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People had warned Yamaguchi about befriending the tall, bespectacled, blond kid from Class 3. He was anti-social, rude and full of himself with a serious big brother complex. But Yamaguchi knew better.
Tsukishima was smart and cool and kind – even if he didn’t always show it.
Yup, it was like the taller boy could do no wrong. And that was what Yamaguchi believed.
Then, in their first year of high school, Tsukishima started to act strangely. Distant and removed, just like when he’d found out about Akiteru being a benchwarmer.
But it was worse this time.
Tsukishima had stopped inviting him over to his house and would come up with excuses to cancel their weekly sleepovers. He was on edge and jittery all the time.
Oh. And his older brother had gone missing.
Well, there was no report filed because of his prolonged absence, but Yamaguchi noticed that the older man wasn’t around. College took up a lot of his time, but he always came home to visit at least every other week.
It had been months.
Tsukishima’s mother didn’t seem to be acting any different at first, but Yamaguchi could tell that she knew something was bothering her younger son.
That something was wrong.
Yamaguchi tried to broach the subject during after school practice, but Tsukishima dismissed it, stopping mid-sip from his water bottle and walking up to receive Asahi’s serves.
Yes, something was wrong.
He managed to invite himself over for a sleepover on a school night, claiming that he needed help with his Japanese history homework – an obvious lie. He hadn’t made it into the honors class for nothing – but it worked.
Tsukishima and his mother were both quiet during dinner. Three times Yamaguchi broke the silence, but the conversations – soliloquys, really – always petered out.
Finally, when they were done eating, he followed the taller boy up to his room.
Ha! He finally had him alone. Now he could ask him what was bothering him.
Yamaguchi’s chance came sooner than he thought. Right after he’d asked about Akiteru.
Tsukishima froze, the final scratching of his pencil echoing in the now deathly quiet room.
“He’s…” Tsukishima began, gaze shooting over to his closet and then back down to his assignment. “Busy.”
Well, that wasn’t suspicious at all.
Yamaguchi didn’t mention his older brother again. Instead, he diligently continued his homework, waiting for his next chance.
It was past nine when they decided it was time to wrap up and go to sleep. Yamaguchi put his notebook and pencil case into his backpack and set it at the foot of the other’s bed. Then he stood up and walked over to the closet, ready to pull out the guest futon and call it a night.
But the moment his fingers brushed the knob, he felt a hand grip his upper arm, yanking him back and nearly knocking him onto the bed.
“Tsukki…?” He asked, eyes wide and heart pounding.
Tsukishima’s face was red with beads of sweat gathered at his temples.
“We can share tonight,” he said quickly, clearing his throat and looking away.
Okay…
“Um, sure, Tsukki.” Yamaguchi forced a smile. “I’m just going to go brush my teeth.” He’d already brushed them after dinner, but he needed to put some space between them.
When he was done, it was Tsukishima’s turn.
“I’ll be right back,” the blond said and Yamaguchi nodded.
As soon as the other boy was out of the room, Yamaguchi rushed over to the closet. Whatever was bothering Tsukishima had something to do with what was hidden in there. Or, at the very least, he’d find a clue.
Yamaguchi opened the door and…frowned. He furrowed his brow. Tsukishima’s closet looked the same as it always had. The guest futon was even in its usual spot. He reached forward to pull it out, but thought better of it. Tsukishima would know he’d been snooping. So, he pushed it back, but it fell over.
“Oops!” Yamaguchi tried to catch it, but failed. It hit the small shelf inside of the closet and knocked over a shoebox he hadn’t noticed when he first opened the door.
The box fell on its side, the lid popping off. Yamaguchi bent down to close it and put it back, but he noticed that something had fallen out. He picked it up and inspected it, almost dropping it when he realized what it was.
A bone.
Yamaguchi turned wide eyes on the shoebox. With shaky hands, he reached forward and pulled off the lid. Several more bones spilled out onto the carpeted floor of the closet.
“…What?”
“It was an accident.”
Yamaguchi nearly screamed when he heard Tsukishima behind him. He tried to shove the bones back into the box as he turned to face the other boy.
“Tsukki! U-Um, I-”
“It was an accident,” he repeated. “We were playing ball together…It was an accident.” Tsukishima bent down so their faces were level and reached forward, plucking the bone from Yamaguchi’s trembling fingers. “It was an accident.”
Yamaguchi swallowed and gave a weak smile.
“Of course, Tsukki.” He pushed the box away without breaking eye contact. “It was an accident.”