Transparent [Tsukishima Kei x Reader]

E 12

Kei watched as you lost the one thing you always seemed to have control over— your composure.

You were sitting with your arms on the sides of your head and your weight resting on your heels.

The blond, although would never really admit it to anyone out loud, had found himself thinking over your well-being during the past few days when you didn't attend training.

Although it was pretty reasonable since you had to focus on your work, he couldn't help himself from feeling worried for you.

He hasn't fully understood yet why he'd even think about it and just assumed that it came along with being friends with you. But he did know that at one point, he found himself caring for you.

He often showed it through different means and wouldn't out right say it was him who was asking if you were okay.

But this time he decided to finally make his own emotions match his words. He wanted to show his concern, mostly because he didn't know how to approach this situation in any other way.

"Are-"

'No,' Kei thought. 'It's pretty obvious she isn't okay.'

"What's wrong, [Name]?"

The way the sentence slipped out of his mouth didn't sound quite as much as he wanted it to but he did think it sounded genuine, or maybe he at least he hoped it did.

You turned towards the blond with a tired look before looking away again.

"I told you that you should stop pretending to care, Tsukishima."

"Who said I was pretending?"

That sentence caught you off-guard for a second. You turned to Kei with a blank stare before chuckling as if that sentence was the funniest thing you've heard for a while.

You placed your hands on your legs and pushed yourself up for support so you could stand up. Once you were on your toes, you faced the blond with a hand on your hip.

"Well then you better stop caring while you still can."

"You can't ask that from me," Kei said.

"I'm not asking."

You looked at Kei with a domineering stare and although you were smaller than him, it did serve its purpose. But the blond wasn't the type to back down in an argument.

"Well, you should've thought through your actions more before deciding to let us in on your secret and keeping me alive."

"If that's your way of asking me to do what I should've done before, then you should've just told me up straight because I will not hesitate," You said, glaring at him.

"You couldn't.  And I'm not saying this because I'm taunting you," Kei said. "I know that you won't be able to continue with harming me even if it's just a little because no matter how much you were trained to be following orders, you have a heart bigger than mine."

You grit your teeth in annoyance at how accurate Kei was when he described you. Sure, you were mostly saying things out of the stress the situation had put you in but you also had to manage this before it became too late.

You knew that Kei was the least likely to care for you out of everyone in the team and if he had started to, it meant only one thing. The effect would be worse for the others. Much worse.

"You, out of all people," You said, pointing at him with your index finger. "Should've known not to give a damn about me."

"I do know that," Kei said, taking a step foward. "I know that you probably wouldn't be able to even contact us, much less make eye contact with us once everything is over. But do you think I care about that?"

The blond looked straight into your eyes as he said his next words.

"You made friends with the team. With me. And that alone, ties us to a connection that will make me worry about you. So don't ask me to not care about you because whatever happens, I will."

"I hate you," You said, your wall breaking down.

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?"

Tears started to well up in your eyes before slowly cascading down your cheeks.

"Oh shit. You're crying," Kei said.

"Dumbass," You said, chuckling as you wiped away your tears.

"So," the blond started. "Gonna tell me what's wrong?"

"What good will that do?" You asked. "Not like you can help with it. It's kinda related to my job."

"Who said I was gonna help you with it?" Kei asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Isn't that the point of telling you? So you could help me?"

"Not necessarily," Kei said, shaking his head. "Think of it as an air vent. We take out whatever clouding your mind for a while until you get to actually solve it."

"Well, if you think of it that way," You said, giving him a tired smile. "I can't really go into details with that one. All I can say is I've been stressed over my personal problems which just got stacked on by worrying over a friend. My best friend."

You groaned out loud.

"I don't know what to do. I don't know where to start. I don't have a clue. Hell, I don't even know if I'll get to see him alive. He didn't leave any new information as well so it seems like he wasn't able to gain anything new."

You walked towards Kei and leaned your head forward to his chest.

"Wait, wha-"

"I'm stressed," You mumbled. "Let me do this for a bit."

When the blond didn't push you away, you took it as a sign that it was okay to ask for comfort from him that you always found way more effective than using words.

Kei looked down at you with slightly widened eyes as he felt you wrap your arms around his waist.

He was obviously not the most touchy type of person. Heck, he couldn't remember the last time he had initiated a hug himself or maybe even wrap around his arm on someone's shoulder.

And yet, for something so unusual to him, he didn't find it upsetting at all. Maybe he could even say that he enjoyed it? So, as a response, he lightly placed one arm around you so that you wouldn't be in just a one-sided hug.

In spite of not being very experienced with hugs, he swears to himself that he felt you ever so subtly melt into the comfort it brought. Despite it not solving your problems, it did bring you a little peace of mind.