Asphalt flies beneath his feet. All exhaustion gone. Someone yells - Yamaguchi, he'll explain later - As Tsukki tears around the corner. Chidoriyama Middle School's only a couple minutes away.
[At first, Kenzo's completely astonished by Tsukishima's response and wants to tell him no, don't drop everything and come here, he hates the idea of someone so cool and tall having to see him at his most pitiful and he doesn't want to cause so much trouble for Koushi's boyfriend...
... but then it hits him that Tsukishima is coming to help him. And when he thinks about how those two idiots will react when they see Tsukishima bear down on them, he smiles so broadly that his cheeks ache.]
Third floor, you'll hear them yelling Thank you so much!
[And sure enough, there are two boys standing outside a closed supply closet and hollering several unkind variations on the names Sugawara and Kenzo. They're both quite a bit taller than Kenzo but that still makes them almost a foot shorter than Tsukishima, and they're clearly the snot-nosed teacher's pet brand of bullies as opposed to scruffy delinquent bullies.
Maybe their families are wealthier than the Sugawaras, or maybe they're already popular with girls - whatever the case, they have something they want to lord over the boy cowering in a closet and they intend to do it with their fists.]
[Fortunately, Tsukki is also from the Teacher's Pet mold. Knows this game inside and out.
He takes a second to pull in air. Then fixes a pleasant look on his face. Walking up calmly.]
I'm looking for a student - Sugawara Kenzo?
[Emphasizing the correct pronunciation. Still so very, very polite, of course. Nothing at all could be wrong here. Only a Senior student asking Juniors for assistance.]
[They have the good grace to look guilty for about a half-second, but one of the boys clearly has an overabundance of boldness and decides to respond with a curt:]
You don't go here. Who are you?
[The other boy glances around uneasily, suddenly very aware that after-school clubs could start shutting down for the day at any moment and flood the hallway with eyewitnesses. All the while, Kenzo can only cross his fingers and pray that they just give up and leave already.]
[Tsukki laughs at their retreating backs. Precise mockery, hitting in the soft spots of their Middle School psyches. It is funny to watch the little rats scurry away!
[That... was cool as hell. Even just overhearing it, Kenzo could tell. Tsukishima's so cool. He wishes there was any way to look even a fraction as cool when he opens the door and shuffles out of the closet, but his slumped shoulders and the tear stains down both cheeks pretty much make that an impossibility.
Not only that, but Kenzo's not all that used to talking to Tsukishima in person yet, so he winds up tongue-tied the moment he cranes his head up and remembers how massive the older boy is. Immediately, his gaze drops back down to his feet.]
Th-Thank you. I'm sorry. [One after the other, guilt overwhelming gratitude.]
[For a second, Tsukki's nine years old again. Watching another sobbing boy on the ground. He feels his chest pull tight at the wrongness. Yamaguchi, Kenzo, kids like them - it just keeps happening.
He stares at a nearby poster. Lets Kenzo collect himself. ]
[The ferocity in Tsukishima's voice is oddly comforting. Kenzo busies himself with closing the closet door behind him, brushing some dust off his blazer, but then - ah, he'd better tell the truth about this, huh?]
Um... they started this year. People have always made fun of me but this is more...
[Pointed? Targeted? Personal? Violent? It's just more, so Kenzo doesn't bother trying to finish the sentence.]
[Kenzo hurries down the hallway to a t-junction at the end with walls of lockers on either side. He hoists his bag onto his back without even bothering to check if he's got what he needs for that night's homework - he just wants to get out of the school as quickly as possible.
When he turns back to face Tsukishima again, the practice gear he's wearing finally registers. Oh no oh no -]
[With that concern dealt with, Kenzo finally seems to be reassured that he hasn't troubled Tsukishima too horribly. He cracks one of his almost imperceptible smiles and nods before closing his locker and heading back toward the stairs.
He's silent for awhile, mostly concentrating on maintaining the quick pace necessary to keep up with Tsukishima's insanely long strides. Eventually, though, he speaks up again.]
Um... Tsukishima, do you know... like... what makes guys like that stop other than... I mean, what could I do to make them stop?
[He's never had to fight. Too tall for anyone to mess with, too smart to get caught off guard. Tsukki fired insults first, riling others up until teachers caught them, or they ran. Easy.
Kenzo doesn't have those advantages. He's more like Yamaguchi, like most people. Not weak, but not obviously strong, either.
Tsukki looks Kenzo up and down. Or. Down, really. ]
Me, I got a growth spurt and a nasty attitude. You'd have to go about it a different way.
I could still have a growth spurt too! Koushi-nii's 174 cm!
[That's... actually quite a spirited pronouncement for Kenzo, and he immediately withdraws even deeper into his shell once it's out. It's not Tsukishima's fault that his pride is bruised right now; heck, a lot more of him would be bruised if Tsukishima didn't help.
After another silence, he goes a bit more deeply into his situation in his usual soft, halting way.]
