o17. ⛅️🦢🏐 ↬ SHOULD WE GIVE
THEM A ROOM ?
— No!

Being late was something most people found to be a tad annoying unless you were a certain middle blocker on the Karasunos' girl volleyball team you found it to be the most irritating thing to happen to a person. Being a few minutes late was never the end of the world, after all, life gets the best of us sometimes unless your name was Jeon Sonmi.

Sonmi was not a person to be late, instead, she was a punctual person, someone who normally would be on time for events or ten minutes early. But now was one of the times when the world had kicked her in the stomach and made her late once again for practice with the boys' team. This wasn't really her fault, her last tutoring appointment didn't end up showing up until fifteen minutes before his appointment was over, and basically had a whole textbook's worth of homework to do. Though Sonmi would've been in the right to cancel due to her prior obligations, she instead decided to not put the boy through a whirlwind by himself and stayed to help him.

"Eight nineteen" Sonmi said as she passed by a clock in the hallway, she was shuffling along the halls with her books and papers in her hand. She was struggling to stuff all her belongings into her school bag and speedwalk at the same time. Anyone she passed by probably thought she was a madman, but at this moment she didn't care. The only thing she could think about was the fact was this was the fourth time she had been late to the boy's practice that she had promised to attend.

Her footsteps echoed through the hallway, she pushed through the heavy metal doors that lead to the outdoor gym. She could see the lights still on in the gym, "Great! I can just sneak in and hopefully, they won't notice." She thought to herself. The girl reached the door to the gym, peaking her head in, and saw practice was over and the boys were instead talking.

"This isn't something you can just run away from!" Daichi shouted through the gym, his face looking upset and disappointed.

Sonmi quickly snuck in behind some of the boys, setting her books and stuff down as quietly as she could, she was confused at the scene and trying to piece together what could be happening. Her eyes landed on Kami who was across the gym, she knew she would tell her what was happening.

"Okay, so what's failing? How bad can I do?" Hinata asked, he looked like he was ready to cry.

Sugas' mouth gaped open, "Are you serious?" He shouted furiously at Hinata, he looked like he couldn't believe it as he placed his face in his palm.

The attention now switched over to Kageyama who sat on the ground in a fetal position, he looked almost lifeless and his face was now white. Yamaguchi quickly took notice of his state and shouted, "You guys I think Kageyama is dead!"

Sonmi made her way over to Kami, she grabbed her forearm to gain her attention. The short girl looked over quickly with an annoyed expression before she realized it was Sonmi, her annoyed face dropped and a smile appeared instead. Sonmi gave her a confused look before she asked, "What's happening? What's all this commotion about?"

"So basically Hinata, Kageyama, Noya, and Tanaka..." Before Kami was able to finish her sentence, someone cut her off.

"These idiots are gonna fail their exams and not be able to come to Tokyo." The voice was thick and anyone who heard it could tell this person spoke with a large smirk along their face. Sonmi moved her head towards the sound of the voice to realize it was Tsukishima. His sight stayed forward at the group of boys panicking, his smirk standing place in its' usual spot.

Kami gave Tsukishima a glare, "They have to pass all their exams or they will have to take extra classes and miss the training camp in Tokyo." She explained, causing Sonmi to nod in understanding.

Tsukishima took note of Sonmi not acknowledging what he had said, which bothered him to his core. He was supposed to be the one ignoring her so he would stop having feelings for her, "Why didn't she ask me to explain?" He quietly scoffed under his breath before he moved over to stand on the other side of Sonmi, not because he wanted to be near her but instead to be closer to the conversation.

"Well, there is already high pressure for us third years to make good grades since we decided to stay in the club." Suga explained now scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"Yeah none of us can afford to fail." Tsukishima perked up again, his hands now crossed across his body.

Hinata now looked like a lightbulb had gone off in his head, "Wait, maybe if we ask the vice principal nicely we can!" He suggested.

Tsukishima snickered, "Why don't you put all that energy into actually passing your classes?" He spoke to Hinata, who now went back to being on the verge of tears.

