The Half-assed Prince

It started with a fight

It was spring when I first found myself interested in a guy, not because I liked him or something, but because of this mysterious vibe he had. He was in the same as class as me, seated right next to me at the back of the room, near the window. He was a very tall guy, probably the tallest guy in our class, and had short blond hair. His eyes were golden brown, which I found beautiful and unique, but they didn't stand out too much because of his eyeglasses.

Kei Tsukishima is probably smart, that was my first impression of him. I came to that conclusion because he was wearing glasses, and without knowing it, I kind of thought of him as a rival since I was aiming to be at the top of the class. But as days passed by, I gradually felt disappointed because he didn't meet my expectations at all. Since I was sitting next to him, I could see his disinterest in studying. He usually faced the window when the teacher was explaining, staring at who knows what, and slept during break. He would only get up when his friend Tadashi Yamaguchi came in and pestered him. He was the only person in class who could talk to Tsukishima since he was very a cold person.

"Tsukki! Tsukki!" Yamaguchi called him as he shook him to wake up. I couldn't help but wonder how that cute nickname came to be since it didn't suit Tsukishima's personality in the slightest, but it seemed like Yamaguchi was the one who insisted on calling him like that.

"Shut up, Yamaguchi. And stop calling me like that." He said, with his usual cold tone.

I couldn't understand how Yamaguchi could stand his personality. He didn't need to stay by his side. He could find another friend if he wanted to since he looked friendly.

"Hurry, the captain will be mad if we're late again!" said Yamaguchi.

"I get it. I get it." Tsukishima stood up, putting his hands in his pockets as he walked out the door, with Yamaguchi following him.

I heard he was part of the volleyball team. Well, with his height, it was to be expected, but I was still surprised since he always seemed uninterested with everything. Learning that he was part of a club seemed surreal.

Just before class started, both of them came back to class. They looked tired and their faces glistened with sweat, so I assumed they were out practicing. I heard they would be having a friendly match with Nekoma High, a school in Tokyo, next week.

I didn't realize that the class had already ended until the teacher started calling me.

"Sanae-san! Sanae-san!"

"Yes, sensei!"

"Could you distribute this to the class? You're on duty today, right?" Sensei said, handing me the papers.

"Hai, Sensei."

I took the papers and started handing them out to my classmates when I realized that the guy next to me was also on duty today.

"Hmm... Tsukishima-kun, could you help me hand these papers to the class?" I kindly asked, and made sure to add a cute smile.

"Why would I? Sensei asked YOU, right, Sanae-san?" He said with a smirk.

Yes, the reason why he couldn't get along with anyone in class was because of his cocky attitude. He liked riling people up with his famous irritating smirk.

"Yes, because I'm on duty. And since WE are both on duty, I guess it's just reasonable to have you help me, right, Tsukishima-kun?"

"You said it for yourself. I'm Tsukishima and you're Sanae, and Sensei asked for Sanae-san, so I don't need to do that job."

Aargh! This guy was starting to piss me off.

"Just distribute it to everyone, okay?! Before they get home." I snapped, slamming half of the papers on his table, and walked away.

"Tch."

I heard that, but I just ignored him as I stomped away.

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"Tsukishima! Tsukishima!" I called out.

"Urusai.. what do you want?" He said, not even bothering to look at me.

"Are you going to practice?" I asked.

"It's none of your business." He coldly said.

"Can I watch?"

"Ha? Why do you need to watch?"

I want to see how you play, as if I could say that.

"Just curious. So can I?"

"No, you can't."

"Eh? Please! I promise I won't bother anyone. I'm going to stay quiet the whole time."

"No."

"Pretty please.." I begged.

"No!" He said, then headed to the gym.

I was actually prepared for this. I was completely expecting him to react this way, so I decided that even if he said no, I was still going to watch.

So yeah, I snuck into the back of the gym. Fortunately there was a small window on the side which gave me a pretty nice view. Good thing I was tall enough to reach it. As soon as I peeked in, my mouth hung slack. A small guy with orange hair seemed to float in midair as he hit the ball unbelievably fast. My eyes couldn't even follow the ball; before I even realized it, it had hit the floor on the other side of the net. But what surprised me the most was the fact that his eyes were closed when he spiked that ball. I couldn't hide my amazement; I was left in awe. I unconsciously clapped my hands, and to my extreme chagrin, I had caught the entire team's attention. Needless to say, my plan of 'sneaking in to watch Tsukishima play' failed.

The team stopped playing, and everyone ran outside to see me. I could see Tsukishima's eyes glaring when he saw it was me.

"Sanae-san?"

He stepped out of the gym and apologized to his teammates, before heading towards me.

"I'm sorry, she's.. uhm.. one of my classmates."

Then he grabbed my arm and dragged me away from the gym.

"I told you not to come, right?!" He yelled. It was the first time that he raised his voice and it really scared me.

"I-I'm sorry. I just really wanted to see you play.." I said. I was on the verge of crying.

"I don't know what you're plotting, but STAY OUT OF MY BUSINESS!!"

And I couldn't hold it anymore. Tears started falling and I started sobbing. Then a guy suddenly showed up, probably the captain since he had that aura.

"Tsukishima, stop it. You already made her cry. Hurry up and apologize to her."

"Daichi-san..but--"

"No, no, he doesn't have to apologize. It's all my fault. He told me not to come but I insisted so it's my fault. I'm sorry for disturbing your practice." I said, then walked away.

I heard him calling out to me, trying to stop me, but I kept walking. Tsukishima's angry face was all I could see in my head. I still couldn't stop crying as I reached our classroom. Tsukishima's words really hurt me. It was my first time to see him mad. And now, I didn't know how to face him anymore.