Goddammit I keep doing these obscure pairings
sorry not sorry
.: anime spoilers, for those who may have not read the manga :.
"Today's the day. I'm gonna ask her out," for a voice that was usually wavered and shaky, this strong, uncharacteristically solid tone was a stark contrast to the freckled teen's norm. He was walking down the hallway during lunch alongside his best friend, accompanying the taller blond teen's report delivering duty. Tadashi's fingers fiddled with a paper airplane he'd fashioned sometime during physics, littered all over with Yachi's name on it. He was folding corners and straightening edges to help it fly, keeping his hands busy to numb down the nerves. He'd never asked out a girl in all his life. But meeting her on the roof was... well, there was no turning back.
His childhood friend, Tsukishima, wasn't as convinced. He rolled his eyes and huffed as they walked alongside each other down the hallway during lunch, headphones resting around his neck. "This is the seventh time you told me this, and nothing's happened. Your shitty resolve is giving me whiplash." He kept passive even when an undignified squeak left his friend.
"Whiplash?! C-C'mon, it hasn't been seven times. Oh God." Yamaguchi nearly smashed his airplane in his hands, smoothing it back out and lifting it up on his palm to ascertain balance, before going back to the mental drawing board to fix it. "We have nationals coming up soon. And I want to tell her how I feel before then."
"Isn't that really bad timing?" The blond intervened, for once caring enough to speak his mind. "If she dumps you, you won't be able to focus. And if she does accept, you still won't be able to focus."
The brunette grinned happily, as he did when he knew Tsukishima was on his side. "Wasn't volleyball just a club?" He managed to earn a groan out of teasing his friend, continuing as he pinched the bottom of his paper aircraft. "If she says 'no'... then I'll just work that much harder on volleyball to get over her." He really wasn't excited for that possibility, and it showed openly on his features as he gave his wrist a few practice flicks. "If she says 'yes', then it's all the more reason to do my best. It's the perfect time."
"I just can't... wait anymore."
Tsukishima didn't agree with that. Not waiting was stupid. Trying something that wasn't one hundred percent certain was a waste of time. Yamaguchi used to be careful, because he was afraid of failing. Kei himself was just shaking off the fear of trying too hard and looking like an idiot doing it. But still, Tsukishima didn't see the point in Yamaguchi asking a girl out right on the verge of nationals, when it wasn't certain how things would turn out.
They'd surpassed Aoba Johsai, and then defeated Shiratorizawa, defying the odds. Yamaguchi's efforts had made a marginal difference in their games. But as a pinch server, he was slowly starting to understand the full effect of his contribution and how it worked to lift up his team each time he filled in for a serve. He wanted his team to depend on him.
Yamaguchi wanted her to depend on him.
Tsukishima had seen this growth and maturation in his friend, all from a team that was supposed to be just a club. But now that Yamaguchi was gaining confidence, nothing could stop him. A single fingertip nudged the rim of his glasses upward, the middle blocker maintaining his apathetic attitude by the way he carried himself and spoke. "Speaking of waiting... somebody else might just move in and steal her from you." Yamaguchi hadn't thought of that, someone else crushing on his crush. His entire body chilled, and Tsukishima had to employ maximum effort to stifle laughter. "... If she's as cute as you say," he added, almost wishing he hadn't.
"She is that cute," he decided to answer, not dignifying the thought of a rival. The taller teen didn't really want to hear Yamaguchi's rambling about this special girl, so he reached up and slid his headphones in place, blasting the tune of the day. Yamaguchi thought in silence, his eyes nervously darting about as he thought about his circumstances.
Yachi Hitoka... she was alright, Tsukishima thought. She was pretty in a way, but if he was comparing looks, Shimizu was a whole deal more attractive. Yachi appealed to Tsukishima about as much as a pitiable little sister would. It always seemed like she was stumbling about, and if you got her on a tangent she could ramble on for hours. Yamaguchi usually listened, but Tsukishima was quick to slip on the headphones.
There was nothing remarkable about her... other than the fact that his best friend was pining over her.