Sonmi let out a small laugh at the joke, she was trying her best to ignore Tsukishima today. She was trying to not cause a scene for one practice and she figured the best way to do that was to ignore both Tsukishima and Asahi for the day.

"So you're acknowledging me now?" Tsukishima whispered to the girl, his arms still crossed and he would not dare to look down at her.

Sonmi looked up at the blonde, furrowing her brows, "What are you even talking about?" She lied, knowing exactly what he was talking about. She was surprised he caught onto her so quickly, but then again this was Tsukishima she was talking to, he can sense pretty much anything about her.

Tsukishima quickly shrugged the situation off, walking away from the girl before he got angry. Though the two hadn't talked about it, they certainly didn't wanna cause any scenes in front of everyone, it would simply turn into a huge joke with everyone teasing the two about how they like each other.

In the middle of the gym were Tanaka and Nishinoya who were both on their knees, staring up with their hands in the sign of prayer.

"You're already saying your prayers? How bad is this?" Suga shouted.

Everyone quickly defused from the situation, everyone instead started to clean up from the meeting. Though the four boys were still stressed, they were all thinking of game plans when it came to what they were gonna do for exam season.

Sonmi was trying her best to help the boys, but Daichi had insisted since she didn't play and since the gym was not too messy, that they didn't need the extra set of hands. The girl instead took her time trying to organize her books and paper into her school bag.

Tsukishima was rolling the bin of volleyballs into the storage room when he saw Sonmi was by herself, he was planning to walk her home again, but he didn't wanna ask with anyone around to avoid the teasing. The boy picked up the pace as he tried to wheel the bin faster across the gym floor.

"Tsuki," Tsukishima knew that voice like no other, he turned his attention towards Yamaguchi, "I was wondering if you wanted to walk back tonight?"

The blonde boy mentally smacked himself in the face, he couldn't say no because if Yamaguchi would find out, Tsukishima would never hear the end of it, "Yeah," He started to answer, "But I was planning to walk Sonmi home, considering how late it is."

Yamaguchi could feel himself smile, he tried to stuff back a laugh, "Oh yeah, cause it's late." He laughed, making air quotes when he said 'It's late'.

Tsukishima rolled his eyes, "Oh shut up." He spat as he continued to put the volleyballs away. As soon as he finished his last task, he turned himself in the direction of Sonmi.

Sonmi was finally finishing up fixing her bookbag to her liking, she smiled to herself as she placed the last book into her bag. The girl swiftly stood up and grabbed her stuff off the floor, spinning around to be greeted by a red-faced Tsukishima, "Oh! Tsukishima, you scared me."

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Tsukishima could feel his nerves tensing in his body, he hated the feelings he experienced around Sonmi, but he couldn't help but want to continue to be around her, "I was wondering if you wanted to walk home with Yamaguchi and me?"

Sonmi would usually find it odd for Tsukishima to ask her to walk with him, but then again, it's like Tsukshima is a totally different person when he's around her. She could tell he seemed a bit nervous, which was extremely out of character, "I'd like that Tsuki."

