Bear Hugs
summary: reon’s birthday occurs just shortly after the team learns a somewhat interesting fact about their dear wing spiker. his boyfriend plans accordingly.
tw: mention of blood, but in the context of semi being uncoordinated? another mention of blood in reference to carrie by stephen king. author is bad at endings.
a/n: i have a million asks sitting in my inbox and instead i’m writing a self indulgent fluff fic. not proofread ✌️ happy birthday to the best #4 fight me on it
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as a child, ōhira reon never really celebrated his birthday. his parents didn’t see much of a need for it, and, being a child, he went with what his parents said. this was among the many usual childhood activities reon never got an opportunity to partake in.
it was a pretty average day when the team found out two shocking facts about reon. not only did he not celebrate his birthday (which was sad enough on its own!) no, it went further than that. something that got everyone down, even if he didn’t see it as much of a big deal himself. even ushijima was a little pouty.
“yeah, no. i don’t think i ever had a teddy bear.”
obviously, this could not be allowed to continue. though reon’s birthday wouldn’t occur until late october, eita’s plan went into effect way before that. making sure that everyone, along with whatever they wanted to gift ōhira themselves, had a teddy bear to give him. some picked out their own while others went to the (self appointed and titled) event coordinator for help. he was turning 18, and damn it, if he didn’t have one as a kid, he certainly wasn’t going to go into adulthood without them- and without people who wanted to celebrate him.
***
by the time his birthday actually rolled around, reon had entirely forgotten that he'd even said anything to the team about it in the first place. after all, his boyfriend was the only one who seemed truly appalled by the information in the first place. he woke up in the morning expecting some texts and birthday wishes throughout the day, endless excitement and attention from eita, probably a present or two, based on past experiences. he couldn’t say he wasn’t disappointed when he checked his phone to see no new messages (even from semi!), but he wouldn’t say anything. as always, it wasn’t a big deal to him.
what he didn’t expect, after he brushed his teeth and got ready for his day, was to open the door of his little shiratorizawa dorm room to come face to face with ushijima. who looked like he’d been up for hours, by the way. meanwhile, he was still bleary eyed and exhausted. “hi..?”
“good morning, ōhira.” ushijima greeted, regarding the other with a small smile before holding out a neatly wrapped box. “this is for you.”
reon took the box, looking between it and ushijima himself before smiling in return. “oh, wow. thank you! you really didn’t have to-”
“it’s your birthday.” he was interrupted rather promptly with the matter-of-fact statement from the captain. “it’s your birthday, and you deserve to have your birthday celebrated just like the rest of us.” he continued, patting his shoulder. “so.. i hope you have a good day. i’ll see you later.” he nodded, turning on his heel and walking off down the hall. he smiled to himself, only just slightly. the other seemed happy to receive the gift.
“okay- well, thank you again!” he called after him, letting himself smile fully now that there were no eyes on him. he slipped back inside the room to open the box privately, almost feeling bad as he tore the pristine wrapping. the guilt quickly subsided when he saw what was inside, though. among an assortment of sweets and candy sat a smiling face, staring up at him with brown plastic eyes. he picked the object up in disbelief, marveling at the softness of the black fur and how damn cute it was. it even had little paw prints on the feet! it was about the size of a football, he’d say, and he hugged it to his chest with the biggest smile.
his very own teddy bear.
he’d have to find ushijima and thank him endlessly later, though he couldn’t imagine why he’d decide to buy him a teddy bear. the reason didn’t matter, however- he was just so excited to finally have one. he felt like a child when the thought crossed his mind to just skip classes, stay in his room and stare at it all day, but it was such a shock. he didn’t want to leave it all alone! still, he eventually kissed its head (don’t judge him) and set it down on his pillow with the promise to be back later. even as he was leaving, it continued to smile at him the whole time.
***
when he arrived at the cafeteria, his first order of business was to look around for eita. he wanted his birthday hugs and kisses, and of course to tell him about ushijima’s gift to him. he didn’t spot him, though. in fact, none of his teammates were at their usual table. and he still had no messages. odd, he thought, taking out his phone to call his boyfriend when a voice from behind interrupted him. “ōhira-senpai!”
it was called in a pitch he very much recognized, prompting him to turn on his heel to face everyone’s favorite first year. “good morning, tsutomu.” he greeted happily, noting the way his underclassman was panting. “did you run here?”
“that’s not important!” goshiki replied, cheery as ever. just a little out of breath. “happy birthday!” he continued, shoving a bag toward him. not a gift bag- just a plastic bag, like you’d find at any store. but it was the thought that counted, and it counted a lot to reon.
