Work Text:
The difference in their excitement levels is no surprise to Tadashi. When Kei’s mom suggested the boys go to the beach sometime during their break, Tadashi was quick to agree. He didn’t even wait for Kei’s thoughts on the matter before starting to plan, already knowing Kei would come along, even if begrudgingly.
“I don’t want to go to the beach,” Kei says.
“But it’s summer! We have to go to the beach,” Tadashi counters.
“No, we don’t.”
“Yes, we do. It’s inevitable.”
“You know my skin burns,” Kei complains as Tadashi rifles through the blond’s wall calendar. Most of the squares are empty or marked for volleyball practice. Tadashi grins at the neat handwriting marking their training camp.
“We’ll pack a lot of sunscreen,” Tadashi says. “We can make sure to cover you up every — How long does sunscreen last?”
“That depends.”
“Then we’ll lather it on every two hours, just to be safe.”
Kei groans from where he sits at his desk. “You’re planning to be on the beach for more than two hours at a time?”
Tadashi settles on the next month and traces his finger along the empty spaces. In his other hand, Tadashi has his phone calendar at the ready for comparison. His finger rests on a Saturday, but it quickly moves when he sees on his own calendar that he has a rendezvous with Hinata that day. The event surprises him; he forgot he’d planned anything with Hinata that far ahead.
“I’m of the opinion that it’ll take at least four hours,” Tadashi says. “I mean, we have to build a sandcastle, and that takes forever to get right. And of course, we have to make sure we bathe in the ocean. Obviously. And we’ll probably eat there. And you’ll probably want to relax too, yeah? We can bring an umbrella to chill under.”
“I’m of the opinion that your sense of time sucks,” Kei says dryly, “And that all of that will take maybe two hours, if even that.”
“Maybe for you,” Tadashi says, “But I like to take my time enjoying myself. And of course, I can stay in the water for as along as I want. Just to hit that four-hour mark.”
“Spiteful.”
“Yep.”
“And you won’t even get a sunburn.”
“Nope.”
Tadashi doesn’t burn, instead darkening with an even tan. He’s pretty sure that by the end of summer, there’ll be a sharp contrast in the coloration of his knees compared to the rest of his legs because of his knee pads.
Kei falls silent in a way that Tadashi recognizes as resigned. The beach is happening, he knows it.
Eventually, they settle on the Sunday after their week-long training camp, when they have a day off from practice.
“It’s perfect,” Kei’s mom beams, “You’ll get to relax after working so hard.” Tadashi grins at Kei because it’s the exact same argument he presented the grumpy blond. Kei rolls his eyes.
“Just know,” Kei tells Tadashi, “that I’m making you carry the sunscreen. There’ll be a lot. It’ll be heavy.”
“I’ve been meaning to start weight training anyway,” Tadashi says with a playful lilt.
—
Somehow, Hinata catches wind of the beach trip. Tadashi decides he must have let it slip because Kei would never.
And because Hinata found out, Kageyama, Yachi, and Nishinoya found out. So effectively, all the other second years found out too through the libero. And it traveled up to the third years from Tanaka. Kei frowns at Tadashi when Sugawara pats his on the back and tells Kei to make sure he enjoys the beach.
“Can I come?” Hinata asks unabashedly as they change in the club room. “I haven’t been to the beach in forever, and the last time I went, I had to focus on playing with Natsu the whole time. And that’s great because I like playing with her, but she was super young at the time, so I couldn’t do what I wanted. Like go really, really far out where it gets deeper! I wanted to try jumping some of the really big waves. I bet I can do it pretty well now.” He pauses, and Tadashi thinks he’s only taking a breath to prepare for more rambling, but Hinata’s head swivels toward Kei. “I bet you don’t even need to jump the waves, Stingyshima. I mean, you’re so tall already, they probably just hit your chest and carry on.”
Kei spares Hinata a withering glance but doesn’t say anything. He shoulders his bag and steps out of the room.
Tadashi doesn’t bother hurrying after him, knowing he’ll wait.
“I can’t stop you from going to the beach,” Tadashi says lightly, answering Hinata’s initial question. Kind of. “I think it’d be fun to go with people, but I’m not the tough one to convince.”
Hinata’s nose crinkles. “What if we snuck in with you and then ambushed you at the beach?”
It wouldn’t be impossible. They’re taking the train.
“We?” Tadashi parrots.
