『 Aisle Three 』

3.

『 Rainbows and Sunshine boy 』

The moon was glowing brightly that night, looking explicitly lovely.

Tsukishima was hunched over the little bench that was set in the smoking zone, puffing out a thick, grey cloud of smoke in the atmosphere. Smoking cigarettes wasn't particularly a rare activity for him. Whenever he felt overly stressed or felt the annoying itch over his skin, he chose to smoke. Love and commitment were some topics that irked him thoroughly. He was particular about his opinion on love.

He had never experienced such an emotion. According to him, the feeling made people weak and dependent. He did not want to depend on someone for his happiness. It is just burdening the other person. There was no one out there waiting for him. Kuroo was right; he wasn't a suited instance of an ideal lover.

He took another long drag from his fag and closed his eyes in peace. He wasn't trying to be loved by someone. He wasn't trying to be liked amongst his students. He was not trying to be a kind person. He was happy the way he was. Everyday there were people who would remind him he is rude and arrogant and it was not quite flattering. Is being straightforward and a bit defensive equal to being mean?

"Ehhh?"

Luck really didn't prefer him.

"Hi, uh, mister!" The all too familiar redhead jumped in front of him, smiling ear-to-ear. He does even know him and yet he is smiling as if they have known each other for years. "You smoke? I would've never guessed it." Hinata chuckled lightly.

"Perhaps the other reason for that could be because it is only the third time we are meeting." Tsukishima flicked the extra ash off his cigarette and took the last drag out of it. He couldn't seem to catch a break today.

"Yeah, arguable." Hinata giggled delightfully, and in Tsukishima's opinion that was quite girlish. "It's kismet, I think. Three meetings in less than a week!"

"Kismet? You sure are funny." Tsukishima threw a bored look at the beaming boy and then rolled his eyes. "Have you been drinking, kid?" He inquired carefully as the other bloke's cheeks were flushed and his eyes were a bit droopy. He looked quite tipsy.

"Kid? No, shut up!" Hinata pouted angrily. "I am in university. You are unnecessarily mean to me, mister."

"Tsukishima Kei." He mumbled his introduction in an unenthusiastic tone as he stood up and visibly towered over the boy.

Hinata watched him circumspectly, quickly shaking his head to get over whatever he was thinking. "Too tall." He complained under his breath, averting his eyes away from Tsukishima, turning pink.

The older one of them felt something weird swirl in the pit of stomach, probably the amount of alcohol in the system and huffed loudly. He eyed the little pink pins that were intact on either side of Hinata's hair, which definitely made them stand out. They were cute.

He turned his head away in a swift motion, cringing at himself for admiring some hair pins.

"Uh, Tsukishima-san?" His voice sounded innocent.

The foreign feeling only increased, making the teacher a bit dizzy. He wanted Hinata to leave him alone. He wanted to go back to his place. "What?" It came out way too harsh than he intended to.

Hinata didn't seem to mind. "Why are you alone?"

"I owe you no explanation, shrimp. Sod off." He took a step away from the university student and took a deep breath. "I see no one with you. You are alone too."

"No, no-!" Hinata tittered, crossing his hands behind him. He was swaying a bit, looking properly tipsy. "I came here with my people. You remember the, uh, bookstore owner?"

Tsukishima grimaced at the memory of that peppy man and gave Hinata a nod. "Yes, him. That's Oikawa-san. Him and his friend." It seemed like with alcohol in his system the younger lad only got louder. "They're my seniors, you know. We went to the same university."

Okay? "Mhm.."

The younger boy blinked expectantly at Tsukishima, tilting his head to his side.

"What?" The alcohol was making his stomach curl with hysteria.

"Tsukishima-san's turn." Hinata answered in a small voice. "Who'd you come with?" Tsukishima felt like he was being cornered by some little kid.

Unwillingly, he replied. "A friend and some irrelevant people."

Hinata bit the inside of his lower lip, trying to contain his laugh. Tsukishima gave the boy a wary glance when he saw the boy smiling like a Cheshire cat at him again. Who smiles that much? It was like Hinata was full of smiles. He seemed like a proper rainbows and sunshine boy.

"You are so cool!" Hinata squealed lightly with a chuckle. "Like- like I really like your straightforwardness."

Tsukishima's eyes enlarged at the comment while he felt a tug in his heart. That would be the first time when someone had actually acknowledged his outward actions without deeming them as mere mean remarks.

He didn't know if it was the compliment or just because he was under the influence of alcohol, he just couldn't take his attention off the redhead. He watched as Hinata's wispy, long locks blew as the wind caressed them softly. The boy was loud, his laugh was quite affecting. Just for the moment, his loudness was melodic instead of annoying. An unconscious small smile spread on the teacher's lips, it was barely visible.

"You should join us!" Hinata suggested. "You know— I saw you from, um, from there..." He pointed in some random direction and the blonde was certain he wasn't just tipsy. "I didn't even inform Oikawa-san, I just came to see you, you know? Also.. you know, I didn't like that you were sitting alone. Also, you looked sad!"

Sad? He wasn't sad. Or that's what he would like to think.

"C'mon!"

Tsukishima wasn't used to stranger's touch, especially the gentle ones. His throat went dry when the redhead had grabbed his hand, desperately trying to pull him in some direction. It was definitely a haunting touch.

"I promise I'll turn all your sadness into happiness."

And he swore it was definitely and solely the alcohol that was making him terribly nauseous.

end.