Just Like Heaven || Tsukkiyama

t w o

Tsukishima woke up later than usual. His eyes widened as he noticed the alarm clock beside him, letting out a rather frustrated "oh fuck!" before putting his uniform on and brushing his teeth. At this point, he knew that the front gates were already closed and that he would have to awkwardly beg his way into the school by the management, groaning at the thought of apologising.

Still, he ran as fast as he could in order to make his second class on time. Exhausted, he finally reached the entrance to the school where he had to wait for special entry in alongside a hefty scolding that he was nowhere close to being in the mood for. He was already mad at himself for being late, he didn't appreciate reminders coming from his seniors on how he should be doing better.

Thankfully, he managed to slip into his second class as the other students were filtering in and organising their textbooks on their desks. "Tsukki, where were you? I was worried you weren't going to show up." Yamaguchi's familiar face asked.
"I overslept."
"Oh, I see. You did play a lot yesterday, I'm sure it just caught up with you. To be honest, I'm just relieved you weren't avoiding me."

Tsukishima turned to his best friend in shock. "Why would I be avoiding you?"
"I don't know. Maybe I said something wrong yesterday? About you getting a girlfriend or me maybe asking Yachi out?"
"Don't be silly, Yamaguchi. I'm not angry at you."

He wanted to clear the air between the two, but their teacher had arrived and started the roll call merely seconds after. The blonde zoned out slightly, wondering why Yamaguchi would possibly think that their conversation would cause some strain in their friendship.

He pushed on as best as he could, writing down notes and focusing on the key phrases required for his English assignment, just hoping he could talk things out once more during their next break period. It was strange to see Yamaguchi asking like this. He was used to Yamaguchi feeling upset, but he was never distant. Yet, despite them sitting a table apart, there felt like a massive separation between the two.

Yamaguchi was chosen to read out an extract in English. He was one of the best in the class at prounounciation and every word that came from his mouth sounded delightful to hear. Tsukishima could listen to his voice forever and not grow tired of it. People began to follow, reading where each other left off. Thankfully, Tsukishima wasn't included as the bell had sounded before he was selected at random.

"Hey, Yamaguchi, can we talk?" Tsukishima asked. "Sure, Tsukki. What's up?"
"When you said about me avoiding you, what did you mean by that?"

Yamaguchi tensed up. "Well, I was mean to you about rejecting that girl and then made it all about myself when I brought up Yachi. I suppose I just don't want to watch you throw away chances at getting a girlfriend, but yet I can't even figure out if I'm ready for one yet and still tried to pressure you. It was so selfish of me, I'm sorry."

Tsukishima let out a soft sigh. "I'm not mad at you and you have no reason to apologise. I told you, I wasn't interested in her. I'm still not, but you're my friend and if you want to tell me about Yachi, then that's fine. I just don't know why you got all weird about it and left."

The freckled boy glanced away. "I know, Tsukki. During that conversation, I just couldn't picture myself being with her even though it's all I've thought of for weeks. It scared me and I just needed to be alone with my own thoughts."
"I see. Did you figure it out?"
"Maybe. I think I'm going to give the relationship a go, first, just in case I'm wrong about it all."

Tsukishima nodded. "I'm going to ask her today. If I don't, I probably won't ever get that courage to."
"Today?" Tsukishima blurted out, taken aback by how suddenly he said it. "Yeah. After school. I hope you can wish me luck."
"Good luck."