An owl sat on Kei’s arm and tried to nibble at the parchment paper he was writing on. He didn’t stop it from doing so.

He was sitting on the last steps of the stone staircase up to the owlery and tried to write something, while using his knees like a pad underneath. It was already a mess and an owl chewing the ends off wouldn’t change that. It wasn’t meant to be read by anyone, so Kei didn’t care. He was just pretending to write a letter so in case someone would come up to the owlery, they wouldn’t ask him why he was just sitting around. Usually he’d go to the library to brood and hide away, but what he had needed in that moment was a remote place, without people, to sort out his thoughts.

A gust of wind was ruffling through his hair and almost ripped the parchment out of his hands. He gripped it tightly. The owl fluffed its feathers and hopped up from Kei’s arm to his shoulder. It snuggled closer to him to protect itself from the wind.

“At least you don’t hate me, huh?” he said with a sad laugh.

He had fought with Yamaguchi. They had fought before, but not like that. It had ended with Yamaguchi shouting at him to leave because he didn’t want to see his face ‘now or any time in the future’ and Kei had complied with pleasure and stormed out of the common room.

They broke up. Correction, Yamaguchi broke up with him. Although it had stayed unsaid, Kei could read between the lines. The tone of his voice had said it. The hurt look in his eyes had said it. It pained Kei just to think about it. He hadn’t seen Yamaguchi lose his temper like that before.

He supressed the urge to throw the inkpot over the edge of the tower, just to see it tumble down and shatter into pieces on the roofs of Hogwarts. They had fought about Quidditch. He should have never started playing that cursed sport, it had caused him nothing but problems. Not only had it caused the distance between him and his brother, now it had also cost him his relationship.

„I just don’t know what to do,“ Tadashi complained. He was lounging on Suga’s couch, hugging one of the cushions, while he watched him punching holes into some university materials and putting them into files.

Suga thought about it for a moment. “Are you sure you can’t talk to Tsukishima about it? Maybe you can hint something.”

Tadashi groaned. “If he had picked up on those hints I wouldn’t be here. We never really talk about love and crushes and stuff. I don’t want to bring it up and Tsukki never talks to me about it on his own.”

Tadashi was hopelessly in love with his best friend. It had started out with mixed feelings that he couldn’t pinpoint, whenever a girl asked him about Tsukki, but quickly turned out to be major crush – and he wasn’t referring to the girls. Tadashi had hoped to get over it eventually, but they were in their second year of university and nothing had changed. He didn’t dare confront Tsukki about it. As long as he didn’t have a confirmation that Tsukki was feeling the same way he did, Tadashi wouldn’t risk their friendship for it.

“Hmm. I’d either tell him about my feelings or move on, otherwise you’re trapped in this constant state of ‘what if’ and nothing’s going to change,” Suga said. “But I know that that’s easier said than done.”

Tadashi nodded. He knew that if he wanted his situation to change, he had to do something about it, but he didn’t like any of his options.

“Do you want some more tea?” Suga glanced at his empty cup.

“Yeah, sure.”

Suga left for the kitchen. Tadashi squeezed the pillow in his arms. Why was this so hard? He was unhappy by not making a choice, but making one would be even harder. Tadashi sighed. Suga was one of the few people that knew about it. A special level of trust had developed between them since Tadashi had become captain of the volleyball team. Suga had given him advice and had lend him an ear.

“You know what?” Suga asked while he came back from the kitchen. He was holding two cups of steaming hot tea. “I think I have an idea.”

Tadashi jumped up to take the tea from his hands but Suga was faster and already put them down on the small table in front of the couch.

“You have an idea?”

Suga grinned. “Yes! How about I set you up on a date? You can get out there, get to know someone, talk to them, and see how you feel about it. You don’t have to meet up with them again.”

Tadashi thought about it. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea. He doubted that he could fall in love with someone on the spot, but it could help him forget Tsukki. Forget his hopeless situation. And if it couldn’t, then at least he tried. “Alright, I’ll give it a go.”

7.40pm

„Is he coming to the party?” Uraraka asked, with an emphasize on the ‘he’, while she rummaged through her closet.

Shouto sat on the floor of her room, leaning against the bed. “He asked me if I was going, so I assume yes.” He blinked a few times. He had only asked if Shout planned on going, not confirmed that he would be there as well.

“This is ridiculous. Why would he ask if you were going, and then not go himself?” Uraraka gave him a look as she picked out a dress. “I have to change now, you better get ready too because we’ll be leaving soon.”

She shooed him out of her room, where he had come to for advice. Shouto got up and walked back into his own room of their small university apartment. He wasn’t sure what kind of clothes a new year’s party required, so he went with a short-sleeved button up with a small pattern on it.

Shouto thought about doing something with his hair to change up his style, but he wasn’t very experienced with hair gel, which could only be a recipe for disaster.

He sat in their small kitchen and watched Uraraka apply sparkling eyeliner to her eyelids with a precision he could only dream to achieve.

“Aren’t we too early?” He asked after a glance at the clock. The official start of the party was at 8pm and it was currently 7:58pm. Nobody arrived in time for a party.  

Uraraka nodded. “We are, but I thought it would be nice to see if Aoyama needs some help to set everything up.”

Shouto nodded while he slipped his winter coat on. He was nervous. The cool night air burned against his cheeks, while they walked through a few blocks to Aoyama’s place, followed by the crackling sound of the snow underneath their feet.

25th September

Kei’s birthday is getting closer. It is the first birthday he will celebrate with his boyfriend Tadashi in their shared apartment. They have moved in together after having decided that they both want to go to university.

Kei isn’t big on celebrating holidays and making a big fuss over special dates. He hasn’t invited friends over to his parents’ house since middle school. He is that one person at a party that is leaning against the wall playing with the drink in his hand while he quietly watches everyone else laugh and shout and dance. It isn’t his thing.

Tadashi on the other hand is amazing. He always is, in Kei’s eyes, but especially when it comes to birthdays. He is the attentive one that organizes group presents, he comes up with individual themes for each person’s party and even though not everything works out perfectly all the time he enjoys trying to make memorable days.

He doesn’t want to put a damp on Tadashi’s efforts because he has already been hinting that it would be a great day and he better look forward to it, but he is afraid that it is going to end up in a crowded dinosaur themed party with too many people and too much noise.

“In two days it’s your birthday,” Tadashi mumbles when they are lying in bed that evening, cuddled up under the blankets. “Are you excited?”

“Yeah, of course.” Kei puts genuine effort into being excited. He will go through whatever Tadashi has in mind and he will do his best to enjoy himself because he can’t bear to see him disappointed.