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Tsukishima shifted uncomfortably, moving the nylon strap along his shoulder blades to find a better way to hold his gig bag. It was the first time in ages that he had used a gig bag, and he couldn’t help but feel a little nostalgic at how it felt to carry his guitar on his back once again.
He proceeded to walk towards the small café, which fortunately had been a short walking distance from his house. He remembers the day he first encountered the quaint shop on the day he went to run some errands.
-
He ran by the café, only to be slowed down by a person in the middle of the sidewalk, hanging up posters outside a coffee shop.
“Oops sorry, am I in your way?” The stranger smiled bashfully upon noticing Tsukishima, “I had to hang up a couple of posters, but I’m just about done.” He continued as he stepped out of the way.
Tsukishima couldn’t help but notice the vibrant color choices on the poster. He cringed internally. To him, it had looked like it was made by a child. In the poster the words, “guitarist wanted” were plastered in big bold letters, lighting up a familiar sensation inside of Tsukishima. Something he hadn’t felt in a while.
“Are there gonna be auditions or something?” Tsukishima asked flatly after examining the poster. The other man’s eyes widened, as if he had already assumed that Tsukishima had been asking out of interest of trying out, “Why? Do you play?!”
Tsukishima shrugged, “I used to, and I was just asking.”
The man’s expression withered like a dying flower, “Oh,” his tone was full of disappointment , “Sorry I assumed, it’s just a really urgent thing you know?” The stranger let out an awkward chuckle.
“How urgent do you need a guitarist?” Tsukishima asked, also discovering something he had missed about the stranger before- his freckles. They had been beautifully spread across his face, reminding him of the night sky, though his personality seemed to be the exact opposite. Tsukishima had to admit that the stranger was quite cute.
“The gig’s in a month but it takes a while to find someone. I work here, and they barely introduced this plan to me last night. It’s supposed to attract more people.” The stranger explained, scratching the back of his neck. It seems he was a bit shy, too. Or perhaps he noticed that Tsukishima had been staring at him for a while.
“Oh.” Tsukishima nodded as he broke eye contact, shifting his gaze somewhere else, slightly embarrassed that he had been caught staring. .
“Yeah,” The stranger dragged the word out, as one would do when there was nothing left to say, “Well, if you know anybody, would you consider telling them about us?” The stranger smiled politely, handing a spare poster over to Tsukishima.
Tsukishima took the paper and examined once again. He stopped playing for a reason, but something had been compelling him from the moment he saw the poster to try out. He let out a soft sigh, “I‘ll audition, I don’t really know anybody else.” Tsukishima stated as he looked up to the meet the strangers star-filled eyes. “Electric guitar, right?”
“Yes! But wait, really?” The man had visibly jumped up, “You don’t have to really, I’m sure somebody else could be interested.” He assured, even though Tsukishima knew that the stranger had solely said that to not seem too enthusiastic.
“It’s fine, I’ll try it out.” The audition was more for Tsukishima, in all honesty. It had been a while since he felt motivated to play guitar or feeling something towards it, and he wanted to take advantage of it while the sensation was there.
The stranger smiled with teeth, “Okay cool, can I get your name so I can put you down?” He asked as he pulled out another spare poster, flipping it to the blank back of it to write on.
“Tsukishima Kei.”
“Alright,” The man had scribbled his name onto the paper, making Tsukishima frown a bit when the stranger struggled to write the correct kanji for his first name, reminding him of how his old classmates would struggle as well. “If you could come by tomorrow around closing time, that’d be great. Obviously auditions won’t be here, but at my place. Is that okay?”
“Alright, yeah.” Tsukishima nodded in response, “And your name?”
“Oh right, I completely forgot about that,” The stranger let out a chuckle,
“Yamaguchi Tadashi.”
-
The workers snapped their heads towards the door as the bell jingled, signaling that a customer had walked in. Yamaguchi had been the closest to the door, sweeping under some chairs, as he smiled upon noticing that it had been Tsukishima.
“Hey, you came! Glad you didn’t bail last minute.” Yamaguchi joked, halting his sweeping.
Tsukishima shook his head, “Nah, I was pretty serious about auditioning.” It came out a bit awkward, and he always hated that he wasn’t good at small talk. He just never found it to be necessary, if he didn’t want to talk, then he simply didn’t.
“Well great!” Yamaguchi flashed his bright smile, “Just sit over there, I’ll be over in a minute.” He gestured to a booth before tying his long, green hair back into a messy bun, seemingly being bothered by having his hair get in his way. Tsukishima’s mouth had gone dry, the only thing he could really muster up was a nod before walking away to the booth. The day he met Yamaguchi, his hair was loose and now it was in a bun and really, Tsukishima couldn’t tell which had suited him more.
