𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝙱𝚢 𝙻𝚒𝚗𝚎 - 𝙺. 𝚃𝚜𝚞𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚖𝚊 𝚡 𝙾𝙲

16 - 12:01

Chapter Sixteen

With the first two matches in the Spring Interhigh National Tournament preliminaries behind Karasuno, Tsukishima found it unusual being back at school after so long, but as it turned out, old habits die hard. His newfound interest in Hara's favourite series had only increased her own excitement and she was back to her usual self. When he noticed Hara during their English class with a copy of Shonen Jump nestled between her open textbook he couldn't help the subtle smile that tugged at his lips. She had been trying so hard to be studious and pay attention in the subjects she struggled with, but the ones she excelled in had become her escape again. It didn't bother him, Hara never asked for help with those subjects anyway so it didn't affect him in the least, but he thought it was just so...Hara.

Tsukishima didn't expect her to become such a distraction to him in classes now that things were a little different between them. Whenever she moved to tuck her hair behind her ear he would glance over at her. If she momentarily forgot she was in class and giggled while reading his chest grew warm. What had the biggest impact on him, however, was thst at least once every class she would look over her shoulder at him for a moment and smile. She never did that to Yamaguchi and they sat side-by-side, it would've been much easier for her to catch a glimpse but she didn't.

Lunch times had begun to include volleyball in one way or another but Tsukishima complained each and every time. Hara knew that the national tournament was important and she didn't want to interrupt any practices. Even if Tsukishima wouldn't admit it, she knew it was more important to him than he led on and it'd be selfish of her to try and steal his attention away from that. However, even the thought of it left her confused.

It felt unusual to have Tsukishima making frequent attempts at being nice to her. He'd started asking more about the things she liked and walked her home on the days she stayed late at school. She didn't know what changed and while she liked it, it scared her. Hara knew that each time he smiled at her she felt herself growing even more fond of him. She knew that whenever she caught him staring at her, her heart picked up its pace. And she was especially aware of how he was beginning to leave little space between them when they were together. When they sat side by side at lunch, his knee would sometimes lean against hers and when they were walking anywhere he was so close to her that their fingers brushed against each other. It sent a shockwave down her spine every time and yet once he was out of sight she felt the mirage disappear.

Hara knew how she felt. She always had and she didn't try to hide it until more recently when she was trying (unsuccessfully) to move past her crush. But now how could she stop? He wasn't giving her the option of moving on when he was being so different towards her but she figured he'd simply had a change of heart. Tsukishima was trying to be a better friend to her after their misunderstanding during exam week; it was the only logical explanation and yet there were many moments where Hara doubted that. Many instances where she wondered if he'd felt the same only to come to her senses later. It was confusing, disappointing, and exciting all at once. For so long she'd wanted nothing more and it was nice to indulge in that dream for a while...even if it hurt.

"Why am I not surprised you're daydreaming?" Tsukishima sighed and flicked the side of her head. "Class is over, Dweeb."

Hara jumped in her seat and looked up to find Tsukishima's light brown eyes focused on her. "I-I wasn't daydreaming, I was reading."

"Mhmm. So is that why you haven't turned any pages in five minutes?" He placed a hand on his hip and waited for her rebuttal.

The brunette tucked her hair behind her ear and scratched her cheek and she tried to come up with an excuse but Tsukishima couldn't stop focusing on the wisps of hair she'd missed. "I just...really like this part?"