My Safe Place

Date?

Tobio (Second Year)
4pm, Friday Afternoon 

Last year, me and Tsukishima really didn't get along. Sometimes we have our moments where we have a normal conversation, but mostly it leads to an argument.

But during those months, as time flies by, something has changed. He treats me nicely. He buys me random food or drinks after practice. We sometimes even walk home together.

My heart skips a beat every time he looks directly into my eyes. My body heats up when I feel him close to me. Worse, I can't tell if the things he does mean anything or if he's just being friendly.

I am now in my second year and yes, I have a crush on Tsukishima Kei. Who would have thought that I would fall for a guy like him?

Shoyo is the only person who knows about my crush. It's just to be fair since he told me about his. But if others find out about this, it might be the end of the world! Because it's hard to imagine that I feel that way  towards him.

Tsukishima is pretty popular in our batch. A lot of girls admire him, and some even send love letters to his locker! There's just no way that he hasn't fallen for one of them.

I already accepted the fact that he would never like me back. Maybe he just really wanted us to be friends. So I'll make the most out of it whenever we spend time with each other. Because someday he'll be doing these things to someone else.

When classes were over, I headed to my locker to grab my gym bag. Suddenly, a piece of paper fell. I picked it up and read it.

"Hello, Kageyema! I just wanted to ask if you're free tomorrow. It's okay if you don't want to. You can reject me directly today. I wanted to say I like you :)) After your practice, I'll be waiting at the gate! You can answer me there! -from xxxx your classmate "

Oh, it's a confession. I have never had one since last year. I rejected the last girl and now I have to reject her. Ah, this is so hard. I do not like hurting people's feelings. I sighed, folding the letter and putting it in my pocket. 

I took my bag and headed to practice. I was surprised that others were already starting to warm up, so I quickly went into the locker room to get changed. I went out and joined Shoyo in his warm up.

"Yo, what's up? You have this expression, is everything okay?" Shoyo asked.

"Ah, it's nothing. I just got a confession letter from a girl in my class. " I responded.

"Are you going to reject her today?"

"Yeah-"

I was cut off from talking when I heard the first years gossiping about something. Shoyo's attention also went to them. We continued our warm up, but our ears were listening to them.

"You know Tsukishima-san is popular with the girls, right?" One of them said

"Yeah, but he never went out with any of them!" said another.

"But listen, I saw him with someone today. They went to a classroom or something. Look! He isn't even here yet! "

"Don't make assumptions, you're crazy!"

"But what if? I mean, the girl is pretty and they looked close when I saw them. "

I paused and went to the side to drink some water. I let out a big sigh and stared blankly at the floor. Ah, I knew this day would come. So he finally picked someone, huh?

Shoyo then appeared in front of me and asked if I was okay. Well, I'm easy to read. He can definitely see.

"I'm going."

"What are you-"

"I'll say yes to the girl today and take her on a date."

"Tobio what?"

"It wouldn't be so bad, right? I'll get to know her and I'll move on from Tsukishima simply. "

I stated. Shoyo was about to say something, but Tanaka-san yelled that the practice match was about to begin. I headed to my position quickly and tried to keep my head in the game.

It's fine. I already knew this would come. I don't need to get myself so worked up about this stupid crush.

Kei (Second Year)
6pm, Friday Evening

Practice was over, but something was off about Kageyama. He has ignored me the whole time! Is he mad because I was late or something? That is possible. I'll just treat him to some food and walk home with him again. Maybe he'll at least respond to me.

"Hey, what's the rush? I was hoping if we could-"

"Sorry, someone is waiting for me. Let's walk home some other time. Bye."

He said this without even looking at me and rushed out of the locker room. I clenched the handle of my bag and sat down to cool myself. Why am I so upset? Why am I getting worked up just because he's ignoring me?

I sighed, pulling my hair back. Suddenly, Hinata came up to me and sat beside me.

"Tobio is going out with a girl tomorrow." He said.

What? Is he seeing someone right now? I unconsciously clenched my jaw and gripped my thighs harder. I tried to stay calm and not show any emotion to Hinata. I took a deep breath before responding to him.

"How do you know?"

"He told me, and they are not dating. The girl asked him out, and he just agreed out of pity. "

My body relaxed and I raised an eyebrow, "Why would he do that?"

"Maybe you should ask him that. If you want details about anything, just text me. Surely he'll tell me what's going on tomorrow. "

"Oh okay...and why are you telling me this?"

Hinata stood up, took his bag and before leaving he said, "Don't know, you just looked bothered, that's all."

I sat there alone, thinking about what Hinata said. Should I ask him where they are and check up on them? If I get caught, then I'll just lie that we bumped into each other as a coincidence.

It wouldn't be so bad. I mean, Hinata said in the first place, their feelings aren't mutual. So shouldn't I be the friend to comfort him after what will happen? There's a high chance he'll get dumped when the girl finds out.

Okay, I'm going.