“oh, wow- thank you! you really didn’t have to get me anything..” he started, the same spiel he intended to use on ushijima. though he got further that time, he still didn’t get to fully finish.
“i wanted to.” the younger interrupted, smile still bright on his face. “it’s your birthday! it’s special. go on, open it.” he seemed to only get more excited with each word, which gave reon a distinct feeling of dread. the type that told him it was one of those situations like when his brothers gave him something to open and a snake popped out at him.
even so, he opened it, not wanting to disappoint his junior. inside was a keychain that had a picture of the team shrunk down onto it, alongside something that made him regret being suspicious. shiny little eyes and soft brown fabric that just looked so huggable. he stood there in the cafeteria for a solid minute just staring, a fond look in his eyes as he resisted the urge to pull it out and smile like an idiot. “wow.”
“do you like it?”
“yeah, i do.” he finally looked up, matching goshiki’s smile with one of his own. “thank you very much, tsutomu. i love it.” he was about to continue when the other clapped and hugged him excitedly, causing him to laugh and hug him back.
after a minute, the younger stepped back and bowed his head. “i’m glad you like it! anyway, i have to go, my teacher wants us there early today for a project..” he grumbled, his smile dropping as the sulking began. reon just laughed, patting his shoulder and walking him out.
“you’ll do great.” he assured him, about to wave goodbye when he stopped. “hey, before you go- i don’t suppose you’ve seen eita anywhere?”
he tried not to find it odd when the younger abruptly shouted his goodbye and left without answering his question.
***
his day went on in such a pattern. run into one of his teammates, get a teddy bear, then have them run off before telling him where eita was. he tried to convince himself it was nothing, but there was always a gnawing feeling that this was their way of softening the blow before telling him that his dumbass- but loveable!- boyfriend got himself expelled or killed.
if it was, it was pretty nice, regardless. shirabu and kawanishi were together when they stopped him in the hall on the way to his second class, each with a small bag in hand. taichi quietly presented him with the image of a classic teddy bear- button eyes, threaded smile, soft to the touch. explaining that he figured he’d like it, cause he’s like 40, y’know? and it’s an old person teddy bear.. hah. that earned him an elbow to the ribs from shirabu, who quickly changed the subject with his own gift. lo and behold, another bear, this one built like an actual bear- four legs, correct bear posture, mouth sewn on in a straight line- because bears don’t smile all the time, he said. only when they mean it.
after getting an awkward hug from each of them and expressing his gratitude about a thousand times, he asked them if they’d seen his boyfriend. despite his wide smile in the moment, he was getting kinda sad. he hadn’t seen him since practice the previous day, and he was starting to really miss him. shirabu only rolled his eyes. “i already remembered your birthday- now i have to keep track of your boyfriend, too?”
if nothing else, it made him laugh a little as the two underclassmen started to walk away. “thanks anyway!” he called.
***
he got through the next three classes without much ruckus- a ‘happy birthday’ here and there from teachers or a few of his classmates who heard in the cafeteria. other than that, it was quiet. which really was odd, because right around now he’d usually be catching up with-
“BIRTHDAY BOY~!!!”
ah. there he was.
he turned around to greet his friend, seeing a flash of red already barreling toward him. used to these antics, surrounding students cleared a path without so much as stopping their conversations. satori barely managed to skid to a stop 2 feet in front of him, smile wide as ever. “hello, satori.” he greeted him quietly, turning to stand by his side and resume walking to class. a package was shoved into his chest before he could take two steps, causing him to blink in surprise.
“happy birthday! open it! open it, open it, open it, open it-”the redhead repeated, over and over until reon finally opened the box.. at which point loud cheering ensued. he was somewhat embarrassed, but that went away when he saw tendou’s bear selection. a normal bear, dressed in what seemed to be a bloody prom dress..
“satori. no.”
“it’s bearrie!” the redhead declared excitedly. “b- carrie? cabearrie.. car-bear.. come on, i put effort into this!” he whined. it was true! he cut out the little prom dress himself, painted on the blood, all that fun stuff. he knew it was the other’s favorite book.
“i thought we spoke to you about the puns.” reon sighed, before letting a smile break out on his face. “i love it, though. thank you.” he chuckled, holding onto the bear as tendou jumped on him for a hug.
“i knew you’d love it! she’s your favorite, right? you can totally tell me if she’s your favorite. obviously she’s your favorite-” he rambled, nudging reon repeatedly with his elbow before he rolled his eyes and walked away. “what?!” satori called after him. “was it something i said?”
