It took several minutes for Yamaguchi to fully calm down, Aki watching him as he slowed his breathing and looked up. The brunette mustered the best smile he could and thanked Aki, his voice low.

He stood up from the couch and looked towards the doorway that lead into the front hallway. "I think I should go talk to him. Our timing has been off all day and I don't want it to continue like this." His eyes focused on the doorway as he talked.

Aki didn't want to say anything and just smiled at the younger. He wished that he could make all his younger brother's relationship go smoother but knew that wouldn't help either of them.
Once Yamaguchi was finished, he moved out of the living room and into the front hallway. He knew exactly where Tsukki's room was. His footsteps felt heavy the closer he got up the stairs, nervousness building in the pit of his stomach.

Standing outside his classmate's room, Yamaguchi tapped his knuckle against the wooden door. The sound was surprisingly quiet compared to how he felt it would sound in his head.

"Come in," a voice from the other side of the door called out, dry and straight to the point.

Yamaguchi opened the door and peaked his head in.

"It's me, Tsukki," was all the boy could say as a greeting. He gave the other a moment to speak up against him being there before entering the room and closing the door behind him.
"W-would it be okay if we talked?" He asked.

The blonde was sitting at his desk with his back facing the door, he didn't look up when asked a question.
"Do as you please," was his simple reaction.

The brunette let out a relieved sigh despite getting such a flat response. He was just happy he wasn't asked to leave or anything like that.
Yamaguchi sat on his Tsukki's bed, his gaze directed to his own lap as his hands fiddled together.

It took Yamaguchi several minutes so speak up again, the only noise being Tsukki flipping the pages of his book.
"Are you angry?" His question forward, but needed.

The blonde didn't skip a beat before answering.
"Honestly, does it matter?" He continued to keep himself busy with his book.

Yamaguchi clenched his fist, Tsukki's opinion mattered a lot to him and he needed to tell him. He'd spent weeks avoiding everyone in fear of how they'd react, he needed his closest friend to know or he'd never move forward.
"It matters a LOT! Your opinion matters so much to me that I avoided bringing up lineage in fear that you'd hate me because I was aquatic." Yamaguchi's voice rose, his tone desperate but full of passion.

Tsukki finally looked away from his desk, eyes wide as he watched Yamaguchi's face for a moment. He knew that his best friend cared about his opinion but not that much. His chest tightened as he saw how much Yamaguchi was struggling.
"Do you honestly think I was someone who would hold that kind of prejudice, especially against you?" He questioned.

Yama thought about it and from the look on Tsukki's face, he began to feel stupid with his own reactions. Tsukki was his best friend and despite the joke, would he honestly hate him over something he couldn't control.
"I don't know, I just didn't want you of all people to hate me." He mumbled.

Tsukki lowered his gaze, neither of them had been responding like they should have and there was too much going on for them to really talk things through.
"I shouldn't have blown up like that, especially when I knew you were upset. I've done it twice today, I'm sorry." It was unusual for him to apologize.

He stood up and sat next to Yamaguchi on the bed, a few feet between them. It was silent for several minutes until Tsukki decided on what he wanted to say.
"I just wish you would have messaged me while you were absent, you didn't even have to talk about your lineage. Just hearing from you would have been fine." He sighed.

Yamaguchi was honestly shocked to hear Tsukki say that, he looked up only to meet the other's gaze directly. The feeling of his eyes looking directly at him caused the brunette to get embarrassed. His face quickly heated up as he looked for something to say, unfortunately, nothing could escape his throat that was quickly getting dry.
He looked down at his lap, his eyes darting over each of his fingers. He could feel the other staring holes right through him as he avoided eye contact.

"I should have called you. I'm sorry. Everything was just so complicated and I didn't know what to do." Yamaguchi sighed.
He didn't want to make excuses but that was the only response he could offer at the moment.

"I understand." Tsukki was brief. "Does this mean you won't be going to the training camp?" He finished with a question.
The blonde finally looked away. He almost hesitant to meet Yamaguchi's gaze.

Yamaguchi had to think about that for a moment. He'd just heard of it and hadn't thought about how he'd feel while at the training camp.
The thought of neglecting his training bothered him but his doctor advised he keep it calm for the time being.

"I want to go but I'm scared of not being able to keep up with everyone else." The aquatic's voice broke.
"I don't know what to do…" he mumbled.

Tsukki sighed, he wanted his friend at the training camp but didn't want it at the risk of his own health.
He side eyed Yamaguchi, the boy's expression conflicted and bothered as he contemplated his choices.

"I want you there but not if you're worried you'll only struggle." The blonde finally spoke up after what seemed like a long silence.

Yamaguchi kept his gaze directed at his lap. He wanted to be there and he needed the practice. It wasn't a hard choice if he didn't need to take his lineage into consideration.
"I'll go and if I can't keep up, I'll leave so I don't drag anyone else down. I just want things to be normal again." He clenched his hands into tight fists.

There was nothing Tsukki could offer to help him, the decision was made.

The rest of their conversation was small talk and various jokes about Hinata and Kageyama. No talk of lineage occurred and Yamaguchi only stayed another 30 minutes.
Both needed to start prep for getting back into the groove of volleyball because of the training camp. Dates hadn't been released but knew it had to be near the summer vacation coming up, if not during the vacation.

Despite wanting things to be normal, there was no way the games would go back to the way they were before.