*RING!*
The first round of classes had ended and students bustled about, preparing for lunch. At hearing her name being called, Yachi turned around in her seat to face her friend.
Tsukiko took out some volumes of a manga that the blonde had lent her. It was the very same one that helped resolve her possible feelings and actions toward Tanaka. Tsukiko had borrowed the rest of them, completely engrossed in the story. "T-Thank you v-very much! I-It was an e-enjoyable r-read." She slightly bowed her head in thanks.
Taking the books from the desk and replacing the spot with her bento box, Yachi replied, "Wow! You finished them so fast! I hope they helped you!" She proceeded to take out a juice box, ripping the attached straw from the packaging.
Tsukiko nodded eagerly. "Y-Yes, th-they did! V-very much!" She then calmed down a bit. She shifted her eyes a bit, looking embarrassed. "I-I really a-admire the main ch-character. H-Her and my mother h-helped me to b-better understand my f-feelings…I-I think I w-will t-t-try…"
As she was talking, Yachi was about to poke the straw through the aluminum foil hole in the juice box. Tsukiko's revelation, however, caught her by surprise. The shock caused her to squeeze the juice box too hard and poke the straw through with too much force. Juice spilled all over her, but that was currently the least of the blonde's worries. "T-Try?! Try what?! Try dating him!? Oh my gosh!" She shrieked.
"Y-Yachi-chan! Y-Your cl-clothes! Th-They'll stain!" Tsukiko quickly pulled out her handkerchief trying to dab at the juice spots on Yachi's uniform. "You're really going to date him?" Yachi continued, more concerned about this topic than her current state.
"I n-never said th-that! I-I just thought…m-maybe I could t-take things s-slowly. I s-still have until n-next week." Seemingly satisfied with that response, Yachi finally began cleaning herself up. "That's true. The Inter-High starts next weekend." The blonde hummed in thought. "Then, does that mean you'll tell him you want to try dating him after his matches?"
Tsukiko jumped. "I-I-I'm not s-sure about th-that! I-I meant th-that I could just t-try to be cl-closer to him f-first!" Yachi furrowed her brows. "But you just said you only have about a week left!"
The shy girl shrunk in her seat a little. "I-I know! I r-really want to t-try something, b-but d-d-dating is such a b-big step!" Her friend was about to give her retort, but the sound of the classroom door making a loud slam stopped her before she could start.
"TSUKIKO-CHAAAAAN!" The loud voice was followed by the boys' volleyball team's one and only libero. The said girl squeaked, jumping at the sudden noise and also the overly familiar use of her name.
She blushed even harder when she realized that Nishinoya was dragging along Tanaka into the room. Noticing her bright red face, the shorter boy exclaimed, "Ah! There you are!"
He walked – almost marching – over, still dragging Tanaka with him. He stopped in front of her desk and was about to say something, but noticed her opened bento box. "Uoooh! That's such a pretty lunch! Did you make it yourself?"
Trying to keep her blush to a minimum, she refused to meet either boys' eyes. She nodded, "I m-make them w-with my mother s-sometimes…" Both Nishinoya and Tanaka marveled at the work of art. The rice was shaped into a panda's head, using seaweed for the eyes, nose, and mouth. It was quite cute.
Just like her.
Tanaka wondered if he would enjoy her homemade lunches if they ever started dating. Apparently, Nishinoya had a similar thought. "You should make one for Ryu sometimes! He forgets his lunch a lot and has to buy from the cafeteria!" He joked.
Tanaka and Tsukiko both had their cheeks aflame. "N-Nishinoya! Y-You forget your lunch a lot too!" The wing spiker tried deflecting the attention, but the libero only laughed good-heartedly. "Haha! Well, that's not what you wanted to ask, right Ryu?"
At this, both girls had slightly confused looks. It was already a surprise that they were even here. Just what could Tanaka want? Unable to handle his crush's gaze with her face blushing so cutely like that, Tanaka turned his head to the side and stuttered through his question.
"D-Do you wanna come see m-my practice today…?" He mentally cursed himself for his stuttering and hesitation. How unmanly! In front of her of all people!
Tsukiko looked down, almost as if in shame. Her hair provided a curtain for much of her face and she began nervously fidgeting with her hands. Yachi and Nishinoya looked on in concern mixed with confusion.
"I-I'm sorry! I-I have s-something to do a-and I can't g-go…" She bowed her head further in apology. Tanaka was finally able to look at her, but it was in shock. She had come to plenty of practices before, and of her own volition to boot! However, the one time Tanaka asks her to come to practice just because he wants her to, she refuses! Even the others were astonished.
