ts- Tsukishima-kun?.. I- I was wondering, um… I was wondering if you could…maybe...maybe meet me after your volleyball practice get done?.. B- Behind the gym?..”
Kei blinks, takes a bite of his lunch, and sets his chopsticks down as he grabs his notepad up, flipping to a page. He turns it to her, and she sighs in relief when she reads the fading “sure” on the paper. When she runs off, Tadashi finally forces a grin on his face.
“Looks like someone’s getting a confession~” Tadashi teases, and Kei flips his notepad to a different page.
Shut up.
“But Tsukki ! She might be your true love! This is exciting!” Fighting the pain in his chest, Tadashi pokes at Kei’s cheek. “I want to hear your voice again, Tsu-ki-shi-ma.”
Kei rolls his eyes, and holds up the notepad once again. He uses his finger to underline his words. Shut up. He flips to the next page. Please .
Tadashi just laughs, and changes the subject. He’d been in the middle of telling Kei about the documentary he’d watched the night before.
Tadashi almost completely about the confession until after practice. He and Kei are walking out of the club room, Tadashi rambling about his homework, when Kei suddenly drops a note in his hand and walks in the other direction, back towards the gym.
Wait at the gates if you want. Some girl’s confessing. Be there in five if you do stay.
Tadashi frowns at the note, but tucks it in his pocket, heading towards the gates on his own. Five minutes seems a little... quick for a confession. That must mean he’s saying no. Again. Tadashi doesn’t understand why Kei keeps rejecting these girls; they could be the one to cure him of his curse! But Kei is stubborn, and hates talking about it, and so maybe they aren’t.
Just as he promised, Kei returns five minutes later, a teary-eyed brunette brushing past him, and they start the journey home as if nothing happened. Tadashi is itching to ask Kei the why that keeps repeating in his head, but he sees the tired look Kei has on, and so he keeps silent on the matter, choosing to continue talking about homework. A safe topic.
When Tadashi arrives home after dropping Kei off at his home, he finds a quiet house and a note on the table.
Ta-chan,
Took Aki and Aoi to the doctor’s for a checkup. Your mum is looking a lot healthier today, and she even made a few potions! Speaking of, she asked me if I could ask you to pick a few things up from Silver’s shop for her. Your favorite’s for supper tonight! Love you, Auntie Kou.
Tadashi groans when he finds a shopping list on the other side of the paper. Dropping his bag in the doorway, which he’s sure to get scolder for later, Tadashi grabs the money left on the counter for him and heads out to get the groceries, his mind on his best friend the entire time.
I promise, I’ll find a way to make Tsukki talk again. I will!