there for me | tsukishima kei

･:*+.chapter 3

i entered the gym, immediately finding aoi. 

"y/n! where were y-" aoi stopped herself when she saw my face. "...are you ok?"

apparently i couldn't hide the annoyance on my face after that whole situation.

"oh, yeah i ju-"

she ignored me, and began to scan the gym when her eyes finally landed on the a certain blondie. "hey! what's that jerk from this morning doing here?! don't tell me...he did something to you..." she started to roll up her sleeves.

i frantically held down her arm. "aoi calm down! it wasn't him." i lied.

"oh! okay then." she said with a bright smile and started to pull down her sleeves again.

i couldn't help but giggle at her, how silly she was. it made me happy to have a friend who would go such lengths to protect me.

"hey, what's so funny!?" she said, crossing her arms.

"nothing." i replied, moving my eyes to the side with a small smile.

"hmm....."

our attention was suddenly caught by the sound of someone clearing their throat. it was the girl we saw earlier. she was standing in front of us before aoi and i even realized. she was even prettier up close.

"are you two here to become managers for the volleyball team?" she asked politely.

"yup!" aoi immediately replied. she looked over to me. i had said nothing yet.

"y/n pretty please! it'll be fun!" she pleaded.

thinking back to the douchebag, if he's on the volleyball team, then i really didn't want to join. but... i'll be able to avoid going home for a few more hours while doing easy tasks. plus, aoi's here so it sounds like all i really need.

i sighed with a smile. "sure."

"yay!" aoi jumped up and down happily.

"all right. my name is kiyoko shimizu by the way." the manager smiled.

"nice to meet you!" we said in sync.

"here are some things we'll be doing as manag-" shimizu was interrupted by another girl's voice. 

all three of us looked in her direction. she was short and had blonde hair, kept in a ponytail with a blue star clip.  she looked to be a first year like us but most importantly, she looked troubled.

"e- excuse me!" she stood in front of the three of us. "my name is hitoka yachi and i'm here to become a manager for the team..." she said while fiddling with her fingers.

"no worries." shimizu replied, handing the three of us papers with a schedule on them.

for the rest of the meeting we discussed over things we'd be doing. shimizu also told us the names of everyone on the team. "so that asshole really was on this team..." i thought to myself.

after the meeting, aoi and i talked to yachi for a bit. we surprisingly got along well.

suddenly, two boys from the team were about to come up to us excitedly when sugawara stopped them, proceeding to face palm them, as they fell to the ground. he turned around after, scratching the back of his head with a big smile and said: "sorry about that. these two are usually like that around girls."

yachi-chan was shivering behind aoi and i.

"ah, well thanks for saving us!" aoi smiled with a thumbs up.

~~~

"bye y/n!" she waved to me as we made it to my house. after she left, i stood outside the door for a few minutes hoping i didn't have to deal with my mom.

i took a deep breath and entered.

my mom was sitting at the dining table—
drunk of course.

"i'm home." i mumbled.

"y/n...where the hell were you? she said while slamming her fist against the table. "school ended hours ago. you should've been here already!" she raised her voice.

"i joined a club. and stayed after school to help."

she stood up, approaching me with unstable steps due to intoxication.

she suddenly smacked my cheek and i fell to the floor.

"when the fuck did i ever say you could join a club?!"

"...sorry."

"whatever. it means you'll be here less right? great. i don't want to see you anyways." she told me as she went back to the table.

i ran to my room and locked the door quickly.

i didn't cry. i don't cry about things like this anymore because i'm used to it.

i put on my headphones and started to listen to my music. i didn't bother to go downstairs to make dinner. i would rather starve then face her again.

a few hours later

i heard my mom go to her room. i placed a bandaid on top of the bruise on my cheek. i went downstairs, grabbed money, and went out.

i just needed air and a snack.

i headed to the nearest seven-eleven.

"hopefully no one sees me...i don't want people to ask about this bruise." i thought to myself.

i arrived and headed towards the hotdog stand.

then i went to the isle with chips but was surprised to see a familiar blondie who was in that row as well.

"okay forget about the chips." i said and quickly left the row before he could spot me. i hurried over to the cashier to pay for my food and get the hell out of there already.

that is...until he came behind me in line.

he let out a small laugh from behind.

i ignored him, handing the cashier my money.

he was about to come next to me to see my face to verify if it was actually me, but before he could i quickly turned my face the other way.

"why are you hiding?" he asked skeptically.

i sighed and quickly grabbed my food when the cashier was done and sped-walked out of there.

at that point he didn't care for what he was going to buy, leaving it there with the cashier and following behind me outside. he grabbed my shoulder and turned my body around to face him.

"what the hell happened to you?" he asked with seriousness in his tone.

"what- what are you acting all serious for?" i fake laughed awkwardly. "i fell on my face is all."

there was a moment of silence, but he was still holding on to my shoulder.

after a while, he finally let go while sighing.

"how hard did you fall on your face? it looks harsh." he chuckled.

"i'm fine. now move please, i have to do something."

tsukishima slowly turned, clearing the walkway, and so i leave without another word. 

jeez. what's his deal suddenly worrying about someone like me?

-to be continued