After a short while, Yamaguchi had returned without his apron, “Ready to go?” Which Tsukishima had nodded in response.
The two walked alongside each other in the cool breeze of that summer night, the only thing keeping it from being completely silent were the distant sounds of car horns and cicadas.
“So Tsukishima,” Yamaguchi broke the silence, “Why’d you stop playing guitar?”
Tsukishima had been expecting the question sooner or later, “I kinda just lost interest in it.”
“Really? So why are you trying out now?”
Tsukishima stayed silent for a moment. Yamaguchi must’ve noticed the shift in his demeanor, because he didn’t seem to push on it anymore, he had only apologized for asking him such question and that was that.
The pair arrived at a small house, just a couple of blocks away from the cafe and on the complete other side from Tsukishima’s place. They stood in front of the garage of the house and blaring instruments were coming from the other side. Yamaguchi bent over to reach for the garage handle and lifted the door, opening it to the band who had been practicing. Tsukishima was instantly greeted by two other people inside, one drummer and one bassist. There, he noticed a vacant guitar stand.
“What do you play then?” Tsukishima asked Yamaguchi, who had looked down in shame at the sudden question.
“Well he was attempting to learn guitar but,” the drummer, who was a shorter man with bright orange hair, jumped into the conversation, who had began to laugh mid sentence.
“He fucking sucks.” The bassist said with a straight face, “No offense.”
“No, no, you’re right, I do suck.” Yamaguchi laughed it off, “I’m actually the vocalist.”
Tsukishima nodded slightly as his mouth made an ‘O’ shape, “That’s pretty cool actually.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah I mean, I suck at singing.”
“Couldn’t be worse than Kageyama though.” The drummer had once again hopped into the conversation, this time earning a genuine laugh from Yamaguchi. It was one of the nicest things Tsukishima has ever heard.
“Shut up Hinata, like you’re any better.” The bassist, who apparently was named ‘Kageyama’ yelled out, proving that he wasn’t the calm person Tsukishima initially thought he was.
After the two had bickered for what seemed like hours, Yamaguchi gave an apologetic look to Tsukishima before clearing his throat, “Alright guys shut up, he’s here to audition.”
“Sorry.” The pair muttered. Yamaguchi turned to Tsukishima, “Ready?”
Tsukishima nodded as he swung the nylon strap off his shoulder, carefully placing the bag onto the floor, and pulling out his teal, squire affinity Stratocaster.
“Ooo, nice guitar.” Hinata complimented as he stared at the guitar in awe.
“Thanks.” Tsukishima replied, picking the guitar up and swinging the strap attached to it over his shoulder, “Where can I plug it in?”
“Over there.” Yamaguchi pointed to a decent sized amp as he took a seat on the small couch that had been conveniently placed inside of the garage. Tsukishima plugged his guitar in and gave a test strum, the sound echoing throughout the small space.
Tsukishima had never felt nervous about playing guitar. Even when he first started and wasn’t very good at it, he always played with certainty, as if he was made to play. He picked it up pretty quickly, too. As he played the beginning chords to the song he picked out for the audition, it had already captivated Yamaguchi and the rest of the guys. They all stared wide eyed at the angelic sound, watching as Tsukishima’s fingers glided across the guitar, obvious years of practice displaying itself. Yamaguchi was the most impressed, as it made him feel something, too.
For the first time since he formed a band, he felt something he had never felt before, and that excited him.
“Well?” Tsukishima looked up as soon as he wrapped up the song.
“You’re in.”
-
“We’ve been practicing for a week now, and you still haven’t sang.” Tsukishima took a swig from his water bottle, feeling exhausted from the long practice. He didn’t miss the feeling of how his fingered ached after intense finger stretching, especially for a long period of time.
“I’ve been trying to finish this song but, I can’t think of the final verse.” Yamaguchi sighed as he tapped his pencil against his lip.
“You write music too?” Tsukishima’s eyes widened and Yamaguchi simply laughed in response.
“Yes! Did you think I was just watching you guys and not doing anything?”
“Kinda.” Tsukishima shamelessly admitted.
“So mean!” Yamaguchi exclaimed, “But no, I write music too.”
“Can I see?” Tsukishima asked, to which Yamaguchi nodded, handing over the notebook he had been staring at for the past week.
