"You look like you've seen a ghost," Shirabu lifted his thin brow when he saw Tsukishima. He was sitting on his black leather chair holding a pencil.
Tsukishima couldn't feel his face. He swore that he saw his lips were pale from a quick glance in the large mirror when he entered Shirabu's office. He walked to the left to put down his bag and sit on the large couch. He removed his cap and placed it down on the silver table and tiredly put his hands on his face.
"I saw him. I saw him," Tsukishima said. It sounded a bit muffled because his hands were covering his lips and face.
"Saw who?" Shirabu's eyes didn't leave its gaze on his sketches. He lifted another brow though, waiting for Tsukishima's answer.
"You know damn well who!" Tsukishima glared at Shirabu who was meters away from him. "You could've at least told me that he would be here!"
Shirabu sighed before looking at him with tired eyes. He waved his hand on the air. His lips protruded in a corner.
"I'm a busy person. The external affairs, I leave to the other people working for me. I just sign paperworks and do sketches and keep this empire functioning," Shirabu said.
"What are they doing here then?!" He exclaimed.
"They?" Shirabu asked trivially before his eyes widened a bit. "Oh you mean Kuroo and Alisa?"
Tsukishima saw how a small smirk formed on Shirabu's lips.
"I don't know? I told you, my knowledge regarding external affairs is not in my forte." He said before continuing to work on the sketch.
Tsukishima's brows met. What a great executive this man is. Doesn't even know (and care) what the hell happens in his clothing empire as long as its running and making money. He shook his head to the side and started to unmount the pencil cases and sketchpads inside.
"Besides, why are you so concerned? I thought you moved on already?"
His hand immediately let go of the wooden case and it landed on the table with a slightly loud thud. It echoed throughout the large walls and Tsukishima felt like it resonated into his soul.
Shirabu was right. Why was he even concerned about the fact that he is here with his girlfriend? Tsukishima has already moved on. Its been already 2 years since their relationship has ended, and it would be a goddamn funny one if Tsukishima hasn't forgot about it. His friend was right. There was no point in sticking out his nose in businesses he shouldn't even be involved with. He is already done with Kuroo, and so was Kuroo to him. Its all in the past. That's what he chanted in his head right now.
He sighed before standing up from the couch and went towards Shirabu to get the drafted sketches. Shirabu didn't even budged a bit to accomodate him, probably because he was just too immersed in sketching. He too, started to trace out the sketch into another paper with bold lines.
Lunch was served. Both of them have aching hands and their back was hurting. Tsukishima massaged his wrists, because it has been a long time since he did so much drafting.
Tsukishima took his time now in eyeing his friend's working office. The interior looked modern because of the black and gray theme. The couch he is sitting on was a black cushioned one, wherein it has steel arms and legs that supports it. The gray paint on the walls made the room look more serious. A few meters away from where he is seated, the large gray desk of Shirabu was placed exactly at the far center of the room. His eyes trailed to where Shirabu is in the far right of hid office wherein white cabinets and drawers are installed.
"Here, as a token of appreciation." Shirabu tossed a brown envelope on the table in front of him. A brow rose from the action.
"What is that?"
Shirabu rolled his eyes. "Just stop being all pissy and check the contents."
Tsukishima's eyes squinted. He reached for the envelope and checked what's inside. He thoroughly read through the papers and his eyes widened slowly.
"You found a place for my studio?" He said.
Shirabu sipped from his mug and felt relieved when he tasted the sweetness of chocolate from his drink. "Yes. I don't know if you'll like it. But its just a few minute drive from your place. And its also near Madhouse so you'll have no excuse in helping me everytime," he gave a sarcastic smile.
He checked the papers again. It noted what are its dimension, the area it is in, the nearest landmarks. When he flipped over the page, he saw what it looked like. The building looked spacious even though it only has 2 floors, and the architectural style was amazing. Glass panes surround the building as gray and black concrete adorned the exterior. Tsukishima was immediately sold.
"Is there a way I can contact the owner to transfer it to my name immediately?"
"I told you, who do you think I am and what do you take me for?" Shirabu rolled his eyes.
Tsukishima's mouth formed into an O. "Did you pay for it already? The transfer and everything?"
His friend scoffed. "Why would I pay for something I won't even own? Everything was from your bank account. I just sped up the process."
Tsukishima stood up still holding the papers in hand. He just couldn't believe this man. Shirabu really is something.
"You can leave now. Maybe you need to discuss those with your employees," Shirabu waved a hand as if allowing him to leave.
Tsukishima nodded before he gathered his things and hoisted the backpack up on his back. He put back the papers on the brown envelope before he said his goodbyes to his friend.
"Thank you for this, I'll have to go now." he said. Shirabu only smirked.