“Kageyama wants to go too,” Hinata says. Tadashi lifts his eyes to direct a questioning glance at Kageyama, who’s standing on Hinata’s other side and hasn’t said a word this entire time.
“I’ve never gone to the beach with friends,” Kageyama says matter-of-factly. Tadashi instantly feels bad and has an urge to give them all the details so they can go as a group. They can invite Yachi too and make it a first-year bonding trip.
“I’m going to talk to Tsukki about going all together,” Tadashi says resolutely. Hinata cheers, and excitement colors Kageyama’s cheeks.
—
“First you want to make me go to the beach, and now you want to bring the two dumbasses along?” Kei is incredulous.
Tadashi is unfazed. “I think it’d be best to invite Yachi too. All the first years.” He’s actually hoping that’ll soften the blow a little. Tadashi knows Kei doesn’t mind the overanxious manager.
“I thought it’d be more like a date,” Kei grumbles, drawing a laugh from Tadashi.
“Is that why you were at least a little willing?”
Kei shrugs.
“We can go as a group and break off briefly for a date.” Tadashi wiggles his eyebrows, “I hear long walks on the beach are very romantic.”
The blond clicks his tongue.
“Of course, we can’t be too romantic. I’d feel bad for Yachi, being turned into a fifth wheel.”
Tadashi and Kei share a knowing glance. Hinata and Kageyama aren’t together yet, but it’s inevitable what with all the flirting. They aren’t even subtle about it. Tadashi supposes they need to make themselves as clear as possible to get the messages through. “That’s what happens when dealing with such thick skulls,” Kei agreed when Tadashi proposed his theory, back when they first started noticing the sparks.
“I’ll agree if Yachi agrees,” Kei says. Tadashi cheers because they both know that it’s most likely that Yachi will be more than happy to join them. And if there’s a scheduling conflict, they can always rearrange. Though, Tadashi will admit, accommodating for five schedules is slightly more of a challenge than two. Then again, Most of what Kei does, he does with Tadashi, and most of what Hinata and Kageyama do, they do together. Really, Yachi’s schedule is the only important one to pay attention to.
“Deal,” Tadashi says.
—
As it turns out, Yachi has few plans set that aren’t related to the Karasuno volleyball club. Plus, she’s as eager as Tadashi to go to the beach.
The weekend after the group of five is determined to go on the original date Tadashi picked, Yachi asks Shimizu to go swimsuit shopping with her.
—
When the training camp rolls around, Tadashi does his best to coax Kei into believing that the glaring sun isn’t that bad. He fails at this, and he blames it on how many times they have to sprint under the scrutiny of the ball of gas.
—
On the following Sunday, Tadashi walks all the way to Kei’s house to pick him up instead of stopping at the fork in the road between their houses. He wants to make sure Kei doesn’t run away.
When the door opens, Kei greets him morosely in a muscle shirt and yellow swim trunks. He immediately hands over a stuffed and — as promised — heavy bag of sunscreen. Tadashi takes the bag and grins at the weight of it.
Another bag is tucked under Kei’s arm, hanging from his shoulder. Tadashi can see a row of fluffy towels folded inside, poking out the top of the tote.
Kei is about to close the door behind himself when his mom calls out for him to wait. He turns, and immediately, a black and white striped sunhat with a large red ribbon is placed on his head, it’s floppy edges casting shadows over the majority of his face and neck.
“Perfect,” Mrs. Tsukishima chimes before waving them goodbye and telling them to have fun. She closes the door on them, and Tadashi doesn’t bother stifling his laughter when Kei turns to him.
“That’ll protect you from the sun a little,” Tadashi offers.
Kei huffs but doesn’t take the hat off when they start walking toward the train station.
When they meet up with the others, Hinata laughs at the hat, and Kei lends it to Yachi because seeing it made her remember that she forgot her own, and she was half-prepared to sprint back home to get it.
—
As soon as they arrive at the beach, Hinata and Kageyama bound toward the ocean, kicking up their slippers and tossing off their shirts, leaving Yachi to catch the articles so the sand doesn’t creep into every wrinkle and crease. Tadashi mumbles something about how they still have to set up while he carefully aligns the abandoned flip flops in a row.
Kei retorts with, “Not that they’d be any help anyway.”
They rented an umbrella because they all agreed that bringing one with them on the train was too much of a hassle. Yachi lays a large towel out on the sand under the shade of the umbrella and hopes that, even though a breeze would be nice, the towel doesn’t get blown away.
