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There was a reason why Tsukishima disliked hot-blooded people. It was entirely their fault he was in this mess.
Tanaka and Noya’s prank war had been steadily getting out of hand for the past few weeks and no one had done much to stop it. Well, Suga-senpai had told them to be more productive during club time, so the two second years had decided to stop targeting each other and to start working together to target others. Match making, they had decided, would promote teamwork within the Karasuno volleyball team.
To be completely honest, Tsukishima had been entertained by watching his other teammates become flustered in the strange situations the second years placed them in (and if the idiot first-year duo would actually get together and stop awkwardly flirting-but-pretending-not-to-be-flirting in front of him, that would be an improvement). But Tsukishima had underestimated them, because he had never thought they would be stupid enough to try anything to him (although really, he thought even if they had then he wouldn’t be stupid enough to fall for it).
But there he was, trapped in the supply closet after practice, locked in after they had convinced him that Yamaguchi was having a hard time finishing clean up duty on his own.
Yamaguchi did have clean up duty today, but he wasn’t even here. Tsukishima was locked in by himself with the sweaty volleyball equipment. What shitty matchmakers they are, the blonde grumbled to himself, trying to avoid the thoughts that questioned why he wouldn’t mind being locked in with his best friend.
“Tsukki?” a familiar voice called as the heavy door creaked open, a welcome distraction to his thoughts. “Were you looking for me?”
No sooner had Yamaguchi stepped through the threshold than the door slammed shut behind him. Giggling sounded from the other side as their mischievous upperclassmen called, “We’ll come back and get you in an hour. Have fun!”
Yamaguchi squeaked in surprise, turning to try and jiggle the door handle to no avail (Tsukishima had tried that earlier, so he wasn’t expecting this time to be any different).
“We’re locked in,” he sighed blandly, “You might as well come sit down. Looks like we’ll be trapped for a while…” He patted the mat next to him and raised an eyebrow in what only his vest friend would recognize as a welcoming manner. Yamaguchi shuffled slowly toward him, watching his step as well as he could by the dim light coming from the crack under the door.
When he finally settled on the mat beside Tsukishima, Yamaguchi perched himself carefully, as though ready to bolt for the door if something grabbed at his ankles in the dark.
Considering Yamaguchi liked to sit in his backyard at night to look for stars, Tsukishima knew that more than just the darkness of the room was causing his friend’s anxiety. Before the taller boy got the chance to ask, his friend cleared his throat to speak.
“Do you think this is one of their matchmaking plans, Tsukki?” Only a whisper came out, as though he was afraid anything louder would invite disaster somehow.
“Yeah, probably.” Tsukishima’s shrug would have been lost in the dark, had Yamaguchi not been sitting close enough to feel the gesture next to his own shoulders.
“O-oh,” Yamaguchi breathed, searching for words to fill the silence between them. His friend’s calm surprised him, but then again Tsukki didn’t get flustered very often. It was probably un-cool to get nervous over something like this, after all.
“So-so it doesn’t bother you?” He asked, trying and failing to mask his nervousness as his voice wavered.
“Well,” Tsukishima adjusted his headphones around his neck (at least they had waited until after he had changed to trap him). “If they were going to lock me in with someone, I’m glad it’s you.”
“Tsukki?” Yamaguchi looked over to gauge the blonde’s facial expression to find his friend looking pointedly away.
A nervous smile found its way on Tadashi’s face. Was Tsukki flustered? There was only one way to find out.
“Tsukkiii, I’m scared of the dark. Can you hold my hand?” Yamaguchi’s heart thundered in his chest as he held out his hand, wiggling his fingers in invitation.
“No you’re not. Shut up, Yamaguchi.” Yet despite his words, Tsukishima’s hand found his way into Yamaguchi’s palm. The blonde still refused to look at the boy next to him, but even in the dark, Yamaguchi could see the slight reddening of his friend’s ears.
“Sorry, Tsukki!” A broad smile flourished under his freckled cheeks. Yamaguchi had never felt less apologetic in his life.