DREAM . tsukishima kei

｡･ﾟﾟ･ three ･ﾟﾟ･｡

☆

TSUKISHIMA KNEW better than most that he was not the social type. It was painfully obvious how much he wanted to avoid human interaction when he adorned those black headphones paired with a gloomy look on his face. Everyone steered clear of the towering cloud of doom whenever he walked into a room. They could just feel the emotions oozing off of him.

That aura never stopped his teammates from bombarding him repeatedly until he got irritated and snapped. The outburst was almost never taken seriously by anyone considering it was beginning to happen a lot more often than not.

"What are you thinking about?" Hinata asked, popping up beside him. "Are you having nervous thoughts? Is it about a test? Or maybe our game that's coming up. It must be that. Or it's a girl. Is it a girl? Tsukishima, do you have a crush?"

"Jesus fuck, when do you ever shut up?" Tsukishima snapped, throwing a harsh glance at the boy who bounced in front of him.

"It IS a girl! Who is it? Which one? The one in your class? Or is it Shimizu-san? Or is it someone else? Maybe it's that girl that tried to give you a bento? Or is it [l/n]-san? I always see you looking at her-"

"It's not her." The blond seethed.

Hinata stopped for a second. His expression dropped as he scrutinized Tsukishima's features. He took in every drop of emotion before a giant gummy grin broke out onto his face. "You like [l/n]-san."

He could feel the irritation boiling in his chest. "I do not. Are you stupid?"

"You totally like her! Your ears are turning red!"

"Shut up." Tsukishima poked the boy in the head, pulling a scream from deep within Hinata's body.

"Tsukishima, you bastard." He called out between screams. Everyone just laughed as he rolled around on the floor in pain.

Tsukishima liking someone? That was out of this world. He barely had time for himself and volleyball, so a girl had no room in his life. He was all booked up with his own personal things to be worried about a girl.

"Excuse me, is this the boy's volleyball club?" Her voice made every ear in the room perk up. Eyes slid in the direction of the slightly ajar door where she stood.

Her eyes shifted around the room awkwardly as she bowed swiftly with a soft smile on her face. "I'm [f/n] [l/n] of Class 1-5. I heard you guys were looking for a tutor?"

The silence was thick.

Absolutely no one in the room felt the awkwardness like she did as she stood in front of a crowd of teenage boys who just stared at her like she was an alien.

She laughed sheepishly. "Did I get it wrong?"

Daichi was the first to break the silence with a clearing of the throat and a step in her direction. "No, no, you're right. I'm Sawamura Daichi, the captain of the team."

"Nice to meet you. I'm [l/n] [f/n]." She froze for a second before waving a hand around. "I already said that. Are you the one that asked for me?"

Daichi chuckled, "Actually it was our manager, Shimizu. We're all just a little surprised because we didn't expect you to show up."

"Oh, I can come back later if now isn't a good time. I don't mind!"

"You're fine. Practice hasn't begun yet, so is it okay if we talk for a bit?" Sugawara was the one to chime in this time as he slid the door open wider for her, allowing her to take a step inside. "I'm Sugawara Koushi. Nice to meet you."

"Thank you. Nice to meet you, too."

Daichi directed everyone to their own things before he was whisked away by Sugawara. The two males took her over to Shimizu who stood in the corner of the gym and began their conversation out of earshot of the others.

Tsukishima remained as far as he possibly could from that whole situation. He sat with his back against the wall and his shoes in hand. The other first years stood nearby, babbling about stupid things he couldn't even bother himself with.

Out of instinct, his eyes flickered in her direction. He peeked at her without even realizing it.

Until someone mentioned it.

"You're looking at her." Hinata whisper-shouted with such excitement that it made Tsukishima's expression tense.

He wasn't sure what it was, but he definitely was getting the point of annoyance where he'd volleyball slam Hinata's head right over the net.

"Shut. Up." Tsukishima sneered.

"What are you doing, idiot?" Kageyama asked as he appeared behind Hinata's hunched body. He nudged him with his foot, nearly snickering when Hinata cried in pain.

"Tsukishima hit me! All because I found out about his stupid crush on [l/n]-san!"

Hinata's words were loud. Not loud enough for Daichi or Suga to hear, but the rest of the team did.

"Tsukishima has a crush on her?" Yamaguchi gasped. It felt like he was watching a dramatic soap opera. This was keeping him on the edge of his seat.

"I thought he just was feeling challenged." Kageyama shrugged.

Tanaka and Nishinoya manifested out of nowhere with smug grins on their face. "What was that?"

"I don't have a crush on her. You're all stupid for believing that," muttered the blond, who needed a few deep breaths to quell the anger burning in his chest. The pure embarrassment he felt was sickening. "Are we sure Hinata isn't the one with the crush? All he does is talk about her."

"Nah, I think she's pretty, but she'd never go for me. I like volleyball too much." Hinata shrugged nonchalantly. The blatant disinterest in the concept of it made everyone shift back to Tsukishima who looked so uncomfortable that it fed into the idea.

Oh, the taunting smirks on every single person's face was enough to make the veins in Tsukishima's head bulge.

"You're all idiots." Pushing off his knees, he picked up his things and walked towards the other part of the court where no one stood. He needed to get as far as he could from this stupidity. A crush? You have got to be joking.

Glancing to the side, his eyes met hers. She peered in his direction at the exact moment he decided to look in hers. Her eyes shifted away from him for a split second before reconnecting with his. She flashed a smile at him, giving him a half-hearted wave. And he felt it again.

The cogs in his chest turned.

Turning away from her, he shook his head and refocused himself on putting on his shoes. His fingers tingled as he fumbled with the laces, trying to quickly make a knot.

Nope. I don't like her.

༶•┈┈୨☆୧┈┈•༶

a/n

sorry for that long pause. i got caught up with life but here i am againnnnnnn

this book is like... painfully slow burn. i am so aware of that but pls just grip the chair and do not leave yet. i am building this book from the ground, brick by brick. and i mean BRICK BY BRICK

anyway i love you, hope you're all doing amazing

published: july 31st, 2024