#softshima

“Yes, you idiot.” He replied dryly, rolling his eyes. “And I thought I went to bed late.” Your roommate had a habit of staying on his phone till midnight even if he already got into bed. His socks squeaked softly across the wooden flooring of the apartment the two of you shared with Yamaguchi and Yachi. “Go to bed.” He said quietly as he turned to leave.

“But I can’t sleep.” You muttered quietly. It was only a week ago you had caught your boyfriend in the arms of another, and the break up had taken a toll on you- But most of all, it took a toll on your sleep schedule. You had gotten used to sleeping surrounded by a warmth, and the empty sheets just felt too cold on some nights.

Tsukishima sighed quietly, his fingers gripping the doorframe of your room. “And why is that.” He asked, his voice warm and soft.

“I... Got used to sleeping with... Him.” You muttered embarrassedly, knowing that he would berate you and snap a snarky remark at you about how that was not his problem.

Two owlish blinks at you later, he made a low rumble in his throat, shutting your bedroom door and walking towards you awkwardly. “Get in bed.” He told you, ignoring your confused expression. “It’s 2am. If you want to be awake for tomorrow’s lectures, you go to sleep now.”

“Tsukishima, what are you-”

His arms tugged around your waist, pulling you onto the single-sized bed you had in your dorm room. “There’s no difference, right?” He grumbled, your back pressed across his chest. “Go to sleep.”

For the first time in six days, you slept soundly, surrounded by a different warmth that soothed you to sleep.

»»——⍟——««

Two.

»»——⍟——««

Neither of you spoke of the one night a week after you broke up. Tsukishima never offered to do the same thing after, and you never asked. It was as if it never happened, both of you mutually agreeing to permanently deleting that memory from your mind. But nothing is truly deleted, because you could sometimes imagine his warmth behind you, his lanky arms around your waist and his nose tucked into the crook of your neck, his soft, rhythmic breathing in your ears.

It seemed like he couldn’t forget the feeling, either.

The second time was when thunder rumbled across the skies and rain poured onto the earth, lightning flashing outside your window, making your squeak in terror. You were shaking, diving for your blankets to try and block out the noise and the fear that lingered in the depths of your heart.

A shaky breath escaped your lips as you darted for the only person who was probably still awake and could offer your comfort.

You knocked on his door, your entire body still trembling. He opened his bedroom door to see you, who squeaked as thunder crashed through the night again. You dove for his bed, burying yourself into the sheets, your hands clasped over your ears.

“You’re... Scared of thunderstorms.” He stated in realisation. Glancing out of where you were buried under the blankets, you saw the blonde pulling the curtains close and snapping his laptop shut. “Come here.”

You scrambled into his embrace, his snarky remarks soothing the unsettling feeling inside your chest. The urge to run eventually ebbed away as he continued to comment on your fear of thunderstorms, explaining to you why it was unreasonable.

“What time is it?” Asked you, yawning sleepily. The thunder faded slightly and now it was just the pattering of rain outside Tsukishima’s bedroom window.

“Nearly twelve.” He answered you, leaning against his pillow propped against the wall. You sighed contentedly, snuggling into his warmth. “Do you... Intend to stay here.”

You yawned again, this time quieter. “Shh. Go to sleep, Kei.”

“Since when did you start calling me Kei.” He grumbled, his frown softening as he brushed your hair out of your closed eyes. Sighing, he shifted, pulling you into his arms and the blanket over the two of you, too comfortable to get up to switch off the lights.

»»——⍟——««

Three.

»»——⍟——««

“What do you want to eat today?” You asked Kei, who had tucked himself in one corner of the couch. Yamaguchi and Yachi had a field trip for a class they had to attend, leaving you and the blonde in the apartment, alone for a night.

“Whatever’s in the fridge.” He answered, not even looking up from the novel he was reading.

You hummed and tapped your cheek thoughtfully. “How do you feel about watching a movie tonight?”

Raising an eyebrow at you questioningly, Kei spoke. “Don’t you need to study.”

“Taking one day off’s not going to kill me.” You shrugged. “We have instant cup noodles. We could eat those.”

“I’ll pick a movie.”

“... Fine, but choose a good one.”

10 minutes later, the two of you were seated next to each other, steaming cups of instant noodle in your hand, watching ‘The Good Dinosaur’. You had to admit, Kei’s selection had surprised you, but it wasn’t that bad of a movie (The dinosaur was cute).

“That’s so sad!” You cried out near the end, close to bawling your eyes out. You had always been a very emotional person when watching movies. “This is your fault, Kei. You chose this movie!”

He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Alright, fine. Come here.” He opened his arms, letting you bawl into his shirt. Rolling his eyes at your emotional state, he wrapped his arms around you, heaving out a breath.

“Oh, shut up! I’m emotional.” You sniffled, adjusting yourself so your entire body fit onto his lap, your arms latched around his neck.

“I can tell.” He shot back wryly. “And I already offered to cuddle you, what more do you want.”

You blinked at him, the movie forgotten. He stared back, having realised his mistake. The two of you had never acknowledged it as ‘cuddling’, but more as... Okay, you acknowledged it as ‘cuddling’, just not outloud.

“Could I get a kiss, too?”

»»——⍟——««

Four.

»»——⍟——««

“Oi.”

You hummed quietly, absorbed with the book in your hand. “Yes, Kei?”

“The kids are asleep, and so should you.” Kei snatched your book from your hands despite your protests and whines. “Go to bed, love.”

“Says the one who had a sleep schedule as bad as mine during uni.” You grumbled, crossing your arms. “Give me my book back, Kei! I promise I’ll go to sleep after one more chapter.”

Kei gave you his ‘Do-you-take-me-for-an-idiot’ look. “By ‘after one more chapter’ you actually mean ‘after I finish the whole book’, so no.” He groaned at the sour look you threw him. “Love, we’re in our mid-forties and you still act like a child. Even though we have two already.”

You huffed, crossing your arms, not saying anything.

“... If you go to sleep now, I’ll cuddle you.”

You looked up in surprise. Kei rarely used the term ‘cuddle’, because he didn’t want to make it seem like he was a romantic (He is, and he’s an absolute cuddle bug). He cuddled you every night, his arms instinctively reaching around your waist to pull you closer to him and press you against his chest, tuck his nose inside the crook of you neck.

Smiling lovingly, you shuffled into bed, pulling the blanket over the two of you and then letting yourself get drawn into his embrace. His soft lips pressed a kiss on your forehead, your nose, then your lips. A happy sigh left your lips as you curled up into him, both of you clicking like two puzzle pieces.

“Goodnight.”

»»——⍟——««

This is for all my moots and followers, Tsukki’s telling you to go to sleep, so shoo shoo.

I’ll be doing another one like this for Daichi and Kuroo soon, but I’ve got to study and finish another request tomorrow :))