Feelings (3)

It had been 1 week, and Yachi isn't that confident about anything anymore.

1 week, for 1 whole week, Tsukishima had started acting cold towards her. At first, she thought something had happened to him which made him so distant from everyone, but then she noticed that he was only distant to her. Hinata, Kageyama, and Yamaguchi were still interacting with him, heck they looked like they were closer!

Yachi bit her lip, looking at the tall male who talked to Kageyama about some strategies during their games. He seemed normal, no he is normal.

"T-Tsukishima-kun? Do you need a refill on your bottle?" She asked, tapping on his elbow lightly. Tsukishima glanced at her and shook his head. Kageyama looked at the whole thing, feeling very awkward.

"I- Can... Hinata wait for me!" Kageyama started stepping away from them but when he noticed the orange head leaving, he took the opportunity to get out of there too. Tsukishima clicked his tongue, annoyed that The King left him.

"Uh Tsu-"

"It's fine, Yachi-san. Here, I'm going to the toilet." Tsukishima gave her his bottle and started leaving for the toilet. It was just an excuse to leave her and avoid any sort of interaction. It hurt like hell and if he ever turned back to look at her, he might just crumble.

Yachi pouted, looking at his bottle and sighed. She didn't quite understand why he was so cold to her. Maybe it's revenge from all the horrible things she did to him too, or maybe she was too annoying and Tsukishima probably got tired of talking to her. Maybe he was just being nice since she was the only one in his class.

Yachi blinked away her glossy eyes and started walking to the collected bottles. She shouldn't cry now, that'll just be such a weak move and everyone would have to concern over her. She silently grabbed the basket of bottles and started heading out to refill them.

-

During classes, he'd be a little less cold. He would actually talk to her, just a bit. But it would usually be school-related, maybe for homework or an assignment. Yachi was happy that he still saw some use of her. She didn't care if she was someone that he saw as a tool, rather, she was just happy that he still talked to her.

No matter how cold he is, Yachi will still try to talk to him, befriend him. It's selfish and it's probably annoying him, but she just can't help it.

"Tsukishima-kun, there's a pair project and I was wondering if-"

"You can partner someone else, Yachi-san. We should try to interact with our other classmates." Tsukishima cut her off, staring at her coldly before turning back to his whole class staring at him.

"Ah, no... Tsukishima-kun, we all have partners already. Just partner Yachi-san," one girl in his class said, the rest nodded and turned away. They knew the situation because of their gossip skills (and they might have blackmailed Yamaguchi to at least tell them if they're fighting or not.)

Yachi laughed nervously. "I-I guess it's already decided huh?"

"Yeah."

-

Yamaguchi silently stared at his friend, who had been frowning harder and harder by the minute.

"Are you just gonna frown or tell me why you're frowning?" He asked, Tsukishima clicked his tongue.

"We are partnered up for a pair project." He stated, Yamaguchi, nodded, not the least bit concerned.

"So... what are you gonna do? Avoid her for the rest of the time?"

"If I get the opportunity to, I would. But it seems like our classmates are purposefully trying to push us together, which is annoying." Tsukishima grumbled, slumping his shoulders. Yamaguchi shrugged, he may have some part of it, but he won't tell Tsukishima that.

"Why are you even... no wait, I know why you're avoiding her. But seriously, do you need to do this?"

"It's for the best."

"How do you know that?" Tsukishima stopped and turned to his friend, frowning.

"Yamaguchi, look at me. What is there that is anything but wrong? Nothing. I'm just a ball of... sad." Yamaguchi sighed and shook his head, his friend can sometimes- correction- always is so emo.

"Oh please, I can list so many. You're caring-"

"If I'm in a happy mood."

"You do so many little things that no one would notice, but you do."

"Yeah, because it's kinda normal to do." Yamaguchi slapped his shoulder and told him to shut up while he lists things about him.

"And you'll put her before yourself. And you would just risk everything just to make her smile, or how you remembered how much she liked a stationery brand, or know her small pet peeves, how she would smile brighter if you do something out of the ordinary. Even know her favorite movies, her favorite music. And you add all that up just to make her happy, no matter how big or small, you take great care in them."

A silence filled them as they just kept quiet. Tsukishima seemed to finally move his gears. Yamaguchi patted his back.

