Strawberry Mentos

Chapter 18 - Encounters and Possibilties

The morning was cold, the clouds from the previous rain still lingering, Tsukishima could see pieces of the sky through the gaps between them. Missing a day of school had helped him clear his head, but the empty, dull feeling that filled his body remained. He didn't imagine it would go away anytime soon.

Yamaguchi could make it go away.

Tsukishima blinked tiredly, he had been having thoughts like these all morning. It seemed everywhere he turned, some part of Yamaguchi was there. When he went to his closet to get his uniform that morning, every piece of clothing he owned seemed to have memories attached to it. 

And Akiteru. The younger boy couldn't look at him this morning, knowing that his brother's eyes would be filled with pity. He was thankful to Akiteru though, knowing that his emotions may have swallowed him if he didn't let them out. Akiteru had listened patiently, and Kei was grateful.

A gust of wind brought him out of his thoughts. He watched leaves blow past him as he turned into the school gates. He couldn't help but think that he and Yamaguchi were similar to the leaves, came from the same tree, were beside eachother their whole lives, only to be blown apart by the wind.

The wind started again, sending the leaves further inside the gates. Tsukishima watched as they gently blew around a boy a few steps from him, curling around the boy's body before blowing away again. A single leaf landed on the boys head. Tsukishima watched as the boy picked the leaf from his head and turned to the side, showing Tsukishima one half of his face. The boy smiled at the leaf in his hand, mumbled something that Tsukishima couldn't hear, and set the leaf back in the wind. Tsukishima took a sharp breath.

Yamaguchi.

As if sensing him there, Yamaguchi turned to him. Suddenly, it felt as if everything had melted away, leaving only the two of them there. Yamaguchi's eyes widened, realization washing over his features. Tsukishima couldn't move, couldn't do anything but stare at the boy he wanted to talk to so bad.

Yamaguchi took a step back before fully turning around, walking quickly to the doors of the school. He paused and turned slightly, meeting Tsukishima's eyes before leaving him standing there, alone.

His senses returned, the world coming back into place. In that one short moment, Tsukishima thought that he saw something in Yamaguchi's eyes. Regret, guilt, and loneliness. 

Or maybe Tsukishima was only seeing himself.

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Tsukishima had been distracted since the encounter, causing the day to near the end without him realizing. He wanted nothing more then to go home and pretend that this had never happened because now he wanted to talk to Yamaguchi more then anything. 

Then he remembered he couldn't go home just yet. Practice. He bit back a frusterated sigh, not wanting his teacher to think he was being rude. He had absolutely no energy, how was he going to get through Kageyama's interrogation? Hinata would notice too, he was observent when it came to his team mates.

The teacher dissmissed the class and Tsukishima stayed in his seat, not wanting to risk running into Yamaguchi again. They would be going the same direction, and it would be incredibly uncomfortable. 

"Don't you two have sports practice?" The teacher asked looking from Tsukishima to someone on the other side of the room. Tsukishima looked over. A boy was sleeping, his head down on his arms, hiding his face, but Tsukishima recognized him.

Yamaguchi.

"Could you wake him up, Tsukishima?" Their teacher asked again. "I would hate for you guys to be late, your coach scares me," she admitted, looking a little nervous.