Strategize: Haikyuu Fanfic

Chapter 14: Mask

Third Person POV:

        Tsukishima wasn't a heavy sleeper in comparison to the other first years, so he was awakened by the booming thunder at three in the morning. The blonde megane lazily pulled himself up and was about to head out to the kitchen for a glass of water. But before he left the room he paused for a moment, he had a small urge to sneak a glance at Ayame, maybe just to see how she looked like if she's asleep.

        What the hell am I thinking... He mumbled to himself. He refused his tiny desire to see Ayame at her sleeping state. But as he walked towards the kitchen, as he took step by step, his curiosity of this girl grew and began to annoy the living day lights out of him.
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        Step. Does she talk in her sleep?
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        Step. Does she drool?
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        Step. Does she breathe through her mouth?
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        These questions are itching to be answered.
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        When he walked back to the room, he paused again. A glance wouldn't hurt right?

        He gave into his curiosity and peeked at Ayame's futon. He expected to see a girl sleeping peacefully, but instead, he saw a pillow. Where the heck is she?

The thunder boomed again. He heard a faint yelp,coming from the slide in closet. Confused, he carefully slid it open. What he saw wasn't something he expected.

        The girl was crouching down, hugging her knees tightly, her shoulders all tensed up. Trembling in fear, Ayame looked up to see who opened the closet. Her emerald green eyes, which were once so bright, are now dull and filled with tears. Her nose was red from wiping the snot and tears at the sleeve of her sweater.

        "...Tsukishi-" she was cut off by the loud crash of the thunder, she whimpered, burying her face using her knees.
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She's afraid of thunder?
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        Tsukishima knew that this was completely different from her fear of ghosts - oh no it's way different. He knew that this wasn't a teasing matter, but the problem is, what the hell is he supposed to do?

        The thunder struck again. She let out a small, muffled cry.She really hated it, she really hated the fact that someone saw her weak side. She wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it. The next thing she knew, she felt a sheet of cloth wrap around her. She peeked with her right eye to see a blurred up Tsukishima, crouched down to her eye level,about to place his headphones on her ears. As soon as she saw a jolt of lightning out the window, she flinched and by instinct, wrapped her arms tightly around the figure in front of her.

        The thunder crashed once more, but it wasn't the thunder that's making Tsukishima's heart beat rapidly. Her head is rested against his chest, while the blonde was praying to the lords that she's not hearing the loud drumming of his heart. Luckily, it was dark enough so that Ayame can't see how red his face was. They hugged for what seemed like forever, and both of them are frozen at their place. Eventually, she let go and went back to hugging her knees.

        She saw lightning struck again, but this time she didn't hear the crashing noise, but rather an upbeat song that blasted through the headphones. The loud music was enough to mask the loud crashing of thunder. To mask the dark, horrifying nightmares of the past, at least for the night. Eyes puffed and sore from sobbing were soon closed after hearing a song or two.

...

Inspired by OHSHC scenes, I do not claim the idea as my own, though the reason for her extreme fear of thunder will be revealed in the later chapters.