Isn't It Obvious? (Tsukkiyama)

Sweets

After much discussion, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi agreed to not set Thursday's plan into motion until afternoon practice, but that didn't mean they would abandon their old tricks. Tsukishima was still far more tactile with Yamaguchi than usual, and Tadashi had come into practice donning not only Kei's hoodie but also his scarf. Overall, though, they would need to wait till after school was over to add in their new element.

Judging by the continued lack of reaction from the rest of the team, Asahi and Suga had made good on their word and kept quiet. Not that Tadashi didn't think that Asahi could keep a secret, if you could even call it that, it was more that he didn't think Suga could contain his excitement for very long. For Suga's sake, Tadashi hoped the rest of the team would catch on quick.

Yachi was definitely getting suspicious though, that was for sure. It wasn't too obvious at first, but as practice went on, Yamaguchi started to notice that whenever he and Tsukishima were together, Yachi was close by, looking at them with a focus usually reserved for the nights the first-years spend studying together for tests. She seemed to be writing things down in her little notebook, which, when brought up to Kei, made him laugh. Leave it to Yachi to take notes on whether or not her teammates were dating.

Tadashi couldn't help but wonder what she had written down, even though they had been running this test for just a few days, the freckled boy could tell that Tsukishima was relaxing around the others. He treated them no differently, of course, but now the affectionate smiles and a softer tone of voice that Kei usually reserved for Tadashi when they were alone were making appearances during the school day.

The notion of coming out seemed to give Tsukishima the confidence to be more affectionate in general to Yamaguchi. Or so it seemed to him because, in class, Tadashi started finding Kei staring at him with an expression that could only be described as lovestruck. Tadashi would look up from taking notes to see his boyfriend watching him with a gentle smile and warm eyes. The caring gaze never failed to make Tadashi blush, even as he felt his chest would burst with affection or the blonde.

They held hands over the table just like they had the two previous days, but unlike the previous days, Yachi did not look at the intertwined hands for long before her eyes shot up in shock and revelation. Brown eyes met each other, and Tadashi smiled, she had figured it out, he was sure of it. It was only a matter of time before she would approach them and ask. She didn't seem to get a chance to before the school day ended, though.

It was times like this that Tadashi was extra grateful for his upperclassmen. While he and Kei had a plan, neither really had any idea how to execute it. Their scheme needed sweets, which was fine, the boys could've paid for them themselves, but bringing them to practice was another thing. Toting about loads of candies wasn't something Tsukishima and Yamaguchi did very often, or ever.

It was lucky, then, that Asahi's parents ran a small local candy store. He had bought in newly flavored candies before to test on the team, so it wasn't completely out of the park for Asahi to bring in some old stock of lollipops and hard candies. Thankfully, Asahi had agreed easily enough, and when practice was over, he called everyone over to get some candies, claiming that they were excess stock that his parents couldn't sell.

Everyone, of course, decided to sit on the concrete outside of the gym and chat while eating their snacks. Yamaguchi absent-mindedly sucked on his lolly and listened to the rather intense debate about Charlie's inheritance of the chocolate factory, courtesy of Noya and Ennoshita, surprisingly. Tadashi didn't really know how they had gotten onto the topic of Willy Wonka and whether or not Charlie would actually be a successful chocolatier but, he figured now was as good a time as any for him and Kei to pull their stunt.

So, he looked up at his boyfriend from where he was snuggled into his side and gave a short nod. Tsukishima nodded in turn, and the plan was set into motion. Wordlessly, the two exchanged their half-eaten lollipops, switching them out and carrying on like it was nothing, which, to them, it was. Tadashi and Tsukishima shared food all the time, although almost exclusively in private. Since they started dating, they had become even less shy about sharing snacks. It didn't matter to them if the other had just had it in their mouth, they had spent enough time with their tongues down each other's throats to make spit seem insignificant.

No one noticed the first time, too wrapped up in the great Willy Wonka debate to notice, but the second time they swapped candies, all conversation halted.

