𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐄 (𝐓.𝐊𝐄𝐈 𝐗 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑)

[.𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐.]

ganymede : chapter 2

you were waiting outside of yua's front gate, tapping your boots on the ground as an orange alleycat made its way across the road. yua was still inside, the distant sound of scrambling very audible to your ears. 

"sorry sorry, y/n-chan!" yua called out desperately as she finally stumbled outside, putting her boots on. "i made us late again."

you checked your phone. late was an understatement. 

"i told you to set an alarm," you huffed, starting to walk as yua followed you, trying to tie her laces. "it's a good thing that we live so close to school, but imagine if we had to drive."

"i know," yua giggled as an attempt to lighten up your grumpy mood. it wasn't only yua making you both late that made you slightly angry today - it was also the fact that mizaki would ask about you contacting tsukishima kei, and him scolding you for not doing it. the feeling of being reprimanded again by mizaki made you annoyed, so you gritted your teeth and wondered over and over again why you didn't contact tsukishima kei last night when you had the chance. 

"hmm, are you listening to me, y/n?" yua yelled, prodding your shoulder impatiently. you jolted awake from your entrancing thoughts, blinking twice before turning to yua. 

"sorry, what did you say?" you mumbled, not really caring to be honest. 

"i knew it, y/n-chan wasn't listening," yua pouted, scratching her nose. "whatever, i'll just repeat everything i said. so..."

yua's ramblings filled your ears the whole way to school, but your head was definitely somewhere else. you and yua walked under the disappearing moon that morning, but only you focused of the sky - half as an attempt to remove memories of tutoring, and the other half just done out of pure habit. after all, yua was never interested in the galaxy, never wondering about the different lifeforms out there or the exploding supernovas, and she couldn't care less about the moon that graced them every night. 

but you couldn't help but be drawn to the moon every night, whether it was visible or not. you had a habit of shutting off your lights thirty minutes before bed each night, sitting at your windowsill and making out shapes from the stars and wondering about the space above you. everything regarding the moon was so fascinating - so bright, so powerful. 

but right now, you had to focus on the road to school with yua, who rambled non stop about her newest spiking method for volleyball. 

---

"miss l/n." 

"sorry," you mumbled, already knowing what tangent mizaki was going to go off on. 

his sigh was laced with disappointment, the kind of disappointment that would drag you down for the rest of the month. he ran a hand through his brown hair, inhaling as a form of calming himself. 

"well, lucky for you, i think he's ready to start today. i gave him an email last night, offering him extra credit if he did so," mizaki said. "you know where to go?"

"library, after school? with tsukishima kei?" you replied. 

"that's right... and if i hear that you're not there, well, i'll have to notify your parents."

and with that, mizaki sensei began class. 

---

your alarm went off in your bag after school, reminding you to meet tsukishima in the library. you didn't know who this kid was, so you'd have to ask around, which would be bothersome as hell. 

"ah, heading off to tutoring?" yua asked, meeting you at the front of your classroom. 

you grunted in annoyance as a response. 

"ah, you'll be fine! y/n-chan, i'm positive this guy will be super friendly and stuff!" yua smiled, in an attempt to try and cheer you up. 

"i appreciate the effort, yua-chan," you sighed, clenching your jaw. another habit. you started to drag your feet to the library, wondering how your grades even got this low to begin with. you were such a good student in middle school - why had high school set up so many obstacles already? you were only a first year, couldn't the universe spare you for a bit?

"nooo problem. now go out there! get tutored! get smart!" yua cheered, before heading off to her volleyball practice. 

you couldn't help but give a small chuckle at yua's optimism. even when times seemed hopeless, yua somehow managed to keep herself from drowning. she was never crying, never down. she was always out there, shining bright like a star herself. 

lost in thought, you managed to bump into a tall figure. 

"oh, sorry," you said simply, rubbing your nose where you had crashed into him. the boy turned around, headphones on his ears and his tired amber eyes staring down at you. 

the only thought that seemed to surface was, wow. he's tall.

"watch where you're going," he snapped, shifting his backpack up his shoulders. he adjusted his headphones and headed for a table in the far corner of the library, where the view seemed to be obstructed by tall bookshelves. it seemed to be quite the ideal place for studious activities; isolated and quiet. 

suddenly, the boy's phone buzzed in his pocket. you took notice of his disgruntled face as he answered the phone, dropping his books on the table. 

"what, yamaguchi?" 

a pause. 

"i told you, i have to help tutor this dumbass today. i'm missing volleyball for the next few weeks or something - however long it takes for this girl to get her grades up," he complained, leaning back in his chair and making sure to keep his voice low. your eyebrows knitted together. tutoring? he's tsukishima kei? that bitch was your tutor?

he stayed quiet for a bit, until finally the other line hung up. he stuffed his phone in his pocket before turning to his books and flipping through chapters. 

"hey," you said, approaching the boy who was supposedly tsukishima. 

"... can i help you?"

"are you tsukishima?"

"yes... oh."

"yeah."

a mutual understanding seemed to have formed between you two. you looked at him blankly, before taking a seat in the table across from him. 

"alright, let's get started. you're the dumbass y/n who failed all her classes, right?" he asked, quirking his brow in a teasing manner. 

"mm, that's me."

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a/n : woahh meeting tsukishima woahh !! hope you enjoyed this one folks :) please feel free to leave constructive criticism !!