Once Aki finally noticed Yamaguchi was crying, he quickly moved up to him to get a clearer look.
"Why are you crying?" His voice was full of concern, matched with his expression.
Yama wanted to look away but there was nowhere to hide, he was forced to face Aki with his face covered in tears and embarrassment. His lips stuttered, but no sound escaped his throat. There wasn't anything he could say that would make sense, his thoughts were too jumbled and his voice lost.
Instead, Yama just looked down and shook his head.
Aki realizes they were standing in the middle of the street and set his hand on the back of his neck. He'd only come out to get some things from the convenience store, but couldn't leave his brother's best friend in that state alone.
"My parent's place is right down the street," he started, "but you knew that already. So, why don't we talk there and I won't take no for an answer."
Yamaguchi looked up at him bewildered, he wasn't expecting to be invited to the Tsukishima household. He bit his lip as he thought over the answer, he needed to refuse.
"C'mon, let's get going before someone sees us and thinks I'm the reason you're crying." Aki's smile was so kind and open.
Before he knew it, he let himself get dragged down the street by the older man and all the way to Tsukki's house. Yamaguchi was very familiar with the home, he'd been there many times over the years he'd been friends with Tsukki.
Once Aki opened the front door, he called out his usual greeting but no one responded. It was pretty late in the evening and the brunette wondered where their parents were but wouldn't ask.
"Make yourself at home, I'll brew some tea and get us something to eat with it. No ones here, so we can talk in the living room." The blonde directed, pointing in the direction of the living room.
Without saying anything, the aquatic did as told and headed into the living room. He was familiar with everything, considering he'd just been there a few weeks ago.
He sat on the couch and made himself comfortable. He'd been wearing shorts and tank top, with only a light cardigan to protect him from the evening cold. He'd hardly noticed the weather because of all the activity and realized he left the house without properly changing.
Before he could adjust anything, Aki burst through the door leading into the kitchen with tea and a huge smile.
"I'm not the best tea maker in the house, sorry." He set the cups down and sat next to Yamaguchi.
"What's been going on Yamaguchi? it's not like you to breakdown in the middle of the street." the blonde said, his voice lowering.
Yamaguchi looked down at his hands, his fingers fiddling between each other. He didn't want to bother the other, his eyes filling with tears again. He wasn't quite sad but overwhelmed with all the information and how everyone had reacted like everything was normal.
"I just want to be normal again…" The brunette finally choked out.
Aki tilted his head trying to get a better look at the younger's face, he could hardly believe what he heard. It almost angered him that something had made Yamaguchi feel abnormal but knew it was connected to the lineages.
"Everyone's changed so, you ARE normal. Why would you say something like that?" His voice was stern.
Yamaguchi shook his head, his sobbing increased. "How come I don't feel like it, then!?" He almost yelled. "How come I'm the only one who has to visit the doctor so much? How come only my family is the one whispering about what went wrong? Why did I turn out to be Aquatic!?" His voice broke.
Aki hadn't heard any of this from Tsukki, in fact, Tsukki hadn't talked about Yamaguchi since the lineages were assigned. It was no secret the Aquatic lineage was rare, but no one had said anything was wrong with them and in fact, media gushed about the rares.
Aki felt his heart sink, had Yamaguchi been suffering with these feelings all on his own? There was no way Yamaguchi's mother would say anything about regretting or being disappointed, so there was no doubt his feelings had been kept a secret.
Without saying a word, Aki wrapped his arms around Yamaguchi and pulled him into a tight hug. Whispering "it's okay" over and over again.
Before he knew it, the brunette had stopped sobbing and let himself fall into the hug comfortably.
Their hug lasted several minutes, neither saying a word due to the comforting silence around them.
The silence was broken when someone entered the home. No greeting but the footsteps got louder as the person entered the living room. The pair embracing separated to see Tsukki standing in the doorway of the living room. His face holding no expression.
"What's going on, why is Yamaguchi crying?" His voice was its usual tone, but slightly dryer.
His eyes focused on his embarrassed best friend as he looked down. Yamaguchi brushed some hair behind his ear as he looks for something to say, the silence quickly turned agonizing.
Aki can tell that the other sitting on the couch is having trouble finding something to say, so he quickly speaks up. "Yama-chan just needed to talk a little, no big deal!" He attempts to lighten the mood with a chuckle.
"I see…" Tsukki responds, his eyes never breaking from Yamaguchi. "Did you leave the team's meeting early just to meet up with my brother?"
His question caused both Aki and Yamaguchi to look at him shocked, neither expected that question and it took them a second to react.
"N-No! I left because I wasn't feeling well an-" Yamaguchi attempted to justify the scene Tsukki had walked in on but was stopped by the standing blonde putting his hand up.
"Y'know what, I don't need an explanation. Sorry I interrupted your moment here." His voice mocked and his expression became darkly smug. "Feel free to continue whatever was happening a few moments ago, I don't want to get in the way." Behind his glasses, his eyes were a striking yellow and his pupils slit.
Despite both Yamaguchi and Aki's pleas, Tsukki turned away and headed to his room.
The entire interaction, Tsukki had kept his eyes focused on Yamaguchi, until the very last sentence.
Yamaguchi felt his heart ache, he'd made Tsukki mad again. He wanted to make it up, but could he?
