Haikyuu!! x Reader BOOK 2

Secrets {Tsukishima Kei}

"Well, I'll see you in class tomorrow, bright and early!"

"Tch. Don't remind me."

Your tall, blonde companion pushed his glasses further up his nose as he brought himself to a halt alongside you. His amber eyes glanced around the familiar area where the two of you parted ways three days of the week after walking back from your class together. It was a nice part of town, with a sprawling park on one side of the path the two of you stood on, and a school at the other side. The houses were relatively large and likely belonged to the wealthy couples and families who strolled casually through the streets as if they didn't have a care in the world at 3 o'clock on a Wednesday afternoon.

His gaze then settled on you as you regarded him with a gentle smile. "Thanks for walking with me, Kei," you said, clutching the books in your arms closer to your chest.

He quickly averted his eyes and shoved his hands into his pockets as a barely noticeable blush rose to his cheeks, sighing, "You don't have to thank me every time. It's annoying."

"And you don't have to tell me that every time. It's also annoying," you teased.

He scoffed, "Whatever. See you tomorrow." Leaning down towards you, he placed a swift kiss against your forehead before turning on his heels and continuing down the street towards the train station.

You watched his tall, slender figure grow smaller and smaller as he slowly disappeared out of your sight. A painful aching in your heart was an ever-constant reminder of the guilt you shouldered from purposely withholding a big secret from him. Initially, during the early stages of your friendship last semester, you hadn't felt inclined to tell him a great deal about yourself, since he wasn't much of a sharer either. But, now that you'd been dating for nearly four months, you felt an overwhelming amount of shame for hiding things from him. As much as you wanted to tell him, you didn't feel strong enough to accept the worst possible outcomes you had already predicted could arise from revealing what you'd been keeping under wraps.

Today marked another day that had passed without you uttering a word to him, and while it should've made you feel relieved at being able to avoid looking suspicious, you only experienced more disappointment in yourself. When you finally moved from the spot where the two of you always parted ways, you tried your best to keep your head up despite the psychological weight you felt from the negative emotions piling up inside of it.

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About a week later, your unbothered boyfriend made the romantic gesture of carrying your books for you in his backpack on your post-class walk. Even though it took you showing clear signs of struggle and fatigue for him to notice and swipe the textbooks out of your hands, you still appreciated that he had decided to offer some assistance rather than poke fun at your weakness.

"What's up with the zombified look today, (f/n)?" he questioned.

A scowl overcame your already unsatisfied features, and your (e/c) eyes moved from the path ahead to glare into his amber ones. He had that annoyingly familiar, sly smile on his lips. "I had a late night, Kei," you groaned.

"Did you really have that much homework? Or is your old age starting to catch up to you?" he teased.

You couldn't tell him the real reason why you were so exhausted, so you lied, "Yep, I've already become an old lady at the tender age of twenty-two." Brushing your (h/l) hair away from your slightly pale face, you averted your gaze from him and took to watching your surroundings pass by. Walks home in silence weren't uncomfortable for either of you, but this one felt nearly unbearable.