stars. | tsukkiyama

02

yamaguchi groaned at the blinding sunlight caressing his closed eyelids. he slowly opened his eyes, soaking in his surroundings.

"aah!" he shrieked, jolting upwards and fumbling around in his sheets. "what time is it?!"

he scanned the digital clock on his nightstand, his vision still slightly blurry from having just woken up.

"oh, thank god. it's only seven in the morning."

yamaguchi slipped out from under this thick covers and shuddered as he felt the cold autumn air tickle his skin. he had forgotten to shut his window last night, allowing the brisk outside air to seep into his room, disrupting the warmth.

he pulled down his window and yawned, making his way over to the bathroom.

as he stared at his reflection in the mirror, he couldn't help but feel as if something were off. he looked the exact same as he did every day, so why did he feel so... strange?

deciding to ignore it, yamaguchi continued washing up. he pulled back his hair so the loose strands framing his freckled face wouldn't get in the way of his eyes and tied it into a half-ponytail.

afterwards, he stumbled back into his room and changed into his school uniform, which he had ironed the night before. yamaguchi took one last look in his mirror before scooping up his bag from the floor and making his way downstairs.

since his parents were usually already at work by the time he'd leave for school, yamaguchi settled for a quick and simple breakfast before heading out.

the freckled boy took his usual route to school, sauntering down the sidewalk. the sun shone through the yellow leaves of the trees and created a pattern of shadows on yamaguchi's uniform shirt. although the coldness of autumn bothered him, yamaguchi quite enjoyed watching the fresh green scenery of summer gradually shift into a concoction of bright yellows, reds, and oranges.

it wasn't long before yamaguchi spotted hinata in the distance, his tangerine head of hair standing out from the muted colors of the neighborhood more than anything.

"hey, shouyo! good morning!" yamaguchi called out, jogging up to his friend.

instead of receiving hinata's usual chirpy greeting, yamaguchi watched as his friend stopped abruptly and looked around in confusion.

"huh? i could've sworn i heard someone call my name," hinata muttered to himself.

yamaguchi rolled his eyes and chuckled, walking alongside the orange-haired boy.

"haha, very funny, shouyo. i read the manga you checked out for me yesterday, it was really good!"

hinata didn't respond again, instead yawning and rubbing his eyelids. "oh, god. i'm so tired that I'm hearing voices."

yamaguchi frowned. why was hinata ignoring him? had he done something wrong?

it wasn't long before hinata spotted some of his friends in the distance and walked over to them instead. the freckled boy was left behind to travel alone, anxiety bubbling in the pit of his stomach. yamaguchi gripped at his sides and breathed out, trying his best to erase the unusual encounter from his mind. he hoped he would be able to talk to hinata about it later.

yamaguchi eventually arrived at school. he tightened his grasp on his uniform jacket, gulping as he stared at all of the students entering the main building. he wasn't fond of environments that included an abundance of people, as they more often than not led to his social anxiety becoming worse.

he attempted to blend in with the crowd of students, speeding through the hallways and praying that no one would watch or notice him. yamaguchi dashed up the stairs and successfully arrived at homeroom without anyone pointing him out.

as he stepped inside and made a beeline for his seat, the teacher trailed closely behind him, almost bumping into yamaguchi's backpack. yamaguchi felt blood rush to his cheeks at the thought of having to apologize to his teacher, but she thankfully didn't seem to detect the flustered boy.

"alright, time for attendance," she announced, the class simmering down at the sound of her voice. "daisuke?"

"present."

"hiroki?"

"present!"

"tsukishima?"

"present."

yamaguchi raised his head at the oddly familiar voice, his eyes trailing to a blond sitting two rows in front of his desk. it was the same boy who asked him to move his bag at the bookstore yesterday.

"yamaguchi?"

he snapped out of his thoughts and fixated his gaze to the front of the room.

"present!" he called out.

silence filled the classroom as the teacher stared at yamaguchi's seat, almost as if she were looking through him.

"that's weird, i thought i heard something," the teacher remarked. "i guess yamaguchi is absent."

the anxiety was back, painfully stirring around in the bottom of yamaguchi's stomach. he felt his body go numb as she moved onto the next person. what did she mean by 'absent'?

his hands trembled in his lap, and he felt the awful feeling in his stomach slowly ascending. was he suddenly invisible now? why couldn't anyone see him? he was right there!

he felt a pair of eyes on him, causing the pounding in his chest to grow even worse. yamaguchi glanced up for a second and noticed the blond staring at him. his gaze was filled with slight confusion, but not to the point that it seemed as if he were actually concerned. the freckled boy became increasingly red as the latter's eyes burned through him before the blond finally turned back around.

for the rest of class, yamaguchi couldn't seem to focus, as a million thoughts were racing in his mind. why was the blond stranger the only person to acknowledge his existence? why was everyone acting as if he were invisible? what if hinata decided he didn't want to be friends anymore, and that was why he ignored yamaguchi this morning?

the bell rang, signaling the end of class. the teacher left the room and everyone seemed to relax a bit, moving around to talk to their friends. yamaguchi debated whether or not to approach the blond and ask him about why everyone was avoiding him, but his anxiety got the best of him and he decided to stay put in his seat.

after a short break, the next period began. thankfully, everything seemed more normal this time around. it wasn't as if anyone paid attention to yamaguchi during class anyway, so the attendance thing was the only unusual occurrence that happened during school so far.

the only thing yamaguchi could do was pray that the rest of the school day was as normal as it was now.