“Tsukishima skimmed through the song, “It’s pretty good so far,” he stated as he handed the notebook back to Yamaguchi, “Try singing it out loud, maybe some words will pop into your head.”
Yamaguchi’s eyes widened before taking a moment to register the suggestion in his brain, “Okay, let’s try.” He nodded in excitement.
Yamaguchi cleared his throat as he positioned the microphone to his mouth. Hinata started the song with an upbeat drum, Tsukishima and Kageyama joining in after, then-
It was the first time Tsukishima had heard Yamaguchi sing, and it took everything in him to keep focus on his guitar playing. His voice had a nice rasp to it, but at the same time was sweet like honey, mirroring Yamaguchi in a way, since he had been the sweetest person Tsukishima’s ever met. It wasn’t what Tsukishima had been expecting, but that fire he felt the first time he auditioned came back, this time more ignited.
“I figured out the last lyrics! We have a song now!” Yamaguchi high fived everyone as the biggest smile Tsukishima has ever seen was plastered on his face. “Thank you, Tsukki.”
Tsukishima’s heart skipped a beat at the nickname.
-
The final night before the gig, Yamaguchi decided to walk Tsukishima home, the vocalist was headed that way since he had seemingly forgot something at the café. It was quiet, but not in the same uncomfortable silence as the first time they walked together, just a couple of weeks prior. Yamaguchi had been around Tsukishima long enough to understand that he wasn’t very much a talker and only really spoke to poke fun at his band members- Kageyama and Hinata, specifically.
“I guess I should tell you why I quit playing.” Tsukishima abruptly said. Yamaguchi looked at Tsukishima and knitted his eyebrows together, “Okay.”
Tsukishima looked up at the stars before sighing, “I used to be in a three person band, with my brother being one of the members.”
“It was great at first, until the singer moved away, and I guess my brother was really into her or something because he decided he’d quit after she left. Told me that there was no point in having a band anymore.”
“Damn.” Yamaguchi frowned.
“After that, I played by myself for a while, but it just wasn’t the same. On top of that, the guy who would give me lessons passed away, and I guess that was the final straw for me.”
“I’m so sorry, Tsukki.”
Tsukishima shook his head, as if he was physically assuring Yamaguchi that it was alright, and it was. “When I saw the poster, it made me pretty excited, and I guess that’s what led me to audition for your band.”
“Im glad you did, you basically saved us!” Yamaguchi smiled. Somehow he had looked prettier under the dim light of the full moon.
“You kinda saved me, too. You reminded me how fun it was to play in a band,” Tsukishima said, making Yamaguchi stop in his tracks
“And you reminded me of my love for music.” Tsukishima smiled. Yamaguchi dumbfounded, stared at Tsukishima’s smile. The blond hadn’t smiled much in the moments with Yamaguchi, but Yamaguchi couldn’t help but feel honored that he got to witness it.
Tsukishima took a slight step forward, just inches away from the green haired man, looking down at him with the soft smile spread across his face, “I never really told you thank you, so thank you.”
“Thank you, too.” Yamaguchi smiled back, “I feel like I owe you so much.” He added, breaking away eye contact to stare at the floor.
Tsukishima let out a soft chuckle, “I’ll think about what you could do for me then.” He smirked. Yamaguchi felt his cheeks redden.
“Goodnight, Yams. Make sure you get home safe.” The blond backed away towards his front gate, leaving Yamaguchi completely at a loss for words.
Still, he had to play it off somehow, “Don’t worry, I always carry pepper spray with me.”
The blond answered with a small laugh. Yamaguchi smiled to himself as he watched him walk into his house.
“Goodnight, Tsukki.”
-
After weeks of practices after work and even days off, it had been time to preform at the café. The venue was small, but it had attracted a lot of customers, just as Yamaguchi’s bosses had hoped it would. Tsukishima wondered how there was enough space to sustain the customers.
“I feel kind of nervous.” Yamaguchi held his stomach, an uncomfortable look plastered on his face.
“Me too.” Hinata agreed, mimicking the green haired boy, also holding his stomach. The pair had looked like they were about to vomit at any given moment.
“You guys are acting like we haven’t been practicing for this all week, we’re ready.” Kageyama rolled his eyes, “Are you nervous?”
“No, I’ve played before in front of people.” Tsukishima replied.
“See? He has experience.” Kageyama pointed out, which had calmed Hinata, but-
Yamaguchi did a couple of breathing exercises, still feeling overwhelmed by everything- the amount of people, the lights, how they would do, Tsukishima. Yamaguchi burried his face into his palms.
