ganymede : chapter 6

today, you were going to drag tsukishima to go get meat buns with you after school. 

it was a cool friday, the breeze ruffling your hair as you made your way into the library. yua had tried to bribe you out of tutoring today, claiming that going with her and her volleyball team to the fair would be much more fun than studying. of course, you wanted to go, but you also kind of wanted your daily dose of tsukki. 

"oh. i didn't think you'd show up," tsukki said, blinking twice before removing his glasses to clean them. 

"why?"

"i heard hasebe yua pestering you in the halls about going with her to the fair. wouldn't you prefer the fair over this?" 

"obviously. but, i wanted to go get meat buns with you and your friend after school. i'm sacrificing my social life for you," you claimed, a teasing smile lingering on your face. 

tsukki didn't know how to respond to this comment, so he gave a small "tch" and opened his books. a small part of him was actually quite glad you didn't ditch him today; even though he didn't show it, he felt quite grateful that you stuck around despite his cold behavior. he found you entertaining, and frankly, quite charming. you'd never know this, though. 

"are you that desperate to be my friend?" he teased, poking a pencil eraser on his paper. 

"sure," you shrugged. "why not?"

he looked slightly taken aback. "hmph. alright."

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the clock was playing with your eyes, and you were sure of it. one second ago, it pointed to 4:30, and the next it was only 4:15. or maybe it was wishful thinking. 

"we're basically done for the day, aren't we?" you asked, your eyes starting to get dizzy at the sight of more math problems. none of it made sense anymore - was it possible to understand something so much to a point where it made no sense at this point? because that's what it felt like when you repeated the same problem over and over again. 

"i guess," tsukki sighed. "i'm guessing that you're gonna drag me and yamaguchi to the store today, hm?"

"i thought i made that clear at the start," you said, giving him a tired smile. packing up your stuff, you two headed out of the library. just like on wednesday, a green haired boy was waiting for tsukki, leaning against the wall that was the library's entrance. 

"let's go, yamaguchi," tsukki prompted, making the boy jolt out of his sleepy state. a worn bag was slung across his shoulder, and he held a multicolored volleyball in his hand. 

"oh, are you a part of the team too?" you asked, eyeing the ball. it was the same one that yua always carried around with her, even when it was the weekends. you always thought that was kind of stupid; you can't just play volleyball whenever you want, and wasn't it kind of a hassle to carry it around all the time? of course, yua's excuse was always, 'you never know when you could practice your killer receives!' 

"yeah! so is tsukki. we're both middle blockers, although tsukki's way better than me-"

"shut up, yamaguchi."

"sorry!!"

"oh, that's cool. my friend yua is on the girl's volleyball team, although i'm not sure if you guys know each other very well..." you commented, slightly regretting your decision to pass on the fair right now. what if this was just awkward? you could be getting stuffed on cotton candy and caramel apples right now, joking about who-knows-what with your friends... but you were going to a local store for meat buns with a rude volleyball player who hates you very much. was this a dumb idea?

"hmm, i'm not familiar with that name, sorry. we don't usually do much together, although i think it'd be cool if we did. don't you think, tsukki?" yamaguchi said, elbowing his tall friend. 

"i don't really care. if we're going to get meat buns, we better start walking," tsukki grumbled, leading the way with an annoyed expression on his face. yamaguchi followed suit, and you trailed behind the both of them. 

the sun was setting, giving the sky a pink-ish hue. you wondered if by the time you guys got the store and bought the food, the moon might be out. maybe it could be timed perfectly, and you could show tsukki the moon - the moon that you looked at every night, the same moon that he shared a name with. the moon that he reminded you of. 

soon, tsukki, yamaguchi, and you were exiting the store with hot meat buns in your palms. the volleyball boys were, sadly, nowhere to be seen. yamaguchi had told you that they stayed back for extra practice today, but since he was a pinch server, he didn't need to stay back as long. 

the three of you guys stood outside the store, mindless conversation ensuing. you looked up to the sky as a matter of habit, when a very faint outline of the young moon caught your eyes. 

"oh, hey tsukki, look," you said, nodding at the sky. "that's the moon i look at every night. doesn't your name mean 'moon island'?"

"y/n, i don't care about the moon-"

"i've told you before that you remind me of ganymede, the biggest moon in the solar system encased by an icy shell," you recalled. 

"i remember. i also remember thinking how stupid that analogy was," tsukki sneered. 

"i think it's clever, y/n," yamaguchi commented cheerfully. 

you gave a small smile to yamaguchi, before turning back to tsukki. "well, you and the moon are very similar, but also very different. i'd like to think that you're the human embodiment of a moon."

"that's stupid," tsukki grumbled. however, his heart seemed to differ, as small butterflies settled in his lungs and he felt slightly giddy at the fact that you thought about him in such a deep way. so, despite his attempts to not care about you, he still stood with you and yamaguchi on that cool night, looking up at the starry sky he had never bothered to pay attention to. 

soon, the day got too late, and you were getting slightly drowsy. you thanked yamaguchi and tsukki for coming to the store with them, and started walking off. 

"hey, wait-" tsukki suddenly said. he looked around, making sure that yamaguchi was well out of earshot. "i'll walk you home. it's dangerous for a girl to go home alone this late."

you didn't protest - finally, he was expressing some sort of kindness!

you two walked side by side, tsukki's headphones hanging around his neck as he listened to your passionate rambles. when you were with yua, it was always her dominating the conversation, so you never got to talk too much. but with tsukki, it seemed different; he wanted to hear your thoughts and your admirations, your pet peeves and your sarcastic jokes. yua, of course, loved them too, but tsukki gave off a different aura of enjoyment. 

"thanks for walking me home. you're quite fun, you know?" you said, before shutting the front door. 

tsukki sighed, leaning against the post of the porch, inhaling the chilly air. why did he feel like this? it was frankly quite disgusting to feel so mushy and weak. he was always the authoritative figure, never bowing down and clashing heads, teasing his peers, and holding a firm stance. but around you, his walls seemed to fall and his ice shell began to crack slowly but surely. 

eventually, he concluded that he should ask yamaguchi for help...

or eat an advil first. 

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