Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ushijima Wakatoshi found himself inside the Sendai City Science Museum at around 12:45 on a Saturday.

Honestly, he had nothing to say for himself. Though he did have an interest in plants and some wildlife, he was never one for interactive museums. Going to a museum, even if it had cool features, took time out of volleyball, which wasn’t worth it. Plus, there were too many loud sounds and germs. Today’s trip had simply been decided on whim, on the possibility that he could find what he was looking for.

He wasn’t looking to relive his deprived childhood. He didn’t believe in concepts like that in the first place. No, he was looking for a person, someone who had captured his interest years ago.

As he walked into the museum, he found that he didn’t mind the atmosphere. Surprisingly, there was minimal noise, at least in the entrance hall. Sunlight streamed through the large windows that made up the walls of the building, casting interesting shadows of people and exhibits alike on the tiled floor.

Most interesting was the bones of the giant elephant that stood under the stairs. Palaeoloxodon naumanni , as stated by the sign. Discovered in Japan in 1860. Palaeoloxodon is an extinct genus of elephants. Ushijima hadn’t given much thought to elephants before, but he supposed they were quite cute. Their tusks could grow over 2.4 meters in length! Their ancestors moved from the Eurasian continent to Japan on a land bridge! Scientists think their remains were also found in China and Kor–

"Ushijima-San?!" A voice behind him yelped, interrupting his train of thought.

Ushijima turned around to see a smartly-dressed, bespectacled man behind the welcome center desk, trying in vain to hide his shock and possible horror.

Bingo.

After all of these years, Tsukishima Kei was still striking. He had grown into his own since high school, looking less worryingly-skinny. He had some fullness to his cheeks, which were, at that moment, extremely flushed. His hair, now significantly grown out, crowned his head with flax-seed-colored curls. He wore thinly-rimmed gold glasses that matched his eyes and an oversized, comedically-pastel dinosaur cardigan. 

"Tsukishima Kei. What a surprise." Ushijima replied, his voice inexplicably hoarse. 

As if his previous terror had never occurred, Tsukishima's face returned to a guarded neutral. He placed his elbows on the welcome center desk and leaned in towards Ushijima. "Welcome back to Sendai. Last thing I heard was that you had moved to Poland to play for Orzeł Warszawa." He coughed, looking momentarily flustered. "Not that I've been following too closely."

Ushijima nodded. "That is true. I have returned to Japan for the next couple weeks to visit old friends and do some sightseeing. Are you still playing with the Sendai Frogs?"

Tsukishima squinted at him. "You remembered." 

"Why would I not have? I like to keep track of potential opponents." 

"Ushijima-San," Tsukishima's voice edged towards a sneer, but his eyes said...Something else. "With all due respect, we're part of different volleyball divisions. You will never play me in a serious capacity."

Ushijima shrugged. "I find watching all levels of volleyball interesting." He paused as he studied Tsukishima, trying and failing to read his body language. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you were taunting me." 

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "Obviously not. You don't need me to tell you that you're much better at volleyball than I am."

He leaned back in his chair, giving Ushijima a chance to steady his sudden heart palpitations. "So, how are you? What have you been doing on your vacation?" 

"I visited some old volleyball teammates and some family. We wanted to go sightseeing together, but they had to work. However, they enjoy this museum immensely, so they suggest that I start my tour here."

That was somewhat of a lie. Tendou had offhandedly mentioned that he liked the museum five years ago, but not when they had gotten lunch together earlier in the week. Ushijima was only here because Kageyama had mentioned, after much subtle prompting, that Tsukishima worked there.

Tsukishima looked aghast. "You were a Sendai resident. Please tell me this isn't your first time here." 

"It is."

Another lie, though, to be fair, the last time he had been to the museum was nearly two decades previously. 

"In my old age, I have gained an appreciation for the sciences." He quickly added.

Tsukishima's lips curled into an expression Ushijima couldn't describe. "Who would've thought that the big, famous, volleyball professional would ever be into science."

"Not my mother." Ushijima replied. "She tried to get me to come when I wasn't young, but I was too focused on volleyball. I regret my previous decision, now that I have interest.” 

Tsukishima snorted, looking quite cute as he covered his mouth. Then his eyes widened and he straightened in his chair, the blank look returning to his face. "Well, I'm glad your interest manifested at some point." He said in a clipped tone. "And I'm glad you decided to come here first." 

He pulled out a map and a sharpie from within the desk and began rambling off what seemed like a protocol museum welcoming speech.