I've been ignoring them, mostly... that's what everyone said to do. But it's just making them worse.
[Kenzo's not even really bothered by a lot of the things they say - yes, they're intended as insults and that's not acceptable, but he knows they're not actually bad things so they don't hit him where it hurts.
He just wants to be left alone.]
Kiiiind of? I'm in music club, but - [But he's out of this world gifted, which means he can't exactly meet any of the other members where they're at.] - I just do arrangements for them, so. It's not really like being in the club.
[I know it's a pain - that causes Kenzo's lips to twitch again. He doesn't know very much about Tsukishima so it's a surprise (and a pleasant one) to find out that he might be socially uncomfortable as well. Maybe that's why he likes Koushi... it's always easy being around him.
Kenzo nods thoughtfully to let Tsukishima know he's listening and taking on the advice.]
Oh... [They're almost at Karasuno, and Kenzo's stomach plummets when he realizes he and Tsukishima will probably have to part ways here. He's still got a faint buzz of panic in the back of his mind after being cornered and trapped earlier and the last thing he wants is to be out in public alone. He stops in his tracks and balls his hands into fists in front of him, obviously working himself up to say something that he fears will cross some kind of line.]
[He was already planning that? Without being asked?
... Tsukishima is the best!!]
Oh, tha -
[New person alert! Kenzo freezes with both hands defensively clutching the crossbody strap of his schoolbag, eyes massive and face pale. This is... definitely someone else from the volleyball team. Kenzo knows his face from pictures, and he may even have been at the house once? But being taken by surprise has his mind too scrambled to place him properly.
He looks from Yamaguchi back to Tsukishima, and if anyone will recognize the look on Kenzo's face, Yamaguchi will - written all over his features is complete awe at the fact that the coolest dude he's ever met, maybe the coolest dude in the world, is somehow in his corner.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
AND IT FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELS TOOO QUIET NOOOOOOOOW
I can't call Koushi-nii because he's at cram school with Sawamura and I'm in a situation right now
I'm actually still at my school and I can't leave
[This is - about the most embarrassing thing he's ever had to admit to anyone.]
There are two boys waiting outside the supply closet
They've got me trapped here
no subject
So this what 'Blood boiling' feels like.]
omw
Get a mop
shove handle under doorknob
What floor
[That should hold off the bullies.
Asphalt flies beneath his feet. All exhaustion gone. Someone yells - Yamaguchi, he'll explain later - As Tsukki tears around the corner. Chidoriyama Middle School's only a couple minutes away.
He will make it.
He will make it.]
no subject
... but then it hits him that Tsukishima is coming to help him. And when he thinks about how those two idiots will react when they see Tsukishima bear down on them, he smiles so broadly that his cheeks ache.]
Third floor, you'll hear them yelling
Thank you so much!
[And sure enough, there are two boys standing outside a closed supply closet and hollering several unkind variations on the names Sugawara and Kenzo. They're both quite a bit taller than Kenzo but that still makes them almost a foot shorter than Tsukishima, and they're clearly the snot-nosed teacher's pet brand of bullies as opposed to scruffy delinquent bullies.
Maybe their families are wealthier than the Sugawaras, or maybe they're already popular with girls - whatever the case, they have something they want to lord over the boy cowering in a closet and they intend to do it with their fists.]
no subject
[Fortunately, Tsukki is also from the Teacher's Pet mold. Knows this game inside and out.
He takes a second to pull in air. Then fixes a pleasant look on his face. Walking up calmly.]
I'm looking for a student - Sugawara Kenzo?
[Emphasizing the correct pronunciation. Still so very, very polite, of course. Nothing at all could be wrong here. Only a Senior student asking Juniors for assistance.]
no subject
You don't go here. Who are you?
[The other boy glances around uneasily, suddenly very aware that after-school clubs could start shutting down for the day at any moment and flood the hallway with eyewitnesses. All the while, Kenzo can only cross his fingers and pray that they just give up and leave already.]
no subject
[The slow walk is complete. Tsukki now looms over the boys. 'Karasuno High Volleyball Club' printed on his workout shirt.
They're smart.
You would have to be under a rock not to know the school.]
And your names?
no subject
Hey, that's his brother's school -
- shut up -
- this is bad, we should -
- SHUT UP, stop talking! -
- but they're gonna know -
[The bolder boy gives the uncertain one a hard shove toward the staircase and stays where he is just long enough to blurt out -]
We don't know! We never saw him!
[- before making a break for it right behind his friend.]
no subject
So lame!
[Tsukki laughs at their retreating backs. Precise mockery, hitting in the soft spots of their Middle School psyches. It is funny to watch the little rats scurry away!
Then he knocks on the closet door.]
Kenzo?
no subject
Not only that, but Kenzo's not all that used to talking to Tsukishima in person yet, so he winds up tongue-tied the moment he cranes his head up and remembers how massive the older boy is. Immediately, his gaze drops back down to his feet.]
