Kageyama Tobio is a stubborn person. It's not that he won't ask for help, for the most part the first year setter can figure things out on his own. And if not, he knows when he needs the help of his senpais and knows when to ask for it. He knows what he's good at (volleyball) and what he's not so good at (everything else). He knows to ask Ennoshita for help on his math homework, Sugawara for help on his English comprehension, and even Tanaka for help when it comes to current events. However, there is one person that Kageyama has promised himself to never seek help from ever again. Once was enough and his help clearly didn't well...help. He failed his exams after all.
No, Kageyama decided a long time ago that he will never ask for Tsukishima Kei's help on anything ever again.
Until today.
He's been meaning to ask him for a while now, really. Even during lunch or during class break, but Kageyama never found the courage to approach the tall blonde. It's not like the two hate each other (anymore). On the court and during tournaments the two talk just fine. Even Hinata has actual conversations with Tsukishima. Tsukishima doesn't push Kageyama as much as he had and Kageyama has really made an effort to give Tsukishima the type of toss he likes best.
But Kageyama still hates admitting that he needs help, especially from Tsukishima. He should have asked him weeks ago, so he had more time to prepare, but he let it get down to the last few hours before their practice match.
Again, Kageyama is a stubborn person.
But he's also a desperate person.
It would be easier with Hinata by his side, but he also can't risk the smaller boy laughing in his face, adding more fuel to Tsukishima's fire. Kageyama has thought this through. He can't think of anyone else that could help him as much as Tsukishima. Nishinoya might have been helpful, but there are still some differences, major differences, that point to Tsukishima being the best candidate.
So Kageyama stands outside of Tsukishima's classroom. Alone, during their lunch break, gathering the courage to walk in and face the blonde.
"Oh, Kageyama! Are you here to talk to Tsukki?" Yamaguchi joins Kageyama outside of Tsukishima's classroom. He has his lunchbox in hand and two boxes of milk.
Kageyama has thought this through. He knew Yamaguchi would most likely be here and he's okay with that. If Yamaguchi is nice enough to stick around Tsukishima then he's nice enough not to laugh in Kageyama's face.
"Yes." Kageyama almost shouts, nerves getting the better of him.
Yamaguchi jumps a little at the volume, but recovers quickly, "if I had known I would have brought you a milk, too." Yamaguchi motions for Kageyama to follow him inside the classroom.
They pass faces Kageyama has never seen. Some of them are giving him weird looks, others are greeting Yamaguchi. They finally make it to Tsukishima's desk next to the window.
His headphones are on and lunchbox open, he's staring out the window so he doesn't notice either boy walk up to his desk. Yamaguchi pulls up a chair, putting a milk box in Tsukishima's line of vision. He doesn't jump, isn't startled at all, just pulls his headphones to rest around his neck and thanks Yamaguchi for the milk.
Then Tsukishima notices the extra body near them and glances up at Kageyama. There's no flash of annoyance or sigh of frustration, nothing. He stabs his straw in his box and takes a sip.
"Well?"
Kageyama is a stubborn person.
Kageyama knows he needs to just swallow his pride and ask, but the smirk on Tsukishima's face isn't making this easy.
"You're not here to have lunch with us," Tsukishima motions to Kageyama's empty hands, "so what is it?"
Even Yamaguchi is waiting for a response. Kageyama is frozen, he's willing his mouth to move and he thinks it is, but nothing is coming out. Kageyama's mouth is moving like a fish out of water. He has not thought this through enough it seems.
After a few minutes of staring Tsukishim and Yamaguchi go back to eating. Yamaguchi is asking Tsukishima how his English quiz went and Tsukishima is asking Yamaguchi about history notes.
"You're dating Nekoma's captain, right?"
The question stops Tsukishima mid bite and Yamaguchi chokes on his straw.
Tsukishima recovers, finishes his bite, and takes another sip of his milk.
"What of it?" Tsukishima tries to come off as his usual cool and composed self, but even Kageyama can tell he's thrown the blonde off his game.
"How?"
"How what?" Tsukishima asks, irritated.
Kageyama mutters his question under his breath and both boys lean in to try to understand.
"Kageyama, we can't hear you," Yamaguchi now has a smirk on his face. Why?
Kageyama takes a deep breath and tries again, "how did you get a third year to notice you?"
He's waiting for the taunting, the laugh, the snide remarks, but they never come.
Instead, Tsukishima sighs, "to tell you the truth, I have no idea."
There's silence again that is a little too strangling for one boy.
"Well, I forgot I told Yachi I'd help her with her history homework..." Yamaguchi quickly clears packs his lunch box and clears his things from Tsukishima's desk. He stands up and excuses himself, leaving his chair at Tsukishima's desk, "I'll see you guys after school. Bye, Tsukki!"
Tsukishima waves and Kageyama takes Yamaguchi's seat.
"I didn't have a choice really." Tsukishima finally says, pushing the rest of his lunch, barely touched, to Kageyama.
"What?" Kageyama picks up a piece of shrimp and pops it in his mouth.
"With Tesu—Kuroo. He made it pretty obvious from the beginning he was interested." There's a faint smile on Tsukishima's face, "that and Bokuto-san and Akaashi-san made it pretty clear, too."
