TSUKISHIMA KEI

"woah, i completely get it now! thanks a lot, aiko-san!" hinata yelled.

"thanks a lot for the help." the king says with a monotonous tone, bowing slightly to express his deepest gratitude.

"happy to help!" aiko smiles widely before giving out reminders towards the duo.

"they seem to be fond of her." yamaguchi says by my side, making me sigh and just nod.

yachi seems to have introduced aiko properly towards the two and now, she's already a personal tutor. makes me think if i should keep her or not because of the fact that she can't apply her purpose towards me.

as if on cue, aiko shot me a deadly glare, like as if she just read my mind.

"what?" i ask with my eyebrow raised, arms crossed on my chest.

"nothing." she answers with a sarcastic smile plastered on her face, making me roll my eyes.

"we'll be going now." i say, opening the gymnasium's door with yamaguchi with me. glancing towards aiko, her eyes told me to leave without her, making me nod.

"ah, alright. great work today, you two." daichi-san replies, smiling towards our direction and thus the cue for us to leave the campus.

as yamaguchi and i walked down the streets, we both remained silent. only the footprints that we made are the ones we can hear.

well, not until yamaguchi decided to break the silence.

"what are you going to do about aiko, tsukki?"

his question caught me off guard. yamaguchi rather keeps silent in situations like this, but it seems like he too is curious to what i have to do.

"i guess i'll hold onto her for a while. i still need a few information. everything's still too blurry for me to understand." i answer, my eyes looking straight to the path we're taking.

"such situations rarely exist, so whenever you're having trouble, i'm just here, okay?" he asks and i can tell that he's smiling at the moment.

"thanks." i reply, inserting my hands in my pockets.

"aiko is a special human being. i suppose i could ask for a little help once in a while." i add, sighing.

"i'm right by your side." yamaguchi replies, patting my shoulder.

"ooh, i hear a compliment for me." we both hear a familiar high-pitched voice say, the voice emitting from above.

"yeah, you're special. a special child. most importantly, where the hell are you?" i ask, irritated.

"how dare you!? i'm right by yamaguchi-kun's hair, kei! use your damn eyes, megane!" the voice says once again, annoying me more.

"woah, that nearly gave me a heart attack." yamaguchi sighs, reaching for aiko with his right hand.

"my bad, yamaguchi-kun." she apologizes, hopping over yamaguchi's hand in her pocket-sized form.

as soon as yamaguchi brought his right hand to our sight, aiko transformed back to her original form, emittimg light taps from her shoes because of her shoes' contact with the solid ground.

"it's alright, aiko-chan. anyway, i'll take this way to visit shimada-san. you two take care." yamaguchi bids his goodbye, waving as he takes the opposite way, leaving aiko and i alone.

"you, which path are you going to take?" i ask with my eyebrows raised and my arms crossed on my chest.

"the pen is my home, kei. just close the pen with its cap and i'll be right back home." she explains.

"the pen is your home, huh? do you mean that once i close the pen with the cap, you'll be transported back to your own home?" i ask for clarification.

"correct, mister! you can close the pen right now if you want, not unless you want me to stay at your own home." she suddenly says in a teasing manner, wriggling her eyebrows.

unconsciously, i felt hot blood rush towards my face, earning a hysterical laugh from her.

"w-what are you laughing at!?" i stammer, hiding my face with my arm.

"wow, you're actually blushing! tsukishima-kun wants me to stay at his place!" she teases once again, which is my cue to grab her uncapped pen by my pocket.

"just go home!" i yell, closing the pen.

"see you when i see you, tsukishima-kun!" she bids her goodbye before she completely disappered in a bright light.

i heaved out a relieved sigh when she was out of my sight, yet my face is still in its flushed state.

the hell is wrong with me?