defensive(a tsukkiyama story)

Fixing The Shattered Boy

Tsukishima entered the clubroom while dragging Yamaguchi along with him. Tsukishima grabbed his and Yamaguchi's bags and told him to get changed. They turned away from each other and changed out of their sweaty practice clothes and back into their school uniforms. Tsukishima asked if Yamaguchi was done before he turned around and saw that he was indeed dressed and ready. At first glance, there seemed to be nothing wrong, but look long enough and you'd notice that his eyes were red. You'd notice that his posture was slumped and that he was fidgeting with his hands. You'd notice that his little sprout of hair on the top of his head, which usually helped to tell his mood, was down completely.
He looked so scared so...vulnerable. Tsukishima's observation was cut short when he heard his best friend mutter something to him. "Here you go, thank you for letting me borrow it." He said, barely audible, as he held out Tsukishima's sweater. He didn't meet his eyes and his head was bowed. The sweater in question was pastel purple and had a moon stitched over where the heart is. Similar to the one he was wearing when they first met. He then turned back around and said "just put it on and let's go." Leaving no room for negotiating. "O-okay!" Yamaguchi stuttered out. He then pulled the sweater over his head, placed his bag over his shoulder and started to walk out with Tsukishima. That made him ask the question "where are we going?" He knew that they should really be back at practice but then he thought back to what happened there at the gym and he wondered if he could ever go there again. He knew that Tsukki might be in trouble because of his outburst earlier. He then felt bad. Really bad. He hated that Tsukishima was in danger of being in awful trouble because he felt like he had to stand up for him.

"Gee, despite having gotten a lot taller and less weird I seem to be just as wimpy and pathetic as I was all those years ago," he thought in dismay.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice that there was a bench in front of him. He didn't run into it per se but his foot snagged on the legs of the bench and he fell face-first into the concrete. He didn't register the pain immediately but he was twistedly the most worried about the fact that he could have ruined Tsukishima's sweater. He didn't want to make even one more person disappointed in him. He'd had enough of that. "I should just run home and never come out of my house again" he considered.

Of course, he didn't expect Tsukishima to be concerned. But that's what happened.

Tsukishima ran over with a flurry of questions to confirm that Yamaguchi was okay. He picked him up from off the sidewalk and noticed that he had a scrape on his leg and face. His pants were ripped and dirty and the sweater was as well. That was how Yamaguchi found out that the destination was, indeed, his house because Tsukishima all but dragged him there. By the time they eventually got there, Yamaguchi had begun crying again.

Tsukishima closed the door and led Yamaguchi to the washroom. Tsukishima pushed Yamaguchi down so that he was in a sitting position on the toilet lid. "Wait here," Tsukishima said softly. He said it gently but Yamaguchi took it as a command and that he would be punished if he disobeyed and he stiffened. Tsukishima walked over to the bathroom cabinet, pulled out a cloth, wet it down and leaned down by Yamaguchi

Yamaguchi was scared that at any second, Tsukishima would yell at him, hit him, or tell him to stop being an overdramatic wuss. He was worried that Tsukishima would say what he himself was thinking. He wanted to die. And at that moment he was scared that he would hear those words coming out of his friend's mouth. "Go die. You're not wanted" but those words never came. 

Tsukishima then spoke. "Can I see your scrapes?" He said it softly as if coaxing a kitten out from under a car. Yamaguchi was shocked at his tone but also, oddly consoled that Tsukishima would not leave him that night. Not yet anyway. He then replied with a stuttered 'yes' and Tsukishima softly grabbed his leg to look at the scrape there. It was lightly bleeding and was quite dirty. "Let me know if the way I'm holding your leg gets uncomfortable or starts to hurt, okay?" He said, still in that velvety soft voice. "O-okay" The injured one of the two stuttered out. Tsukishima then started to wipe off the dirt from his leg. It stung quite a lot and Yamaguchi let out a hiss of pain. "Sorry, but I don't want it to get infected so it's better if I wash it off."