Chapter Text
Tsukishima Kei knew he was an asshole. He had always been an asshole. He had been raised by snotty upper class parents that expected greatness from him basically from the moment he was conceived. They were also assholes. He didn’t understand pleasantries, or friendships, or making small talk about someone’s baby shower while he was getting a cup of coffee. He wasn’t going to tell you about his weekend, and he certainly didn’t want to hear about yours. He had worked his whole life to find himself in his current job. Junior associate at a prestigious firm, specializing in civil rights law. It was hard and gruesome, but he found himself able to defend his clients without getting his own emotions involved. He assumed it was because he had never had to face the hardships many of his clients faced. He was a wealthy cis gendered male, he had it all and he knew it. Well… for the most part. He was in a closet so deep that even a shopaholic housewife would marvel at the space. And that was how he intended to keep it. His sexuality was the one thing that people may use against him, and that was exactly why he protected it so safely. Maybe that was why he had blown up the way he did.
Yes, Tsukishima was an asshole, but he had never done something like this. As he scratched lighty at the tan leather seat in the HR department waiting room, with dull, well manicured nails, he couldn’t think of a time that he had ever been so outwardly rude to someone as he had today. He sighed and looked at the clock on the wall. It had been 23 minutes since he had been pulled from his office. 23 minutes he could’ve spent working on his most recent case he had been assigned too. The plaintiff had hired his firm after she had been demoted in rank at her job once she had informed them she was pregnant. It was a cut and dry case, but Tsukishima was looking forward to crushing the defendant nonetheless. That was, if he ever got out of this damn waiting room!
“Tsukishima, I’m ready for you.” Called an overly chipper voice, once the door to her office finally opened.
Tsukishima stood and buttoned his jacket, and smoothed out the lines in his slacks, before walking through the door. He hadn’t been in the head of HR’s office since his first day with the firm, but not much had changed. There was still that gody Live Laugh Love poster on the wall in swoopy calligraphy, as if those three words were the secret to true happiness. There was an overly sweet vanilla candle burning atop her desk along with an assortment of pictures with friends and family. Hara-san, their head of HR was a bubbly person whose voice was just annoying enough that Tsukishima would probably need a tylenol after this meeting. Her hair was always immaculately styled, and lips always highlighted by a thick coat of red lipstick. She was smiling as if she had just heard some good news, even given the circumstances for the meeting.
“How are you today, Tsukishima? Is there anything I can get you before we start?” She asked, pulling out his file and setting a fresh incident report directly on top of it.
“No, let’s just get started.” Tsukishima replied, settling into one of the lavender velvet arm chairs.
She giggled and began clicking her long, bright pink acrylics over her keyboard. “Eager as always I see.”
Tsukishima rolled his eyes as she continued clicking away. How she could listen to the obnoxious sound of her own typing every day, he didn’t understand.
“So it looks like we had a situation today with one of the secretaries on your floor, do you want to tell me a little more about that?” She asked, flicking her eyes over to him.
Tsukishima sighed slightly. “She has continued to make advances towards me since she started last month, despite my attempts to dissuade her. Today it seems I reached my wits end with the situation.”
Hara looked away from her computer, and readjusted in her seat to face him head on. She grabbed a pair of pink, bejeweled reading glasses and balanced them on the tip of her nose.
“It says here you called her a ‘pretentious harlot that needs to invest in a longer skirt’ is that correct?”
Tsukishima cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. “Yes.” He stated, very matter of fact.
She slipped the glasses back off and placed them gently on her desk. “Have you always been prone to outbursts?”
“Usually not in front of the subject of them.” He replied sardonically.
Hara hummed as she placed the paper back down. “Well, seeing this is your first offence, I am not going to write you up, but instead I am going to give you some homework.”
Hara opened one of the drawers to her desk and pulled out a handful of brochures. “You are always so uptight and curt around the office. I understand that is common amongst your profession, but I think that your anger could benefit from a little TLC.”
She passed him the handful, and continued as he looked through the pamphlets. “I would like you to take a class of your choosing this week, and then next week we will have a follow up meeting to go over any results you may experience from taking a little time to decompress.
Painting in the park, pottery making, yoga, mindful meditation. “Can’t you just write me up?” He begged.
“No.” She replied, folding her hands together. “I think you could really benefit from this. Now I’m sure you have a lot of work to do, so I’ll send you on your way. I trust you’ll complete this assignment, as I have been very gracious. You can let me know what class you’d like to take and I’ll get you enrolled.” Her thinly veiled threat was only worsened by her never faltering smile.
Tsukishima gripped the pamphlets in his fist as he rose and made his way back to his office. He closed the door and threw the offending material onto his desk, before falling into his chair. He slid his glasses off his face, and dug the heels of his hands into his eyes. He had gotten off easy. The senior partner of their firm, Hakato Fujii, was a close friend of his fathers, and if his parents caught wind of his outburst, they would make their disappointment well known. Regardless, he would almost rather that, than waste his time on some useless ‘self love’ assignment. He knew he would do it though, because Hara had made it clear that he would be in even more trouble if he didn’t.
He sat back in his seat, resting his forehead against his hand. “Well shit.” He whispered to himself.
As he walked to the reception desk Saturday morning in his workout clothes, Tsukishima mentally listed all the other shitty places he would rather be on his day off. The dentist, the DMV, his parents house. He walked to the front desk where two young women with tight ponytails were chatting away.
“Tsukishima Kei.” He said simply.
One of the girls smiled and typed his name into her computer. “Looks like we have you down for the 9 a.m. Saturday flow with Yamaguchi?”
He nodded in confirmation.
