anything; everything - tskym

CH2 - Stars

*disclaimer this is inspired by the tsukkiyama comic: a clear message (go read it, it's really cute)*

Tsukishima wondered what was wrong with Yamaguchi today. He was tripping over volleyballs and stiffly walking around like he had no joints. He seemed to be thinking of something and whenever Tsukishima caught Yamaguchi looking at him he would turn beet red. I think it's because of what Hinata said to him.. but then again, Yamaguchi gets ruffled by the simplest things.

"Hey, you're acting really weird today," Tsukishima told Yamaguchi while they were walking home. "Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

"Me? Er- no.." Yamaguchi said embarrassed. He looked at his feet while he walked. "...everything's fine." Tsukishima frowned and put on his headphones.

"Liar."

"E-eh? Tsukki!" Yamaguchi pouted. "Don't ignore me."

"Don't lie to me," Tsukishima said, clicking play on a song. They walked in silence for awhile then he heard Yamaguchi say something. He couldn't really hear so he switched the song to some quiet background music. In his mind, Tsukishima knew eventually Yamaguchi would tell him something since he hated it when Tsukki ignores him like that.

"The truth is everything's wrong," Yamaguchi sighed. Intrigued, Tsukishima lowered the volume even more. "I don't know if I should be glad at what Hinata said. Ah, my brain is just all crammed with all these different emotions.. This bet is so troublesome, why did I even agree? Damn you, Hinata." Yamaguchi hissed under his breath.

"Now you gotta tell me what the bet was," Tsukishima said. Yamaguchi jumped. "You don't normally say stuff like that."

"Tsukki?" Yamaguchi stuttered. Tsukishima looked at him.

"Yeah?"

"Y-you could hear me?"

"Uh huh,"

YAMAGUCHI'S POV:

"Y-you could hear me?" I squeaked, embarrassed. He nodded. When he saw my expression, I saw the corners of his mouth turn up in a mischievous smile.

"Oh ho ho.." he said in a teasing tone, leaning over and taking a step closer. "Did you really think I couldn't hear you?" I felt my heart skip a beat as Tsukki loomed over me. I immediately averted my eyes somewhere else and put my hands up as some sort of weak self defense.

"I.. uhm.." I murmured.

"What was that?" Tsukki teased. "I couldn't hear you."

"E-eeh don't tease me like that!" I said indignantly, having the courage to look back in his golden brown eyes. Suddenly Tsukki pulled off his headphones and placed them on me. What? This is what he listens to? It was so soft.

"What the..." I muttered. Then I totally freaked out. "Ah! You totally could hear me? Why didn't you tell me!?"

"No reason," he said, continuing to walk. I started to walk too, since I was still wearing his headphones.

"You can barely hear anything!" I say, putting my hands on the headphones as if it'll make the volume louder. I saw at the corner of my eye that he was grinning. Idiot.. I thought, blushing.

"So, what's the bet you made with Hinata?" Tsukki asks suddenly.

"H-huh?" I said, feeling my insides churn.

"Sounds like a bet where you loose both ways," he continues, staring straight ahead. Then he tilted his head to look at me. "Mind telling me about it?"

"Uhm..." I muttered. "It's not that important, really.." I lied, fidgeting with the cable of the headphones. Tsukki raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"...yes."

We walked in silence for a while.

"You're a really bad liar." He says after a while.

"Don't act like I don't know that already!" I snipped, stuffing my shivering hands in my pocket. I look at the sidewalk and as if I were a little kid again I tried to not step on any of the cracks in the cement. I was so focussed on it I didn't even realize Tsukki was staring at me.

"You're a little kid," he says, looking away smiling. I froze for a second then I walked faster to catch up.

"You're one to talk," I say defensively. Tsukki looks at me questionably. "Your obsession with dinosaurs and strawberry cake.." I huffed.

"Eh?! You obsess over soggy french fries!"

"I don't obsess over them!"

"You refuse to eat the crunchy ones!"

"You refuse to eat the soft ones!"

"So? I don't obsess over fries."

"And who said I did?"

"You."

"Oh."

"You want to get some fries?"

"Definitely."

We changed course to a nearby fast food restaurant. It felt weird on how comfortably we joke around and can change the subject. Tsukki went to place our order and I stood by outside. It was cold, and Tsukki's warm headphones acted like earmuffs. I clutched his phone in my pocket and stared at the stars twinkling. Tsukki came out and handed me the fries. Normally he eats all the crunchy ones and I eat the floppy ones. It worked out like that. We sat on a park bench and shared the snack.

"The stars are so pretty," I say breathlessly, looking at the night sky and the twinkling lights. "It's like they're dancing around in the sky." I put a fry in my mouth.

"From here," Tsukki started. "you can't see it. But on a night like this, the prettiest thing in the sky is the moon." I turned and tilted my head to look at Tsukki. His golden brown eyes reflected the stars as he looked enchanted at the sky.

"You astronomical nerd." I say, without thinking. He laughs, which I guess is good. I reach for another french fry and he does the same. Our fingers touched for a few seconds. I felt my heart race, while Tsukki looked totally unbothered, completely mesmerized by the sky. ever since we were kids Tsukki always had a thing for astronomy. He had memorized all the constellations and the cycle of the moon by a young age, and knew the background of each star cluster. Tsukki knew what every star was named, why it was named that, what the name meant and so on. I always had found his admiration for the night adorable, so I started to learn a bit myself, just so I had something to talk to him about.

"Yamaguchi, you're staring," Tsukki says, casting a side-glance at me.

"Sorry, Tsukki," I say, grabbing the last fry. After a few more moments of silence I finally spoke up, "I want to see."

"See what?" He asks, looking at me oddly. I don't blame him, it was a weird statement and definitely could've been said differently. I felt my ears burn and stared at the floppy fry in my hands.

"The moon." I say after a moment. I saw him smile a genuine smile as his eyes twinkled like the stars, and I felt myself grinning ear to ear as well.

"Let's go then."