"Of course, for every favor I ask you I'll return each of wholeheartedly," he said in a suspicious tone. The way how Shirabu smiled bothered him, as if something is really gonna happen soon. But maybe it was just a weird feeling he got. Tsukishima rolled his eyes at his friend before gesturing to his friend that he'd be texting him soon.
After the visit to Madhouse, he went to his own studio to finally discuss everything to his employees. He explained what he has in mind for the new building. Basically it will be their new headquarters for the studio, but the old one will be their mini warehouse.
Tsukishima used the whole afternoon in settling the matters with the new studio. Apparently, upon calling the real estate agent the only thing that he he needed to do was to finally sign the remaining papers. (Since Shirabu has finished all of the work, Tsukishima felt relieved because he hates doing that)
He totally forgot about what happened during the day because he was busy the whole afternoon. Yamaguchi suggested that they should use the next 7 days in refurbishing the building, installing all of the large pieces of furniture that they have.
"They are almost finished on painting the walls," Yamaguchi brightly said while handing him a basketful of letters and invitations. Its been 3 days since they started to make improvements for the new building. Tsukishima specifically stated that he wanted the color schemes look the same like his old studio so it would still feel like home.
Tsukishima tiredly lifted his head up from his desk which is full of the list of furniture that would be delivered in a few days that he has been in contact with.
"What are these?" Tsukishima lifted a slender brow while eyeing the basket.
"Word has it that you're already here. Those are invitations from every other designers and socialites that want your presence on their show and events."
"Can't we just reject all of them? We are too busy with the moving," he sighed before bringing back his eyes on the list to check if they didn't miss anything.
"Just pick out the ones that you think you'll be attending. We can just send flowers to the rest," Yamaguchi said.
"Or you could just proxy for me again?" Tsukishima smirked. Yamaguchi deadpanned at him.
"You've been doing it for two years. Was it really that bad?" he snickered as he saw Yamaguchi's face looked sour.
"I got tired because they ask me the same questions all over again," Yamaguchi said. "And I'm already sick of making up stories like 'he just went away for a breather' and stuff like that!"
Tsukishima smirked. He definitely knows what his best friend pertains to. Questions like "Who are you wearing?" and "Do you have upcoming plans for your brand?" are the most common ones. Well maybe the one Yamaguchi received most of the time was "When is Tsukishima Kei coming back?".
"I'll check it later. Just head back there to oversee the progress. Because the sooner we move, the better."
Tsukishima already envisioned everything from the moment after they finish moving in to their new building. He already finished sketching the designs for his upcoming fashion show that he will probably schedule around April.
After checking the list, he reached for the black telephone and dialed his trusted fabric warehouse. Hinata was delighted to hear from him, even though they only met a few days ago. Tsukishima immediately wanted to reserve the fabrics for restocking, and Hinata immediately got what he want. They catched up for a bit, and hang up the phone a few minutes ago.
"I'll be there soon," Tsukishima said before ending the phone call. He looked on the newly appointed staffs that stood before him. The youngest one is a short blonde named Yachi Hitoka, who looked a him always with puppy-like eyes.
"I trust you all in managing the place. Yachi-san, please do not look to tense all the time."
Yachi smiled sheepishly before bowing her head. A slight blush crept up on her cheeks.
"Yamaguchi will be coming here from time to time to help, but there may be times I'll also come to check," Tsukishima said. "Since its our brand's first show, I guess I wanted it to be smooth and flawless. But there are cases that we'll get derailed. And I know that you people are capable enough of handling everything," he finished.
All of them nodded and bowed before he left. When he stepped out of the building, he immediately saw the driver and the usual black car. Tsukishima greeted the man with a polite smile before he went inside the vehicle.
Bored, he went to check on his social media account. Tsukishima tried to stifle his snickers when he saw a funny meme about dinosaurs. He tapped like, but when he was trying to scroll he accidentally reloaded the whole feed that caused him to see a photo update from the official account of Madhouse.
With "Bringing you the intensity and passion as models @KT_blacknotwhite and @haiba_alisa as the fresh faces for the Madhouse DE4TH collection." as a caption, Tsukishima almost dropped his phone when he stared at the picture.
The picture was black and white, and the contrast was a dark. Showed and highlighted the edges of Kuroo's jawline. His dark eyes was staring passionately at Alisa whose cheeks was on his hand, and she was leaning a bit towards his body while on a sitting position looking at the camera. The black skin tight outfit brought out Alisa's beauty more, while Kuroo's red suit made him look more seductive. Fuck. They really look like they are a couple.
He was foolish enough to tap the highlighted username which led him into Kuroo's feed. Tsukishima's heart hammered when he saw photos of him. Selfies, promotion pics, and candid shots filled his screen as he scrolled.
