leftwinger | Open post [ACTION]

[In all honesty, the standard date ritual of dinner and a movie never struck Wakatoshi as ideal. It's not that he considered it uncivilized or beneath him, or that he couldn't find watching the latest comic book come to life on the big screen and a delicious plate of the latest food trend as part of an enjoyable evening. His preferences simply lay elsewhere. A night in, eating home-cooked food and watching a streaming rental was just as good if not better, in his eyes.

But it was an unwritten rule: a night in for a first date was just unacceptable. Every magazine and blog article and romance book had said as much. And if he wanted to make a lasting impression on Sakusa and make him believe that he was important to him, then Wakatoshi was going to have to put out all the stops to make it so.

First were the reservations to an exclusive restaurant, in Ginza of all places, and he had to call in a favor for that one. Everything that followed was relatively easier: after a haircut and fresh shave, he went and got himself an entirely new outfit consisting of a dark turtleneck, some tailored pants, new shoes, and new jacket. And, of course, an obnoxiously large bouquet of fresh roses.

It's not until he's waiting at the chosen rendezvous point -- in the park outside of the train station -- and several passersby have given him varying looks that he thinks that maybe, just maybe, the flowers might be a bit too much.

He thinks about texting Tendou about it, asking for his input but it's too late in Paris time. And just as he's thumbing through his phone's directory and considering maybe asking Semi or Reon, or even Shirabu, he feels a familiar presence approaching him in the park and looks up, mirth and relief shining in his eyes.]

Ah. Kiyoomi. Glad you could make it.

[The rest of the week leading up to the inevitable Saturday dinner seemed to fly by in a blur. Intense practices and awkward media interviews, as well as all the grueling related work in-between, helped. Wakatoshi couldn't have been more relieved to wake up to his 6:00 am alarm that morning to learn that aside from his morning run and an online Polish class, his schedule was clear. He and Sakusa could spend as much time together as they want.

But first, he had to spruce his place up.

It's not that Wakatoshi's apartment was a pig-sty or, "organized chaos," as Hoshiumi referred to his own place, but he hadn't been able to sanitize it as often as he'd like with his schedule being the way that it is. So he devoted an hour to cleaning the place, stowing away any stray items and spritzing citric acid here and there, followed by an intense bathroom scrub-down. He even changes the floor pads on the kotatsu.

As promised, Sakusa showed up to his apartment right on time a bit later. Wakatoshi had scored enough time to shower, change into a simple Schweiden Adlers hoodie and some shorts, and was in the middle of tying a simple apron at the small of his back when the doorbell rang.

Perfect.

Just before he opens the door, he checks his hair in the mirror by his genkan.]

Hello, Kiyoomi. I'm glad you've made it. Please, come in.

[Tooru had managed to get a few months off to go back to visit family and friends, and watch Hinata's match, though he'd sworn him to secrecy since it was supposed to be a surprise, even if he'd been back for about a week already. He hadn't visited since leaving for Argentina after graduating, and now he's back to see people.

The match had him feeling proud of Hinata, watching the Black Jackals beat the Adlers, and therefore beating Ushijima and Kageyama. The petty pride from high school couldn't help but make him smirk at it. Though he wishes it could have been him doing that, but one day he'll beat them in a match. Olympics were only a couple years away, so he could do it there.

Though any smile he had as he weaved in and out of people to find Hinata was gone the moment he saw Ushijima without even having realized he'd gotten close to the man in his search for Hinata and simultaneous attempt at avoiding him and Kageyama, an annoyed expression replacing the smile.]

Shit. I guess the cat's out of the bag now that I'm back... Of all the people I run into, it's Ushiwaka...

[Unfortunately, his thoughts don't get filtered and blurts that out instead, his eye twitching at the lack of filter in the moment. Tooru can only pray he's not recognized, but he doubts it since his features really haven't changed much since his 3rd year of high school.]

@ omiomi

@omiomi (What's Cookin' Good-lookin'?)

Slides in here for post msby vs adlers match