"Tsukki, you're a great guy. And she's also a great person. What's so hard about that? What are you so afraid of?" Tsukishima bit his lip, clenching his fists. He furrowed his eyebrows, how can his friend be this good?

"I'm afraid to just- I'm afraid that she's going to miss out on someone that's better than me. That 1% of her liking me would be a mistake, and that 99% of her not liking me is a better option." For the first time, Yamaguchi was surprised by his friend who told his worries. He was very happy that Tsukishima is actually telling him this so willingly, he wondered just how much this guy crushes on Yachi.

"How are you sure it's 1%? She's trying so hard to be around you even when you're so gloomy and cold to her. Who cares if there are better people, have you considered what she wants? Not what you think she wants?"

Tsukishima widened his eyes. Now that he thought about it. He hasn't. He hasn't asked her what she dreamed for or what she'd want, maybe it slipped off his mind or he just assumed that she would like someone that isn't him. He feels stupid now.

Yamaguchi sighed, patting Tsukishima's shoulder. "Just think about it, okay?"

-

"Y-Yachi-san... would you like to work on the project later after school?" Tsukishima came up to her, awkwardly looking away. Yachi stayed silent for a while, before widening her eyes and nodded excitedly.

"I would love to Tsukishima-kun! W-we can go to the library to plan it out and-" Yachi stopped herself. She cleared her throat. "I will see you afterward then, Tsukishima-kun..." she bowed politely and walked out of the classroom, she jumped for joy once she was out if his vision.

"Yes!" She whispered to herself, smiling so brightly. Everyone around her almost got blinded by her bright smile. Yamaguchi saw it from afar, smiling softly. He patted his own back.

"You're a great friend, Yamaguchi. " he praised himself, fake tearing up. He really is great.

-

"Ah! Tsukishima-kun, over here," Yachi called out, waving at him. They were outside the library and Tsukishima had just arrived. He walked to the beaming Yachi, she was smiling so much.

"Let's go," was the only thing he said. Even after so much suppressing, he still could feel his heartbeat racing.

They walked in and found seats, they were supposed to do some historical science about any scientific objects like machines or objects that they would have to search about. They picked out the atomic bomb between World War 1 and 2. They split up their work after researching, Yachi settled with designing their PowerPoint while Tsukishima was writing their script and a bit of paragraph in their PowerPoint.

As the sun was setting, they were almost halfway done. Yachi yawned and took a break away from the laptop. She stretched her hands and turned to Tsukishima who was still typing down their script.

"Should we stop for today, Tsukishima-kun? We still have around 3 days before having to email a soft copy to our teacher." Yachi said, tapping on his shoulder lightly. He glanced at her than to his laptop, saving the file.

"Okay then, it's already late," Tsukishima said, checking the time. It was around 7 pm. Yachi nodded, they both started to pack up. They got out of the library to the night air.

"O-okay then- ah, sorry it's my mom" Yachi was going to say goodbye but her phone rang and she picked up the call.

"R-right, no I'm still out... oh... Y-yeah sure! I'll just buy dinner. Mhm, I'm fine." Yachi said softly, bowing apologetically to the male for taking a long time on the phone. "O-of course mom! I won't skip it-... Ah, okay... yes... bye." She ended the call.

"Where are you going now, Yachi-san?" Tsukishima asked, looking at her. He heard her mom shouting for her to buy food since there's none at her house. Yachi laughed nervously and shrugged.

"I'll be going home and uh, make dinner" Yachi replied, starting to walk. He followed along, frowning.

"Let's just eat out." He suggested. Yachi stopped and stared at the male, confused. She gasps loudly.

"W-what are you doing!? Is this like the last supper thing?? You'll treat me nicely then afterward leave me alone. Is this your last goodbye!?" Yachi panicked, pacing around in circles, muttering many weird scenarios she came up with. Tsukishima sighed and grabbed her shoulders to stop her.

"No, it's not a goodbye... it's, it's to say sorry..." Tsukishima furrowed his eyebrows and looked away, feeling embarrassed. "I- I'm sorry for being so cold towards you for these past few days." Tsukishima turned to look back at her, the girl froze, not knowing what to do.

Tsukishima clicked his tongue and grabbed her hand to pull her along. "If you're going to stand there and not say anything, it's better if we just go find a place to eat." So there they walked, Yachi's hand intertwined with his as she caught up. She smiled brightly.