And today, it seemed like she was going to stumble through another bout of practice. The boys were lining up for individual spikes, Sugawara on one end of the net, and Kageyama on the other. Yachi was collecting nearby balls, careful not to go directly for them until spiking was over. She'd already had one too many in the face and didn't want to add any more trips to the infirmary. So, she buzzed around until the drill was over, and then she was lifting as many as she could into her small arms, struggling comically. A ball slipped from her arms, and it seemed like the rest would tumble, but strong hands shot out to support her, taking a few of the balls from her grip.
"Ah! Thanks, Yamaguchi-kun! You always help me out~" Her savior sheepishly smiled back to her, sweeping an arm down to pick up a few more balls on their way to the bin. "It's no biggie... uhh, actually, I wanted to talk to you." He watched her carefully deposit her armful into the bin on wheels, looking up at him expectantly, her smile patient and inviting. Tsukishima spun one volleyball in his hands, looking in another direction, feigning ignorance to the conversation between the usually blithering couple.
"See I was... well, I was wondering if you... had someone you liked."
Bingo. A little straight to the point, but what did Tsukishima know about asking a girl out?
"Oh! U-Uhm, hahaha. N-No one at the moment!" Her voice grew a pitch higher in her nervousness, and Tsukishima could see bright red from the corner of his eye.
Yamaguchi looked relieved, sighing as his shoulders relaxed. "Good...! Ah, I mean, not good, uhh, just." Yamaguchi was panicking, Tsukishima knew it couldn't last for long, wondering how the stammering boy could pull this one off. "'Cause Tsukishima wanted to know. Just helping out a friend, you know."
What a lying sack of shit!
Tsukishima stopped pretending that he wasn't listening, his eyes eerily dragging their way up to the back of Yamaguchi's head.
"He's a liiiiittle shy when it comes t-to this stuff, so he wanted me to ask you for him..." Even he didn't know what exactly was going through his mind, but he just felt like he had to take the attention off himself, even if it meant telling a very, very naughty lie.
At first, Yachi's blush lessened, her eyebrows screwed together in thought. Then, her face crumbled into pure, unadulterated embarrassment and her face felt like it was on fire. Tsukishima had seen enough, approaching the two, his hand slamming down on Yamaguchi's shoulder.
His sports glasses had a dark sheen to them, his tone low as he leaned over. "Ya. Ma. Gu. Chi." The terror in his voice was real, and a silent shriek caught in Yamaguchi's throat. "What in the Hell are you trying to pull here?" He growled, yanking on Yamaguchi's gym shirt.
"I-I don't have anyone I like at the moment!" Yachi repeated in a half shout, her face lowered, hands balled up in her jersey. Tsukishima paused at that, confused, before he released Yamaguchi's shirt. He realized that he was supposed to react somehow, his thin eyebrows furrowed. "... Okay."
She settled then, a shy smile decorating her small lips. Tsukishima's brow twitched in annoyance.
"You're fixing this. You're telling her that you're the one who wanted to know." He'd been quiet until they walked home together, waiting with his headphones around his neck, which meant he had something to say. And boy did he have plenty to say.
"I'm really sorry, Tsukki! But I just - - I don't know, I freaked out! Majorly!" Yamaguchi did look apologetic, and desperate among other things. "How'm I supposed to tell her that I lied?!" He whined, receiving a kick in the back of his leg from a ticked off best friend.
"I don't care, this is your problem, and I'll be damned if practice is gonna be all awkward again. She couldn't even look me in the eye, and when she thought I wasn't looking, she was staring like crazy."
"Please Tsukishima, I know it's awkward but I... really need your help. Just until I gather the courage to tell her how I really feel."
"Don't give a damn. I don't give a damn. I really couldn't give a damn, Yamaguchi." This had probably been the most angry Yamaguchi had seen him since he discovered that Jurassic World two wasn't coming out until 2018.
"I'll... get that CD for you! The one you want to pre-order. I'll even get 2-day shipping on it!"
Tsukishima completely stopped in his tracks, and his face seemed to be souring even further. But Yamaguchi knew he'd hit the jackpot.