Tsukishima walked over to place a hand on Yamaguchi’s shoulder, which had made the latter jump up in surprise. Yamaguchi looked up at Tsukishima, “You’ll do good, trust me.” Tsukishima ensured. Yamaguchi blinked a couple of times before taking a deep breath, “You’re right.”
Tsukishima gave Yamaguchi a small smile, to which the latter had returned back to him.
“That’s all it took?!” Kageyama interrupted to which Hinata laughed, “They’re almost like a couple- Ow!” Hinata rubbed the spot that Kageyama had nudged. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had looked at each other before backing away shyly. Tsukishima realized he started to feel something when he first heard Yamaguchi sing, thinking that it was just the excitement of being in a band again. After spending so much alone time with him though and talking about so much only made him realize that it wasn’t excitement but-
Yamaguchi, as an employee of the cafe, had to start off the performance with a script his manager wrote out for him in order to promote their deals.
“Thank you for coming out tonight and supporting our first ever gig, with hopefully more to come,” Yamaguchi’s charisma riled up the crowed, earning dozens of cheers in response.
“We’re very happy to be here and I hope you enjoy.”
Hinata started the song, just as they had practiced before, Kageyama and Tsukishima joined soon after.
The cafe went silent as soon as Yamaguchi started to sing, staring at the man in awe as his voice echoed through the building through the speakers. They rewarded him with cheers, melting away his nervousness as the song continued.
Yamaguchi turned to look at Tsukishima on his left side, flashing a smile at him in between singing. Tsukishima’s ‘flame’ had grew in intensity, as he took in the view of the crowd and fed off their cheers. Most importantly, he couldn’t help the feeling he got whenever he made eye contact with Yamaguchi. The two stared at each other like if they were serenading each other with their sound, forgetting everyone around them.
The show ended with a bang as people cheered for them, “Not bad for a beginner’s gig huh?” Yamaguchi joked to the crowd, ending the show with a goodnight before walking off stage with his band members.
“See? I told you it wouldn’t be so bad.” Kageyama nudged Yamaguchi, who was too ecstatic to feel the pain or the embarrassment about his nervousness prior to preforming.
“We did so good!” Yamaguchi smiled brightly, “I hope they let us do this again soon.”
As if on cue, Hinata ran up to the group and jumped in the air with excitement written all over his face, “We have an invitation to compete with other bands next month!”
Yamaguchi and Hinata both jumped up in the air and hugged each other before Hinata pulled away to hug Kageyama. Kageyama hid his blushing face in the crook of Hinata’s neck as he gave into the hug. Tsukishima smirked knowingly, he first noticed that Kageyama had a crush on their drummer when he met them for the first time.
Breaking Tsukishima out of his thoughts, Yamaguchi’s arms wrapped tightly around Tsukishima before pulling away, “I know I told you this last night but, thank you for everything.” He had been smiling so-ever brightly since the start of the performance, lighting up everyone with his presence, especially Tsukishima. The blond smiled down at the man who was wrapped around him, “You’re welcome, Yams.”
The feeling that ignited inside Tsukishima’s soul seemed to light up whenever he was around Yamaguchi, as if he had discovered a new passion. If it wasn’t for running into Yamaguchi, he probably wouldn’t have never returned to his love for playing, as well as having the chance of meeting his new band mates, ones that would hopefully never leave him behind.
He found someone who he hoped would never leave him behind.
“I thought of how you could repay me.” A hint of red was starting to appear on Tsukishima’s cheeks as the taller man scratched the back of his neck. He wasn’t good at this sort of thing, after all.
Yamaguchi smiled endearingly at the blond, as if he could already guess what was about to be asked of him, “Yeah? What is it?”
Tsukishima looked at Yamaguchi, who with one look had stripped away all of his uncertainty. Tsukishima’s heart felt warm. He never wanted to forget this feeling. Playing guitar made him feel great, but it was nothing compared to what Yamaguchi made him feel.
“Go on a date with me.” He finally said, and the ends of Yamaguchi’s lips tilted up into the biggest smile ever, “Okay.” he squealed, feeling cheesy that he had been so excited in the first place.
Tsukishima took Yamaguchi’s hand into his, his calloused fingers rubbing circles into Yamaguchi’s smooth skin. His calloused fingers were a symbol of his years of playing guitar as for Yamaguchi- he was a proud symbol of sunshine, lighting up others around him, especially when singing.
As Yamaguchi, Tsukishima was his moon.
And together they ruled the stage, although it felt like they were ruling the world.