Chapter Text
Tsukishima’s house was weirdly dull with Yamaguchi gone.
Without saying a word, the tall blond walked hurriedly upstairs to his room, where he pushed himself onto the tips of his toes and let himself fall onto his bed with a hearty thump. The top of his duvet was still warm.
What the actual fuck was that? He thought to himself and cringed. He had had homework to do, but that was the least of his concern. He could tell he wouldn't be sleeping that well tonight, as he would be replaying every awkward conversation he had today over in his mind. How was it that he could effortlessly string together a series of insults or disappointed remarks, yet nearly choked on the word thanks?
I guess there’s nothing else to do but get ready for bed.
Tsukishima slithered off of his mattress and carried his heavy feet all the way to the bathroom, where he began to brush his teeth. It was a task he had done so many times he could now do it with an empty head. Unfortunately for him, his mind was running laps around his newest memories.
Yamaguchi had said, "thanks for taking care of me," and you responded, "yeah."
Tsukishima physically recoiled from the embarrassment.
To make matters worse, if anyone should have had a hard time stringing together smooth responses, it was Yamaguchi. Despite his ridiculous fever dream, the words came out as easily as if he was talking about the weather. Maybe it was because of the fever, thought Tsukishima.
Let’s be honest, the real reason why Yamaguchi has no problem talking about his feelings is because he’s just giving a basic compliment to his friend.
Friend. Tsukishima was an expert at hurting his own feelings.
Dragging his feet all the way back to his room, he opened his dresser and pulled out a pair of patterned pyjama pants and a soft tee shirt. He left his uniform in a pile on his floor, too disheartened to do anything else with it. It was still relatively early, but Tsukishima was already dreadfully worn out. The blond sat down on his bed and thought about how unbelievably ridiculous he was for lecturing Yamaguchi about being selfish, then bringing him over to his house instead of just walking him home. Not only that, but how selfish he was for using the fever as an excuse to place his hand on Yamaguchi’s forehead, and for giving him the sweater. He wondered if Yamaguchi was home yet.
It seems the green haired pinch server was thinking about him too, because Tsukki’s phone lit up, signalling to him to a new message.
“‘Thanks again for taking care of me. I’m feeling a bit better now.’ -Tadashi”
Tsukishima must have stared at the message for five minutes. For the first time since Yamaguchi left, his head was gloriously empty.