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"So during Mrs Noragami's class we had to do this chemistry experiment and-" Yamaguchi paused, stabbing his strawberry with a fork and lifting it up to Tsukishima's mouth, "this guy at the table next to us was playing with all the different solutions-" Tsukishima finished swallowing his last bite and chomped on it instantly, "this blue flame came out of the beaker!! And then his hair caught on fire and he was screaming-"
Hinata, Kageyama, and Yachi were, unfortunately, not really listening to Yamaguchi's story because they were staring in disbelief at Tsukishima, who was chewing slowly with a very content expression.
Yamaguchi had always asked Tsukishima if he wanted strawberries during lunch break whenever they served it since the first time Yamaguchi found out the blond liked the fruit, and since the answer was always a 100% yes, he stopped asking.
"-and of course I freaked out! And everyone was scrambling to leave the classroom, and they almost knocked over me, but Tsukki caught me-"
Hinata stabbed his own strawberry, lifting it up cautiously like trying to feed a wild dog. Since Hinata was sitting on his side, Tsukishima only registered the existence of the strawberry without seeing who offered it via autopilot, chomping on it again, chewing with satisfaction.
Hinata gave a small, muted gasp, eyes glittering as he lifted his now empty fork in the air, marvelling at it as if a miracle had just occurred. Kageyama and Yachi were both shocked, staring at the fork along with Hinata.
"-and Tsukki shouted "Drop and roll you fucking idiot!" and the poor dude started rolling and someone else got the fire extinguisher and put him out, but well, his hair was almost all gone..." Yamaguchi finally noticed their antics when he saw that they were clearly all(minus Tsukishima, who was zoning out) staring at Kageyama's attempts to stab a strawberry.
Kageyama lifted it with a shaking hand as well, and everyone watched with nervousness.
Tsukishima opened his mouth, and-
"What are you doing, King?" Tsukishima lifted an eyebrow, silently judging the setter who looked awkward at being caught. Kageyama glanced towards Hinata, wondering if he should sell out his friend first, then awkwardly settled on, "Y-you like strawberries, right?"
"I do." Tsukishima was waiting for a proper answer.
"So uh... I'm giving it to you!!"
"Okay," Tsukishima opened his mouth, and closed it around the strawberry, lifting it cleanly from Kageyama's fork. "Thanks," he mumbled around his chews.
"Woooahhhh!" Hinata cheered, and reached across the table to give Kageyama a double hi-five. Tsukishima raised his eyebrow again. What was this, some kind of dare that succeeded? Feed Tsukishima at the risk of your lives?
"We're totally friends with Tsukishima now!!" Hinata cheered.
Wait. What?
"What?" Yamaguchi chuckled, half-confused, half-amused.
"Yachi, you should do it too!" Hinata urged enthusiastically.
Flustered, their manager hurriedly stabbed her own strawberry, holding it out with both hands.
"...You don't have to go along with them, you can eat it yourself," Tsukishima sighed, wondering what the hell this was about now.
"No!"
Tsukishima blinked at the loud and vehement denial. Yachi visibly gathered her courage, breathing in a deep breath.
"I-I want to be friends with you too!" her face was red, and her eyes were becoming teary.
"Wait, calm down, Yachi-san. I don't get it. Why do you want to be friends with me?"
Tsukishima couldn't comprehend. What's there about him that would make people want to be friends with him? It was a miracle that Yamaguchi stuck around in the first place. Wait, does it sound like he's fishing for compliments now?
"Nevermind, you don't-"
"Um! I, um, you're really smart and, y-you... you're always there for Yamaguchi-kun! Like he told us about the time you stood up for him against the bullies, and how you rejected this group of girls in public because they were bad-mouthing Yamaguchi-kun and, um-" Yachi turned to Hinata and Kageyama for help.
"Y-You're like really tall!" Hinata blurted out. "And you're really good at insults! It's especially great when there's someone looking down on Karasuno!"
"Your blocks are really good!" Kageyama added on. This was followed by whispers between them of "Wait idiot, is that even a compliment?" and "Not like yours was better!"
"I want us to get along because we're on the same team!" Hinata declared loudly as he slammed the table, face glowing with determination. This caused Tsukishima to choke on his strawberry milk, like what was this, some shoujo manga? Yamaguchi patted his back helpfully.