“Welcome to the Sendai City Science Museum! If you want to start your visit off with a bang, I would suggest starting at the Natural History Exhibit. I saw you staring at the Naumann’s elephant before, so I think you would like the prehistoric elephants there. When you’re done with that, there’s also a Science and Technology section. We give tours of both sections at 1:30 if you’re interested, but only today and tomorrow, so you’re lucky you came today. I’m giving the tours this week, if that's a plus for you. There are also some exhibits and activities on the floor we’re currently on, but they’re mostly geared towards children, so you probably wouldn’t be interested. There’s a museum restaurant on the floor above us if you get hungry and an outdoor area with an observation trail and some other attractions.”

He paused to catch his breath. "Can I help you with anything else, Ushijima-San?"

Ushijima shook his head, still in the middle of processing the sudden change in Tsukishima's disposition and the information he'd been given. "That should be all. Thank you for your help." 

"Good, I hope you enjoy your visit Ushijima-San." 

Though he was slightly worried that he had offended the other man, Ushijima saw no other reason to bother Tsukishima while he was working. Instead he decided to head upstairs to where the elephants had been circled on his map, formulating his trip at the museum. He had around 30 minutes left until the tour started, so he definitely wanted to take Tsukishima’s advice about seeing the elephants first.

He had thought the entrance hall magnificent, but the Natural History Display was even more so. Figures of flying geese hung from the ceiling while deer stood frozen in dance below them. Across from them stood several massive, grotesque elephants. Ushijima thought them to be quite regal. 

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Tsukishima, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, lining up groups of children for what he assumed was the 4F tour.  As the children laughed and chatted around him, Tsukishima looked uncharacteristically delighted at the actions of the excited kids.

Damn, Ushijima didn’t think his heart could take the tour today.  Maybe he’d just buy himself a stuffed elephant from the gift shop and go home now.

It’s okay, he told himself, You can just come back tomorrow.

Chapter Text

After a pep-talk and some teasing from Tendou, Ushijima worked up the courage to brave the 4F tour the next day.

But not before he participated in ungodly amounts of scientific Internet research.

No, this was definitely not so he could impress Tsukishima with knowledge. He just wanted to be able to understand the exhibits while he was being shown them. Totally.

Now that Ushijima was here, however, he felt a bit out of place. The tour group consisted of the class of a nearby elementary school, their three, incredibly stressed-out teachers, Ushijima, and Tsukishima. Obviously, Tsukishima hadn't paid that much attention to Ushijima, only greeted him with a blank expression when the tour started. Ushijima didn't really mind.

Today, Tsukishima was wearing a brilliant, yellow sweater covered in cream-colored moons, paired with a frilly white shirt and brown slacks. Not only did he look adorable, but he was also, surprisingly,  an energetic and engaging tour guide. Gone was the coy and standoffish man Ushijima had spoken to the previous day, replaced by someone who looked genuinely excited to educate these children. 

Ushijima took this change in mood as a great opportunity to put his plan into action. 

"Yesterday, I learned that fungi are genetically closer to humans than plants." Ushijima proudly informed Tsukishima as the tour passed a collection of mushroom specimens.

Tsukishima Kei, several elementary school chaperones, and about two dozen children all turned to stare at him.

"That's true." Tsukishima confirmed, his expression slightly souring. "We also share 44.1% of our DNA with bananas, so it's not that far out of left field." 

The elementary school onlookers murmured to each other with varying levels of interest. Invigorated by their response, Ushijima decided that he should drop some more hot knowledge that he didn't just learn yesterday on these children: 

"Bananas are berries, not fruit."

The screams of juvenile disbelief and delight echoed throughout the hall, much to the distress of all of the surrounding adults.

Tsukishima turned to Ushijima, rubbing his temples as the twenty-three children collectively lost their shit behind him. "Are you trying to steal my job?" He whispered. "Because if you want it, you can have it."

Ushijima shook his head. "No. That is not at all my intention. I'm sorry if it came across that way." 

A slight smile crossed Tsukishima's lips. "That was a joke. I don't actually think someone who memorized lame facts from wikipedia is going to get me laid off." 

Oh well, shit, he's been found out.

“Touché, Tsukishima Kei.”

Well, that was a fucking failure. Which is what Ushijima would have said if he were his ex-teammate Kageyama Tobio. 

Fortunately, he was not Kageyama. Unlike Kageyama, he could wait this embarrassment out with a calm and expressionless face. Patience.

Who was he kidding, Ushijima was freaking out.

Before he exploded from embarrassment, Ushijima was gifted an opportunity to redeem himself when the group passed by a selection of fossilized plants and the kids broke off from the group to look at different exhibits.

