Chapter Text
His hands felt cold in his own grasp. Almost as if his own body temperature knew how alone he was. Someone might look at Yamaguchi and think he has all the friends a guy could ask for. His throat began to close at the thought. None of them knew what he went through. It broke him to think like that. He sounded desperate and pitiful, but it was the hard truth.
His best friend. Yamaguchi looked back down at his freckled covered fingers, each one starting to tremble with regret. Earlier that evening he had done something so worth regretting it hurt.
Earlier that day
“Hey dude! Thought you weren’t going to stay late?” The second year poked with a smile. Tanaka always seemed to be around at the wrong time. Yamaguchi waited patiently for Tsukishima to answer with some sort of snarky remark. The blonde scoffed and turned around with close to no acknowledgment of the older. Tanaka yelled something. It fell on deaf ears as Yamaguchi quickly tried to catch up with the quick walking boy.
Now that he thought about it, during math they had discussed leaving practice early. Tsukishima wanted to watch a new documentary on astrology. Yamaguchi knew better than to ask. Suddenly, the taller one halted in his tracks, turning into the locker room to swiftly pick up his bag. He went to copy the action, only to find his bag had been misplaced, or taken. He bit his lip, worried.
Tsukishima was already out the door when he muttered a solemn “Wait”. Looking at the empty doorway, Yamaguchi’s eyes dulled. This wasn’t new, but he couldn’t help his hope for Tsukishima to actually notice something about him. Yamaguchi clenched the collar of his shirt, standing alone in the locker room thinking to himself.
‘My money was in there’ Money that wasn’t his. Despite the check having his name on it, and despite the vigorous hours he worked for it. It was never his. It was for the house, for food, for… Yamaguchi turned to leave, for more alcohol. He sighed, choosing to shove the thoughts down for another time, before promptly jogging after Tsukishima.
Tsukishima wasn’t an idiot. He could read the younger one like a book. The only thing is, he struggled to comment on it. He walked slowly in the road, waiting for Yamaguchi to come running up behind him. He figured the other had stayed back to clean… or something stupidly caring like that. Tsukishima smirked at the thought. After a good five minutes, Yamaguchi came up beside him. Tsukishima didn’t say anything.
Although, with a simple glance he could spot a handful of things in the wrong. His bag was missing. His eyebrows were furrowed in a thoughtful sort of way, and his foot seemed to shake with every step. Usually around this time, Yamaguchi would have brought up something about the others on their team, or some homework. This time, he stayed quiet. Tsukishima looked down once more. Yamaguchi’s stare was blank, he was clutching his jacket as if he was cold.
The taller one looked away. "How stupid," he thought. Yamaguchi muttered something under his breath. He commonly did this, with Tsukishima’s headphones on, the other always assumed that Tsukishima couldn’t hear him. The blonde strained his ears for some sort of clue. “She tried to throw a bottle at me again.” Tsukishima had pieced the bits together, despite never being directly told about Yamaguchi’s issues.
The younger had an alcohol addicted mother. His dad left the two around a year ago. It was hard, yet Yamaguchi never brought it up directly. It made him sad in a way, that his own best friend thought he couldn’t talk to him. Anyways, it wasn't until a couple months ago that the alcohol started to have truly negative effects on the both of them. His mom would try and harm him, crying about how he “ruined them” or she would scream at him, thinking Yamaguchi was his father. Tsukishima was snapped out of his little recap when he heard Yamaguchi say goodbye.
The two stood outside his house. How long had they been there? Tsukishima lowered his headphones, looking up. “I thought you were coming over,” He said. Yamaguchi didn't reply, taking a moment to sort out his thoughts. Apparently he didn't sort them well enough, because in a moment the shorter spit out, “I cant get hit again Tsuki, if I come back late she’ll get upset.” Before Yamaguchi had realized what he said, he laughed it off with another phrase. “You know how it is, bodies aren’t invincible”
“Tadashi.” Tsukishima stopped, looking him directly in the eye. ‘Fuck’ Yamaguchi thought, all of his words catching up with him. After his bag had gone missing… and with practice, it was all too tiring to try and hold something back. “Haha, that was a joke. Guess i’m getting too dark of a humor right?” He tried to play it off.
Tsukishima stared daggers down at him. Yet he didn’t say anything. Some part of Yamaguchi was begging the other to stop him from going inside that house. But it wasn’t strong enough to stop him from turning around and walking through the door.