" 𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚘𝚢 " ; 𝚝𝚜𝚞𝚔𝚔𝚒𝚢𝚊𝚖𝚊

3

“ are you alright yamaguchi? you look like you got no sleep last night. ”  the tall blond remarked, removing his headphones that were previously resting on his head to be around his neck.

a low sigh left the boy before he spoke up. bringing an arm behind his neck as he rubbed it. “  gonme tsukki. I didnt get much sleep at all. I was rather restless, guess my mind had me up. ”  a soft laugh left the male.

of course, kei didn't believe him. how could he? he knew tadashi better than anyone else. sighing some, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose while the two friends kept on walking. to the middle blockers surprise, the greenette didn't ask for mochi this morning.

‘ huh. ’

was all that ran through the tallers head. why does he care so much about the other? well, it's because they practically grew up together from junior high onwards. rather surprising that the snobby blond would have a friend for that long. but the smaller had to. kei practically saved his life that day.

just by standing up for him, tadashi practically owed him his friendship. and, he's kept that promise. his head bowed down a little bit while he rubbed his arm. “  are you busy after school? since ukai still isn't feeling too well, do you want to come over? ”

thinking about it for a moment as the question ran through his head a few times before deciding on his solid answer. 

“  yeah. I can. I'll message my brother so he can tell my mom. ”  kei responded as he then scrunched his nose some. they soon arrived at the school.

today's been, rather difficult for tadashi. he had such a hard time focusing on everything. so much was going through his little head that all he could do was scribble in his notebook. yawning some, his hands dangled off the edge of the desk as his left cheek pressed into the wood. he was tired, obviously.

the sound of the bell had startled him awake. lifting up his head, the pinch server rubbed the back of his neck in slight pain. note to self, never fall asleep in class. as he shoved his notes, pens and other items into the fabric bag by him, he then stood to his feet. blood rushed to his head as his mind fuzzed for a moment. only to walk over towards the blond boy.

kei looked up towards tadashi, having a look of slight worry twinkle in his golden hues. though it instantly faded off.

as if it weren't there in the first place. 

shrugging it off, the greenette just rocked on his heels. waiting for the last bell of the day. thinking back on his day, it was rather shitty. sighing some, he then shook his head. feeling uneasy, the freckled boy couldn't help but feel so, weak. why? he had no damned idea.

once the final bell rang through the school, the kids were out. of course the third year's were practicing, along with tobio and shouyou. those idiots will do anything to get some practice in. with tadashi, he just.. wasn't feeling it. letting out a light hum, he then started walking by the taller and much more of a stubborn male. his forest green orbs focused on the ground. hunger didn't fill him. and honestly, that surprised kei.

“  no mochi today? do you want strawberry shortcake instead? ”

no response. 

what was tadashi's deal? that was something the tall blond couldnt wrap around his finger. odd. that's when the smaller spoke up, snapping kei out of his thoughts. 

“  I appreciate it, tsukki, but I'm good. I promise. ” 

only giving a small nod in response, kei went back to spacing out. whilst the other gazed off into the distance as his head was tilted downwards. brows pushed, he relaxed some. thankful that the boys weren't there that afternoon. it made his anxiety lower down some. when they arrived at the freckled faced boys home, he unlocked the door and sat down. taking off his shoes, a small bruise appeared from when his jacket slid up. now that caught the others attention. deciding to bring it up layer, kei followed in prosuite.

when they headed for the smallers room, kei closed the door. arms folded over his firm chest while a brow was raised.  “ mind explaining that bruise? ”

shit. 

tadashi froze when he sat on his bed. pulling down his sleeve, he swallowed his heavily. still remaining silent until the taller walked over and placed his hands onto the sides of the other. having them on the sheets as anger boiled up in his system. tadashi felt his cheeks grow heavy in pink pigment. 

“ it's.. it's nothing.. ” 

a lie.

that's what that was and kei saw right through the smaller. that's exactly what ran through the greenettes mind. kei was smart after all, he could tell when others are lying, especially tadashi. he was always a bad liar.

“ tell me the truth. ”

“ I um.. ”

growling, the glasses wearing boy pulled away and kicked at the ground.  “  goddammit yams! tell me! ”

nothing. no words, just whimpers. that's all that left the smaller male. he was scared. knowing the taller, he'd do anything to get the truth out of the other male. tadashi knew that much at least. biting at his lip as the other paced around. they were like this for a while. 

that is, until the smaller finally spoke out. 

“  I got jumped.. ”

surprise filled the other as he heard those three words leave the usually so innocent teenager. why'd he get jumped? who has some sort of bad history with tadashi? if anything, it'd be someone from his junior year.

no. it can't be.

“  it wasn't those three idiotic boys from junior high, would it? ”

how'd he figure it out? that's magic. eyes widening, the smaller nods as he gazed down. those stupid boys wanted to get revenge, but he never thought it'd be like this.  he never would've thought.

as he was prepared for a slap, he felt arms around him. eyes opening, his gaze flickered downwards. seeing that the stubborn male was hugging him? leaning a little into the touch, his eyes fell closed.

“  I'll protect you. now, let's get some sleep, yeah? ”

and with that, the two boys fell asleep tangled up with one another. just like they did as kids. sleepover cuddles made tadashi feel more than safe.

he felt loved.