Kageyama is still chewing when Tsukishima goes on, "but that doesn't mean it wasn't hard to express... mutual feelings."
"How did he confess?" Kageyama asks with another mouth full. This is it. What he needs to know. How to talk to your senpais, to express more than just admiration or respect.
This earns a snort out of Tsukishima and there's a full on smile on his face. "Through a math equation."
"What."
"He starts sending me these math equations, saying it's for extra credit for his class. He tells me they're too hard for him, but asks if I can help. I'm not sure if you realize, King, but we're sitting in a college prep Math classroom. So, you know, I solve the first one easily. Solve for x every time, right? X=W. That was the first answer."
Kageyama is trying to keep up, but once math gets involved, especially math that has letters instead of numbers, it's hard for the setter to stay focused.
Tsukishima must have caught on because he stops in the middle of his explanation of the first equation.
"So the first three are pretty easy. I'm wondering why Kuroo isn't able to figure these out. He's in all college prep courses."
Even Kageyama can hear the sense of pride in Tsukishima's voice.
"But then they get harder and harder. It takes me longer and longer to figure them out. I even asked Ennoshita-san for help. And then he stops sending them. By this time I was looking forward to them, so when he stopped sending them I wanted to ask about them, but I figured he didn't need my help anymore. I finally message him, 'is that it?' and he calls me. I can tell he's nervous because he's clearing his throat a lot and he gets this little quiver in his throat when... well he's nervous okay? So he calls and he takes a deep breath and says, 'yeah, that's it. What do you say?' and I'm still on the math equations. So I just say, 'oh, okay.' And he starts saying 'you really mean it? You will?' and he's thanking me and asking me when he can see me next for our first date and telling me how hard it was for him to confess."
Tsukishima's cheeks are getting red, the tips of his ears are already there. Kageyama finds himself smiling, but not in jest. It's cute.
"So I'm speechless on the phone and then it sets in for him and he asks, 'you did get my message, right? In the equations...' and I'm still trying to register that he just asked me on a date. There's a notebook that I kept all of my work on his equations in, so I start piecing the answers for X together and they spell out, Will You Go Out With Me."
By this time Kageyama notices there's girls sitting behind Tsukishima enthralled in the story, too. He doesn't want Tsukishima to stop or get embarrassed, so he just nods his head, "and then what happens?" One of the girls gives him a thumbs up for keeping him going.
Tsukishima laughs a little, "I put my phone back up to my ear and all I hear is 'oh shit oh shit oh shit'. After about 30 seconds of hearing him say 'oh shit' in the phone he pauses and asks if I'm still there. So finally, I just say 'yes.' And this time he's hesitant because well... obviously he was a little ahead of himself before. So he asks, 'yes to...?'"
This is it, this is what Kageyama has been waiting for. How Tsukishima confessed his own feelings to a third year student. A third year student from a different school. A third year student from a powerhouse school.
"I told him he can take the train to Miyagi and I'm free Saturday night. And hung up."
"What." That's it? That's Tsukishima's way of confessing his own feelings!? That's not good enough for Kageyama.
"THAT'S IT!?" The girls behind Tsukshima yell.
This does cause Tsukishima to jump. "What the..."
"You didn't tell him you would go out with him?"
"Or that you understood the message in the math equations?"
"Or that you love him!?"
Tsukishima looks like he's about to murder someone. Any other time, the girls would have made themselves gone by now, just one glance of an angry Tsukishima has that affect on anyone. But it's hard to look threatening when the tips of your ears are red and the balls of your cheeks match.
The lunch bell rings and the girls are packing up their things, heading to another classroom.
"Ah, we'll have to tell that girl in our English class not to worry about Tsukishima anymore. He's taken."
"I want a picture of this Kuroo."
"Maybe we can watch their next practice match!"
When the girls leave, Kageyama and Tsukishima are the only two left in the classroom. Tsukishima's next class is only the next room over, but Kageyama's is down the hall. He'll have to run to make it on time, but again, Kageyama is a desperate person.
"Do you see what you've done?" Tsukishima asks with no malice in his voice.
"That still doesn't help me..."
Tsukishima ignores the fact that he just shared something super personal with Kageyama, had three girls swoon over how sappy his boyfriend is, and that he's about to be late for his next class. He does, however, let a sigh escape his lips, "is this about the Grand King?"
Kageyama takes any embarrassment that Tsukishima might have felt. He's coughing, mumbling under his breath, and even swaying a little. Poor guy. Poor nervous, stubborn, desperate guy.
"Well, you're definitely not smart enough to come up with mathematical equations to solve." At first, Kageyama wants to object, but Tsukishima is right. He can't even get long division straight in his head.
Tsukishima walks in his classroom and Kageyama tries to follow. He sees Yamaguchi waving in the back and one of the girls caught listening to Tsukishima's love story. Before Kageyama can walk in Tsukishima blocks him.
"The Grand King already notices you, that's obvious. You're just going to have to find your own way to confess."
The rest of the day Kageyama racks his brain, trying to find the best way to let Oikawa know his true feelings. In the end he ends up shoving a note in the third year's hands right before their practice match.
U+ME=TAKE A TRAIN TO MIYAGI I'M FREE ON SATURDAY
Smooth, Kageyama.