***
the only thing dampening his good mood as he walked back toward his room, arms full of bears, was that he’d still yet to see eita. he wasn’t even in their usual sixth period class. he really was starting to worry, intending to call him again once he got everything sorted away. as soon as he did, though, someone burst in through his partially open door. “boom!” he heard the voice of the team’s libero, toting a gigantic ass bear on his back. “i win!”
reon watched with wide eyes as yamagata plopped the thing down on his bed, and while he definitely wanted to hug the shit out of that bear, he first had to ask- “won what, exactly?”
“y’know. your birthday.” he beamed proudly. “it’s not an official competition, but.. biggest bear means i win.” he insisted. “it’s called a djungelskog-”
“i really don’t think you can win.. my birthday.”
“agree to disagree.”
***
that argument actually went on for a while- basically until hayato also insisted he won that and ran out of the room. that left him there, alone- well, not entirely. call it childish, but he finally understood what people meant when they called their teddy bears their friends. or maybe it was just because these came from people who meant a lot to him. even so, laying on his bed among six of the best teddy bears in the world, all he could think about was eita.
he just couldn’t understand why he hadn’t seen him all day. in years past, eita had been the one to make sure his birthday was celebrated. while he was sure he had something to do with the gift theme that day, nothing would compare to seeing him in real life. he stared at his phone screen, displaying yet another call semi didn’t pick up.
he decided, at that point, just to go look for him. maybe he was sick or injured, or maybe he was mad. whatever the situation, he really missed him. he stood up from his bed, pocketing his phone and slipping his shoes on before opening the door. there, on the other side, was eita, getting ready to knock. he was absolutely soaked from head to toe, hair a mess and a fresh gash on his palm. even so, he smiled when he saw his boyfriend. “happy birthday!”
reon could only stand there, shocked at what he was seeing. “what the hell happened to you? i- come in, come here.” he told him, wrapping his arms around him for warmth. he’d completely missed the fact that it was raining, pouring actually. he’d been too focused on missing him. “where have you been?” he sighed, moving hair out of his boyfriend’s face and lifting his wounded hand. “i missed you.”
“oh.. well, did you get your bears? looks like you had a good day..!” he smiled, not wanting to think he ruined reon’s birthday by not being there.
“yeah, but i wanted to see you.” he chuckled, drawing him in for a gentle kiss and walking to his bathroom to grab some alcohol wipes. “i’ve been looking for you.” he told him, patting the bed to tell him to sit down beside him. “i do love this little theme. i assume you had something to do with this?” he gestured to the bears.
“i’m sorry.” eita sighed. “i.. i did, and i got so busy helping everyone else pick one that i totally forgot to go pick mine up, and so i went this morning and.. and it’s not even done.” he groaned, letting his head drop onto his non-bloody hand. “and i fell on the way back and now i don’t even have my main gift because they fucked up the orders.” he continued, getting more upset with every word. he’d put so much thought into his bear. he picked the material, the color, eye color, everything out. he ordered it through a highly rated custom gift website, even had it embroidered on the foot- 愛してる. i love you. he was going to spray it with his cologne.. so it would remind reon of him. “i’m sorry..” he sighed again, covering his eyes. he couldn’t believe he missed most of his boyfriend’s birthday for a gift he wouldn’t even be able to get for another week. he could have cried.
“hey, hey.” his boyfriend whispered, finishing up his hand and then moving in beside him. “i’m not mad, okay? i missed you, but you were trying to do something nice for me.” he hummed, kissing his temple. “besides, you’re here now, yeah? let’s get changed and lay down. i want my birthday kisses.”
eita laughed, wiping his eyes and planting one on him. “i can do that.” he agreed, standing from the bed. “oh! speaking of changing, i got you this.” he went into his school bag, pulling out a baby blue hoodie. of course he didn’t only get him one gift- what kind of boyfriend would he be? he unfolded it and held it out to him, revealing a little embroidered teddy bear with a hear on the right side chest. “if it’s not too lame, i also got a matching one.”
“oh, it’s so lame.” reon teased, taking the hoodie. “let’s see it.” he peeked into eita’s bag, identifying the same hoodie in baby pink. “i’ll let it go, because you’re cute.”
it took eita a while to peel off his wet clothes, but as soon as he was comfortably dried off and changed he joined reon in his bed. the teddy bears were spread out all around them, and he thought it was absolutely precious how much he seemed to cherish them. “i told you.” he whispered, poking the tip of his nose. “everyone needs a teddy bear.”
“mm, maybe.” reon agreed, hugging him tighter. “but i’ve got my favorite one right here.”
