PINK MILK : kei tsukishima

day five and a half

friday evening
━

it was almost nearing sunset, the sky sporting beautiful pastel shades of pinks, purples and oranges. dark-coloured birds flew in patterns, wings flapping leisurely, squawking distantly before soaring across the sky.

if it were not for the fact that a heated match was being played between the members of the karasuno men's volleyball team, there would be many spectators already starting their journey back home.

the sound of the whistle rang strong throughout the gymnasium and the squeak of shoes across the floors came to a halt, heavy pants and breaths taken in an attempt to cool down.

the match had ended in an close scoring, with tsukishima's team leading by just a few points. while both teams were exceptional, the point gap was mainly due to hinata and kageyama constantly bickering which caused them to be distracted and lose focus.

not that any of that mattered to kei.

there was a slight stinging in his hands that he enjoyed, and would never voice out loud, so as he walked towards the changing rooms, kei clenched and unclenched his hands with a hum.

it was on his way, however, that he spotted kaori sitting on one of the benches, phone in hand and eyes trained on the screen blankly.

the posse of girls that she had brought in earlier were either scattered about the gym, chatting to themselves, fawning over the rest of the volleyball members or already left for home.

at some point, a few guys came in, possibly due to the high number of girls present, so by now, the gym was one big social event.

one tsukishima was not inclined to take part in at all.

"are you going to get changed or just stand there?" kaori's eyes flickered over to him, a slight frown on her lips. "mom wants you over for dinner."

tsukishima raised a brow yet said nothing. he simply nodded and continued on his walk to the changing room, wanting to freshen up a bit before they walked home.

just as the blonde stepped out from the shower, running a towel through his hair, the locker room door opened and in came the chatter.

"today was a pretty good match!"

"yeah, i think we're definitely ready for the upcoming competitions."

"—if hinata and kageyama would stop fighting all the time."

"hey, it wasn't my fault!"

"of course it was, you pipsqueak!"

tsukishima couldn't help but roll his eyes at the conversation, knowing hinata and kageyama were only proving sugawara's point.

he continued to get dressed quietly, wanting for his presence to remain unknown.

"we had a large crowd today, didn't we? it's not usually like this."

a locker door opened then shut immediately, apparently startling someone.

"tanaka!"

"i'm sorry! but listen, you guys all saw the girl who was cheering on tsukishima?"

uh oh.

"the really pretty girl with the pink hair and cute face?"

"the one with all the stylish charms?"

"she had blonde roots, didn't she?"

"and really beautiful eyes!"

tsukishima rolled his eyes at the descriptions. they made it seem like kaori was something otherworldly and he knew if said girl heard their words, she'd never let him hear the end of it.

tanaka seemingly perked up, "yes yes, her!"

kei's nostrils flared in amusement and slight interest as he tied his shoelaces and gathered his items. luckily he was on the bench to the very back of the room so no one had the bright idea to venture so far back.

it wasn't eavesdropping if they were the ones who came in after him and began speaking so openly.

"that was the same girl me and nishinoya saw give tsukishima a bento! and get this, they were insulting one another but for fun!"

a few gasps of surprise sounded and kei had to physically hold back from rolling his eyes.

it was barely insulting. kaori had much more to dish than he did, but due to her stature, people hardly thought she was capable. oh how wrong they were.

"do you think she's his girlfriend? i mean, why else would she give him a bento and come to practice to cheer him on?" this time, the words were lowered to a whisper and the locker room grew silent, pondering.

that was his cue.

tsukishima rose from his seat on the bench and collected his things, deciding he kept the girl outside waiting for far too long. especially since her mother was one scary woman when it came to punctuality.

"pardon me," he moved through the group, ignoring the looks of disbelief as he began to make his way to the locker room door.

for a moment, no one said anything and kei thought, surely, he was in the clearing.

well, he was, until nishinoya spoke up, menacingly. "hey tsukishima, we've got a question..." his footsteps were heard making his way towards kei and that was his cue to book it.

tsukishima broke out into a near sprint as he flung open the door and ran through the gym, nishinoya, tanaka and hinata hot on his trail.

his legs were longer though so it didn't take much for him to leave the behind.

when kaori saw him sprinting towards her, she eyed him weirdly before taking note of the other boys following after him with wide eyes. "what on ear—"

tsukishima snatched up her hand as he was passing and pulled her along, kaori yelping in surprise as she held onto her bag and began trailing behind him, hurriedly waving her friends goodbye as kei and her ran out of the gym.

it was only once they were a decent distance away did they slow their pace and kaori laughed, albeit a little breathless, handing kei her schoolbag.

"what the hell? why were we running?" she asked, panting slightly as they slowed, glancing over at her boyfriend who was tired himself.

kei huffed out a breath and ran a hand through his hair, chuckling lightly. "why not?"

he shouldered her bag, carrying both their things as they walked across the bridge leading to her neighborhood. there was no real reason why kei had ran. it wasn't as if he had something to hide—on the contrary in fact.

kaori elbowed him lightly and sighed, a smile still on her face. "alright wise guy, just make sure you help me with my math homework later."

"you mean do it for you?"

"oh shut up!"