𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 - 𝐤. 𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐚

𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐘 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 | 𝟎𝟓

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"why'd you do that, tsukki?" yamaguchi sighed, wringing out his wet shirt.

they had both just left the pool, now making their way to the food bars upon yamaguchi's request.

"do what?" tsukishima mused, using the towel around his neck to soak up the water in his hair. he was obviously playing dumb, making his friend let out another sigh.

yamaguchi quickly wrapped himself in a towel, hoping that the dry cloth might work to keep him from spilling water all over the deck, granted many kids had already done a good job of that. "you know what," yamaguchi scowled. "why did you taunt her like that?"

tsukishima let a small smile crack his features, shrugging in response. the two boys came to a halt as they stepped in line, a big sign above the food bar reading: wings and waves.

"you've got a soft spot for the stranger?"

"her brother was there," yamaguchi defended, taking a step forward as the line moved.

"i was well aware," the blonde retorted quickly, ruffling his hair slightly, a few drops of water landing on his glasses.

yamaguchi stared at him wordlessly as he tried to make sense of him. he still didn't get it. why so insistent on getting under her skin with his sarcastic jabs?

"she annoyed me," tsukishima finally told him, the line moving forward once again. "so i annoyed her. simple as that."

yamaguchi furrowed his brows, finding tsukishima's response too vague for his liking.

"but still, you didn't have to be so harsh. she's just a girl."

tsukishima's expression remained neutral as he shrugged again, his tone dismissive, "i don't see why it matters. she's not special."

yamaguchi's eyes widened in surprise at tsukishima's callous remark. "that's not fair, tsukki. you don't even know her."

tsukishima scoffed, his gaze flickering away briefly before returning to yamaguchi. irritation was starting to creep into his voice as he spoke, "and i don't care to. she's just another annoying person i happened to cross paths with."

yamaguchi sighed, a mixture of frustration and disappointment swelling in his chest. he had always known tsukishima to be blunt and sometimes insensitive, but this was a new level of harshness.

"do you even feel bad? i do.. and i wasn't even the one being mean to her."

the line proceeded, but tsukishima didn't move. he looked down at his friend who had this distant look on face, like he was playing the moment in his head.

"i wasn't being mean," tsukishima poorly defended, a scowl now embedded on his face. "it was light teasing."

yamaguchi snapped out of his thought at his words, "not before."

another weak explanation was about to spill out tsukishima's lips, but yamaguchi cut him short, "do you feel bad? at least a little?"

tsukishima hesitated. seeing the way you had actively avoided him after your guy's interaction brought him a sense of accomplishment, but maybe he was too abrasive for his own good– that's what he was thinking now with the way that yamaguchi looked up at him.

there was some sort of pleading look in his friend's eyes that made him somewhat regretful. somewhat.

tsukishima clicked his tongue before tearing his eyes away. he had always tried to act unattached, or unusually indifferent, but that wasn't entirely who he was.

the blonde sighed as they came to the front of the line, "what do you want?"

yamaguchi frowned. why wouldn't tsukishima answer him? he put that question to the side, his eyes scanning over the large menu hanging in the mini kitchen of the food bar before answering, "chicken strips."

"what sauce?"

"ranch."

"drink?"

"lemonade."

tsukishima ordered for yamaguchi, then got something for himself. tsukishima ended up having to grab yamaguchi's food for him since he was still snugly wrapped in a towel.

they found an empty spot in the shade, one with a large window and a view of the ocean.

"tsukki?"

the boy hummed absently, his attention focused on his fries instead.

"are you mad?"

he scoffed, "at what?"

"at me?"

tsukishima still hadn't looked up, only offering a shake of his head. he wasn't mad at yamaguchi, he was just annoyed– annoyed at the situation, at all the people here, the fact that he had to be here in the first place.

"are you sure?" yamaguchi pressed, taking a small bite of his chicken strip, "you seem more touchy than usual."

a flicker of annoyance flashed across tsukishima's face as he heard those words, "touchy?"

yamaguchi froze, certain that he had just offended his friend, but cautiously continued after a second, "i mean.. you acted a bit harshly with.. umm.. what's her name again..."

"the girl," tsukishima finished quickly. "who cares about specifics? what's your point?"

"i just think it's out of character. to get upset and snippy, sure, but you might have been too abrasive. you embarrassed her."

tsukishima finally looked up, only to greet yamaguchi with a glare, "maybe i'm being touchy because i can't go anywhere on this damn cruise without someone bumping into me or someone breathing all over me. it's annoying."

yamaguchi offered a sympathetic look. tsukishima never liked being touched, but yamaguchi didn't think that was grounds for embarrassing someone like that.

after the whole incident he was greeted by his friend marching over to the table, a look of irritation pressed across his face. he instantly told yamaguchi everything and he instantly felt bad for whoever the unfortunate girl was.

yamaguchi watched as his friend ate, suddenly avoiding his eyes after expressing his disdain for this cruise. just with the simple gesture of looking away he could tell that tsukishima felt some level of guilt, however small it may be, it was there. tsukishima would never admit that though.

"i know and im sorry."

"you know i hate that," tsukishima told him, referring to the way his friend apologized for things that weren't his fault, nor things he had no control over.

yamaguchi bit back another apology, stuffing his face with food to keep the words from spilling out. it was like habit now.

"this isn't important anymore, so drop it. we won't see either of them again," he insisted, despite the fact that just yesterday he complained that this cruise wasn't big enough for that.

"okay," yamaguchi said softly, trying to enjoy the rest of his food in silence. but the tension in the air made it hard to do that.

it was only the second day, so why did this already feel like a mess?

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