the boy in yellow • teruyama

5

"no, this isn't funny at all, guys!" terushima said, exasperated as he stared at the mangled mess called his bike. 

"i'm so sorry, but i just-" bobata choked out before laughing against.  futamata was wiping tears from his eyes, trying to get his voice back. 

"we were going down the big hill, right?  down the street?  cause like, well, we were bored.  and you didn't have your gears on for bobata's liking, so the pedals started going too fast for him and he jumped off.  the bike crashed into an incoming car, and it rolled it over!" futamata says, holding in so much laughter that the boy in yellow couldn't even help but let out a small laugh. 

"i'm so sorry, man!  you keep your gears so loose though!" bobata recovers from his laughing fit, leaning against his blond friend for support.  terushima stops laughing to let out a long sigh.  ruffling bobata's hair weakly, he stares back at his ruined bike with a sad look. 

bobata and futamata picked up on it immediately; he rarely looked sad, so it wasn't hard to tell on their energetic friend's face.  "but yams," he frowns, and bobata furrows his eyebrows with guilt in his eyes. 

"hey, i totaled your bike.  you can ride mine, even though it's from a few years back.  my birthday's coming up, so maybe i can get you a new one," the brunet says with a real apologetic tone.  terushima inhales through his nose, patting bobata's back as a thanks. 

futamata smiles, thinking it was all good before terushima spoke.

"nah, it's okay.  it's your bike.  we don't ride without a man anyway."

"but what about-"

"i'll explain what happened.  he'll understand.  besides, it's not like we have to see each other to survive."

oh, but it felt as though terushima did have to.

•••

terushima stared down at his phone.  a smiling yamaguchi with some coffee ice cream on his freckled nose was his friend's contact photo.  the boy usually smiled just even seeing that, but currently, his stomach was churning with anxiety.  should he call yamaguchi?  should he wait?

hitting call before he could worry further, he holds the phone up to his ear.  the bottle blond could hear the phone ring a few times before hearing a cheery voice.

"hi, you've reached tadashi yamaguchi's voice mail.  please leave a message at the beep!  thank you!"

the beep came shortly after, and terushima sighs, "hey, yams.  it's me, yuuji.  call me when you can?  it's nothing horrible, i just have some unfortunate news.. thanks." hanging up shortly after, he checks the time.  it wasn't even five, the boy was probably at practice. 

he flops back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.  his heart was beating unusually fast, and he couldn't tell if it was from pent up worry or something else.  sighing to himself, terushima leaves his phone on the bed as he grabs a light textbook from his bag, and opens up to a page.  might as well read the next chapter while he had spare time anyway. 

•••

"i see you, yuuji," his father's kind voice breaks the silence over dinner table.  his american accent was still prominent as he spoke japanese.  his genes were why the three terushima boys had more american features, even though japanese genes were still more dominant. 

terushima was sliding one of his brothers an extra piece of chicken before looking up with a small, guilty smile.  mr terushima raises his eyebrows with a pointed look.  "you have to eat too, kiddo."

terushima lets out a dramatic sigh, warranting bubbles of giggles from his brothers as he picks up a piece of chicken and tosses it in his mouth.  his father smiles softly before going back to his own meal. 

"how's tadashi?"

"he's good, he was at practice when i called him though.  i'm gonna call him after dinner," terushima replies, watching his brothers throw a noodle or two at each other.  his father was quick to shut it down, much to the boys' disappointment. 

"about the bike?" seeing his son nod, mr terushima bobs his head up and down in quiet agreement. 

"alright, sounds good.  tell him i said hi," mr terushima said, putting down his chopsticks.  the boy in yellow nods absentmindedly, stabbing at his noodles before putting some more in his mouth. 

•••

"you left a voicemail?"

"yeah, about that.."

terushima explained what happened with bobata and futamata in front of bobata's house and down the notoriously large hill in johzenji.  yamaguchi was silent the entire time, leaving terushima's stomach to fill with anxiety as he waited for his friend's answer after he finished talking. 

"yams?"

"what?  oh, sorry.  my dad was calling me.  he wanted to know what i wanted from the store," terushima sighs at his friend's answer, his nerves calming down.  "and don't sweat about it, teru.  it's all good.  we can still meet up other ways, and if i see your friends out biking, i'll still say hi!"

"we bike as a group.  if someone can't, we don't go."

"oh."

"i'm real sorry, yams.  i know you like us coming around," terushima says, playing with his fingers on his empty hand. 

"no, no, it's all good, teru!  maybe it'll finally convince me to sleep some nights, heh.. when do you think you'll get your bike up and running?"

"it's really trashed, my dad took it to the shop.  a week at least, probably a while more after that."

"i see." the boy in yellow sighs, feeling guilt that wasn't meant for him, scratching the back of his neck.  looking at his finished school work before back at his hand, he comes up with an idea.  it wasn't too late either.

"ice cream?  my dad can drive me."

"i'll meet you there."

•••

the two boys sat outside at their favorite café, each getting their favorite types of the treat.  terushima was halfway done with his cone when yamaguchi spoke up. 

"the party's next week, right?"

with his interest being poked at, his light brown eyes meet a set of darker brown eyes.  terushima smiles brightly once they made eye contact, earning a giggle from yamaguchi.  terushima felt a pang in his chest once again at the noise, but he clears his throat before nodding. 

"yeah, a week from today, actually."

"great, i'll ask my dad to pick me up since mom usually works late."

terushima nods, going back to his ice cream cone.  watching a few more cars go past, his eyes skirt over to meet yamaguchi's.  he leans back in the small chair he was sitting in, raising his eyebrows in a silent question. 

yamaguchi immediately understood the action before looking away quickly, putting more ice cream in his mouth.  "like what you see?~" the bottle blond teases before laughing with yamaguchi.  "i'm kidding, kidding."

"are you though?"

yamaguchi's quick counter took the boy in yellow by surprise.  the olive-haired boy had a spoonful of coffee ice cream in his hand, but he was waiting for his friend's response.  terushima swallows his mouthful of mint chocolate chip ice cream, it feeling much more larger than in reality.

"yeah, of course.  you're my friend, freckles."

"oh.. new nickname?"

"yams seems basic.  freckles is better."

"oh, alright!  fine with me, then."

~~~

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