That first day of school didn't go exactly how you had expected it to go.
You were elated to find out Tendou was in the same class as you again. When you entered the classroom you had made a straight line for one of the seats near the back, next to the seats that were against the window. You had motioned for him to come to sit next to you, making your seating arrangement basically the same as it had been in your first year.
He had spotted you immediately and took the seat you had kept for him. You didn't notice right away, but during the morning it became clear that his demeanor was a bit different from how it used to be.
When it was time for lunch break, you asked him if he would mind staying behind for a moment to have a little chat.
"Is something wrong?" You asked him as you both stood watching out a window in the hallway, opposite from your classroom.
"Is it that obvious?" He asked and from the expression on his face, you could make out that he hadn't been expecting this.
"I'm not sure if it's obvious to everyone, but I got a distinct feeling that something is bothering you." You explained to him and watched as he ran a hand through his red locks. His hair was getting quite long and sticking out every which way.
After sighing and looking to his left and right, to check if you were alone, he spoke up. "You know how class 1 is seen as the smartest class? Well, my parents didn't like the fact that I had, in their words, 'slipped down' into class 2."
You groaned in understanding. "My parents weren't too happy about it either last year... I don't get where the belief that class 1 is for the smart kids even comes from. Even that guy who sat behind me, what was his name, is still in class 1! He's definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed..."
"Yeah... My dad really lost it for a moment. I thought he'd finally crack and hit me but in the end, he didn't... I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever be able to make them happy." He looked really down now and you were trying to think of something, anything, that could cheer him up.
In the end, you could only think of some well-meant advice. "I know how much it sucks when your parents expect a lot from you, but I think in the end it's still most important to make yourself happy. Not that I'm the best living example of that...
Just try to also do the things that make you enjoy life, you are the one living it after all, not them."
He turned to look at you and at least had a softer look on his face than before. "Thanks for saying that. After the spring break I had, it's nice to hear some kind words."
You were taken aback by the fact that he would admit that to you so willingly but felt honored that he did.
"I don't know what I'd do without a friend like you." He added, leaving you at a loss for words for a moment.
You didn't know how serious his statement was, but to be on the safe side you took more lightly than you wanted it to be.
"I guess you'd be moping around all day and your coolness factor would take a serious hit." You answered, causing him to chuckle.
"Sure." He said before he started pushing you. "Let's go, you're wasting precious lunch break time. I'm hungry."
You gasped exaggeratedly. "You? Hungry?!"
Before responding he pushed you a little harder until you finally started moving on your own. "That I have a small appetite doesn't mean I don't get hungry, twerp."
"Hey! I'm not a twerp!"
"Of course you're not, nincompoop."
-
In the weeks that followed, you easily got back to the routine you had gotten used to with Tendou. You joked, you bickered, and generally were the life of the party, for as much as that was possible in class.
However, you noticed that now and again he would have these moments that he would space out. He would just stare at something and you could see in his eyes that he was struggling with something.
You were pretty sure it must have something to do with his parents, school, or his grades or something.
Just to be sure, you had asked him one day when you were on your own if he was being bullied again. He had laughed and assured you that was definitely not the case. As far as you had been able to tell, he had been genuine.
At volleyball practice, he was more comfortable than ever, and you tried to watch practice as often as you could. Which was hard, since you also needed to study a lot. The next school year you would be going to college and you wanted to make sure to get accepted to a good few of them.
The topic of what you would be studying was still a bit of a difficult point for you. You knew what your parents wanted you to do, but if you were being honest that was not what you wanted.
By being in the cooking club, your interest in food had grown, more specifically the nutrition part of it. In your free time at the club, you had begun to research which food had a lot of nutrition, even in small quantities, and were still tasty as well.
You sometimes brought some of your creations for your friends to taste as well as experimented on the volleyball team with protein-rich and other healthy foods.
One day, you had them taste a breakfast you had made. It was just some fruit but topped with a mix of pits and seeds, coconut milk, and bee pollen.
Tendou had already refused at the mention of pits and seeds, but you lost most of the team with the last ingredient.
To your surprise, however, Ushijima had been a great fan and you had spent an hour talking with him about which were the best fruits and where to get the more unusual ingredients. It had been a unique experience, since you hadn't really interacted a lot with him before, let alone hear him ask so many questions.
Sometime later Tendou told you that Ushijima still ate your breakfast most mornings.
It wasn't long before it was mid-May and you had to really start studying for your midterms. It also meant that Tendou's birthday was coming up and you were determined to not miss it this year.
You had asked him if he had anything planned for it, but he had just laughed and told you that his parents would never allow him to go out to party in the middle of exams.
Determined to at least get him a present you went out shopping the day before his birthday, which was a Saturday.
You went into so many shops that you couldn't have kept track of how many there were if you wanted to. Some of your gift ideas were too expensive, some were too generic. There were some that you were sure he wouldn't like, even if you did, and some the other way around. You still didn't exactly know who this 'Marie' was you heard him talking about to the other guys sometimes, but you were sure you didn't want him to have any of her merchandise.
Some of your ideas were better reserved for people who were actually a couple and then there were the ideas that were just you starting to panic about not finding him something.
It was starting to get near closing time so you would have to find something in this last store or you would fail your mission. As if some higher power had taken notice of your predicament, it didn't take you long to find something that you really liked.
Technically it was still in the 'too expensive' category even though it was discounted a lot, but you just couldn't help yourself. It would also be for your own benefit in a way, so you just used that as an excuse to justify spending a bit more.
The smartphone was second-hand, but in perfect condition and more importantly, it had a limited-edition Doraemon case. You didn't know if the store owner had no idea that it was a rare item or that the price for rare Doraemon cases just wasn't that high, but you couldn't pass up the opportunity to get Tendou off of his flip phone.
You bought the phone and on your way home sent a message to Tendou.
'Do you want to meet tomorrow so I can help you study for that one exam you have trouble with? (｡•̀ᴗ-) (｡•̀ᴗ-)'
It didn't take long for him to reply, but it wasn't the response you were looking for.
'I can't go out.'
Your enthusiasm immediately ebbed out of you as you typed a response.
'Ok, no problem.'
You hadn't really expected him to reply again, so you were surprised when he did.
'If you really want to, we can meet at the 7-11 near me. I won't have long though, so it would be dumb to travel all the way for that.'
You grinned as you quickly replied.
'I guess I'm a dumbo then (*'・ｖ・)'
-----
A/N:
FINALLY
I was able to update (ノ^∇^) I truly hope updates will come more frequently now. We have now almost reached the point where I have some scenes already planned in advance, so I'm optimistic.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter because I have so much trouble thinking of appropriate gifts for the characters all the time (*≧▽≦)ﾉｼ))
Speaking of gifts, the hoodie reader gave Tendou is one I actually own ｡(*^▽^*)ゞ If anyone is interested I'll add the link of where I got it in a comment to this line (*'∀'*)