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" Hey! Someone wake Yamaguchi up!” Tsukishima tore his gaze away from the events in the corridor and walked towards the room where a few people from different teams were gathering.
“Again?” Noya said, and Tsukishima being as tall as he was could peek over his shoulders with ease.
Everyone seemed to be admiring how Yamaguchi was still sleeping. It had kinda become a ritual during the entire camp: Yamaguchi being the only one to oversleep until others would practically force him out of his bed. Today was no different. He lay sprawled on his futon, arms wrapped around his pillow and fast asleep.
Tsukishima frowned. From the long friendship they shared, he knew Yamaguchi wasn’t good at waking up, but it still surprised him how he could actually sleep while loud voices of people like Hinata, Tanaka and Noya surrounded him.
Kuroo laughed a loud and cackling laugh when he arrived at the scene, pointing at the sleeping Karasuno member and saying things like “Again! He’s even worse than Kenma!” Even that didn’t wake Yamaguchi up. Tsukishima quickly took a step into the room.
“I’ll do it this time,” he said, and everyone else mumbled replies and hurried to go eat their breakfast, leaving him alone with his sleeping friend. He took a glance at Yamaguchi and blushed a little. This sure brought back some memories.
He had been annoyed when Tanaka, Hinata or even Nekoma’s captain Kuroo would violently wake his best friend up by dragging him out of his bed or steal his blankets, while waking him up was something he himself actually enjoyed.
Making sure that everyone had left already, Tsukishima closed the door behind him and then calmly kneeled beside the sleeping figure. No one but Yamaguchi was ever allowed to see his soft side after all. He glanced at the door once more before looking down at his sleeping friend.
His poker face then suddenly changed into a devilish smirk, and he lightly fluttered his fingers down his exposed side. Yamaguchi twitched under his touch, lips curling into a forced smile.
“Yamaguchiii,” Tsukishima said in a teasing voice, his fingers continuing to trace a ticklish path down his body, dragging the blankets away from him in the process.
Yamaguchi gulped and his lips twitched, but he kept them pressed together. After successfully tickling the blankets off him, Tsukishima lightly wiggled his fingers down Yamaguchi’s bare legs, tickling him with light touches and making him squirm.
Long, slow and sleepy breaths were replaced by short breaths, and even long moments of silence as Yamaguchi tried to hold his breath while his body tried to fight the sensations. Tsukishima chuckled. This little guy was sooo awake already.
He noticed how Yamaguchi tightened his grip on the pillow, and the smile on his face was growing bigger, his eyes still squeezed shut. Tsukishima lightly fluttered his fingers up Yamaguchi’s legs again, slowly adding more pressure and he squeezed lightly when he reached his hipbone.
Yamaguchi jerked and quickly rolled onto his side so his back was facing Tsukishima, still holding onto his pillow with adorable determination. Starting just under the hem of his shirt, Tsukishima crept his fingers up until he made contact with the soft and warm skin of Yamaguchi’s lower back, making him shudder at the sensations.
“I know you’re awake. You won’t be able to hold it forever,” Tsukishima said, moving his fingers swiftly against his back. He crawled his fingers up his back, and he felt how his body tensed up even more when he lightly scribbled at the skin between his shoulder blades.
“Hmmh!” a muffled squeak was heard, and Tsukishima had to bite back his own laugh. Yamaguchi really was the cutest. His lower arm nearly disappeared entirely under Yamaguchi’s shirt when he reached up and tickled the back of his neck, and another soft sound escaped his ticklish friend’s lips.
“Still asleep?” Tsukishima said teasingly and after tracing ticklish circles on the back of his neck, causing him to scrunch up his shoulders, he moved all the way back down his spine. Yamaguchi’s breath hitched and he arched his back a little, but still no further movement.
Slowly raking his fingers down the skin of his back until just above the waistline of his shorts, Tsukishima continued to tickle him lightly, enjoying how his body started to react more with each touch. As he kept teasing the skin of his lower back with light touches, his free hand that rested distractedly on Yamaguchi’s side, was sent into action again.
He curled his fingers and dug into his side, slowly intensifying the tickle attack.