"Did you just... switch lollipops?" Ennoshita asked in horror, clearly disgusted by the concept of eating something that had someone else's spit on it.

"Uh, yeah? Why, what's the big deal?" Tsukishima responded, almost challenging Ennoshita to question them.

"Why?? Dude, that's nasty! It's been in someone else's mouth!" Tanaka shouted in shock.

Tsukishima just shrugged and turned to Yamaguchi, "I liked the other one better, switch with me again." Yamaguchi was sure that Kei didn't actually like the other flavour better, since the bespectacled boy currently had a strawberry candy, but antagonizing the team was kind of fun, so he complied, taking the lollipop out of his mouth, and handed it to Kei while popping the sticky pink sweet given to him into his mouth.

Of course, all hell broke loose. Tanaka and Noya faked gagging, Asahi looked almost affronted, Suga shrieked in mirthful glee, Yachi stared on in shock, and Daichi watched his team unravel with utter disappointment. It was Hinata's loud cry of 'indirect kiss' that caused everyone to settle, though.

"Hey! Your right, Hinata! Awh man, poor Yamaguchi, having to share an indirect kiss with such a grump like Tsukishima!" Noya crowed in pity for Yamaguchi. The boy in question had to keep from spitting out the candy in laughter, oh if only Nishinoya knew what he did with Tsukishima behind closed doors.

"Eh, I don't really mind it. I mean, what else are we meant to do if one of us gets a flavour that the other likes more?" Yamaguchi knew this question would just fry Nishinoya's cognitive ability since the energetic Libero hadn't technically asked about the nature of his relationship with Kei, he wasn't going to comment on the indirect kiss part of the comment. That being said, it was incredibly amusing seeing Nishinoya sputter in a mix of confusion and rage as he tried to come up with what to do in Yamauchi's posited scenario.

Their little get-together wrapped up soon after that, Coach Ukai having come back just to yell at them to go home and get some sleep. As he and Kei packed up, though, Yamaguchi could see Yachi nervously shifting her weight and waiting for them.

Tadashi nudges Kei gently, "She's going to ask us, I think she figured it out during lunch."

"Yeah, I saw that too. That's what, three now who know?" Kei whispered.

Yamaguchi nodded, and the two packed up quickly, as to not keep Yachi waiting. Much like one would with a scared deer, the boys kept still and let Yachi approach them. It was clear she was nervous, with how she was fidgeting and glancing around.

"So, um... I don't want to assume, but uhm, a-are you two, maybe um... dating? I-It just kinda seems like you might be a-and I'm sorry please forgive me!" she stuttered out, apologizing before being given an answer as she was oft to do.

Sparing Kei a quick glance, Tadashi decided to put Yachi out of her misery before she started crying. "Yes, actually, we are dating. We've been together since the beginning of the year!" he couldn't help but brag a little about how long they had been together, even if it was only a year.

"Oh! Congratulations, then! I, uh, does anyone else know? Should I not say anything?" Yachi seemed almost startled by her own correctness, and of course, immediately started worrying about what to do with her new information.

This time it was Tsukihima who spoke, not wanting to make Tadashi do all the talking. "Actually, we're running an experiment. We're trying to see how long it takes for everyone to figure it out, so if you could keep this under wraps for the time being, that would be great." and then, as an afterthought, "Suga and Asahi know already though."

"O-okay! Yes! I can do that! Um... congratulations, again! I'll see you guys tomorrow!" and with that, Yachi scurried off, not scared but determined.

Once again, walking home together, Yamaguchi turns to Kei, "I bet she tells Kiyoko. There's no way she could lie to her if asked a direct question."

"Yeah, probably, not that it matters that much, they'll keep quiet," Tsukishima responded before flipping up his headphones. Today had been a draining day for him, Yamaguchi could tell. It must've been dealing with the team for that extra time after practice. That was fine though, Tadashi knew what the plan for tomorrow was, and he was too excited thinking about it to be much of a conversationalist anyways.

And so the day ended, with the two walking home in comfortable silence, readying themselves for the next day.