“Don’t worry about it,” Tadashi says before placing an ice cooler on the towel, right where the umbrella protrudes from the sand.
It doesn’t take them much longer to get settled, and Tadashi has no reservations about stripping off his top to start embracing the sun’s warmth on his back. Yachi only hesitates for a moment before pulling her white coverall over her head. Tadashi tells her to go on ahead.
“I have to apply sunscreen,” he says airily. Yachi gives him a thumbs up and places her slippers beside Kageyama’s. She and Tadashi marvel in the difference in their shoe sizes for a second, before Hinata shrieks. When their attention is turned to him, he waves Yachi over right before getting an aggressive splash of water to the face. She ambles toward the water carefully, hopping on the hot sand.
Tadashi plucks one of the many bottles of sunscreen from the bag Kei handed over to him earlier. He squirts the substance on his hand heavily and looks over to Kei. “Well?” Tadashi prompts, “Are you going to take your shirt off so I can put this on you, or what?”
“I can do it myself,” Kei says even as he pulls his shirt off.
“Really,” Tadashi muses, “Then maybe I should just head out and play in the water. Since I can just leave you to your own devices.” And he knows he can; Kei has needed to apply his own sunscreen ever since he started participating in activities that his mom wouldn’t be nearby for, no longer able to just assume that she’ll be there to smear it all over his protesting face.
“Yeah,” Kei agrees.
“Okay. Join us when you’re effectively coated.” They both look at the hand of sunscreen held between them. “Hold out your hands.” Kei shoots him a wary look but complies. Tadashi happily places his hand palm down on Kei’s two, splattering the majority of the sunscreen.
After making the transaction, Tadashi circles around Kei and stops at his back. Without warning, he bends at the waist and sloppily rubs the remaining sunscreen on Kei’s back. He straightens once satisfied.
“There you go,” Tadashi chirps before laughing and slipping out of his flip flops, wincing at the hot sand, and running toward the water.
He only looks back once to see Kei’s lip curled as he runs sunscreen along his arms.
—
Tadashi swallowed way too much salt water getting into a splashing battle with Kageyama and Hinata. It got up his nose too, leaving a gentle burning sensation there. He joined in with good intentions — it looked like fun! — but ended up going for the strongest, highest splashes he can muster. He is glad he joined, though, if for no other reason than the fact that until he suggested they move, Yachi was getting caught in the splash zone, an innocent bystander. Now, she’s relaxing in the water where they can all still see each other but without any casualties.
Water assaults Tadashi again, coating his face and chest. He sputters and doesn’t even open his eyes to splash back at Hinata. The redhead’s cackling pinpoints his location very effectively.
By the time Tadashi does open his eyes, Hinata is screeching for an entirely different reason.
“Tsukishima,” Hinata yells, startled and pleased. “I thought you were just going to brood on the towel!”
“I don’t brood,” Kei says. His eyes are narrowed slightly, a combination of the sun overhead and the absence of his glasses. Tadashi told him the night before that he should wear his sport glasses so he can take them in the water. Kei wasn’t interested.
Hinata comments on the lack of glasses, so Kei says, “I took them off so I don’t have to see your stupidity.”
Tadashi snickers into his hand at Hinata’s indignant squawk.
It doesn’t take Hinata long to shake it off and go back to assaulting Kageyama.
Kei starts to move away to get away from the man-made waves, but Tadashi stops him with a gentle splash, only enough to splatter droplets along Kei’s stomach.
“Don’t try to tell me you don’t want to join the fun,” Tadashi lilts.
Kei rolls his eyes, “Is this fun?” he asks as he leans down and swipes a surge of water toward Tadashi, who barks a surprised laugh.
“Wipe that smirk off your face,” Tadashi insists with a grin as he retaliates.
After just a few more splashes, Hinata and Kageyama take notice and join in. It definitely doesn’t take long for them all to get soaked, even their heads.
They eventually settle into enjoying the sea instead of disrupting it. Tadashi dips under the water and slicks his hair away from his face when he pops back up. He and Kei — and Yachi, who wades over to them once she’s sure the battle is over — watch quietly as Hinata and Kageyama jump waves, somehow making it a competition.
“I bet I can get past more waves than you,” Hinata exclaims.