His expression didn't only reveal shock. It was mixed with pain, disappointment, and almost defeat. He thought that not getting a response from her when he confessed was bad, but this was maybe equally as bad.
She didn't even want to see his practice? Not even for a little? It was such a simple request, and he was getting pretty much rejected here as well. A simple 'no' would have sufficed but she was so blatantly refusing him, that it certainly didn't help his confidence.
She refused to look back up at him, becoming more nervous and shaking a little bit more because of the silence. Seeing her beginning to shake more, the wing spiker finally snapped out of it. "Ah! I-It's okay! If you're busy, you don't have to! I was just wondering is all! Well, see you later! Enjoy your lunch!" He loudly and hurriedly assured her, thinking that being his normally loud self would somehow convince the others that he was truly okay.
He dashed out of the room. Nishinoya looked back at Tsukiko once in concern and then chased after his friend. "Ryu!" His shouts could be heard for a couple more seconds before Yachi focused her attention on her friend.
She was ready to ask what just happened when Tsukiko heaved a big sigh of relief. She clutched her chest over her heart, as if she had done some extreme type of workout. Yachi noticed the large beads of sweat on her forehead. "K-Kita-chan?!" She heard the girl's mutterings of something along the lines of "That was close" but this only gave her more confusion.
"Why did you reject him? I thought you really liked going to see him practice!" Tsukiko looked at her friend. "I-I do! I-I just c-can't go t-today." The blonde looked at her skeptically. "Well, okay, but you didn't have to reject him so badly! You could've just told him what you're busy with and he would've understood! What do you have to do, anyways?"
Tsukiko looked down again, but not in shame. Her blush returned in full force. "…rms…" Yachi leaned in closer, not able to fully hear what she said. "What?" She asked once more. The shy girl fidgeted with her fingers, looking back and forth between her bag and Yachi. "G-Good luck ch-charms…"
"Good luck charms…?" Yachi repeated, unsure. Tsukiko nodded. "I-I'm making the t-team good l-luck charms. I-I wanted it t-to be a s-surprise."
"Is that why you acted so weird back there?" Her friend questioned. The shy girl nodded, "I-I'm not g-good at keeping s-secrets…" She proceeded to pull out a small bag from within her school bag, pouring out some of the contents for her friend to see.
Yachi gasped in excitement. "It's Omamori!" She picked up one of the few finished charms. It was a typical charm. It was mostly in black with the tied string being white. A volleyball design was on the charm with the word 'Success' stitched underneath it in orange.
It was simple, but one could definitely tell that a lot of heart went into it through the stitching. "Kita-chan, this is amazing! You're so good at this!" Tsukiko shook her head frantically in embarrassment.
"I-I'm really n-not! I-It took m-me a while and I s-still have s-so many left t-to do…" Yachi reassured her, "I bet they'll be really happy about this!" She continued inspecting the charm, flipping it over and feeling the fabric.
The blonde then noticed another charm poking out of the bag. It seemed a bit bigger and looked slightly different. She pulled it out to see the rest of it.
The base fabric was black and the tied string was white like the others, but the design was different. The outlines of the word 'Success' was stitched to the top with a smaller volleyball underneath it. Below that was the unfinished silhouette of a man looking like he was about to spike the volleyball. The only thing that was completely finished and could clearly be seen was the number 5 on the silhouette's chest.
Tanaka's jersey number.
She looked up and down, from the unfinished charm to Tsukiko's red face. "…Is this one, by any chance, for Tanaka-senpai…?" The answer was a darkening of Tsukiko's cheeks. Even Yachi had to blush a little at her cuteness. Her eyes widened in realization. "Oh, so this is what you meant by trying to get closer with him?" The girl nodded shyly. "This really is amazing, Kita-chan! It looks hard…"
"I-It is. Th-That's why it's t-taking me so l-long. The o-others are o-okay, but th-this one is m-more difficult. I'm s-scared I w-won't finish on t-time." Seeing the worried look on her friend's face, Yachi resolved herself.
"It's okay! Let me know if there's anything I can do to help!" The blonde's look turned a bit sheepish. "…I don't think I can sew designs as well as you can, but I can help with smaller things like sewing the base fabric together and stuff!" The shy girl looked at her friend gratefully. "T-Thank you, Y-Yachi-chan!"
Tsukiko picked up the charm meant for Tanaka. She used her thumb to rub over the spot where the number 5 was and smiled gently to herself.