- fifteen -

〚 third person 〛

☾☾☾

"Leave him alone, Kacchan!!" Momo shouted as she yanked at the back of Kaitō's shirt. The bleach blonde male turned around, carefully pulling Momo's hand off of his shirt.

"Sorry, Momo-chan. Tsukishima-senpai promised he'd practice with me today." Kaitō explained, flashing Momo an apologetic smile before resuming his practice with Tsukishima and a few other people.

Momo pouted, looking to Tsukishima who gave her a blank look. "But you promised to tutor me at your house today."

Her puffed up cheeks made her words come out a bit sloppier than intended, which made her seem more childish than she wanted to. Tsukishima found it amusing though.

"Aww, you poor baby." Tsukishima teased, smirking at Momo as he pinched her cheeks with both hands. Muffled noises came out of her mouth as he continued to squish her chubby cheeks. "If you wanna study so much, why don't you patiently wait like a good girl?"

The words 'good girl' echoed in her mind, flipping her obedient switch on. She casted her eyes downward, pouting slightly. "...Okay."

Tsukishima chuckled, shaking his head a bit. "Good girl."

"Can she wait at your house, Tsukki?" Yamaguchi questioned, jumping into the conversation upon noticing Momo's semi-sulking expression.

"Uh, sure?" Tsukishima responded with uncertainty, quite skeptical of what Momo or his family would do if she went there alone. "Does you know where it is?"

Before Momo could shake her head, Yamaguchi wrapped an arm around her shoulders and grinned down at her. "I'll walk her there. I'm already on my way home."

With a shrug, Tsukishima dismissed the two who made their way over to the door.

Momo turned to Kaitō, pulling the skin under her eyes downwards as she stuck her tongue out at him. "Since you steal my boyfriend, I steal your girlfriend!"

Kaitō gaped at Momo who linked her arms with Yachi's and Yamaguchi's. "I'm so sorry!" He shouted sarcastically, throwing in, "He's not even your boyfriend, you wacko!"

"And she's not your girlfriend anymore!" Momo shouted, slamming the gym door shut and leaving with Yamaguchi and Yachi.

"Heads up."

Too busy gaping over Momo's statement, Kaitō got smacked in the head with the volleyball that was hit by Ichirō, the powerhouse himself.

"Sorry."

☾☾☾

"I'm nervous." Momo said as she turned to Yamaguchi who chuckled, asking why. "I'm about to meet the woman who created the guy I'm in love with! What's not to be nervous about?!? What if I'm not worthy of her godly son?!"

The door flew open and revealed a male. He had dirty blonde hair that was slightly darker than Tsukishima's. His eyes were wider with wrinkles in the corner of them, most likely from laughing or smiling a lot. His thin pink lips were curled upwards in a relaxed smile.

His eyes slightly widened upon seeing a female beside Yamaguchi, and he instantly assumed they were an item. "Tadashi, you got a girlfriend? Congrats!"

While Yamaguchi blushed slightly, embarrassed by the assumption, Momo remained indifferent to the matter. "Ah, no, Akiteru-san, she's not my guh-girlfriend."

Akiteru's expression immediately morphed into one of contrite as he realized his speculation was incorrect. "Oh shoot, sorry, my bad!" He held out a hand to Momo, greeting her with a welcoming smile.

"Hey, my name's Akiteru! I'm Kei's older brother! What's your name?" His smile was so welcoming that it nearly made Momo want to hug him. He gives off such a fatherly vibe awww.

Momo smiled, bowing to Akiteru politely. "Hello! My name is Masaki Momiji, but everyone calls me Momo-chan!"

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Momo-chan! Why don't you guys come inside?" Akiteru opened the door wider, allowing both of them to enter.

They slipped off their shoes and followed Akiteru to the living room. He excused himself before walking off to find his mother to introduce her to Momo. He returned moments later with a female with short brown hair that went down to her shoulders. They both had the same welcoming smile.

After a brief introduction, Momo and Yamaguchi were sat on the couch across from Akiteru and his mother, Hitomi.

"You see, Momo-chan's actually in love with Tsukki." Yamaguchi explained sheepishly, a bit awkward about revealing someone else's information to other people.

The Tsukishima's' eyes slide over to Momo who grinned cheekily and nodded. "Mhmm!"

Both mother and son looked at each other before grinning brightly and cheering quietly. Yamaguchi and Momo were so surprised to see such a good reaction out of them.

"Ahhh! I can't such a cute girl is in love with my son! You're so small and pretty!" Hitomi compliment Momo endlessly, gushing over the cute girl who was openly in love with Tsukishima. It was rare to find a girl like her.

They spent majority of the time talking about Momo and Tsukishima. More specifically, about why Momo liked Tsukishima.

Yamaguchi left somewhere along the way since his mother had called him home. Momo was now more than comfortable to be left alone with Tsukishima's family.

"Oh my g-o-s-h!" Momo exclaimed as she inspected the picture in her hand. Hitomi had been excitedly awaited this day for long that she couldn't wait to bring out the baby pictures. "He's so tiny! So cute!!"

Hitomi nodded, agreeing with Momo as she pulled out more photos. Momo gladly looked at them all, reacting happily to all of them since they were all too cute. It was like she was getting to know a new side of Tsukishima.

"I'm gonna cry!" Momo said as she fanned herself, staring at a picture of Tsukishima when he was young. He wore a pair of headphones on his head. A blank expression graced his face, but you could see on his eyes that he was happy.

"That was the first time Kei tried on my headphones. He absolutely loved them." Akiteru explained, chuckling at the nostalgic picture. Momo's eyes nearly watered at the beautiful picture of little Tsukki-senpai.

"I'm home." Tsukishima called out suddenly as he opens the front door. Hitomi and Akiteru scrambled to put away the pictures and scrap books to keep it a secret that they brought it out in the first place.

"Don't let him see it, but you can keep that picture!" Hitomi said as she placed the picture Momo was admiring deeply earlier. The brunette female glanced up at his mother with worry.

"Are you sure? I can't take this picture-"

"Keep it! You'll probably end up being my daughter-in-law soon anyway!" Hitomi titter, genuinely delighted to say that to Momo.

The small brunette felt her eyes prick with tears of joy as she looked down, thanking his mother for her kind words and the picture.

"Oh honey," Hitomi patted Momo's head, smiling softly. "I know my son isn't much of an angel because of his...prickly personality, but I know you really like him. I am glad he found someone who can put up with his attitude."

Moved, Momo nodded and remained silently, genuinely speechless at the kind words that his mother said. It made her want to cry.

"Shorty, hurry up." Tsukishima said as he entered the living room, finding her standing beside his mother. Momo blinked away her tears and tucked the picture away into her pocket.

"Thank you!" Momo whispered to Hitomi, scampering after Tsukishima who made his way to his room.

He opened his room door, flicking on the lights as he threw his bag on the floor beside his desk. The floorboards creaked slightly as he made his way over to the curtains, shutting them completely.

"I'm gonna take a shower. Do whatever you want." He muttered, peeling off the jacket of his gakuran as he entered the bathroom. Not even a moment later, he peeked his head out of the bathroom and pointed a finger at Momo. "Don't mess up my room."

She nodded quickly, waiting until Tsukishima closed the bathroom door to move. With light footsteps, she looked around his room curiously.

Her eyes landed on the shelf that had a bunch of books on it. Immediately, her eyes scanned the titles sat on his shelves neatly.

Picking out a single book that caught her eyes, she pranced over to his desk and took a seat on his chair reluctantly. I hope he doesn't mind.

Opening the book, she began to read it with a soft smile on her face.

"Hehe, ankylosaurus."