"I'm quite a connoisseur of plants." Ushijima said to Tsukishima, trying got sound smart. "I keep houseplants back in Poland."

This seemed to pique Tsukishima's interest. "Oh do you?"

"I would not say so unless I was telling the truth." Ushijima earnestly replied.

Tsukishima’s eyes narrowed, as if he were trying to calculate his opponent’s next move. "Well, Ushijima Wakatoshi, formerly of the Japanese national team, what kind of plants do you grow?" 

"I own several succulents, ferns, and flowering plants. It is a convenient hobby." 

In truthfulness, Ushijima's plant obsession went far past the point of "hobby." He named every single plant and badly sung to them when he rose in the morning.

Tsukishima didn't need to know that.

"It's really interesting to me how interconnected rocks and plants are." Ushijima tried. 

"How so?" 

Finally, an engaging, intelligent conversation topic!

"We saw fossilized plants previously in the tour. It reminded me of the jasper stones I regularly put in my orchid's pot." 

Tsukishima stared blankly at him. " What?"

"I also have some other crystals I have for other plants, but I haven't chosen their resting places yet."

Tsukishima seemed to still be stuck on the previous statement. "...Why do you put rocks in your plants?" 

"Tendou, the blocker from Shiratorizawa, has informed me that plants and crystals have a symbiotic relationship. The plant feeds off the crystal’s energy and the crystal gains grounded energy from the plant and its sustenance. Jasper can promote courage and empower the spirit, which is appropriate for my orchid. It was gifted to me by my teammates earlier i–”

"I'm sorry," Tsukishima interrupted, stunned. "Tendou-San said what ?"

For possibly the first time in his life, Ushijima floundered for words. "He told me tha-" 

"Rhetorical question." Tsukishima cut in. "No offense, but that's the stupidest shit I've ever heard." 

He then immediately clapped his hand over his mouth, nervously glancing at the kids around him. "Excuse me." He apologized to a nearby teacher.

As cute as that was, Ushijima could not remember the last time he truly experienced such devastation. 

"I didn't think Tendou would mislead me." He said slowly, then rushed to correct his statement. "But, I don't believe you're lying to me. You're very intelligent." 

Tsukishima paused, all former signs of disdain gone from his face. He looked quite contemplative as he studied Ushijima's face. "Honestly, from what I know about Tendou-San, I don't think he was intending to lie to you, per se. The whole thing sounds like a huge joke." 

"Yes, I suppose so. I just don’t understand why he did it.” 

"He was fucking with you." Tsukishima deadpanned.

Ushijima thought for a moment. "That would be in character for him. I just hope that my misplaced trust didn’t hurt my plants.”

Tsukishima was quiet for a long while before he spoke. “I can assure you that dropping rocks into plant soil isn’t going to harm them. I’m sorry if I disappointed you.” 

Ushijima waved him off. “Don’t apologize for speaking the truth. I enjoy learning. Even if it’s painful or embarrassing for me.” 

“Well,” Tsukishima said, pushing his glasses up his nose. “This museum is a great, nurturing environment to learn about things you might be interested in."

He paused, looking a bit bashful. Ushijima thought it was the sweetest expression he'd ever seen on the other man. "I'm glad you came again." 

WELL, THIS WAS ABSOLUTELY INCENTIVE TO COME BACK!

Ushijima tried to hold in his glee. "I'm glad I did too." 

__________

CorvASS

Sunday, 11:10 pm

bITCh

Which one of you fuckers told Ushijima my place of work

Yamaguchi Tadashi

You saw Ushijima?

His Majesty

👀

Gremlin

ok but y would we have told him where u r

r u sure it wasn't a coincidenceeeee

Graphic Design is my Passion 

It wasn't me. I haven't seen him since the MSBY game. 

Did something happen?

bITCh

Well, clearly I know it was one of you now

Hinata

Fess up, asshole

His Majesty

it was ms

*me

Gremlin 

im sorry, I encouraged tobio to tell him 

r u ok?

bITCh

No

He came in yesterday and today 

To the museum 

He's so fucking dumb 

I should not have to deal with this level of not knowing basic shit

Yamaguchi Tadashi

You work with kids, Tsukki ^^'

bITCh

That's different.

And kids are smarter

By a lot 

He puts rocks in his potted plants because he believes in energy and aura shit

Gremlin 

ew what 

bITCh 

It's bad when someone like you thinks it's bad

Gremlin 

thats so rude!

asshole

Graphic Design is my Passion 

I honestly didn’t think he would remember any of us apart from Kageyama and Hinata ! ^^’

Yamaguchi Tadashi 

Tsukki does usually leave an impression ^^’

His Majesty 

usually not a good one

bITCh

fUCk oFf

Now explain yourself.

