the idiot duo deserves that name [tsukkiyama]

a totally true story

tadashi was getting tired of how tsukishima treated him. for god's sake, they were both in their third year, and he was the captain of the volleyball team at this point, but tsukki still made these little comments to put him down all the time.

of course, he was used to it and it didn't bother him as much as it did at first, but he still thought he deserved a little respect. plus, he'd always wanted to confront him about it, and it had been like this little itch in his brain that wouldn't go away, no matter how he tried to justify it to himself.

so today he was going to do a little 'social experiment.'

basically, he decided- not necessarily to ignore tsukki all day, but to act a bit differently. he wouldn't be so quick to agree to whatever mean-ish things he has to say, he won't be so attached to him throughout the entire day, and he won't stand for it if he tells him to shut up even once.

tadashi got ready for school with all these things in mind, deciding that if tsukki questioned what he was doing, he would tell him at the end of the day. properly confront him about how he's been feeling.

as he was leaving the house, he briefly wondered if he should wait for tsukki on the walk to school as usual, or just go on ahead. luckily, he didn't have to worry about that, because tsukki was already waiting outside for him.

he offered a quick greeting, different from his usual upbeat, 'good morning!' and only slowed down slightly for tsukki to catch up.

the two didn't speak much on the way to school- just exchanged some casual small talk. such as, 'how did you sleep?' 'alright.' 'did you do the homework last night?' 'yeah, but i couldn't figure out question 17.'

they carried on that way during morning volleyball practice and the morning classes.

///

when lunch finally rolled around is where things started to change a bit.

"hey, i'm gonna eat lunch with someone else today, is that alright?" tadashi asked.

tsukki stopped a short way past his desk, having assumed yamaguchi would just follow him.

he turned around, but only halfway.

"that's fine." he turned his back again, and muttered, "not like i haven't eaten lunch alone before."

tadashi hesitated for a moment, but resolved to strengthen his will. tsukishima didn't treat him right, and he needed to get the message across. and in order to do that, he couldn't be lenient.

he waved at some other friends from across the room.

"hey, masumi, emiko! is it alright if i eat with you guys today?"

"sure thing," masumi replied, gesturing to the empty desk next to them.

he sat down at the desk they had indicated.

"why aren't you eating with tsukishima?" emiko asked. "i thought you guys were like... super-ultimate-best-friends-for-life type beat."

tadashi smiled sheepishly and scratched his cheek.

"well... something like that. but i figured i spend enough time with him, so i should make time for other friends." he lowered his voice and leaned in slightly. "and don't tell him, but... i'm actually doing a bit of an experiment. sometimes he's kind of rude to me, and i wanna see if he cares about me as much as i care about him, so i'm sort of distancing myself and not putting up with his rudeness and seeing what happens."

emiko raised her eyebrow.

"ooh, tea. tell us if anything interesting happens."

"will do."