A slender finger tapped the selfie in which Kuroo looked like he just finished doing his hair. Tsukishima's lips protruded when he noticed that it was the same messy hair that Kuroo have. He also checked a candid photo of Kuroo who was standing and smiling to the fans. His heart pounded when he just stared on Kuroo's perfect side profile. His eyes, his nose, and his lips was just perfect.
A photo was accidentally touched when the car abruptly stopped. He guessed that Kuroo took the photo. It was a picture of Alisa who was wearing a white sundress, and was smiling. It was captioned "Miss Sunshine. 🌻" A bitter smile crept up on his lips.
It felt like a knife was driven straight into his heart. The ugly, weird feeling was back again. He tried to calm himself down but his hands won't move. His eyes were fixed on the photo, and he could not avert his gaze. It was a bad idea to check his social media accounts. Now it put him into a grave mood.
Its funny that even though how much he tried to avoid this man, somehow it felt like something was trying to put them together on the same paths. Tsukishima found it stupid, because it seems that all of the walls and locks that he tried to put up the past 2 years to put his heart in check was slowly crumbling away. It felt like something was playing with them and playing with him. Swallowing that ugly feeling back, he didn't know why he tapped the heart button.
He leaned back on his seat and stared at the window. He just noticed that it was raining, when a ludicrous idea popped up in his mind. Tsukishima brought up his camera and took a snapshot of the rainy scenery from inside his car.
I like the rain.
After he posted the picture, he closed his cellphone and waited for them to arrive on the new TK Studio building.
"Have you decided on which events are you showing up?" Yamaguchi greeted him when he arrived at the studio. He lead him to his new office. Tsukishima eyed the surroundings and approved of everything that he saw. The reception was a bit larger, and Yamaguchi decided to put a small receiving area at the side where a slightly large couch is.
"I told you just reject all of them," he nonchalantly replied.
"Tsukki!"
He sighed. "Fine. I'll review it later..." he trailed off.
When he reached the office, Tsukishima felt quite relaxed. The office looked a bit the same but quite larger and a few pieces of furniture were added. Tsukishima strided towards his larger desk and sat on the new office chair and reached for the basketful of invitations.
Yamaguchi looked a bit trivial and waited for his actions. He stared back at his best friend before sighing and started to sort out the envelopes. Most of the invitations were put into colored envelopes with trimmed gold and silver lines on the side. There were 9 invitations at all, but he just randomly selected three and put those in front of him.
A brow was lifted. Yamaguchi looked like he was going to say something.
"I'll only be attending these three."
Yamaguchi swallowed and stared at the invitations that laid out in front of him. "...Are you sure?"
"I told you my schedule is already full," Tsukishima sighed. He closed his eyes that's why he didn't see a weird look on Yamaguchi's face.
"...Are you really sure, Tsukki?"
"Yes! Just head out and do the RSVP on these three events. Send flowers for whatever for the others." he replied.
"Okay."
"Are you happy now?" He sarcastically smiled. A smile formed on Yamaguchi's lips.
"Of course."
Tsukishima suddenly got cold feet. Even though he is wearing one of his favorite suit (a tailored light gray suit which is a gift from Gianna Donnatella), the cold crept up into his upper body which made him slightly hug himself. He has never done this in 2 years time so he doesn't how to do this, facing all of these people and exchanging fake pleasantries and such.
Seemingly, two of the events he chose happen to be the same date. Yamaguchi didn't even bothered to let him chose which one to attend to, and just sent the RSVP immediately. Damned Yamaguchi decided to be the one to attend the other event, and that what made Tsukishima put in such a pedestal. His best friend could've at least handled the events and went as himself but no, Yamaguchi thinks he had to pay for all of the years had gone by.
The driver stopped in front of the hotel the event will be held. Even though the car is heavily tinted from the outside, Tsukishima could see the curious faces of the media people that flocked on each side of the red carpet, probably wondering who owns the unfamiliar black car he is in.
"Washijou-sama bids you good luck." The driver said to him, in which Tsukishima nodded in response.
Tsukishima sighed. He closed his eyes for a bit and reflected. The moment he step out in this car, he will embrace the previous life he has lived before. He gripped his thigh hard and gathered a lot of strength, before he opened the car door. In an instant, flashes of light made him squint his eyes as he went out the vehicle.
"Its Tsukishima Kei!"
"He has returned?!"
"Please allow us to do an interview!"
"Please look this way Tsukishima-san!"
Tsukishima walked for a few steps and just stood at the middle of the red carpet, trying to at least muster a smile as he turn at every direction to accomodate the photographers. In the sea of people, his eyes traveled and saw a familiar face. It was Sarukui, the man who asked for his autograph in the airport.