He wrinkled his nose, eyes averting, "... One day shipping. And I want the deluxe version."
"TSUKKI! You're a godsend!" Yamaguchi clung to his friends shoulders, clapping his hands down on them animatedly.
Yachi didn't know what to think after practice today. She'd always thought she annoyed the living daylights out of Tsukishima. It didn't seem like there was a thing in the world that didn't annoy Tsukishima, apart from his music. Arriving home alone, she quietly set her things down, still repeating in her head what Yamaguchi had told her. Tsukishima wanted to know who she liked. But he was too shy to ask on her own. Didn't it mean that he... "Haha~" Yachi never had any one boy in her mind until now, thinking about the blond teen nervously asking his freckled friend for help. Could such a cool-mannered, snarky teen feel things like nervous? He probably didn't display it the same way. He looked so angry at practice... but maybe that's just how he looked?
She could think about it all night if she didn't have to sleep. Yachi attempted to compile in her mind all the interactions she'd ever had with Tsukishima, and really they didn't amount to much. She'd offer him water, or a towel, and he'd take it with a 'thanks' or a 'no thanks' if needed. He saved her face from a few stray spikes, but then again the whole team's receiving skills improved because of the ball magnet of an assistant manager they possessed. They spoke together on a few occasions, and she'd even met his really nice older brother. Sometimes they worked together to help Hinata and Kageyama study, but those chances were few and far in between. But he... did he really grow a fondness for her? She smiled until her cheeks hurt, happy that someone thought about her enough to care who she liked.
Tsukishima wasn't really fond of lying to the gullible girl, but he figured the deluxe edition CD one day after its release was a pretty fair price to pay for the short trip to Hell afterward. More likely than not, she'd realize that he wasn't really into her. And if need be, he'd clarify it when the time came. At least, he didn't think at this point he was leading her on. He greatly underestimated her imagination as it ran freely.
And the next day, when Yamaguchi suggested the three of them head a studying group together, he respectfully declined. Or, not so respectfully.
"It's just for those two volleyball morons, right? No way." He sat on the top of his desk, a book in his lap, cramming for the next lesson before it began. Tsukishima was of course referring to the odd ball combo, Hinata and Kageyama, who'd come earlier to their class just to beg for help. The redhead tried begging at least, the King of the Court mumbling something and shrugging his shoulders. Yachi was standing next to Yamaguchi, who smiled apologetically at her.
"You're telling me you don't need help with English? Yachi's really good at it. Her mom's been abroad and stuff," Yamaguchi nudged Tsukishima's shoulder, who looked up from his book to watch her from above the rim of his glasses, seeing how she fiddled with her books. "I-I'm okay at it, but... I don't do as well with... physics. And I don't think I'll be able to teach Hinata and Kageyama-kun all that well." Oi, no honorific for that dumb, orange, volleyball head? Since when had they gotten that close?
"You've got the highest scores out of all of us for physics, right Tsukki? And I'm halfway decent with math and lit. So, we've got all our bases covered." Yamaguchi was very plainly pleading with Tsukishima to go along with him. But he had no clue how this was supposed to help Yamaguchi in anyway become closer to Yachi, not with Hinata and Kageyama around.
"... Since those weirdos aren't really bringing anything to the table, they've gotta buy snacks," he finally ceded, pretending to ignore the way Yachi's face lit up.
"Then we can study at my place! I've got a big living room." Yachi was happy to supply her home, wanting to at least do that much since Tsukishima was wiling to help. He gave a soft nod, breathing out something of a laugh at the near terrified look on Yamaguchi's face. "Don't you look happy," he could only imagine what was going through the tanned male's mind, all the nervousness that swelled within him just because he was going to some girl's house. Tsukishima'd never be that lame, he promised to himself.