Why did you tell him, King?

His Majesty 

he asked 

bITCh

No shit 

It's not like you go around talking about me usually 

I hope 

why 

Did

He 

ask

His Majesty 

idont fuking know 

i didnt see anything weird with telling him so 

*fucking

sorry

Gremlin 

japan is totes interested in u lmao

*cough* I meannnnnn

bITCh

No

He's not interested 

He just wants to harass me at my workplace

Gremlin 

give 1 reason y it would benefit him to go out of his way to bother u 

bITCh

Because we beat him? idfk?

Yamaguchi Tadashi

That was nearly a decade ago, Tsukki.

He doesn't seem like the type of guy to hold a grudge for that long! 

bITCh

I don't know about that 

He knew what team I was on so he could 

"Keep track of potential opponents" 

His Majesty 

hm sounds like hes interested

also he has the whole week off 

maybe he'll show up again 

-wink-

bITCh

Don't be ridiculous

No one wants to see that dumb museum more than once

Gremlin

hes clearly not going 4 the museum hes going 4 u

bITCh

There's no way.

Gremlin 

give it a chance, stupidshima 

maybe hell confess his undying love to u

his crush since high school 

and u can shut up about being the only single 1 :D

bITCh

Nothing will happen

I have Tuesday and Wednesday off but 

Should I go in Tuesday?

I’m busy on Wednesday

Yamaguchi Tadashi 

Why not!

Simp! :P

Gremlin 

U WANNA SEE HIM

SIMPPPPPPPP

tsukishima is a proud morosexual :>

bITCh

sHUT UP

Graphic Design is my Passion

I hope you have fun!!! ^_^

His Majesty 

he just sent me a pic of him and an elephant plushie from the museum store

bITCh

I hate you all

Oh, can I see? 

His Majesty 

[Sent 1 Attachment]

bITCh

Well, he has good taste in stuffed animals

That one is one of my favorites the museum offers

Gremlin

fucking simp

His Majesty

simp

Yamaguchi Tadashi 

The key to someone like you’s heart should not be someone’s taste in cute plushies lmao

Unless the man was also 

Muscular 

Tall 

And absolutely stupid 

bITCh

And wHAt is that supposed to mean, Yamaguchi

Graphic Design is my Passion

That’s quite sweet actually

bITCh

I’m logging off. 

Wish me luck.

Chapter Text

“So, what you’re saying is that you came back to Japan to visit after a year of being in Poland and you have currently spent,” Semi counted on his ring-covered fingers. “Nearly three full days pursuing a guy you had a mild crush on in high school?”

Ushijima stared down his rice, trying to ignore the eyes of his four incredibly-judgemental former classmates. Though he didn’t mind talking about his unfortunately-extensive adventures at the museum, he wasn’t planning on being interrogated during the long-awaited dinner with his old friends. 

“Unfortunately, you are correct.” He mustered up, embarrassed.

Next to Semi, Shirabu slumped in his seat with an exaggerated groan, nearly knocking over his plate. Ushijima was pretty sure he was already drunk, but Shirabu was usually done with this friend group in general, even more than in high school. Maybe it was med school getting to him. 

“Well I personally don’t see a problem.” Tendou drawled, taking a swig of his sake. “I think it’s incredibly sweet that our Wakatoshi-kun is showing such an interest. Maybe it could go somewhere!”

He took another sip of his drink and picked at his bowl of udon. “You know, we’re really due for another wedding! I know Semi and Shirabu’s was just last year, but it feels like it’s been eons. Can I be your best man? I need another opportunity to wear my purple suit.”

“If you wear that thing again in my sight, I will end you.” Shirabu hiccuped, trying to sound intimidating. “Ruining one set of wedding pictures was bad enough, I will not let you mess up Ushijima-san’s hypothetical wedding.”

“Oh, come off it, Kenjirou.” Semi chided playfully, “I didn’t think the suit was that bad. Besides, who else will wear our school colors at the captain’s wedding?”

“HAH! I knew people loved that suit!”

“Jumping straight to marriage is a bit much.” Oohira, Ushijima’s new favorite high school friend, stated, ignoring the shenanigans from the other three. “They haven’t spoken in years.”

