𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐄 (𝐓.𝐊𝐄𝐈 𝐗 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑)

[.𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎.]

---

yamaguchi groaned in annoyance for the fifth time that afternoon. 

"i knew something was happening in the backs of those bleachers... i just thought it'd be more spicy. i thought that you'd finally confess your undying love-"

"shut up yamaguchi, it's nothing like that."

"mm, sure. c'mon tsukki... i hate to say it, but you're so stubborn," yamaguchi huffed, sitting on tsukki's bed with his arms crossed in frustration. "how hard is it to just say i like you?"

"in fact, it's very hard," tsukishima protested, his guard slowly coming down. yamaguchi's angry demeanour made him feel more vulnerable than he liked to admit. he glanced at his annoyed friend, who was obviously fed up with how secretive tsukishima was being about his crush. 

"it's not that big of a deal," yamaguchi said quietly after a minute of threatening silence. "she asked if you liked her. go back and tell her yes. it's tiring even from a third party's point of view."

"it's not tiring-"

"tsukishima kei, please shut up and stop being unnecessarily stubborn!" 

"... fine."

"thank you. so, the next time you see her at tutoring, tell her how you really feel. i can tell that both of you will benefit from this. it's like reading a mutual pining fanfiction that never ends!" yamaguchi said, before looking tsukishima in the eyes and bursting from laughter. tsukishima managed to muster up a few chuckles too, in light of this very confusing situation. 

"i'll try my best," tsukishima sighed, knowing well that this might as well be a lie. he definitely would not be wanting to see y/n for the next few... years, maybe. she made him feel confused and made him consider his inner feelings and all this shit that he tried so hard not to consider at all usually... so naturally, he was furious at her. how dare she, right?

as yamaguchi calmed down and laid on tsukishima's bed, tsukishima glanced at the window. it was a habit now, to at least try and spot some stars before he went to bed because it reminded him of you. even through this mad state, he tried to spot the moon. 

tonight, it was dim. 

and suddenly, he felt a pang of regret wash over his anger and annoyance. 

---

the following monday, you woke up with sleep still stained on your face. you and yua walked to school, phones in hand, and tiredness in your eyes. yua wasn't chatty today, instead she looked quite exhausted. 

suddenly, a figure bounded up to the two of you, excitement (or maybe that was fear? exertion?) in his eyes. you recognized him at yamaguchi, tsukishima's friend. 

"y/n, Y/N!!" he said frantically. "i know that tsukki's not going to do this himself... so i need to tell you this-"

oh my god. 

you felt energy start from your toes and run up your spine. oh my god oh my god oh my god was this about saturday? when you... did that? when you half-confessed and then cried to yua in a state of utter panic?

"tsukki forgive me," yamaguchi muttered, before taking a deep breath. 

"tsukishima... he likes you."

that, admittedly, was the most anticlimactic third-party confession ever, but you couldn't help but feel absolute overjoyed. of course, you tried to stay calm. 

"really now? why didn't he tell me this on saturday?" you asked, trying to stay cool, but that was quite hard when your fingers were shaking for excitement. 

"he's just... he's got some walls up, you know? it's hard for him to do stuff like this, but it was just getting too hard to watch," yamaguchi finally spilled, rubbing his eyes tiredly. 

 "well thanks for telling me, yamaguchi," you said sweetly, before turning to yua with a gaze full of ecstasy. 

"ah, you're welcome! i've gotta get going, i hope your situation eventually goes well," he said, bidding a goodbye and rushing off to his early morning volleyball practice. yua tapped your arm frantically, excitement spilling purely only from her action. 

"OH MY GOD!!!" yua screeched, practically loud enough to wake the entire neighborhood. you tried to shout something happy along with her, but it seemed like your voice was lost. maybe it was from the sudden realization that you were going to have to confess properly to the stoic tsukishima kei or maybe because you were still so wound up in the whole news that he actually liked you. 

"i... what do i do now?" you asked hoarsely. 

"y/n, you're hopeless."

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