"Guuwaaaah! I can't think anymore! Seriously, my brain's about to explode! Like KABLAM!" Hinata clapped his hands over his cheeks and fell back against the couch behind him, sighing resignedly. The five of them sat on the floor around a large coffee table, with couches surrounding them. They'd been at it for a good hour, the three more academically inclined ones rounding up the diminished attention spans of Hinata and Kageyama, managing to make some headway into a good study session. Tsukishima didn't expect Hinata to last this long, but Yachi was quick to pull him back into gear each time. She almost seemed a little too attentive to Hinata, but sure enough whenever Tsukishima pretended to be busy with something else, he could feel those big, brown eyes of hers on his. Why did he care about who she was looking at anyway?
"One more onomatopoeia and I'll throw you out Hinata, I swear to god." Tsukishima had been picking on Hinata a little extra today, more likely than not because he couldn't get Hinata to understand the basic concepts of physics. Whenever Yachi explained something to him, however, he soaked it up like a sponge. Tsukishima refused to believe that it was anything other than Hinata's idiocy that had the two butting heads.
"Onotomato... what?" Hinata's cheeks puffed out, ready to engage his teammate who was much taller. Yachi sat on the other side of Hinata, her hand raised to calm him down. "Why don't we take a break? You and Kageyama-kun were gonna get snacks, right?"
"Oh yeah! Let's go." He was easily derailed off the confrontation by her sweet voice, soon goading Kageyama into a race to the convenient store.
"Yamaguchi. You're going with them," Tsukishima stated like fact, watching his friend deflate at once. The sadistic teen simply leaned back against the couch, his arms stretching over the seat. "Someone's got to make sure they don't buy anything weird. Yachi, what do you want to drink?" He tipped his head toward hers as she sat fussing over the items on the table, looking up from her organization to now fuss about what she wanted to drink. "O-Oh! Um, green tea's fine!"
"Same." Tsukishima waved with a smile to Yamaguchi, who looked like he'd rather be the one to stay home alone with Yachi, but he knew how much he owed Tsukishima for this and wouldn't question him.
Once the front door clicked shut, the realization that they were alone hit the two of them in the silence. Yachi cleared her throat, relaxing from her knees and onto her tush, her legs extending underneath the table. Her sock covered toes accidentally brushed up against his, and with a start she looked like her heart was about to jump out of her chest. "S-Sorry!"
"'s okay." He suppressed a roll of his eyes, which took a lot of restraint, letting out a soft sigh as she looked down at her lap, seemingly at a loss. Things were quiet, except for the fidgeting on her part, Tsukishima nearly ready to ride it out until the other three returned. But finally, she spoke up.
"I know I'm a little slow to understand it, but... thanks for helping me with physics." She nodded her head in a little bow, attempting to show her polite appreciation.
"Oh. Did I? Feel like I was busing around those two idiots the whole time." He clicked his tongue, sitting up with one knee bent, leisurely leaning his arm over it. "I'm surprised you've been learning anything with those thickheaded guys shouting." He was just full of insults for the two, which had become commonplace for him. At least, he'd never expect her to stand up for them.
But she did look uncomfortable, like she was struggling with something. "Please don't talk about them that way. They really... try their best." She didn't look as resolved as her voice sounded, which caught Tsukishima by surprise. He immediately frowned and turned his head the other way, fuming for no other reason than he'd just been scolded, by a girl who could barely stand up for herself. More awkward silence, until he relented.
"... Sorry. Forgot how much you liked that dumba - - " He caught himself, grunting a little as he ushered out, "Hinata."
She shook her head quickly, eager to forgive. "It's... okay. He's just a really important friend to me." Her smile fell into her lap, her hands folding neatly atop it. For some reason, her closeness with Hinata was bugging him. And nothing he could do or say could lessen Hinata in her eyes.
"You defend all your friends like that?" Tsukishima asked.
"Of course! A-And if anyone ever said anything bad about you, well... I wouldn't go easy on them either!" Her hands balled into tiny fists and she held them determinedly to her chest. The look of pure willpower on her face didn't really suit her. But he laughed all the same, the happy sound lightening the atmosphere around them, until her broad grin nearly blinded him.
"... Actually, there was a question I didn't get to ask, about our homework..." She leaned forward to open up her textbook, before looking up at him from underneath her eyelashes. "Would you... help me with it? Is that okay?"
