Chapter 1:
"You love me. Admit it."
"Obviously, stupid."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"To the moon and back?"
"I love you way, way, way more than that."
Kei rolled over the bed to face his wife, Mizuki, who was sleeping adorably beside him. They had been married for about a year now, and he still couldn't comprehend how he had managed to make this beautiful girl fall in love with him.
He was so unbelievably lucky.
He gazed at her face, memorizing every detail as best as he could. This was because she would be competing in Tokyo for the Summer Olympics with the National Japanese Volleyball Team alongside her friends, Suzuki Rina and Kojima Sara. She would be in Tokyo for about two months, preoccupied with meetings and practice before the Olympics actually started. Then, two weeks of her life would be dedicated to competing in matches and attending interviews and more practice. Just thinking about it made Kei already miss her.
Kei sat up slowly, careful not to wake up his wife. He planted a gentle kiss on her forehead and stood up, stretching his arms and legs. He had to get ready for work soon at Sendai City Museum.
He sauntered into the bathroom and hopped into the hot shower.
Should he make Mizuki pancakes for breakfast? Or would she enjoy waffles more?
After about fifteen minutes, he turned off the shower. He quickly got dressed into his semi-formal uniform, consisting of a white, long-sleeve, buttoned-up shirt and black dress pants. He placed his glasses on his face while grabbing his ID and keycard.
"Baby...?" Mizuki mumbled tiredly, causing him to smile.
"Good morning, princess," He strolled over and sat on the bed, "How was your sleep?"
"Good..." She yawned, gently tugging him so that his body was on top of hers, "You smell really nice."
"Thanks," Kei smirked, brushing his lips tenderly against hers, "Pancakes or waffles?"
Mizuki pursed her lips together thoughtfully.
"Pancakes!" She exclaimed cheerfully, "With-"
"Strawberries, whip cream, and honey." He finished her sentence casually.
Mizuki smiled, "You get me."
Kei planted one more kiss on her nose before heading towards the kitchen. He placed the pan on the stove and smeared a tiny bit of butter on it. While he waited for the pan to heat up, he grabbed the ingredients necessary to make the pancake batter.
"Kei! Are you sure you don't want to take another shower?" Mizuki suggested teasingly from their room.
"Don't tempt me!" He replied, unable to hide his smile.
He scooped and poured some batter on the pan, watching it cook and sizzle. He opened the cabinet, took out two plates, and set them on the kitchen counter. After a few pancakes were cooked, he took out the sliced strawberries, whip cream, and honey from the refrigerator. He decorated the pancake stacks as best as he could then moved the plates so that they were on the wooden table. He was about to call his wife when she appeared from their bedroom with a wide grin on her face.
"I love you, you know that?" Mizuki beamed as she sauntered over to give her husband a quick peck on the cheek.
"I know." Kei smirked playfully.
He sat on the chair and before Mizuki could sit beside him, he pulled her over so that she was resting on his lap. She let out a squeak as he laughed tenderly.
"There's like three other chairs that I could sit on..." She pointed out.
"And?" He retorted back.
Mizuki giggled, cupping his face so that she could kiss him. He embraced her, leaning up so that their lips tangled with one another. She was so warm and full of light, and he loved that about her.
"Don't forget," She murmured breathlessly as their lips parted, "We have to attend your boss' birthday party tonight."
Kei grimaced, "I don't want to go to that."
"You promised him!" She laughed, "Besides, your other co-workers will be there too."
He sighed as he shook his head, "Fine. Only for like an hour though."
"Oh?" Mizuki grinned, "Do you have other plans tonight?"
Kei smirked arrogantly, his hands lightly squeezing her thigh, "I have one or two things I could do tonight."
She rolled her eyes playfully and picked up a fork, "Before you get any ideas, let's eat."
As the two ate breakfast together, they talked and laughed, not realizing just how much (and how quickly) their lives were about to change.
~
"Hey, so how did you two meet?!" One of Kei's co-workers asked giddily.
"Oh..." Mizuki blushed, "It's a long story..."
"We have lots of time!" She exclaimed, wriggling her eyebrows.
Currently, Kei and Mizuki were in his boss' house, along with his co-workers and a few other people they didn't quite know. They were mingling in the kitchen and judging from Kei's exhausted expression, Mizuki knew he was about to run out of his "socializing batteries".
"Tsukishima Mizuki!" Kei's boss waved frantically, "Are you excited for the Olympics?! I know I am!"
Kei sighed - his boss was an annoyingly huge volleyball fan. There was a part of Kei that believed that he only got hired because he was married to Mizuki and that a lot of his friends (like Kageyama, Hinata, and Bokuto) were professional volleyball players.
"Yes, I am," Mizuki nodded politely, "I leave for Tokyo in a week to start early training..."
Kei's boss gasped sharply, "Does that mean you won't be around?! How am I supposed to discuss strategies with you?!"
"I'm sure you'll find a way..." Kei muttered under his breath.
"What was that, Tsukishima?" He turned around, eyeing him suspiciously.
Kei smiled as fakely as he could, looping his arm around Mizuki's waist.
"I said, I'll be sure to pass your messages along to Mizuki when she's in Tokyo." He lied nonchalantly, causing her to stifle her laughter.
"That would be great!" He nodded eagerly.
"Right..." Kei cleared his throat, "Anyways, we should get going-"
"Not before you tell us the story of how you first both met!" One of his co-workers exclaimed.