“Come on Yama, waaake up.” His other hand also moved to his side, and the light tickles then all dissolved into rough, merciless scribbles of the fingers up his sides, and Yamaguchi shrieked before giggles erupted from him.
“EEhehehehe oka-okaahaahay I’m awahahaake!” he cried out, curling up and holding onto the pillow as if that could save him from the tickling.
“Oh, are you now?” Tsukishima said, and he moved down and squeezed the shorter boy’s hips.
Yamaguchi squealed and tried to roll away from him even more, ending up on his knees and curled up into a little ball with the pillow still clenched between his arms.
“S-Stopstopstop aahahaha!” Yamaguchi begged, his giggles muffled as he buried his face into the pillow.
He found himself squirming and wriggling like an idiot as he realized his position wasn’t the most convenient. The tickling was having so much effect that it was impossible for him to uncurl his body, leaving him stuck with the damn pillow squeezed between his legs and chest.
“Hmm no. You faked you were asleep, so I think I’ll have to fix that with a proper punishment,” Tsukishima said, and he wriggled his fingers in his ticklish underarms.
“Noononono not there, Tsukkiiiii! Ahahaha stohohop!” Yamaguchi squealed, and his muffled laughter was raised in volume when Tsukishima suddenly pulled the pillow from his grip.
Released from his awkward position, Yamaguchi tried to get on all fours and flee, but Tsukishima already wrapped an arm around his middle from behind and clawed at the new accessible spot: His tummy.
“Wah-aahahaa Tsukkehehehehe no! I-It, thahahat-” Yamaguchi immediately lost the power in his arms and slumped back onto the futon, giggling and squeaking hysterically. “Tickles? Oh but I know. Remember how it was my favorite thing to do when we were kids?” Tsukishima chuckled.
Yamaguchi blushed and tried to fight the giggles that kept pouring from his lips. When they were young and had occasional sleepovers, Tsukishima would end up tickling him a lot when waking him up in the mornings, surprising Yamaguchi with the sudden change in character.
The usual calm and resolved Tsukishima could turn into a sudden tickle monster, and maybe the most embarrassing thing about it all was how Yamaguchi enjoyed it as much as Tsukishima did. The playful tickles between them actually stopped when they started high school and their frequent sleepovers decreased.
Seemingly, they both missed this a lot.
“AHAhaa no! L-Leheheet go hehehehe stop!” Yamaguchi’s half-hearted pleas were becoming less and less audible because of his uncontrollable laughter, and Tsukishima felt his squirming body weaken.
“What did you say?” Tsukishima hummed and lowered his hands so he could squeeze Yamaguchi’s thighs.
The giggling guy collapsed and rolled on his back, squirming and thrashing.
“Staaahhap p-please!” he managed to force out. Tsukishima just couldn’t stop. It had been too long. His laughter was too cute. He was too cute… Wait, what?
Suddenly hearing loud footsteps nearing them, he backed away and got to his feet as fast as possible, just in time for when the door swung open and his teammate who annoyed him the most - now even more - appeared.
“Tsukishima! Yamaguchi still not awake? And what’s with all the laughter?”
Hinata gazed at the two; Tsukishima standing awkwardly beside the futon, and Yamaguchi curled up like a ball again, still giggling softly.
“He was having a weird dream. We’ll be there in a minute,” Tsukishima said, more calm on the outside than he was on the inside, and Hinata nodded with an oblivious smile.
“Haha! Alright then, training’s about to start, you two should eat!” he said, and thank god he left again. Tsukishima sighed and looked back at Yamaguchi who was panting and shaking with after-giggles.
“S-Sorry,” Tsukishima muttered, and he felt his cheeks heat up. He kind of lost himself there.
“It’s oka-hehe okay…” Yamaguchi whispered.
“T-Tsukki waking me up was my favorite thing too, after all,” he added softly, and Tsukishima’s eyes widened.
“What did you say?!” he asked all flustered, but Yamaguchi quickly stood on shaking legs just as flustered, and he waved his hands in panic, a cute blush covering his freckles.
“I said nothing - uh I need to change! Bye!” Running away and even forgetting his change of clothes, Yamaguchi ran through the corridor of the abandoned school building as fast as possible. Wah, that was close. He really, really reaaally should never say such an embarrassing thing ever again!