PINK MILK : kei tsukishima

day one

friday
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tsukishima had been acting odd. tadashi was the first to notice.

with him being his bestfriend for years now, he obviously would be the first to notice the blonde male's suspicious behavior.

he first realized it on friday, before volleyball practice. once class ended, they normally would've headed straight over to the gym to start getting ready in the changing room and start warming up.

however, that particular friday evening was different.

instead of heading to the gym instantly, tsukishima had told yamaguchi to go ahead for he had something he needed to do first.

"you sure you don't want me to come with you?" the freckled boy insisted, seeing how tsukishima continously and consistently checked his watch.

he shook his head 'no', waved him off and said it'd only take a second.

as a true friend would, tadashi had taken the boy's advice and simply headed over to the gym where he was instantly faced with the image of kageyama and hinata bickering at the entrance as they normally would when they raced and tied.

he greeted them with a smile and headed inside, quickly changing into his uniform.

after he sat on the bench, tying his shoelaces, everyone began to pile in one after the other.

kageyama and hinata then sugawara and daichi. asahi, nishinoya and tanaka came tumbling in soon after.

ennoshita, kinoshita and kazuhito arrived followed by kiyoko and yachi.

no tsukishima and it had been over 15 minutes.

if yamaguchi wasn't worried then, he certainly was worried now.

where is tsukki? he thought, anxiously biting his nails as he looked to the door, praying that tsukishima would magically run right through them.

and indeed his prayers were answered.

the blonde male had finally made it, waltzing into the gym as if he wasn't only 17 minutes late.

"tsukishima!" tadashi yelled a bit too loud, jumping up from his seat in surprise. after the realization that his voice was above the required decibel, he sheepishly apologized and turned to his friend, just as tsukishima placed his bag on the floor. "what took you so long?"

"i told you, i had something to do first." and that was all he said on the matter.

and before they knew it, practice was about to start.

×

"i really want a cream bread right now." hinata murmured below his breath as the team walked past a convenience store. with the thought of cream bread plaguing his mind, he turned to tsukishima with his hand outstretched. "salt shaker, lend me some money to buy a cream bread."

the taller male stare down at the shrimp's hand and scoffed. "first a king now a beggar, when can i ever catch a break?"

hinata's cheeks lit up in embarrassment and he slapped tsukishima's arm. "i'll pay you back beanstalk!"

"unfortunately for you, i don't have anymore money. i spent it at the vending machine at school."

yamaguchi had been idly walking beside tsukishima's side, staring at his feet all this time up until now. when his friend—his bestfriend who he knew (hoped) wouldn't lie to him—mentioned the word vending—well, two words—machine, his head snapped up.

was that the thing tsukishima had to deal with?

if so, why wasn't he permitted to come?

it wasn't that tadashi was obligated to be by kei's side, but for something simple as going to the vending machine, tsukishima usually didn't have a problem with it.

"i didn't see you come back with anything though," kageyama interjected, thankfully asking the question yamaguchi was too afraid to voice.

subtly, the green-haired boy turned to gauge the look on his friend's face and freezed at the sight.

there was a faint smirk on the boy's face, which he tried to hide by using his hand to cover his mouth.

while tadashi stared in horror, tsukishima shrugged nonchalantly and picked up the pace. "i ate it while i was walking to the gym. got a problem, your highness?"

that's when he knew.

that's when tadashi knew tsukishima had lied to him.

tsukishima kei has never walked while eating before in his life.