"Great, uh, let me just get my bag and find Yamaguchi." Tsukishima smiled, quickly scurrying off.

~~~

The walk with Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Sonmi was anything but fun. The three oddly did not talk much nor say anything on their walk. They all simply walked, avoiding eye contact, and too scared to say anything. It certainly did not help the already awkward atmosphere that Yamaguchi was standing in between Tsukishima and Sonmi. The two were unsure if he did this on purpose or if it was a mere accident, but either way, the two certainly did wanna walk next to each other.

"So it turns out Kageyama gets bad grades too, you'd think he'd be a little smarter than the rest of them." Yamaguchi finally spoke, his tone sounding light-hearted, trying to bring the mood up, "Hinata doesn't surprise me though." This comment caused Sonmi to laugh.

Hearing Sonmi laugh at Yamaguchis' joke made Tsukshima want to throw up, he didn't wanna hear her laugh at his joke, let alone see it. He quickly added, "Yeah his brain is just like a volleyball, nothing but space inside."

"Tsukishima!" A voice called from behind the trio, they all turned around to see Hinata and Kageyama behind them. The pair made their way toward the group, "Will you help us study?"

"Me?" Tsukishima started, "No  thanks." He stated blankly.

Sonmi couldn't believe Tsukishima so quickly turned down their request, she could certainly tell this was the Tsukishima everyone else knew. The girl could hear the boys all begin to bicker, but she decided to tune out the conversation. She was irritated that Tsukishima acted too harshly towards the pair even though they merely asked a question, they knew he was smart so they obviously would come to him. "Wasn't he the one who said none of them could afford to fail? So why wouldn't he take the time to help them?" Was all she could think to himself.

"I wanna hear you beg."

This quickly perked Sonmis' interest in the conversation again, she realized Tsukishima was trying to get Kageyama to beg. This furthered her anger, "You know, I can help too." The two boys now looked over to Sonmi.

Tsukishima rolled his eyes, "Sonmi, don't waste your time on these idi.."

"You don't need to tell me what to waste my time on." Sonmi cut him off, her eyes now looking into his, her eyebrows were furrowed and her face was turning a bright shade of red due to her anger. Here Tsukishima was, acting like a complete asshole around everyone, but whenever they are alone, he was a completely different person. The girl sighed, mentally kicking herself for believing he would ever change himself for her.

Tsukishima could feel himself getting angry, "And you don't need to help them if I already am!" He spat back.

"I'm offering, you are making them beg you."

"Should we give them a room?" Yamaguchi asked.

"NO!" The two now looked over at the three boys, realizing they had been getting too into their argument. It was almost like day one when Sonmi and Tsukishima had first met, arguing and fighting with each other over stupid stuff. The two quickly caught their breath and stopped their argument.

"We can both try to help you." Sonmi spoke, looking to Tsukishima for a sign of agreement.

Tsukishima looked to Sonmi, nodding quickly, "There goes not making a scene today." He thought to himself.

Hinata and Kageyama left soon after discussing the details of the agreement, leaving the trio to continue their walks back to their respective homes. This time, the air was even more awkward than before, Yamaguchi even tried to make a few jokes to which neither Sonmi nor Tsukishima would respond. The three instead all walked in silence and thought to themselves until they came to a fork in the road.

"I have to turn here," Sonmi spoke quietly.

The boys paused in their tracks, staring at Sonmi as she stood with her head down in front of them.

Tsukishima could tell Sonmi was avoiding eye contact with him, he felt bad for fighting with her, and he definitely did not wanna leave on a bad note with her.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow." She spoke before turning around, and walking down the street.

Tsukishima could feel his blood running through his veins, "Yamaguchi, wait here, I'll be right back." He then rushed off to try to catch up to Sonmi, "Sonmi!" He called.

Sonmi recognized that call, it was like that night was happening all over again. She could feel her hands getting tense, her heart beating faster, all as she turned to face Tsukishima again.

"Hey," He spoke, brushing his hand on her arm, "I just wanted to apologize for being an ass back there. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you for trying to help, I'm sorry if I made you upset."

Sonmi rolled her eyes, "This is exactly why I get mad," She started, causing Tsukishima to give her a confused look, "You just treat me like shit in front of everyone because you don't want them to know that you like me. You will fight with me in front of people but behind closed doors, you're all nice to me? Are you embarrassed by me or something? What's so bad about you being nice to me in front of everyone else?"

"I-I," He started to speak, but he was unsure how to respond. He wasn't intentionally doing it, or he thought he wasn't.

Before he could continue, Sonmi could feel tears coming on, "How do you think that makes me feel?" Sonmi asked him, watching as he stared at her with pleading eyes.

"I'm really sorry Sonmi."

Sonmi sighed, a tear rolling down her cheek, "I'm sorry Tsuki, but sorry isn't going to cut it this time." The girl turned away from the boy, continuing her way back to her house. Sonmi could feel her tears rolling down her cheeks, "Here I am, crying over Tsukishima again." She thought to herself.

Tsukishima also turned back, catching up with Yamaguchi. His head hung low, his face was pale, and he looked physically ill. Once he caught up with Yamaguchi again, he just simply said, "Let's go."

"Trouble in paradise?" Yamaguchi joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Please shut up."