Scale - Tsukishima Kei

Chapter 6

"I just... I DON'T GET IT. I DON'T GET IT AT ALL!"

"ME NEITHER. THIS IS HARD! WHY DO WE NEED TO HAVE EXAMS?"

I stare at the floor, wide eyed as I sit in the circle of Tsukishima's volleyball teammates. Apparently, they're going to a training camp soon, but they need to pass the exams that take place the day before they leave, which is in two days. Tsukishima insisted that this would be a good time to introduce me to the people he mentioned before. So I sit here in the gym, Tsukishima's volleyball jacket across my lap since I'm wearing my uniform skirt, staring at the boys who are panicking about their test.

"They can be a little scary right?" The guy who sits beside me leans over and asks. I don't look up at him, but I nod. I memorized his voice, Asahi is who it is. "That's what I thought too when I first met Nishinoya and Tanaka, but they're really nice and caring." I look up at him, and am shocked to see his features. He looks scary.

"Y-You were scared of them?" I ask and a low chuckle escapes his lips.

"I don't look like I'd be scared of many things, right? But I'm actually really shy. Lots of things make me nervous. Especially our captain." He smiles."A lot of people call me names, some in a nice way, some not? I get called a delinquent, goatee, a samurai, a gangster, old man, super senior..." He trails off.

"How... um. How do you deal with it?" I ask, and he turns his head to look at me.

"I get tense and really sad." He laughs, and a small chuckle comes from my lips. "Then I remember that none of it is true. My teammates cheer me up mostly. I heard you...um, forgive me for saying this, but that you go through something similar? But a lot worse..? If you ever want to talk, I can give you my number."

"O-Oh! That's okay, I don't want to bother. You're a third year right? You must be busy already." I decline and he shakes his head.

"Nonsense! Here-" He rips a small part of his notebook paper off, scribbling something down before handing it to me. "Whenever you're comfortable, you can text me."

"Thank you, Asahi-Senpai." I smile, putting the paper carefully into my bag.

Tsukishima was right. These are really good people.

"How are you doing?" Tsukishima takes his headphones off, looking at me. "You're not going to have a panic attack being around everyone right?"

"I'm okay." I give him a small smile. "At first I wanted to cry. But I'm fine now."

"Good. Oh, Yamaguchi brought something for you." He says and leans back, tapping on his friend's shoulder.

"Hm? Oh!" Yamaguchi extends out a bag to me, and I grab it, not looking at him. "Tsukki said we'd be hanging out today so I bought snacks. I don't know what you like though, so I bought a bunch of things for you to choose from." A soft chuckle passes his lips.

"Oh... are you sure?" I ask, looking into the bag.

"Yeah! Take what you want."

I look around in the bag, opting for an orange.

"Oh? Is that what you want? There's onigiri, chocolate, candy... you can take more things!" Yamaguchi says but I shake my head, passing the bag back.

"I like oranges this time of the year. They're nice, and this one is still cold. Thank you." I say quietly, beginning to peel it.

"Come to think of it, Debu. I don't think I've seen you eat before. I've stayed at your house pretty late a few times but you still didn't eat." Tsukishima says and I look up at him.