𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐄 (𝐓.𝐊𝐄𝐈 𝐗 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑)

[.𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟖.]

you couldn't help but go a bit silent at that sentence. of course, it's what you both were yearning when thee tutoring sessions started - all you guys did was get on each others' nerves at the start. 

but, after spending a few days with him and genuinely having fun in his company, you weren't really sure if you wanted these afternoons of solitude with him to end. yeah, you guys still took jabs at each other and sometimes he was a complete jerk, but something about him deemed different. 

maybe it was because he was the boy who reminded you of the one thing you absolutely adored in this world - the ever-expanding universe and its beautiful moon. you've said this to yourself many times, almost sounding like a broken record at this point. but it was true, and maybe that was the reason you kept repeating that. maybe it was because you couldn't get him out of your mind. and at that moment you were asking yourself, what the hell's wrong with me?

be honest with yourself, you suddenly thought, gritting your teeth. do you like him?

you felt like a silly schoolgirl, pondering about her future love life as she sat under an innocent cherry blossom tree ... which was exactly the opposite of what you wanted to happen. you never really gave a second thought about love; it just wasn't a big factor in your life for you. so why was he so different? this snarky, tall volleyball player should be the last person to be tugging on your heartstrings, you thought. 

"hey, are you still awake?" tsukki's snappy voice brought you back to earth. you blinked a few times before registering his voice in your head. 

"sorry," you grumbled, now a bit tired from all your thinking and honestly feeling confused about your emotions. 

"what do you even think about in that tiny head of your's?" tsukki teased, checking his phone.

"oh shut up," you said, lolling your head back and emitting a sigh. 

---

that afternoon, you had gone to the convenience store alone. tsukki was "busy" apparently, or maybe he just didn't want to accompany you today. 

but you weren't alone. 

at the store, as if on cue, shoyo hinata scrambled out of the front door in a hurry. a rusty looking bike was parked in front of the store, presumably his looking at the way he fumbled around with its brakes. 

"oh, hey hinata," you greeted, stopping in front of his bike. 

the boy lifted his head, and greeted you with a big smile. "hi y/n! what's up?"

"nothing much. i'm just here for some meat buns again."

"hmm, tsukki's not with you?" hinata asked, his bottom lip jutting out like a kid. 

"huh? why would he be?" you quickly said, a little too defensively. goddamnit, even at the slight mention of his name, your heart started picking up the pace a little bit. get it together y/n; you've only known this kid for, what, only two weeks or so? it'd only been a few weeks since you've known him, so how could you possibly have weird feelings for him?

i thought we already made it clear that it might be a crush, you reminded yourself. you didn't like being confused on feelings - who did? - so you tried to keep it simple and accept the fact that yes, you probably had a crush on the snarky volleyball player. 

"i don't know, he talks about you a lot you know," hinata teased, leaning against his bike. "and this time, it's not all bad things. he sometimes... compliments you too, believe it or not."

"oh? what does he say?" you pressed on further, getting giddy at the idea of tsukki talking good about you. 

"he says your hair is pretty. he likes the way your eyes kinda... do this cute thing when you concentrate or something like that," hinata explained, tapping his chin as if trying to recall memories. "he seems to like you a lot."

you couldn't help but flush a little bit at that comment. "really?"

"yeah! i've never heard him talk about anyone like that before!" hinata egged your ego on. "of course, he didn't say those things outwardly, but you know... wait, hey, you should come to our next game! it's in a few days, and i'm sure tsukki would like to see you in the crowds, don't you think? to be honest, he hasn't been playing his best this week, so we think that if you're there, he might play better!"

"... you think that my presence will boost his morale?" 

"totally. so what do you say? wanna come? we're playing against aoba johsai - it'll be quite an exciting game i can promise you that."

"sure, why not," you finally said, shrugging. you'd never seen a volleyball game before, so it was bound to be somewhat exciting (not to mention you get to see tsukki actually playing). 

at your answer, hinata brightened up. "great! here, i'll give you my number so i can tell you how to get there and stuff," he offered, pulling out his phone. you got his number, saving it under 'hinata'. 

"you can call me shoyo, i don't mind," he grinned, before putting his phone back. "now i gotta go, my mom's waiting for me."

"oh, alright. see you, shoyo," you said, as the boy pedalled away on his bike. you headed home in the opposite direction, completely forgetting about the meatbun you had planned to buy. bigger things were clouding your mind now - like your supposed crush and the aoba johsai volleyball game. 

---