Th-Thank you. I'm sorry. [One after the other, guilt overwhelming gratitude.]
no subject
[For a second, Tsukki's nine years old again. Watching another sobbing boy on the ground. He feels his chest pull tight at the wrongness. Yamaguchi, Kenzo, kids like them - it just keeps happening.
He stares at a nearby poster. Lets Kenzo collect himself. ]
How long have they been pulling this?
no subject
Um... they started this year. People have always made fun of me but this is more...
[Pointed? Targeted? Personal? Violent? It's just more, so Kenzo doesn't bother trying to finish the sentence.]
no subject
[Nothing but agreement. Tsukki heard what they said. The insults weren't even creative, because who bothers for an 'easy' target.]
Where's your locker?
We should get your stuff.
no subject
[Kenzo hurries down the hallway to a t-junction at the end with walls of lockers on either side. He hoists his bag onto his back without even bothering to check if he's got what he needs for that night's homework - he just wants to get out of the school as quickly as possible.
When he turns back to face Tsukishima again, the practice gear he's wearing finally registers. Oh no oh no -]
Were you at practice...?
no subject
I'll get my stuff on the way back.
[Fortunately, it's a direct line from the schools to the Sugawara household.]
no subject
He's silent for awhile, mostly concentrating on maintaining the quick pace necessary to keep up with Tsukishima's insanely long strides. Eventually, though, he speaks up again.]
Um... Tsukishima, do you know... like... what makes guys like that stop other than... I mean, what could I do to make them stop?
no subject
[He's never had to fight. Too tall for anyone to mess with, too smart to get caught off guard. Tsukki fired insults first, riling others up until teachers caught them, or they ran. Easy.
Kenzo doesn't have those advantages. He's more like Yamaguchi, like most people. Not weak, but not obviously strong, either.
Tsukki looks Kenzo up and down. Or. Down, really. ]
Me, I got a growth spurt and a nasty attitude. You'd have to go about it a different way.
no subject
[That's... actually quite a spirited pronouncement for Kenzo, and he immediately withdraws even deeper into his shell once it's out. It's not Tsukishima's fault that his pride is bruised right now; heck, a lot more of him would be bruised if Tsukishima didn't help.
After another silence, he goes a bit more deeply into his situation in his usual soft, halting way.]
I've been ignoring them, mostly... that's what everyone said to do. But it's just making them worse.
no subject
[Tsukki waves a hand, impressed by the outburst. It's good to hear Kenzo fire back.]
Tch.
'Ignoring' is just something adults say. You still have to hear it, don't you?
Are you part of any clubs?
no subject
He just wants to be left alone.]
Kiiiind of? I'm in music club, but - [But he's out of this world gifted, which means he can't exactly meet any of the other members where they're at.] - I just do arrangements for them, so. It's not really like being in the club.
no subject
Otherwise those guys pick you off easier.
[Tsukki's treating this as a strategy discussion more than anything else. Imagine him telling someone to spend more time in a club.
Last year he would not have believed it.]
no subject
Kenzo nods thoughtfully to let Tsukishima know he's listening and taking on the advice.]
Oh... [They're almost at Karasuno, and Kenzo's stomach plummets when he realizes he and Tsukishima will probably have to part ways here. He's still got a faint buzz of panic in the back of his mind after being cornered and trapped earlier and the last thing he wants is to be out in public alone. He stops in his tracks and balls his hands into fists in front of him, obviously working himself up to say something that he fears will cross some kind of line.]
no subject
Tsukki picks up the mood change immediately. Stopping to look at Kenzo.]
What?
no subject
He looks up, but not all the way up to meet Tsukishima's gaze. Just enough to be holding his head high instead of staring at his hands.]
I know - I know I've already troubled you a lot, but -
[There's a ringing in his ears. Encroaching panic. He doesn't want to ask this, but the alternative is so much worse. He's trapped again.]
- could you please walk with me to my house, Tsukishima? [The words all spill out in a rush and he punctuates them with a deep, respectful bow.]
no subject
[Tsukki hears his name. Spots a familiar figure approaching, with two identical bags.
"Tsukki! Where did you go?!" exclaims Yamaguchi. Handing his friend the red one. Then turns a surprised smile to Kenzo.
"Um, hi!"]
no subject
... Tsukishima is the best!!]
Oh, tha -
[New person alert! Kenzo freezes with both hands defensively clutching the crossbody strap of his schoolbag, eyes massive and face pale. This is... definitely someone else from the volleyball team. Kenzo knows his face from pictures, and he may even have been at the house once? But being taken by surprise has his mind too scrambled to place him properly.
He looks from Yamaguchi back to Tsukishima, and if anyone will recognize the look on Kenzo's face, Yamaguchi will - written all over his features is complete awe at the fact that the coolest dude he's ever met, maybe the coolest dude in the world, is somehow in his corner.]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
why does dw send me notifs for edits but not the original tags sometimes??
No idea???? BAD DW.
(no subject)
I emerge from the dEPTHS
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)