“Not a chance, dumbass,” Kageyama bites back. A few minutes later, a particularly large wave sucks Kageyama under while Hinata swells up in the water with it.
Yachi’s eyes bulge out of her head, and she only calms down when Kageyama resurfaces just a moment later, spluttering and eyes wide. Yachi asks from afar if Kageyama is okay.
He clears his throat. “I took that one from below. Like an expert. Only idiots try to go over.”
Kei snorts at Tadashi’s side as the latter bursts into a fit of laughter.
Half an hour later, they all trudge out of the water to get something to eat. Yachi volunteers to watch the umbrella, but after sharing a look with Tadashi, Kei says he’ll do it. They both know leaving Yachi alone at their spot could very likely draw flirts and other reasons for Yachi to panic. Tadashi could stay back, or someone could wait with Yachi, but Kei’s the most intimidating of the five first years, so he’s perfect for the solo job. Plus, his skin is turning redder by the second.
“I need to get out of the sun for a bit anyway,” he reasons with Yachi when she hesitates. She gasps as she notices how pink Kei’s shoulders are, and she quickly insists that he sits down under the shade.
They don’t bother with slippers just yet, so sand cakes the other four’s feet as they amble toward the stalls selling local food. Once they’ve acquired a late lunch — another reason why Kei was perfect to wait back is that Tadashi always, always knows what to get him to eat — they all settle under the umbrella.
“This is too much,” Kei says as he picks at his food. More often than not, Tadashi doles out heaps of food for him despite knowing how small his appetite is.
“You need to eat, Tsukki,” Tadashi chimes, “You’re a growing boy.”
Kei rolls his eyes and takes another bite.
Kageyama and Hinata are chomping down like they’re in an eating competition — they might very well be, Tadashi speculates — and race to the bins to throw their trash away. They come back more slowly, arguing the whole way.
“My sandcastle is gonna be huge,” Tadashi hears Hinata proclaim as the two get closer.
“Not bigger than mine,” Kageyama says.
“It’ll be, like, eight feet tall!”
Tadashi stands up and gathers his, Kei’s, and Yachi’s trash. “See, Tsukki?” he asks. When Kei looks over at him, he continues, “An eight-foot castle will take a while. It’s a good thing we’re here all day.”
Kei groans, and Hinata brags to Tadashi, “I’ll be done before you know it!”
“I believe in you,” Tadashi cheers before jogging toward the trash bins.
—
Hinata isn’t done, and Tadashi knows it very well. He and Kageyama have been focused on their structures for the past hour, crouching on the stand for a little before getting up to fill up buckets of water — yes, they brought colorful plastic beach toys to make sandcastles — and coming back.
Kageyama pats aggressively at his mound. Neither of them have anything close to a castle, and Tadashi really hopes that they’re intentionally focusing on size instead of detail. They both look like they’re building giant anthills.
As Kageyama’s palms smack his sand, Tadashi marvels in their architectural skills. “I’m surprised at the structural integrity of those,” he muses. Kageyama’s been adding water to his mound periodically so it doesn’t crumble. Tadashi supposes he uses his brain for activities other than volleyball, after all.
Hinata, on the other hand, has been fighting with avalanches the whole time, as well as the give and take of compacting the structure to make it strong and piling on recklessly to make it big. He does, however, have a quickly drying moat around the bottom. Tadashi watches as the sand darkens, absorbing the water.
He’s building a castle too, of course. Yachi sits across from him as they work together to piece together something more visually appealing. The molds Hinata brought — “They’re my sister’s!” he insisted sheepishly when he presented them earlier — are definitely coming in handy.
“Are you sure you don’t wanna help?” Tadashi asks without looking over his shoulder at Kei, who’s still taking a breather under the umbrella. Even though Tadashi helped him with his sunscreen right after lunch, Kei hasn’t stepped into the sun since they were in the water earlier.
Kei’s nose is buried in a paperback as he leans his back against the cooler. “Very sure,” he replies, “Don’t worry, I’m sure you two are doing great.”
Tadashi drags a finger in the sand, drawing a line around his and Yachi’s castle. He wants to have a moat, too. “We’d do even better with another pair of hands,” he chimes.
Kei shrugs. Tadashi rolls his eyes.
He stands up and walks toward the water with one of the molds. Tadashi bends down and scoops water into the mold, letting the incoming wave fill it up. The water rushes around his ankles, comfortable and cool compared to the hot sand and the even hotter sun above. The wave recedes, and he turns around.