“Great choice by the way, you’re going to have a great time.” The other girl said from over her co-worker's shoulder.
Tsukishima hummed, knowing he had nothing to do with the class selection.
“It looks like you’ll be doing a mat rental as well.” The first girl said, passing him a mat from under the desk. “You’ll be in studio 4. Head into the men’s locker room and leave your shoes and belongings in any of the unclaimed lockers, then on the other side you’ll follow the hallway to the left.”
“Thank you.” He replied with a nod.
“Namaste.” She replied with a smile, bringing her hands up over her chest and bowing her head slightly.
Tsukishima turned away, rushing to the locker room. He found an empty locker easily enough, and placed his things inside, before following the rest of the girls directions. Studio 4 was marked and easy to find. He pulled the door open and was immediately hit with the strong smell of incense and relaxing music playing. The song had no vocals, but just a series of drums playing. The room was painted a dark burnt orange color with murals on three of the walls, and the other covered in floor to ceiling mirrors. The lights were turned down low, only light enough to see. The other attendees had circled their mats around the two people in the middle who were laying on their mats in opposite directions, face up. One was a smaller blonde woman wearing a sports bra and shorts, while her hair fell free around her head. The other was a man, much taller, almost as taller as Tsukishima himself. Half of his dark hair was tied up in a bun on top of his head, revealing a face full of freckles, while the rest was hanging loose around his shoulders. In between them burned the bowl of incense, filling the room with a potent, but not overwhelming smell. The rest of the class were sitting on their mats in various poses and stretches, waiting to begin. Tsukishima was able to find a spot in the crowded room, a little too close to the teachers for his liking. He rolled out his mat, and sat down on it, not sure what to do. It wasn’t often that Tsukishima put himself in situations outside of his comfort zone, and it was obvious why.
“First time?” A gentle voice asked.
He looked up to see the male instructor looking back at him, with a small smile.
“Wonder what gave me away.” Tsukishima grumbled.
The man gave a small laugh. “It can be a little intimidating at first, but you’ll do great. This is all about you and your journey.”
Tsukishima nodded, and looking away, suddenly overwhelmed with the attention.
“Alright everyone,” The instructor said, calling the attention of the class. His tone was deep and smooth, and almost hypnotizing. “Welcome to Saturday flow! This is a class that focuses on inner healing, so all skill levels are welcome. My name is Yamaguchi Tadashi, and today I am joined by the lovely Yachi Hitoka, who will be co leading. Those of you who take the Tuesday and Thursday Vinyasa class will recognise her.”
The blonde girl looked around the class with a shy smile on her face.
“Today we will be starting in any seated position that is most comfortable to you. Following our series we will end in savasana. As Yachi is licenced in massage therapy, we will be going around the room to perform hands on assist. If you would not like to be touched that is perfectly fine, please place your water bottle or towel at the top of your mat if you would like us to skip over you.”
A few people placed their bottles at the foot of their mat, and Tsukishima began to reach for his also, never really being a touchy person, but at the last second he decided not to.
Yamaguchi took a deep breath. “I would like to thank you all for taking today to make a choice for yourself. To get up and do something to improve your mind, body, and soul. You are all worthy of the time and work that you do for yourself.”
Tsukishima fought to roll his eyes. This was going to be a long hour.
Yamaguchi led them through a series of poses and stretches over the hour, and much to Tsukishima’s shock, he didn’t hate it. The sound of Yamaguchi's voice, combined with the steady beat of the music, was very soothing, and for the first time Tsukishima found his mind to be completely focused on the instructions and movements. They were ending the class laying on their backs, in a meditative pose. As he laid back with his eyes closed, he sank deeper into a state of calm. He was only interrupted when he felt a gentle pressure on his temples, before Yamaguchi ran his thumbs down the sides of his face, before bringing his hands to the back of Tsukishima’s neck to support the weight of his head. It might not have felt intimate to the others, who were more accustomed to people touching them, but Tsukishima was grateful for the low lights in the room, which concealed his blush as Yamaguchi ran his hands over his face and shoulders. But all too soon Yamaguchi moved to the next person, and Tsukishima was left feeling the loss of something he didn’t know he was missing.
“You are welcome to stay as long as you need, but this does conclude the end of class.” Yamaguchi concluded, in a reverent tone. “Thank you all for joining us today. Namaste.”
He bowed to the class, and some of the others repeated the sentiment back. The people around him began to slowly collect their things and head back to the locker rooms. He rolled his mat up, and began to head towards the door, but he was snagged by the elbow.
“How did you like the class?” Yamaguchi asked, leaving his hand on Tsukishima’s arm.
Tsukishima cleared his throat. “It was nice. Very relaxing.” He said, unsure of how to compliment the instructor.
“Will we see you again?” Yamaguchi asked with a smile.
“Umm, I don’t know.” Tsukishima scrambled. “This isn’t really my thing.”
Yamaguchi laughed a little, and rubbed his hand gently up and down, causing chills to rush down Tsukishima’s spine. “I think you should give it at least one more shot before you make the call.”
Tsukishma gave no confirmation as he thanked Yamaguchi again and headed for the locker room, slightly unsettled, for some unknown reason. He stomped his way back out into the lobby, eager to be out in the parking lot so he could drive home and enjoy the rest of his Saturday, but with an irritated growl, he pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of the schedule on the wall.
He unlocked his car and rested his head against the steering wheel. He didn’t have time for this little hobby, and he certainly didn’t have time for attractive yoga instructors that made him feel like he could actually belong to something. But if that was true, then why had he zoomed in and taken a second picture of Yamaguchi’s class schedule?