Mizuki chuckled nervously, "I-I don't know..."
"If I tell you all how we met, can we leave after?" Kei asked casually.
Her eyes widened, alarmed by her husband's statement. She didn't want him to get in trouble by saying that!
"Yes!" His boss instantly replied, "You are free to go after you tell us the story!"
Kei nodded slowly and gazed at her as if asking for permission to tell them their story.
Mizuki smiled reassuringly as she squeezed his hand.
Kei took a deep breath as he scanned the room - about 10 of his co-workers and his boss were eagerly waiting for him to start.
"Mizuki and I met in elementary school-"
"Oh my... I'm already crying!" His boss sniffled.
"Shh!"
"Sorry! Sorry! Continue!"
He cleared his throat reluctantly and said, "As I was saying, we met in elementary school. I wasn't the most... friendly person at the time, and before that, I used to ignore or make fun of her a lot."
Mizuki smiled as she remembered their fateful encounter.
"Then, on my birthday, she sat with me during lunch. It was kind of a big deal because I didn't really have any friends during the third grade..." Kei murmured, "Anyway, I was drawing a Pterodactyl on my notebook and she guessed that it was a T-Rex."
Mizuki laughed lightly, causing Kei to smile.
"I told her, 'It's a Pterodactyl, stupid.' She was so embarrassed..." He continued, earning a few soft laughs from the room, "And ever since then, we became friends."
"Best friends." Mizuki chimed in.
"Right..." Kei chucked, gazing at her adoringly.
"Then what happened?!" His boss urged him to continue their story.
"I told you all how we met so we can go-"
"No! Not until you tell us how you started dating!" He whined, "Please!"
Kei blinked a few times, silently pleading for his co-workers to tame his irritating boss.
"Now, now, you told Tsukishima that he and his wife could go-"
"Please! I'll give you an extra vacation day, Tsukishima!" He declared, "Or better yet, an extra week!"
Mizuki looked up at him curiously - Kei could really use that vacation week to be with his wife at Tokyo when the Olympics start.
"Fine..." He sighed defeatedly, "So, after that... Mizuki and her family moved away to Brazil..."
"What?! You're kidding!"
"No..." Kei shook his head, "We said goodbye and that was that... At least for five years."
His boss faced Mizuki suddenly and said, "Then what happened?"
"Well-"
"Not you Tsukishima! I want to hear from your wife!" He dismissed him.
Kei rolled his eyes, taking a sip from his drink.
"Well..." Mizuki murmured shyly, "My dad was a professional volleyball player so we moved to Brazil for him but... Eventually, after a year, my parents decided that it would be best if we moved back to Japan. So, me, my younger brother, and my mother moved to Tokyo, while my dad stayed in Brazil."
"That must've been difficult..."
"It was but... It worked, for a while," She smiled tenderly, "We stayed in Tokyo because my mother thought it would be better for us there. My dad could visit and spend time with us whenever volleyball season was over and he wouldn't have to drive 5 or more hours to get to Miyagi..."
"That's true... Tokyo to Miyagi during peak hours is like hell!"
"So, even though I was in Japan, Kei and I didn't get a chance to reunite..." She continued, gazing up at him, "We didn't meet again until our first year of high school when I moved back to Miyagi."
"Why did you move back to Miyagi?"
Before she could explain, Kei spoke out defensively, "It's personal."
"It's okay..." Mizuki murmured softly, "I'm fine, Kei."
"Are you sure?" He asked worriedly.
She nodded as she took a deep breath.
"My father... passed away..." She mumbled, causing some of the guests to move closer to her in order to express their sympathies.
"It's okay..." She reassured frantically, "It was almost 11 years ago. I'm okay, I promise!"
"I see..." Kei's boss nodded thoughtfully, "I'm sorry for your loss, dear..."
"It's okay... Really!"
After Kei's co-workers hugged and comforted her with words, she let out a small laugh. They were all so kind and supportive.
"Then what happened?"
"After that, we reunited, became friends again, and... the rest was history!" Mizuki exclaimed lightheartedly.
"Oh come on! What about the details?" Kei's boss frowned, "The realization of feelings? The highs? The lows? The drama? The challenges? The proposal?"
"Guess you'll never know..." Kei shrugged smugly.
He groaned, "If only your story was in book form... I would read it!"
"Sorry..." Mizuki smiled bashfully.
After about half an hour, Kei and Mizuki finally left the party. They were driving back to their apartment when he intertwined his warm hand with hers. She gazed up at him and he kissed the top of her hand gently.
When they arrived at their apartment, he locked the door behind them.
"That was fun!" Mizuki laughed, "I like your co-workers!"
"Yeah... My boss can be a bit much though." Kei sighed tiredly.
"So..."
Mizuki sauntered up to her husband teasingly, "I remember you saying this morning that you have one or two things planned tonight..."
Kei smirked, wrapping his arms around her affectionately.
"That's right."
"Am I invited?" She asked coolly.
"Depends."
"On?"
"Whether or not you have clothes on." He smiled slyly.
Mizuki tip-toed up and whispered something indecent in his ear.
"Is that so? Then... You're definitely invited."
She laughed excitedly as she began making her way to their bedroom. Kei trailed behind her, wondering how he got so lucky.
This side of paradise was truly something else.
・‥...━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━...‥・
A/N: Welcome to This Side of Paradise, the Pterodactyl sequel! I hope you all enjoy the continuation of Tsukishima Kei and Tsukishima Mizuki's story!