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Kageyama tried to be sarcastic. His humor rarely hit its mark, and people laughed more at his attempts than the actual joke content. Sometimes Hinata only raised an eyebrow.
Hinata wasn't around to make fun of him right now. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima were staring at him instead.
"Did you just call me Tsukki?"
Yamaguchi moved his hand to laugh silently underneath, and Tsukishima creased his eyebrows together. Tsukishima didn't seem surprised, just critical, looking Kageyama over as Kageyama fidgeted.
"I was joking."
"Well it wasn't very funny." Tsukishima straightened to tilt his chin down and stare more.
Kageyama was trying to mimic Yamaguchi's voice to irritate Tsukishima, but it came out too flat and normal. It sounded like he was genuinely calling him Tsukki.
"Shut up," Kageyama said as he trudged away. He stomped over to Hinata and Nishinoya, and he sidled between them and interrupted their conversation. Nishinoya and Hinata paused to turn to him.
"Is something wrong, Kageyama?" Hinata asked.
Kageyama crossed his arms and continued to stand there.
The second time was sort of an accident. Tsukishima asked him to pick up his water bottle, pointing at it lazily.
Kageyama mumbled to himself, loud enough to be heard. He didn't mean to say out loud, "Sure thing, Tsukki." It slipped out as he exhaled a huff of air.
Tsukishima leaned back on his foot. "'Tsukki'?"
Kageyama shoved the bottle into his chest, and Tsukishima caught it when Kageyama pulled away.
Kageyama didn't stop calling him that. He passed Tsukishima in the hallway and muttered it in greeting, sometimes intentionally bumping into him with his shoulder. Kageyama asked him to hand him a volleyball or help with the net with a snide Tsukki, except it still wasn't as harsh as Kageyama thought it was. It also left Kageyama addressing him more than usual. He never asked Tsukishima to do something before, even if it could create work for Tsukishima and potentially annoy him.
Yamaguchi wasn't that bothered by it. He tried telling Kageyama to stop out of concern for Tsukishima, but asking him to not call him Tsukki when Yamaguchi still did it made it an empty request. Yamaguchi ended up hovering between them whenever they met, gauging Tsukishima's reaction to anything Kageyama said.
Some of it started to sound too casual to be a joke. Sometimes it was obviously sarcastic, such as "Way to go, Tsukki," after Tsukishima messed up a receive. Other times Kageyama eyed him afterward, defensively, frowning and hiking his shoulders up a little as if he regretted it.
Tsukishima didn't think it was a problem until he heard someone behind him mumble "Tsukki," and he turned expecting it to be Yamaguchi. He stumbled and almost dropped a volleyball when he saw Kageyama standing in front of him. Kageyama stared back with a quirked eyebrow.
"Okay, you need to stop calling me that. Right now." Tsukishima's mouth twisted in a grimace. Mistaking him for Yamaguchi was terrifying.
"What? Does that bother you, Tsukki?" Kageyama tilted his head.
"Why are you doing it? It's still not funny."
Kageyama shrugged. He didn't look Tsukishima directly in the eye, and he tried to turn away completely, but Tsukishima grabbed his arm.
"Are you going to stop at some point?" Tsukishima asked. He gripped Kageyama's arm harder after the question, and it made Kageyama glance up with sharper eyes.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because."
Tsukishima didn't know why he expected anything other than a simple-minded answer. If the actual answer was what he suspected it was--that Kageyama liked making him mad--then it'd be as stupid and ridiculous as a one word answer.
Tsukishima swatted his arm away and left him alone. Practice had just ended, so he could go home without talking to Kageyama for the rest of that day, but he didn't escape the next morning. Kageyama greeted him with another Tsukki, and he stuck his foot out to trip Tsukishima.
Tsukishima shoved the foot away with his own foot, ankle catching on Kageyama's. Kageyama lost his balance and almost fell, and he pressed a hand to the wall to save himself.
Kageyama shot him a glare, and he pushed at Tsukishima's shoulder.
"It's not my fault you're so clumsy." Tsukishima let himself be pushed, his shoulder rolling with the momentum, but Kageyama moved to reach for his shirt collar afterward.
Kageyama tugged him down with a small snarl etched in the corner of his mouth. It was entertaining watching Kageyama rile himself up over something pointless, especially when it was because of him. Tsukishima wanted to laugh, but he settled for a milder response, and his mouth twitched in amusement instead. Kageyama wasn't saying anything, just clenching Tsukishima's shirt and tying him in place.
Kageyama's mouth was tightening, slipping into a frown and then out of it into something else. His face was dusted red now in a few places, but he was still trying to scowl.
Yamaguchi and Suga told him not to bait Kageyama into another argument, but Tsukishima was really curious about what would happen if he did that right now. It usually ended up one-sided, with Kageyama snapping at him and Tsukishima resting his hands in his pockets as he returned his gaze dully. His lack of reaction provoked Kageyama further, somehow.
Tsukishima's neck was already bent, and he dipped his head down more until the tips of their noses bumped. The contact made Kageyama blink and flinch in surprise, but he didn't move away.
"Aren't you going to move?" Tsukishima asked.
Kageyama squirmed. "You move."
Kageyama rose on his toes, causing his nose to brush up slightly. Tsukishima arched an eyebrow.
"What are you going to do? Kiss me?"
That was the wrong thing to say, that was the wrong kind of bait, because Kageyama straightened more and returned his stare almost angrily, and their lips met in what felt like an accident. Except Kageyama wasn't that clumsy.
Tsukishima and Kageyama stepped away from each other right after, and Tsukishima's hand slid over his mouth in surprise. It was unbelievable how single-minded Kageyama was, and he was intense enough of a person to take anything too seriously. Tsukishima had a hard time remembering that.
Kageyama spluttered and covered his own mouth. He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like it had Tsukki in it, and the speed at which he took off made Tsukishima think that that time, he didn't call him that on purpose.