Usually, her reluctance would annoy him, but he couldn't find it in himself to get annoyed now, simply leaning over the table. "Yeah. What's your question?"
Maybe he should've realized the affect sitting close would have on her, but as it was he scooted closer, his hand planted near the other side of her waist, his chest all but an inch from touching her back as he leaned over. She froze, and the flushed status of her face said it all. She dared not turn around and make eye contact from the little distance between them, so she squeaked out her question as her fingers nervously flittered through the pages.
"Th-This one! About... combining... the laws of motion." Her finger pointed to the exact question, and soon his own finger joined hers, his larger one brushing against her smaller one. She flinched, and it took all Tsukishima not to laugh again. Despite how much he loved provoking Kageyama, he didn't deem it necessary to rile her up any. Instead, he retracted his hand from the other side of her waist and gave her some more space, softly explaining the question aloud to her. He noticed that her shoulders slumped at one point, and the sidelong glance at her face revealed that she'd gained some semblance of concentration and seriousness back.
She let the information soak in before her pencil was moving, and Tsukishima gave her even more space, relaxing back on his hands, watching the comprehension bloom over her face in a pretty smile. "I think I got it this time! You're really a whiz at this subject! Thank you." Her smile shone brightest when it was directed at him, and in hiding his embarrassment his hand shot up to quickly adjust his glasses, half covering his face. "It's nothing special," he replied curtly, feeling flustered for a split second before the cool found him again, and she was quietly working on the rest of her homework.
The continuous sound of her pencil, scribbling soft on paper, had a sedative effect on him. The taller teen found himself leaning against the front of the couch, reclining until his head rested on top of the cushion, his hands plopping in his lap as he closed his eyes, waiting on the noisier ones.
Of course, he wasn't tired enough to sleep in such an uncomfortable position. So, when he felt an added layer of warmth on top of him, his consciousness pulled back to the front of his mind. The material was painstakingly pulled over his broad shoulders, before the contact was lost and hands were off of him. It took him a few seconds to open his eyes, letting them flicker down on the blanket now covering him, and back to the girl whose sitting silhouette blurred as he succumbed to the warmth of the blanket.
"HORRRAH! I won, Hinata, admit it!" The door slammed open, startling the two teens at once, and soon two bickering crows were at each others throats, convenience store bags in tow. Tsukishima groggily sat up, face seemingly set in a permanent scowl as Yachi stood to help them with the snacks, and hopefully ease their obnoxious run of insults before it escalated any further. Yamaguchi jogged in moments after them, panting and hunched over, hands on his knees. "They... hahh... ran... the entire... ngh... way." The blond male briefly felt for him, before he was sitting up fully, blanket falling into his lap. Decidedly he draped it over his shoulders, the comforter reaching the back of his knees as he joined the group to pick out his own requested snack.
Hinata looked at the pink blanket over Tsukishima's shoulders, snorting. "Nice blanket, Tsukki."
Yachi flushed, hands balled up at her chest as she looked back at the tallest male. "W-Well, Tsukishima-kun was resting while you were gone, so I just kinda pulled it off my bed - - "
"Bed?!" Yamaguchi gulped, eying the blanket longingly as Tsukishima held it, Yachi missing the interaction as Hinata distracted her with chocolate. Tsukishima grinned at his friend, holding one corner of the blanket up to his own face.
"Jealous? It smells good."
"So jealous... hey, that's no fair!" The freckled teen all but sobbed, making Tsukishima genuinely laugh as he kept the treasure Yamaguchi so valued all to himself. The scent on the soft material was soft and sweet, nothing like the marked hint of a boy, and he himself showed no hints of returning the gift until it was time to leave.
"Thanks Yachi, for everythiing!" Hinata called with a wave, Kageyama ducking in some sort of nod, as if that were sufficient enough thanks for all the hard work she'd put into tutoring them. So Hinata slapped him upside the head, which resulted in Kageyama yanking him by the front of his shirt, and Yachi consequently trying to tame them. "Uhh, hey. Where do I put this?" Yachi glanced over her shoulder at the deep voice calling for her attention, seeing the blanket she'd offered folded up in the recipients arms. She smiled for him, again, and held her hands out for it, stepping forward and taking hold of it in a sort of cute hug. "I'll put it back! You folded it so neatly. Thanks~" The bundle looked too big for her arms, and Tsukishima felt the childish need to make fun of her for it, when Yamaguchi's voice spoke up, and Tsukishima realized he needed to clear the two morons out of there so they could speak alone.
