#tanatsuki

Tsukishima was a half decent medic but a better mechanic.  He had been a runner for many years until the tremors in his hands became a liability to those who needed him to either patch them up or have their backs.  So now Tsukishima took care of most of the mechanical needs and his job was to figure out why the jeep the runners used was overheating.

A cheer went up as the barn door opened, letting in a blast of frigid air and even more yells to close it quickly.  Tsukishima fiddled with a wire as he saw out of the corner of his eye a tall, lone figure stroll up to the large group playing spin the bottle.

“You spin Ryuu!”  Hinata cheered, making room for the larger man.  Hinata was one of those crazy runners, along with Tanaka.  For a long time no one had any faith that Hinata would survive the job, but the other runners always looked out for him.  He might have been clumsy and too loud at first but he was one of the best now.  Small and quicker than anyone else, he could get in and out of a place before anyone would notice.

“Let me show you how it’s done!”  Tanaka boasted, as loud as usual.  There was laughter as the bottle spun then completely silence.  Tsukishima only looked over when he heard Hinata’s sputtered laughter.

“I’m not playing.”  Tsukishima said when he saw the bottle was pointed at him.  “Unlike some people, I’m working.”  He specifically looked at the still laughing Hinata and then over to Tanaka.

“If you refuse to do the kiss then you have to have to do a dare.”  Yamaguchi, the traitor, spoke up.  He was bundled up and sitting the closest to the heater, his voice was still raspy from the fading sickness and he was leaning heavily on Kageyama, who looked about as done with the game as Tsukishima was.

“Shut up Yamaguchi.”  Tsukishima snapped but there was no real heat in his words.

“Sorry Tsukki.”  Yamaguchi mumbled though they both knew he really wasn’t.

The door opened once more to reveal most of the runners.  Kuroo and Bokuto had also fallen sick like Yamaguchi, laid up in a quarantine building waiting to die as their lungs filled with fluid and slowly drowned them.  Sawamura stood a little in front of them and looked around the barn.

“It’s getting late, everyone pack up and head in.”  Sawamura ordered and everyone quickly got up to obey.  Sawamura held the same authority over the rest of safe zone as he did over his runners.  No one ever questioned an order from him, he had worked diligently for the camp to make sure it was safe and they had everything they needed to survive.

Bokuto and Kuroo had been in their own camp, though from the bits and pieces Tsukishima gathered it hadn’t been all that safe.  If they left for the unknown and nightmare world around them then it must have been bad.  Sawamura had picked up the small group and brought them here.  Tsukishima didn’t mind Akaashi or Kozume but Bokuto had a tendency to be on the same level as Hinata and Tsukishima only needed one Hinata in his life.  Kuroo seemed to be set on making Tsukishima’s life miserable.

“Spin the bottle.”  Bokuto cheered before coughing, the deep rattling kind of cough that made Tsukishima cringe in sympathy.  Kuroo patted Bokuto on the back before adjusting  his knitted cap back over the other man’s ears.

“You don’t even know what spin the bottle is Kou.”  Kuroo stated but that, neither the coughing fit, seemed to curb Bokuto’s enthusiasm.  Sawamura had moved off to the side to talk quietly to Tanaka, who’s dark eyes were concentrated on his leader as he nodded and accepted a bag from Sawamura.

Tsukishima looked away because he was not jealous.  He knew the bond between Tanaka and Sawamura was nothing romantic or even something resembling that.  Both men might have known others longer but they were the only ones left of the original runners.  It bred an unbreakable level of loyalty and trust between the two, a deep love shared between them.

“You sit in a circle, spin the bottle and the person has to kiss whoever the bottle points to or they have to do a dare if they pass.”  Tsukishima spoke up, finding it a little sad that Bokuto didn’t even know what a simple adolescent game was.

“Oh.”  Bokuto said before leaning down to spin the bottle.  It stopped at a wall but he nudged it to point at Sawamura.  “Dai, we have to kiss now.”  Bokuto coughed into his thick scarf before giving Sawamura a big grin over the edge.

“You’re still sick.”  Sawamura said and Tsukishima found it interesting that he didn’t outright say no.

“Fine, then kiss Tetsu.”  Bokuto rasped out.  Kuroo wiggled his eyebrows at an unimpressed looking Sawamura.

“Pass.”  Sawamura deadpanned before squeezing Tanaka’s shoulder on his way out.

“Okay then I dare you to kiss Tetsu.”  Bokuto tried again, following after Sawamura.

“Hard pass.”  Sawamura answered automatically but didn’t stop Bokuto from moving his arm so Bokuto could huddle close against the biting wind.  Kuroo brought up the rear, not looking at all insulted that he was a hard pass.

Nobody ever said anything about the three of them.  Sure there was gossip but most just let them do as they pleased.  Tsukishima knew it had to do with the loyalty Sawamura instilled in everyone, but mostly everyone just wanted their de facto leader to find happiness.  Even if it was with a loudmouth and a weirdo.

“Here.”  Tanaka put the bag down on the exposed engine and Tsukishima wasn’t even surprised that there was food in it.  Even on his off hours Sawamura still took care of everyone around him, and he would have known that Tsukishima had been in the makeshift garage all day now doing repairs.  “But first, I think you owe me a kiss.”

Tsukishima turned to Tanaka, who was grinning widely like he expected Tsukishima to pass.  Tanaka still looked like he was suffering from his last run.  He had lost weight, which showed in his face, the bones pressing against skin and making him look even more dangerous than he already did.  Dark circles beneath his bloodshot eyes betrayed the lack of sleep he was getting, his lips looked chapped and painful.

Tsukishima curled his hand into Tanaka’s scarf, pulling him forward and enjoying the extra height even if Tanaka still outweighed him.  Surprise registered on Tanaka’s face before Tsukishima pressed his lips against Tanaka’s.

It wasn’t the first kiss they had shared, though Tsukishima couldn’t really pinpoint when this had started or why.  Tanaka was everything Tsukishima thought he hated.  Loud, outgoing, brash, easily excitable, full of energy, the list went on.  But somehow they had gotten here, with Tanaka’s cold fingers cupping Tsukishima’s face, tilting his head to get a better angle as the kiss deepended.

When the second week passed and the runners hadn’t returned everyone had feared the worst.  With half the camp fallen to illness and the runners missing, hope had been a hard thing to find.  Tsukishima could not have handled the lost of Yamaguchi but the thought of losing Yamaguchi and Tanaka had paralyzed Tsukishima.

Another four whole days passed before the runners appeared in the dead of night.  The medicine had been handed over and the runners had gone off into their own bunker, except for Tanaka.

Tsukishima spent all but the coldest nights in the barn and Tanaka and crawled into bed with him that night.  Tsukishima hadn’t been asleep, it felt like months since he had last slept well, but he had welcomed Tanaka with barely a word.  Tsukishima knew what it was like to come back to the camp, to finally feel safe once again but knowing what hell waited beyond their walls.