"Tsukishima-san!" Sarukui sounded ecstatic when their eyes met. Tsukishima raised his hand and waved at the man, as another barrage of camera flashes came.
An authorized media personnel went near him, holding a small microphone. Behind her was a cameraman, and a few meters away from them were probably another famous socialite because there is someone covering for the interview.
Tsukishima bracrd himself for the questions. A smile grazed on the woman's lips.
"Hello, Tsukishima-san. Its been a while since we saw you in fashion shows and events," she greeted.
"It felt quite a bit nostalgic too," he replied. "I don't even know if I still belong in here." Tsukishima lightly laughed.
A soft laugh escaped the woman's lips. "Of course. How long has it been 2 years?"
He just nodded in agreement. The woman reacted in a polite manner before asking another question.
"Everyone was just dying to know what was the real story for your sudden vanishing act," The woman replied. "But now that you're here, what do you feel now that you've been dubbed as a rising prodigy?"
Tsukishima let out a sighed and thought for an answer quickly. "I think its all because of the Madhouse gala when that started. I mean before, I left I was just some nameless designer. Shirabu was really great to work with and maybe all of my progress were because of him," he replied.
"What can you say about the rumors about Suna Rintarou?"
His ears rang when he heard the name. A sudden chill crept uo on his back but he tried to put a pokerface.
"What rumors?"
The woman sighed. "There are a few people that said that one of the reasons why you left was because of Suna Rintarou's alleged stalking case to you," she said. "A few models way back opened the topic because there was a small fight backstage after the Madhouse gala event."
Tsukishima widened his eyes. He doesn't know about this kind of rumors so he was just speechless. It took him a few seconds to gather his bearings before answering.
"I-I'm not really sure about those rumors, because there is a different reason why I left..."
"Or is it because of someone else? Like Kuroo Tetsurou?"
His mouth just hang open and his eyes just blinked. Just what has happened when he left? And these kind of rumors that are resurfacing just because he is back is stressing him out.
When he was about to answer, the woman suddenly cut him off because someone probably arrived. He looked confused and stared at the woman who was looking behind him.
"Speaking of the devil, the supermodel Kuroo Tetsurou arrived!"
Upon hearing that, he whipped his head and looked back. His honey colored eyes clashed with intense brown ones that sent chills down his spine. His body froze that he couldn't even move a muscle.
Tsukishima's eyes didn't left the newcomer's eyes and so was the newcomer's. It felt like time passed slowly and the way how his heart hammered sounded a bit loud. His throat ran dry as he examined Kuroo in the red suit he was also wearing on that promotional picture by Madhouse. The lines on his body was perfrctly accentuated, and he could see the lean muscles on Kuroo's biceps. Kuroo's torso looked perfectly sculpted and his lower body, too.
His hand immediately moved to touch his ear when he noticed that Kuroo's eyes traveled to his piercings. He was the first one to broke the eye contact. The woman totally forgot about him, which is a good thing because he could've not answered that last question properly. He had only taken a few steps when someone called his name.
"Tsukishima? You're here?" He heard Shirabu's voice meters away from him.
Tsukishima clicked his tongue before he forced himself to turn around and face them. He could not even hide the awkward look etched on his face right now.
"...Yes." He replied in such a low tone. The way how he averted his eyes on the people behind Shirabu who was now interviewed by media seemed to be noticed by Shirabu.
"Relax, Tsukishima," Shirabu said cooly.
A fake smile grazed on his lips. "I'm fine." he replied.
A loud laugh escaped Shirabu's lips which made people look at them. It made Tsukishima more uncomfortable since they looked curious. He wanted to go inside quickly and just avoid Kuroo like a plague.
"Kuroo. Alisa. Come here." Shirabu ordered in such a tone that no one would dare defy. Fear flashed in Tsukishima's eyes when he noticed that Kuroo took quick strides to close the distance between them and didn't even wait for his girlfriend.
He swallowed hard. His eyes was focused on Shirabu. The feeling from before was different now, because they are only a meter away from each other. The pressure was too much, and Tsukishima could feel sweat forming on his back and on his forehead.
Alisa was giving him such a smile that was so radiant like the sun. A small pang was felt in his heart. She really is Miss Sunshine, huh?
Kuroo was just eyeing him intensely. That intense gaze never left his eyes, that is why he can't look back properly at him. As if he is watching every move he is doing. The way how he tucked his hands in his pockets shows just how cool is he with this happening.
Shirabu smiled sweetly at Tsukishima. "Why don't we all go inside together and escort our friend Tsukishima Kei?"
"Sure," the reply was short and was said cooly by Kuroo.