"C'mon odd-duo, you're blocking the entryway. Get a room." He shoved until the setter and fellow middle blocker were stumbling out the entryway, Tsukishima following. It'd be troublesome if those two found out about Yamaguchi's feelings for their assistant manager. Well, Kageyama was denser than all Hell, so he wouldn't be a problem. But Hinata might blab about it and Yamaguchi's already fragile confidence would get shot.
So he waited at the entrance of Yachi's apartment complex, watching the two others leave before the brunette joined him. "I'm guessing you talked? Took long enough."
"Yeah. I..." Yamaguchi looked sullen, and Tsukishima stopped in his tracks, diverting his whole attention to him. "I told her the truth. That it wasn't you that... wanted to know who she liked. That it was me."
Eyes widened beneath black rimmed glasses, and even he was feeling his heart beat hard. How had she reacted? He was so glad he'd decided to book it when he did. "And?" he asked breathlessly, body poised and rigid.
Yamaguchi grinned goofily, raising a thumbs up. "And I asked her on a date. She said yes."
There was tangible relief flooding through him, and in a fit of sudden, anticlimactic anger, Tsukishima punched his friend in the shoulder. "Just tell me from the start, you jerk. You nearly scared my tits off coming down, looking like that."
The slightly shorter male was all smiles, undaunted by his friend's little burst of anger. The two tarted walking side by side, Tsukishima calming down the more he thought. So he hadn't a thing to worry about. Maybe she'd stop acting so self-conscious around him now that she knew the truth. It was awkward, having her stare all the time. And she'd accepted him. So maybe she'd liked Yamaguchi after all?
"Oh! There's just... one thing." Yamaguchi added, coming down from his high to rub underneath his nose sheepishly. "I said you would be coming too."
Tsukishima had already punched once, and doing it again took more effort than he had at the moment. "How is that even a date?" he instead grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Glad that Tsukishima hadn't outright rejected the idea, the pinch server resumed his giddy transcendence.
The three of them were supposed to take the train to the neighboring city, where a new attraction at an interactive museum had just recently opened. They were supposed to meet at the train station at eight o' clock on Sunday morning. Tsukishima had no intention of going, planning on texting some excuse just before the train left, so that Yamaguchi and Yachi had no choice but to leave him behind and go together. Those two were supposed to initiate the start of their high school romance.
But 'supposed to' wasn't definite, and fifteen minutes before the promised meeting time, Tsukishima was awakened by his ringtone.
He wriggled out from underneath his blankets, his long arm shooting up to capture his phone from the desk in one fell swoop, bringing it back underneath the covers, the metallic phone uncomfortably cold in his sleep warmed hands. He squinted at the bright light, trying to read without his glasses.
His voice was low and sleep ruddied, reading aloud in monotone. "Can't... make it... caught a cold. Please tell Yachi-san... sorry, Tsukki." His body jolted in the bed, scrambling for his glasses to reread the text sent to him. And reread it, until he was satisfied he'd gotten the message, and he was quickly stumbling out of bed to throw on clothes.
"Damn it, Yamaguchi!" His head of blond hair popped through the neckline of a long sleeved shirt, hopping around until his jeans were on, following with a fur-lined coat and a scarf quickly thrown about his neck. Leave it to Yamaguchi to mess up his own first date, and then not have the foresight to get Yachi's number, who was probably waiting out in front of the train station, cold and panicking because no one else had shown up yet. The fact that Yamaguchi assumed Tsukishima would already be there and would be able to tell her himself proved that he put too much stock in Tsukishima.
For one of the few times in Tsukishima's life, he ran with all his might, sprinting past the sharp ache in his lungs as cold air perfused in. He allowed no reprieve as he wove around the street corners, all because of a girl who was kind enough to share her blanket and her living room with a snob that had fully intended to stand her up today.