"I think you're a really great person!" Yachi added on, matching Hinata's vigour.
"M-Me too!" Kageyama was not going to lose. "You're a very good blocker!"
They were getting so loud that they garnered the attention of a few tables around them. Blushing in embarrassment, Tsukishima pushed up his glasses to hide his face- not that it was much use, he's the tallest blond in Karasuno- and shushed them.
"Shut up, I get it!"
They hushed, all looking at his reaction now. Yamaguchi looked very concerned about how red his friend was. Tsukishima couldn't think right now, flooded by all the praises he wasn't used to and all the attention he didn't want.
"Are we friends now?" Hinata broke the silence, pouting. "Please?"
"You can't just... 'please' someone into being friends," Tsukishima retorted, burying his face in his hands.
"Will you- Will you eat my strawberry too?!" Yachi raised her voice to a dangerous level now, so Tsukishima lifted his flaming red face. That sounded kind of wrong.
"I got it! Just stop being so loud you idiots!"
Tsukishima griped Yachi's wrist, pulling her hand over so he could lean down and eat the strawberry. "There. Happy?"
Yachi gasped, staring at her empty fork with wonder. Hinata starting clapping for her, so Kageyama followed suit, and the cafeteria started clapping by some kind of wave effect, where people started clapping without even knowing what was going on.
"Goddammit," Tsukishima pushed his tray inwards so he could put his arms on the table and hide his face in them. Even the tips of his ears were burning red. He hoped that the Karasuno senpais didn't hear about this.
"Guys, stop clapping," Yamaguchi pleaded on his poor friend's behalf.
"Yamaguchi, how did you become Tsukishima's friend?" Hinata asked as he finally stopped clapping.
"I uh, I followed him around every day until he gave up," Yamaguchi replied, scratching the back of his head, looking sheepish yet proud at the same time. "We always ended up in the same classes somehow."
"Shut up, Yamaguchi, don't give them ideas..." Tsukishima's voice was muffled.
"Okay! We're transferring classes!" Hinata shouted with determination.
"But your grades..." Yachi replied haltingly. They were in college preparation classes after all.
"I forgot!!" Kageyama and Hinata shouted at the same time, having an existential crisis as they held their heads, thinking of how to be with Tsukishima 24/7.
"We can make up for school time by living at Tsukishima's house!" Kageyama suggested like it was a brilliant idea.
Hinata, of course, was completely sold. "You're a genius, Kageyama! I'm sure Natsu would understand if I'm away for a few days!"
"I got it! We're friends!" Tsukishima sounded defeated. "Don't come to my house! Your thought process is frightening."
"Huh? But friends go to each other's houses right?" the way Kageyama phrased it was like he never had a friend. It just sounded pathetic. Tsukishima almost felt pity for him.
"Yeah!!" Hinata nodded rapidly. "They do!!"'
"My life is being invaded," Tsukishima groaned.
Yamaguchi, at that point, decided that Tsukishima needed more friends in his life and he was going to call the shots. "We could go on Sunday and do our homework together!"
Tsukishima stared at him like he had two heads.
Pre-emptively before Tsukishima said anything, he chuckled sheepishly and said, "Sorry, Tsukki."
"I'll go!!!" Hinata raised his hand like he was in class, waving it around excitedly.
"M-Me too!" Yachi nodded fervently.
"Uh, me twee- three!" Kageyama stuttered, stumbling over his words.
...
Everyone was staring at Tsukishima again, eyes wide with anticipation.
"... 10 am," he sighed grudgingly.
"Okay! Let's exchange numbers!" Yamaguchi took out his phone, and the other first-years followed suit.
"Uh, how do you..." Kageyama pressed around, with it being his first smartphone.
"God, just give it to me," Tsukishima grumbled, taking it out of Kageyama's hands to key in his number and saved his contact rapidly.
"So fast!!" Hinata gaped in admiration. "Mine too mine too!" he held it out to Tsukishima, who sighed, accepting it.
"I'll make a group on LINE!" Yamaguchi beamed, excited.
That was the day everyone got Tsukishima’s contact info.