"he pulls himself up reluctantly and just about manages to stifle a scream."

yamaguchi and tsukishima could not have been more different, in every sense. yamaguchi likes reading cheesy romances and sleeps at 2am, every night, give or take. he constantly daydreams and makes little sketches in the corner of his exercise books. he likes scented shampoo and wishes he was shorter, because he likes the feeling of being protected by someone. he prefers dogs to cats, but only the small, fluffy ones, because an incident with a particularly overzealous husky has left a permanent scar in his mind. most of his clothing is over-sized ("you'll grow into it!" his grandparents always say) and from the sale rack in the local thrift store. yamaguchi thinks of this as he absentmindedly changes into his uniform, the sun lazily climbing up the horizon and casting warm shadows round his cramped little room.

he smiles to himself. tsukki, on the other hand, either reads disgustingly complicated textbooks about astronomy or psychology, or lengthy fantasy books (he especially likes the ones with dragons). he goes to bed at precisely 10pm every night, which yamaguchi knows from the multiple sleepovers that they've had throughout their friendship. he makes neat notes in class and uses whatever plain generic soap his mother bought for him for both his hair and body (don't ask). he relates to cats, who are as snappy and lazy as he is, and barely any of his clothes fit him because he's that tall. almost 2 metres.

yamaguchi finishes getting ready and greets his grandparents downstairs. unfortunately, they don't hear him over their affectionate nagging at each other which eerily reminds yamaguchi of a certain freak duo. were kageyama and hinata a couple? they might as well be. they refer to themselves as "partners" and that might as well be the same thing.
yamaguchi makes himself some toast and holds it in his mouth while he unlocks the door.

the sun hangs low in the sky; the air is slightly chilly and bites at his skin. he somewhat wishes he had brought a coat, but he only owns one and it doesn't really fit over his school uniform. he turns the wrong way at the junction.
"it's cold and i need the walk." he mutters to himself, and then huffs a laugh. you can't bullshit a bullshitter, and yamaguchi has been waffling his way through his entire life. he actually just doesn't want to bump into tsukki and walk to school with him like they've done so for the past 7 years. not after what he realised last night. yamaguchi doesn't think he can even look at the grumpy blond in the eyes after he came to terms with such an obvious concept.

"i mean yeah, of course i love him." yamaguchi says despondently to himself. "i do everything for him. i'd do anything for him."

saying it out loud just made him feel worse.

by the time he reached the entrance to his school, the time on his phone told him there was no time to hang around the club room with his teammates. a wave of relief washes through him.
"thank god.."

"thank god what?"

yamaguchi freezes and squeezes his eyes shut. please GOD no.

why was the universe so cruel?