The last thing separating him from the train station was a steep hill, of all things. Fuck did he hate running. His long legs carried him up there slower than he thought, and his pale skin was spotted with red from the exertion, beads of sweat sticking his short hair to his head, the heat his cheeks produced fogging up his glasses. He could see her there though, seeing the blurry little shape tense and start jogging his way to meet him, concern tangible in her voice as she called out for him. "Tsukishima-kun!"
"Yama..." He stopped right in front of her, the momentum nearly swinging his body right into hers, but thankfully the two of them stopped before collision. He caught his breath, throat achingly dry as he swallowed. "Yamaguchi's sick. He's not coming." He looked up from his feet, seeing the surprise and concern flood through her. He also noticed the feminine, buttoned cardigan that draped down over her waist and ended where the skirt of her sundress started, and the thick tights underneath. Was this what she wore on a date? Did she wear this for Yamaguchi? "I hope he's okay..." She thought aloud, before she was reaching in the bag she had over her shoulder, rummaging through until she pulled out a handkerchief, offering it to the blond across from her. "We should go visit him after, bring him a treat to help him get better!"
"Huh?" He took the small square of folded cloth, bringing it up to his brow to wipe in smooth strokes, blotting around the sides of his face until the moisture was wicked. "What do you mean after?" Wasn't today's plan ruined?
Her hand dropped back down to her side, and she was soon gripping the straps of her bag, hope leaving her. "Oh. Yeah. It wouldn't make sense to... go without Yamaguchi-kun, right? Since you don't..." She let it hang there, and Tsukishima filled in the blanks. Since I don't like her. Seeing how downcast she seemed reminded him of the awkward predicament Yamaguchi had placed them in. And on top of that, what was supposed to be a fun date was now an awkward exchange between her and someone who didn't actually have a crush on her, and seemingly didn't want a thing to do with her.
Tsukishima didn't know the first thing about girls, or what they liked. He didn't know much about Yachi, either.
"Let's go. We're gonna miss the train."
Her eyes flew up to him straightaway, astonishment escaping her in a funny noise. "Eh?!"
He rolled his eyes, gently nudging past her as he walked toward the station. He was one foot away, then five, before Yachi realized he was walking toward the entrance. "You coming or not?" He called without so much as a glance behind him, feeling his footsteps slow once he heard her scrambling after him. The two waited silently for the train, or as silently as her little fretting would allow, and he watched her absorb all of this from the corner of his eye.
She was a little more nervous than Yamaguchi. But there were times when she could be firm too, like him. They could support each other, Tsukishima thought.
So he was totally determining that this would be nothing more than a gathering. Just two people hanging out. He'd accompany her to the museum and take her home. Maybe tell Yamaguchi the details if he was feeling sadistic enough. When the scheduled train arrive, the two joined the scant amount of other passengers and sat down, the large bag she carried separating them on the seats. He looked, down at the bag and up at her, vaguely not surprised that her eyes were already on his. "What's in the bag?" he asked nonchalantly, his long legs stretching out and crossing at the ankles, leaning back against the seat with his hands in his pockets. Her hands automatically stuffed into the bag, bringing out a few of the containers she'd packed with a sheepish smile. "I figured... we'd get hungry with all that exploring. So, I made lunch!"
God, Yamaguchi would die if he knew what he was missing. Tsukishima felt more annoyed that she'd been carrying such a heavy bag this whole time, though he knew his friend would happily eat anything if his darling Yachi made it for him. "That is a lot of lunch. You didn't have to go to all that trouble," he spoke under his breath, watching her place the items back into the bag, leaning over to see all that she'd packed. That sounded a little more rude than he intended it, though he was trying to thank her, but she took no offense; far from it, in fact. She was grinning sweetly from ear to ear as she neatly readjusted the contents of the bag, sitting back with her hands in the lap, chin lifted proudly. "It was no trouble! I've gotten pre-tty good cooking for myself." She bragged without a shred of holding back. Tsukishima snorted.
"You