a dinosaur and thunder become (more than) friends

Dinosaurs have Weird POVs

Tsukishima didn't know how he liked Noya. Or even when, exactly.

It just happened fast, a sudden strike of lightning.

It was odd, really. Noya was obnoxious like Hinata sometimes, with his loud voice, infatuation with winning, and all those things, but Tsukishima still respected him, his talents, his attitude towards volleyball. That was probably because Noya was his senpai, though.

However, the fact that Noya was his senpai didn't explain why Tsukishima began to notice the soft smile and proud light in Noya's eyes when he saw some type development in his juniors (or Asahi, but he was a special case). When they were aimed at Tsukishima, he tried not to think much of it. He didn't try to think much of the slaps and punches he got either, varying from light to almost bruise-worthy ones, even though they always made him feel a bit better (who the hell felt better by getting abused?). He tried, really, but Noya still somehow made his way into his heart unannounced.

Tsukishima obviously didn't believe it at first, denying it, because there was no way he could like someone who acted so similarly to Hinata, so he shifted it to Furukawa instead. Quiet, timid, reserved. Definitely the kind of person he'd prefer, probably. Plus, his heart would beat so loudly that it would block any other noises when he saw Furukawa practice with Noya (in hindsight, it was pretty obvious it was for the latter). Tsukishima wasn't sure if he was actually confused at that time, or simply lied to himself because he didn't want to accept it. He even told Kuroo, who confessed to him out of nowhere (which again, in hindsight, wasn't out of nowhere. Tsukishima had just been too absorbed in his own love life to notice), that he liked Furukawa.

Even so, with Noya deciding to use him as a tree, he couldn't deny it anymore when Noya's touches almost burned, or when he felt the fluttery feelings in his stomach just wouldn't go away whenever he saw Noya, even when he was doing stupidest things or joining in the weird antics together with Tanaka and Hinata. Tsukishima hid his feelings pretty well, so no one knew or found out except for Yamaguchi, who realized it one day when his gaze was lingering on Noya a little too long.

Well, that was what he thought until Enoshita confronted him. It had been a weird conversation, and Tsukishima wasn't sure he wanted to admit it at first, but he did for some reason, and with that, he had two people who knew and did all they could. Ennoshita would make Noya clean up with him more frequently, and Yamaguchi would randomly leave his side for a few minutes when Noya was talking to him. In the beginning, Tsukishima was pretty pissed and would try to avoid those situations. He didn't want to fall for someone who would probably never return his feelings.

Plus, Noya was stupidly oblivious too, and luckily for Tsukishima, so was the rest of the team, too focused on volleyball or their own significant others. It was strange because Noya was actually observant, and he noticed that he was being paired with Tsukishima more, or left alone with him more.

"Look, we're together again!"

"Oi, wasn't Tsukishima cleaning this part yesterday too?"

"Why does Yamaguchi keep running away when I'm with you? Does he think imma cause trouble with you or something?"

"Yamaguchi! Come talk to us!"

That was how it always went, and it drove Tsukishima insane, but he eventually gave up and let it be. It wasn't like he disliked it anyway, he just wasn't going to admit that he actually appreciated it to Yamaguchi, who would just tease him for the sake of it.

The rest of the team, apart from the freak duo, soon caught on to the peculiarity too, but just noted it off more as a blocker-libero bonding kind of thing rather than a getting-set-up-by-my-captain-and-best friend kind of thing. Tsukishima sometimes felt overwhelmed by their meddling, but he didn't hate it. Most of the time, he would get to hear Noya ramble about something new he learned, or complain about school work as he would lean closer to Tsukishima, sometimes on him, all tired from practice. One time, Noya even talked about dinosaurs, saying he researched them specifically for Tsukishima, who had been extremely grateful for the dim light of the storage room that hid his burning face. At that moment, he wondered if Noya was even good for his heart, always thumping so loudly that it blocked every sound except for Noya's boisterous laughs. Tsukishima hadn't even realized it until one day Tanaka whacked him on the head for not listening to him.