10 Stages of Me and You [Tsukishima Kei x Reader]

Stage 7: Her

☆

[Name] struggled from the moment she left her house.

The girl had been carrying three pasteboards that were tucked in her arm and a 3d science project that was standing on a board. Although they weren't heavy, the girl could be seen struggling to not drop any of her items.

"Mou~" She groaned to herself. "I wish I had floaty powers so I wouldn't have to hold all this stuff."

Suddenly, her project got lifted from her hand.

"Oh my god, the heavens have blessed me with powers! Oh, wait. No. I think hell just sent me one of their butlers," [Name] said, once she realized that it was her favorite middle blocker (sorry Shoyo) who took her project from her hand.

"I take this back. Carry on with carrying it," Kei said, handing back her project. [Name] was 

"No take-backs," the girl said, sticking out her tongue. "Thank you, by the way."

"At first, I actually thought that this was floating since I couldn't see you."

[Name] tilted her head to the left as she looked the blond, hugging her three rolls of pasteboards.

"What did you say? I couldn't really hear you. I think your words are being muffled by the clouds."

Kei clicked his tongue before looking at the girl.

"Why are you even carrying so much stuff? This is why you don't grow." Kei then grinned at the girl after saying those words with a teasing tone.

"Hey! I'm short because of my genes!" [Name] said, trying to reason about her height. "Also, I'm going to pass that project later. As for these pasteboards, I'm going to use it during art class. We're supposed to make something that we like but I still have no idea about what I'm going to make."

"Oh about that."

[Name] looked at Kei who fished for something in his pocket with his free hand. The girl stared curiously at him, wondering what the blond wanted to say. Before she could see what he had in his hand, he hid it within his palm.

"Hand," he said.

"Huh?"

Kei stared at the girl right in her eyes, surprising her. "Hold out your hand."

[Name]'s cheeks started to tint with a light shade of pink as she nodded and gathered the three rolls she was holding in one hand only, tucking them again in her arms. The moment she held out her hand, she felt something drop on it. Once she realized what it was, her blush went up to her ears as she tried to hide her face with her hair.

"You like flowers right? You could probably do that for your art class," Kei said, immediately looking away from the girl.

On her palm was a keychain of a dwarf sunflower. It looked like a normal sunflower except its stem was shorter. Other than being given a cute keychain, her heart raced at what a dwarf sunflower implied. While tall sunflowers meant haughtiness, dwarf sunflowers were attributed to adoration.

'But to say that he meant to give that message is me reading into the situation too much.'

[Name] proceeded to shake off these thoughts in her head and smiled at the tall boy beside her.

"Thank you, Tsukishima."

"Mm."

The two continued to walk side by side, having small conversations along the way. 

"When I was little, I always thought that the moon followed me. I'd run around during the night and see whether or not it followed me. I had friends tell me the same thing and I'd often wonder how the moon could split itself and follow all of us."

[Name] laughed at her younger self while Kei gave a soft chuckle. Suddenly, the girl felt her stomach grumble. She bent her head forward as she groaned, both annoyed and embarrassed with herself.

"Mou~ I should've grabbed something before heading out."

"You didn't eat?" Kei asked to which the girl responded with a headshake.

"I rarely eat breakfast because I don't have time and rice meals in the morning don't sit well with me. They make my stomach go blehg."

Kei suddenly started walking faster, surprising her. [Name], confused by his actions, had no choice but to walk faster as well. The said boy then stopped in front of a convenience store.

"Wait a minute," he said, as he entered the store.

The girl only stared at the doors of the store as Kei disappeared into the aisles. With the clear glass windows, she was able to see the boy who was quick to grab what he aimed to buy and head towards the cashier all under in a minute.

"Woah, he is fast," [Name] said to herself as she watched the tall blond walk towards her. 

He had her project on his right hand and the plastic bag in his left. After stopping in front of her, he hung the plastic bag by his fingers with his right hand and grabbed something in it with his free hand.

"Here." Kei handed the girl a wrapped sandwich.

"Oh. Thanks." The girl could only mumble as a reply. She shyly took the sandwich from him and opened it. Cold metal suddenly came in contact with her hand. She looked at it and saw a canned version of [f/d].

Her eyes widened and looked at the blond whose ears were slightly turning red and was avoiding her eyes. [Name] grabbed the drink and looked down. Unlike Kei, she had the chance to hold two things with her hands. She held her sandwich with the hand connected to the arm where her pasteboards were and began eating. The two resumed walking towards their school, both silent due to eating.

[Name] couldn't help but smile to her sandwich as she took another bite.

Kei has been kinder than usual. Maybe it was because she was getting closer to him? Whatever the reason was, she was happy. 

[Name] felt a sudden want to stay by his side. Whether it be as friends or more, she didn't care. As long as she was beside him, she'd be satisfied. So when they reached her classroom, she suddenly felt somewhat sad. As soon he gave her her project, the blond started moving.

"Hey, thank you."

"Mm." Kei nodded before heading towards his classroom which was right next to theirs.

The girl smiled brightly before turning and sitting on her chair.

'Tsukishima Kei, I want to spend more time with you.'

The girl sighed to herself.

'Wait a minute. Morning practice!'

Turns out, the girl was indeed able to spend more time with him immediately.

☆