“But what about the story , Ohira-kun? The drama! ” Tendou lamented, feigning a swoon against the table in front of them. “I’ve been starving for my boy, Wakatoshi-kun to get some action since the first time he to–”

“You could have told me the museum was closed every Monday, Tendou-kun.”  Ushijima interrupted, nonchalantly.

“An oversight.” Tendou said, sheepishly rearranging himself in his seat. “Also, how was I supposed to know the opening hours of a museum I last visited five years ago?”

“Please, you seemed to be very eager to tell him the museum times when he was asking yesterday.” Semi joked. “Admit it: you were fucking with him.”

Tendou pulled a face that looked like a cross between regret and spine-chilling hunger. “Maybe I was just curious about how far he would go for that little firefly brat.”

Ushijima sighed. After knowing about the healing crystals, maybe Tendou wasn’t to be trusted on this type of thing. “I can’t waste my time on this, you know that.”

Tendou stuck out his tongue. “Debatably, you’ve already been wasting time by trying to see this man."

Yep, Ushijima was going to exercise his personhood and ignore that comment.

“You’ve been pouting about the whole museum being-closed-thing since you got here.” Shirabu griped. “It’s absolutely insane you walked from your hotel to the museum without checking the schedule, just to see one guy you weren’t even sure was at the location.”

He jabbed his saucy chopsticks in Ushijima’s face. “Respectfully, you need to get a grip.”

“I don’t think it’s that bad.” Oohira countered. “This is the first time Ushijima-San has shown interest in anyone since we’ve known him. Let’s just see how it plays out.”

“Oh yes, I really want to see this play out.” Tendou said, his grin widening like with every passing minute.

“Look, I think it’s really great you have an interest in him and you’re reconnecting and all that but,” Shirabu lowered his voice to a whisper. “What do you even see in him? The last time you interacted with him was in high school and since then, you’ve had plenty of chances to meet other people. Why him?”

“Says the guy married to his high school senpai.” Oohira interjected, amused. 

Shirabu sputtered indignantly as Semi draped himself over the younger man’s back. “You’re a fucking simp for me and you know it!” 

“Oh my fucking god, get off of me.” Shirabu yelled, though he made no move to remove himself from his husband’s grip.

Ushijima felt an empty pang in his chest, one that he’d failed to acknowledge for a very long time. 

“The bird exhibit.” 

His friends stopped and stared at him like one of his spikes had just been blocked. 

“What are you talking about?” Semi asked, voice close to a whisper. 

“I-” Ushijima, in a rare instance, struggled for words. “There’s this exhibit in the Sendai Science Museum of a bunch of birds hanging from the ceiling. They’re stuffed, of course, because they’re dead, but that’s what my heart feels like when I see him.”

Shirabu frowned, finally shoving Semi off of him. “You feel like you’re being shot by scientists who want to taxidermy your corpse?” 

Semi elbowed his husband in the ribs. “You need to stop drinking.” He turned to Ushijima. “I’ve seen that exhibit. You mean the flight part, right? It’s like butterflies in your stomach.” 

Ushijima nodded. "It's a nice feeling. I don't really know why I feel this way towards him, but I would be amenable to feeling this way more often."

Semi cooed at the same time Tendou burst out laughing.

"I never thought I'd see the day where Ushijima-san was a," Shirabu did air quotes. "'fucking simp' for something other than volleyball."

Ushijima hid his face in his hands. 

"You guys haven't aged since middle school." Oohira said. "We need to have more faith in our captain. He'll figure it out."

"Okay, but at least in our old age we've learned moderation," Tendou whined. "Unlike this guy who'd willing go to a boring kids' museum seven days a week." 

Ushijima frowned. "I'm doing my best, Tendou-kun."

“Look, I’m just saying maybe you shouldn’t go to the museum tomorrow. Maybe Tsukishima's day off is Tuesday. You never know. I certainly don't. Take a breather.”

“Do you have inside information I’m not aware of?” Ushijima asked, weary. 

Tendou blinked. “...No. I absolutely did not text Shouyou-kun and ask him if Tsukishima-kun was working tomor–” 

“Isn’t that a bit invasive?” Shirabu butted in. “You haven’t talked to him in like, what? Three years or so?” 

“My kouhai love me and always want to catch up, especially Hinata-kun!" He turned to Ushijima. "Maybe you should work out or practice your own tomorrow. The gym you used to drag me to is still open. You might be able to work off some of your pent up feelings." 

Ushijima grimaced, suddenly deeply interested in his ramen. “Okay, I won’t go to the museum tomorrow. 

He’d been putting off his volleyball training, anyway. Might as well catch up on that. 

He completely missed Tendou's wink.