Moonlight

Chapter 21

Monday came by and a nervous Akane came to school a bit later than usual. She was stuck in her bedroom replaying her emotional breakdown with Tsukishima. Now that she's looking back, a mixture of embarrassment and comfort flooded her heart. 

'Never mind that, he won't even talk to others moreso share stuff out.' She shook her head and entered the classroom. 

Tsukishima saw her enter but his feet remained planted on the floor. He was not sure how to approach her. The homeroom period started with them ignoring each other.

When classes ended and it was time for volleyball practice, Akane came by a bit later again because she was having another study session with Yachi. Her friend left earlier because she needs to edit the project she's working on. 

"Akane-san!" Hinata greeted her as she entered and changed her shoes. She waved back and smiled at him. 

"Uncle." She greeted and sat beside Keishin. He was aware of what happened and coincidentally overheard the conversation between Akane and Tsukishima in the corridor. He ended up having done more work as a way of letting out his bottled anger.

Fidgeting the paper bag, Akane tried to think of a way to talk to Tsukishima but having come up with none, she decided to wait until the practice was over. She watched him play effortlessly with his height. Then she watched the others and thought of what he said. 

None of them were taking her for granted.

All the fun she shared with them were genuine and unproblematic. She thought it would be scary to have friends again, but these boys proved it false. Kiyoko and Yachi further proved it so. They were not the same as the girls in her old school. They cared for her without the extravagant treatment.

As the coach whistled to signal the end for practice, everyone started cleaning up. Akane took this opportunity to approach Tsukishima.

"Hi." She greeted in a meek tone. She winced at her voice and fought back the urge to run away to a safe distance. 

"Akane-san..." Tsukishima settled down the net and turned his full attention to her.

"Umm... I'm sorry."

"--I'm sorry."

Both apologies clashed in an embarrassing way.

"What are you apologizing for?" Tsukishima spoke first after a dead air passed between them.

Akane rocked back and forth her heels, "Well... First, for staining your shirt. Second, for breaking down in front of you. And lastly, for ignoring you the whole day. I wasn't sure how to confront you..."

Tsukishima looked around them, and despite his observational skills, he was not able to see the whole group sparing them side glances then whistling away every once in a while.

"And none of those three reasons are hate-able." Tsukishima replied in a hushed voice. If he were caught speaking such mellow things, his reputation would be shattered.

Akane beamed at him for his reply. He held up a hand to motion 'wait', "I have something for you as well."

He went back to the storage area and walked back to Akane with a paper bag as well. He held it out with a blush on his face.

"It's your shirt. I washed it too. I added a comfort character in times you want to break down but cannot find someone to be with. His name is Ro."

Akane received the bag and eagerly opened to see Ro. Tsukishima stopped her with a maddening blush on his face, "Please do open it when you're alone... Ro is not someone you'd quite expect."

Nodding, Akane gave him her paper bag, "Alright, here's your shirt as well. I have not included any comfort characters as you did... But! I made a letter hehe."

Tsukishima peeked into the paperbag and sure enough, there was a white paper amidst his shirt. 

"What is this? An exchanging gift? I never knew we were having one!" Tanaka spoke loudly behind them. Tsukishima and Akane stiffened at his presence and were slowly getting the perspective that everyone was looking at them.

"Christmas is far away, so it's not." Nishinoya piped in, "Hmmm, could it be something else?"

"Y-you're getting the wrong idea!" Tsukishima tried his best to be as curt as he can.

"Hey, hey, Tsukishima's turning red. Maybe it is something else!" Hinata jumped, pointing at the tall blocker. 

Everyone jumped in on teasing the two that by the time Daichi's voice ended the teasing, they were sporting a pair of steaming, red faces.

"T-thanks!" They both bowed and quickly dispersed in opposite directions. 

Upon reaching their respective homes, both of them went directly to their rooms and opened the bags. It turned out that Ro was a blue dino plushie. Akane loved the soft, huggable dinosaur so much that she brought it with her to dinner to share with Keishin. 

Tsukishima opened and read her letter.  He immersed himself in her beautiful words and penmanship. Although the letter was short and mostly of her being grateful, he was more than glad to receive one from her. He went to dinner in a lighter mood than usual as he brought the good vibe from the letter along with him.

'Thank you.' They both thought simultaneously with their hearts warming up.