When he returns to their castle, he pours the water into the moat and watches it flow around. Tadashi sets the mold down as Yachi searches for the perfect leaf flag. Kei spares a glance up when he realizes Tadashi is watching him. Kei’s met with cocked eyebrows and a nod to his left.
The moat extends to a thin river surrounding the umbrella in a loose, messy heart.
“You’re ridiculous,” Kei says with a huff. Tadashi can’t tell if the pink on his cheeks is sunburn or embarrassed fondness.
—
Hinata’s sand hill ends up taller than Kageyama’s until it crumbles to the ground. Tadashi and Yachi’s castle gets caught in the avalanche.
—
After getting back in the water for another hour, Hinata and Kageyama break off to see who can find the most seashells. Yachi lays down on a towel stretched outside the umbrella’s reaches to try getting a tan.
“We should go on a walk, too,” Tadashi suggests.
“Why, because they’re romantic?” Kei asks.
“Depends, are you planning on a long one?”
“Not really.”
“Then no,” Tadashi decides, “Not at all romantic.”
When they check on Yachi, she insists she’ll be fine on her own.
The two end up walking along the edge of the water and speculating about the other beach-goers around them. Kei brings his mom’s floppy hat with him for protection.
When they get back from their walk, Hinata presents them both with a plethora of shells and tells them they get their pick. Kageyama hands them each one shell, a curated selection from his pile. Tadashi spies a few shells over by Yachi as well.
It’s sweet, he thinks, that the pair are sharing their findings.
“I won, by the way,” Kageyama grunts when Tadashi plucks the offering from his outstretched palm. Tadashi laughs at that and congratulates him.
—
By the time they pile back onto the train to go home, they’re all exhausted. Tadashi’s skin hums with warmth from being in the sun all day, and he’s sure he’ll have far too much salt and sand to shake out when he gets home.
They stayed much longer than expected, and the sky is turning purple and orange outside the window. Everyone is slumped in their seats, either trying to fight off sleep or embracing it.
By the time Yachi shakes the boys awake at their stop, the sky is dark.
“That was fun. You can’t tell me you didn’t have fun,” Tadashi says to Kei as they walk in the direction of their houses. Tadashi covers a yawn with his hand.
“I won’t tell you, then.”
Tadashi rolls his eyes. “Bullshit,” he says, “I know you enjoyed splashing Kageyama with water.”
A smile flickers on Kei’s face. “I’ll give you that.”
Kei’s chin tilts up as they walk in silence. The stars are already starting to poke through the sky, little pinholes in the deep blue.
“You can name them all, right?” Tadashi asks after a moment.
“They’re not all out right now,” Kei says in lieu of an answer. When they were in middle school, Kei checked out as many astronomy books from the local library as he could. By the time that phase in his search for knowledge passed, he was spouting constellations any time he and Tadashi had a sleepover.
Tadashi looks down from the sky just in time to narrowly avoid walking into a pole.
“Let me know which ones you find when they come out some more later,” Tadashi says.
“You want me to text you about constellations at 3 AM?”
“If that’s what it takes. I fully expect that kind of dedication from you, Tsukki.” Tadashi arches his eyebrows, and Kei laughs.
The night creaks and sways around them, still warm despite the absence of the sun’s brightness.
“The things I do for you,” Kei sighs, fondness in his exhale.
“You know you love me,” Tadashi taunts.
“Yeah,” Kei says after a beat. “I do.”
Tadashi pauses, not sure how he should react. The feelings have always, always sat between them, but have never been spoken aloud. Not even in taunts and teases.
“Why else would I spend an entire day at the beach? I swear, Yamaguchi, my skin will be peeling off in the morning.”
Tadashi searches Kei’s eyes in the dark. His lips quirk upward. “Wow, very attractive,” he drawls.
“Thanks,” Kei says.
When they reach the split where the direction of their houses changes, Tadashi halts. He lingers at Kei’s side. Kei doesn’t seem eager to step away either.
Tadashi grins up at him. He takes the sunhat from Kei’s hands and pulls it onto the blond’s head, tugging it over his eyes.
“Love you too,” he says softly before releasing the hat and taking a step back. “Remember to text me those constellations,” Tadashi calls over, one hand cupped beside his mouth.
His grin brightens even further when Kei pulls the hat off. The red surging from his cheeks to his ears isn’t any kind of sunburn.