I just wanted some strawberry lemonade on my way home. I promised mom that I would run a few errands for her after practice, but it took forever. I finally was at the store, picking up butter and a strawberry lemonade for myself.

The door dinged as I entered the store, causing the clerk and a few others to look my direction. However, there was a tall blonde figure by the drinks who didn't seem to notice. I noticed him, though.

"Tsukki~" I called.

The man instantly cringed with irritation and turned to face me. It was definitely the chipper Tsukishima, and he looked anything but impressed to see me.

"Can I just get my shortcake in peace?" he grumbled.

"C'mon Tsukki, I don't ever get to see you besides class. And you flee so quickly," I complained.

"Wonder why," he snarled.

I couldn't help but smile up at him. He was so easy to annoy.

"Walk home together?" I asked.

I didn't really expect him to agree. Without Tadashi around, I figured he'd just tell me to get lost, but he didn't.

"Do I have much of a choice? It's dark out, and a loud and annoying girl like you is bound to put yourself into danger," he mumbled.

I wanted to hide my smile, but I couldn't. I knew that he didn't hate me that much. We both got what we needed and excited the store. Silence lingered over us, but at this point, I was used to that with him. It was almost comforting to just walk along someone at night without having to say a word.

"That tangerine was asking about you the other day," he suddenly spoke.

I looked up at him almost shocked that he decided to speak to me.

"WH-what did he say?" I asked, wanting to hit myself for stuttering.

"Asking when you were coming around again. He's trying to work on hitting around the block...and you aren't the worst at blocking," he explained. "...but Dachi said you weren't coming around for a while."

"Yeah, my Japanese grade isn't the best. Coach told Takeda that I wasn't allowed to be at practices until my grade was up," I explained to him.

"Japanese, we literally- oh, that's right," the mumbled to himself. "You look a lot smarter than you are. I wouldn't take you to be the type to fail."

"Well...I get sidetracked sometimes..." I tried to defend myself.

"What? With volleyball?" He snickered.

"No...well yeah, but friends, and other hobbies...something you wouldn't know. You're in all those college prep classes. What's it like to not have a life?" I snapped back.

He rolled his eyes at me but didn't respond. We continued to walk, and it seemed that it was the end of conversation. As salty as he seemed, it didn't seem as harsh tonight. Maybe he wasn't so bad...

My thoughts had kept me entertained enough until we reached my house. Tsukishima didn't seem to notice that I was stuck in my own thoughts the whole time, but how could he with his headphones in. It was clear that I wasn't a top priority for him, or so I made myself think. But why else would he agree to walking me home?

Look at yourself, (Y/N). This guy has shown little interest in you, and now you are just searching.

I knew I needed to get out of my own thoughts, but the more I was around the grumpy guy, the more I was interested in him. I didn't know anything about him, but I wanted to change that. Although, he's made it clear that I am just a nuisance.

"I heard you guys had your game against Nekoma. How was that?" I shyly asked.

"I mean we lost...pretty typical," he shortly replied.

"Don't sound so enthused," I mumbled.

"What was that?" he bitterly replied.

I decided not to press the issue. In all honesty, in the time that I have been around him, I haven't once seen him get overly enthused about volleyball. I didn't make much sense to me. He has the height and strategic mind, but he refused to actually apply himself. I wanted to speak my mind about it, but it would only start an argument. We were almost home anyways.

"Thank you for walking me home..." I quietly spoke.

He looked down at me for a moment before rolling his eyes. "Don't bring it up. I only did it because if something happened to you, the team would kill me; it seemed simpler to just go with you. It won't be a regular thing."

His words were cold, but the look in his yellow eyes were not. No matter what I tried, I couldn't get a good read on the guy. I knew that he wanted me to leave him alone, but my intuition was telling me to not leave him alone.

We were finally to the front of my house.

"Either way, thank you," I told him.

He didn't look back at me but only picked at his fingers. "Just don't say anything."

With that, he continued his way home, while I went inside to help my mother with supper.