Strategize: Haikyuu Fanfic

Chapter 58: Accidentally In Love

Ayame was wearing his cream colored sweatshirt. And to be frank, it was huge on her. The sleeves drooped down roughly three inches past her fingertips, with the ends of the sweater going to her mid thigh over her gray leggings.

There was this warm, cozy sensation that somehow, in a way, separates this sweater from the rest. Perhaps it was because of the cotton fibers? She thinks so. According to her, it had a hint of cinnamon mixed with the fruity scent of ... strawberries? It was quite an odd combination, yet it harmonized together nicely.

She was wearing one of his shirts. His shirt. On her. The thought seemed to make the blonde blush lightly, which hid in with the regular red tinge in his cheeks due to the cold. He has to admit, she looked really...cute.

"Don't wrinkle it." He said, trying to keep an unfazed facade.

"Yeah, yeah. I won't." She replied in an uninterested manner, not lifting her eyes off of the book. She had been absorbed in reading the book (focusing on saltwater fishes). The girl loved learning about the sea, since she had always encounter interesting sea creatures back at her hometown. Books. Words. Knowledge. Those things fuel her hungry desire to know more and more and more.

She sat on the floor, leaning her back on the edge of the bed as Tsukishima lied down, trying his best not to fall asleep. Which took great effort due to the side effects of the medicine she gave him. Drowsiness attempted to pull his eyelids shut, but he has to savor these moments awake.

"Whoa... Check this out." The raven haired girl said in astonishment, pointing at a picture. Tsukishima raised his eyebrows slightly, peering over the edge of the bed to the book, squinting at the book since he didn't wear his glasses.

The raven haired girl cleared her throat before reading the excerpt out loud, "The mimic octopus, or also known as Thaumoctopus mimicus, has the ability to camouflage to its surroundings by altering their color or texture, blending in from coral reefs to algae covered rocks. They can also take shape of various objects, eluding the predators..."

Tsukishima had already been informed about the mimic octopus, it's his book after all. But a part of him didn't want to stop her from reciting the paragraph - he was too absorbed in watching her movements as she read the book: particularly how her bright, emerald eyes traveled through the inked pages, sparkling with pure curiosity and wonder- like a child reading a bedtime story.

After she finished reading aloud, earning a lazy, husky hum as a response from the blonde. She shuts the book close and placed the book back in the shelf neatly, then pulling out another book that sparked her fascination, this time, it was about space- stars in particular. Flipping through the pages first before settling back down on the floor. That's when she spotted thick rimmed glasses on the top of his nightstand, different from the ones he wears.

"Sports glasses?" She asked, leaning closer to the object.

"Nii bought it for me." He said, giving the girl a curt nod signaling her that she may handle the glasses. With great care, she lifted the glasses off after taking off her own, and puts it on.

"My eyesight is far worse than yours." She observed, her eyes scanning the room. "But this will really help you for matches. Nice of Aki-nii to give you this."

He scoffed in amusement, recalling his conversation with his brother. "He said something foolish about it helping me shut down Ushiwaka's spikes."

"...What's so foolish about that?" She asked in a genuinely confused tone, which he just replied with a brief, raspy chuckle.

"You're so naive. No wonder you're ranked lower than me."

"Shut up."

After placing the glasses back, she put hers on and drowned herself in words regarding the formation of medium sized stars. That's what he liked the best about her. She didn't need to make any effort to continue a conversation, neither did he, only their presence is enough to put them at ease. Comfortable silence at its finest. But he didn't want to fall sleep just yet. Not just yet.