the boy in yellow • teruyama

6

tw: explicit language.

•

that hurt so much more than it should've.

yamaguchi sat still, being unusually quiet in the passenger's seat in his father's car. they spoke a bit when mr yamaguchi picked him up from the café, but the boy ended up zoning out and looking out the window.

pursing his lips unconsciously, he traces the mountain range with his eyes. terushima really was a puzzle, wasn't he?

"did something happen, tadashi?" his father interrupts his spiraling thoughts. looking away from the window, yamaguchi smiles sheepishly at his father before glancing down at his lap. "you can talk to me if you want, or maybe call kei later. you guys haven't met outside of school for a while. maybe you can meet up tomorrow since it's the weekend?"

"oh, we do have a project for english to do. maybe we can do that together," yamaguchi says, smiling at the thought. his father nods, gazing out in front of him.

"sounds good."

•••

saturday came, and being that yamaguchi only went on a short walk last night, he didn't wake up at noon again. he was at the tsukishima residence by two pm, tsukishima opening the door and being engulfed in a large and tight hug.

the two friends got some snacks from the kitchen, yamaguchi greeting mrs tsukishima politely before the two went upstairs. closing the door behind him, tsukishima watches his olive-haired friend plop down in his desk chair and sigh.

"ready to work?"

"let's get this over with."

•••

the pair worked for a few hours, throwing snacks at each other and talking about gossip they overheard in their classes as they never talked. at the beginning of the year, when all the kids got to pick their seats, tsukishima and yamaguchi sat next to each other.

them talking too much got yamaguchi moved to the other side of the room.

"great minds think alike.. what's the ending part?" yamaguchi looks up at the blond, who was cleaning his glasses with the end of his t-shirt.

"but fools seldom differ."

"thanks, tsuuki," yamaguchi smiles at the other as he fills in the line. tsukishima nods, leaning against the desk from his spot on his bed.

"how's your friend?"

"you know his name, tsuuki."

"how's dickhead?"

yamaguchi chokes on his snack, eliciting a small smile from tsukishima. "i'm kidding. how's terushima? still fucking annoying as usual?"

after getting the two to meet again—albeit over the phone—, tsukishima didn't seem as pent up over yamaguchi's new friend. he was still wary of terushima being a bad influence, but he knew yamaguchi well; he was clingy to everyone, so his own worries about replacement soon faded after tons of reassuring from the slightly shorter boy.

yamaguchi rests the end of his pencil on his lips, thinking about the next question before answering. "haha, very funny. he's good. one of his friends crashed his bike though, so i won't see him and his friends on my walks anymore."

"did you go on a walk last night?"

"a small one, i didn't go up the mountain. just around a few streets."

"you should find a less physically-draining way to cope, yamaguchi, like, i don't know, talking?" tsukishima suggests. yamaguchi chooses to shrug his friend off, scribbling in another answer. "yama?"

tsukishima snorts, seeing that the boy was purposefully ignoring him. leaning off of the desk, he grabs a few pretzels from the bowl and throws one at yamaguchi's forehead. "tadashi, come on. i'm your best friend, i know when you're upset over something."

"i think i'm gay.. or, partially gay.. argh, i think i like boys."

tsukishima's eyes widen at the blunt and slightly uncalled statement, turning his head to the side to not look at yamaguchi directly. "well then."

"shit, that was too blunt-" yamaguchi's red face earned a snort of amusement from tsukishima as the blond looked at the olive-haired boy. yamaguchi scratches at the nape of his neck, his freckles popping out with his blush of embarrassment. resting his forehead down on the table, he sighs.

"he's cute, he's funny, he's smart-"

"thanks for the compliments."

"tsuuki! you know what i mean!"

tsukishima snickers, nodding for the flustered yamaguchi to continue. he knew who yamaguchi was going on about.

"we were out for ice cream last night, and teru was teasing me a little bit. and then i said something, something stupid, and he kind of shut me down by saying that we're just friends," yamaguchi met tsukishima's eyes.

"what if i don't want to be just friends?"

•••

"go fish."

"i know you have my seven of hearts."

"i don't!"

"tadashi yamaguchi."

the boy reluctantly handed over said card, tsukishima chuckling evilly as he was able to drop his last three cards; a straight. yamaguchi throws his head back in a groan, rolling onto his side as he assumed defeat. tsukishima was always the best at go fish.

tsukishima's shoulders shake with internal laughter, looking out his window to see darkness. "it's pretty late, yama. you sure you don't just want to sleep here? i have my futon."

yamaguchi shakes his head, a small smile on his face. "it's okay, tsuuki, my dad's already here. thanks for having me over though, and helping me with my english project."

tsukishima nods back, chuckling, "that's what friends are for, eh?" yamaguchi laughs, nodding vigorously before he pushes himself into a table top position and standing up. tsukishima overshadows him as the blond stands up, and yamaguchi grabs his english binder and his jacket that was thrown on tsukishima's bed.

"oh, are you going to the party that kageyama told us about this friday?" the olive-haired boy asks, exiting the bedroom with tsukishima close behind.

"the one in johzenji, being thrown by terushima?" tsukishima clarifies with a teasing tone, and yamaguchi punches his best friend lightly in the arm. "i'm just messing around with you, yama. i think my mom will kick me out of the house if i don't, she's really supportive of me making friends and all," he says with a grumble.

"oh, come on, it won't be so bad. your best buds kuroo and bokuto will probably be there!" yamaguchi returns the tease, getting a rough hair ruffle. "they probably miss you soooo much."

"as if," tsukishima blows some of his hair out of his eyesight. "they're the most annoying people i know, and we play on a team with hinata, kageyama, nishinoya and tanaka."

yamaguchi snickers at the jeer from his best friend; those four boys couldn't even defend themselves since they weren't there. tsukishima joins in with his friend, both of them nearing the door. mrs tsukishima was outside, talking to mr yamaguchi.

turning back to tsukishima, yamaguchi opens his arms wide for a hug, but letting tsukishima have the final say. seeing as akiteru wasn't around, the blond gives the shorter a quick but heartfelt hug. yamaguchi smiles into tsukishima's shirt before he felt the other pull away.

the olive-haired boy grips his books as he walks backwards out the door, waving back to tsukishima before passing mrs tsukishima with a slight bow. he climbs into his father's car, waving again at tsukishima before his father bid farewell to mrs tsukishima, and pulled away.

tsukishima was still waving from the front door, with a smirk on his face when the yamaguchis' car turned the corner.

~~~

| word count: 1,238 | paragraph count: 50 | time taken: 0:39 |