"Tsukishima-kun, why were you even avoiding me?" Tsukishima choked on his own saliva. He coughed and Yachi stared at him, panicked but still curious. "Are you okay?"

"Yes- I'm fine," Tsukishima's coughs finally calmed down but it left Tsukishima looking flustered. "I... I won't tell you just yet."

Yachi pouted but understood that he didn't feel comfortable sharing, she thought that maybe the male felt annoyed with her, which she assumes is true. Tsukishima noticed their still intertwined hands, he would get flustered but he would rather just enjoy the moment than make her notice their hands. They found a nice place to eat, it was some ramen shop that Yachi pointed out to be popular. They sat down and ordered.

"You still have the keychain?" Tsukishima pointed out to her backpack beside her. Yachi turned to her yellow bag and nodded, a shy smile on her face.

"It is cute! so I just kept it there. b-besides, you have it too." Yachi said, turning to Tsukishima's bag that still had the Dinosaur keychain. Tsukishima awkwardly nodded.

"Well, I was lazy to take it out. And I guess it is very cute." He mumbled, Yachi nodded, giggling a bit. Their food came and they started eating. Yachi's cheeks were puffed up with the food and she ate happily. Tsukishima smiled at the girl in front of him, she was too cute. He ate his own noodles, finally filling his stomach. They finished and paid separately.

"I had fun today!" Yachi said as they walked side by side, Tsukishima nodded. A comfortable silence hit them and Tsukishima's mind ran around all over the place. Is he actually going try for Yachi? Is he brave enough to even do that? Why is he doubting himself even? He took a deep breath and glanced down at the girl.

"Yachi-san?" He called out to the girl, Yachi looked at him and tilted her head. He grabbed her wrist and stopped her. "I'm sorry if I made you feel sad. One day I'll tell you why I tried to push you away, once I'm confident enough to tell you my feelings..."

Yachi nodded, she flushed when she noticed his hand still held onto her's. She looked back at him, who seemed to want to say more. "What is it Tsukishima-kun?" She asked after a bit of hesitation.

"No, it's just..." Tsukishima started, he bit his bottom lip and thought about the right words. "Do you have any crush, Yachi-san?" Tsukishima can't believe what came out of his mouth. Yachi looked at him, surprised but she looked down on the ground and shook her head. Which made Tsukishima so happy. 

"H-how about you, Tsukishima-kun?" Yachi suddenly fired back. Tsukishima also shook his head. As you can see, they are both Liars.

"I see... So we both don't have crushes." Tsukishima pointed out Yachi nodded. They had slowly started walking again.

"Do you think... Someone would like me?" Tsukishima asked, Yachi flinched, feeling called out. But she hummed a yes. Tsukishima felt his heart thumping harder but he ignored his mind telling him not to do it. "I know it's selfish but, before I can finally tell you this feeling I have right now..." 

Yachi stared at him, not knowing why he had suddenly told her these. It was a new side of him which she actually didn't mind.

"Could you wait until then?"

Yachi flushed, what does he mean? Wait for what? Yachi looked at his flushed cheeks which made her blush even more. Was... Tsukishima Kei confessing to her!? 

"Well?" He turned to look at her, she got startled and nodded. Tsukishima felt light-headed, he could help but internally scream and shout at himself. His heart would not stop beating 190 times per minute.

"Y-yes!" She squeaked. her heart won't stop beating so damn hard and it wasn't helping that he was so close to her, Why is his hand going to her? Tsukishima ruffled her hair. 

"Okay, let's actually get you home." He changed the subject in fear of getting more flustered. he pulled her along, Yachi bit her lip and let him. It was silent, their hands intertwined and both their cheeks were flushed. She thanked God for the dim light, or else Tsukishima would have seen her very red face. 

Even if it was 1%... well now Tsukishima might think it's higher. But even if he has that small chance of her liking him... he would gladly take it, nothing would stop him anymore, not even himself. He smiled brightly. 

This new feeling he had in his heart, which made his stomach turn every so sickenly good, which made his palms sweaty and his mind goes crazy. How a single girl named Yachi Hitoka was the cause of all this. He wasn't so against it anymore, in fact, he was getting used to this new emotion as the girl beside him smiled so brightly just at him, it made his heart clutch itself. It was a feeling that Tsukishima would never forget. 

He gripped her hand tighter. 

-fin