Chapter Text
It started off with a single petal.
The summer breeze was warm, wrapping around Yamaguchi like a silk scarf, leaving as quickly as it came. He peered at the small, fan-shaped petal. It looked white. He couldn’t really tell from the soft orange glow of the setting sun.
Yamaguchi looked up from where he was laying down underneath the flowering dogwood tree. Maybe one of them had fallen down. It looked nothing like those petals, though. Weird.
He coughed again, throat tickling.
“Hey, you okay?” Tsukishima said, nudging Yamaguchi with his elbow.
Yamaguchi hummed, nodding his head. “Just a cough.” They were playing with some new cards Tsukishima had brought over. Yamaguchi’s head was on Tsukki’s lap, and from this angle, neither of them could see the other’s cards. Tsukishima didn’t seem to mind the fact that Yamaguchi always clung onto him so much, so they spent a lot of time together, even outside of school hours.
“Hmm,” Tsukishima said, his eyebrows pinching together. “Maybe you should get that checked out.” Then he smirked. “I win.”
“Aww no fair!” Yamaguchi groaned, throwing his hands. He glared at his friend, letting out a puff of breath. “Again. Let’s play again,” he insisted, watching as Tsukishima gathered up the cards from the grass.
“Another time. It’s getting late.”
A pout, then a sigh from Yamaguchi. He wanted to spend more time with his best friend. He looked at him then, looked at the sun rays lighting up Tsukishima’s face, and his heart skipped a beat. It reminded him of the time he first met Tsukki. Yamaguchi would never forget the moment the other kids backed off from teasing and poking fun at him. That day was as sunny and bright as this one, and Tsukishima had been glowing under the sun. It was a soft glow, from the way his eyelashes fanned across his cheeks to the way his legs seemed to glide across the swaying grass in the summer breeze.
Tsukki’s really handsome , Yamaguchi thought. Tsukishima glanced over at him and cocked his head.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” He was glimmering in the sunlight with his golden hair and radiant skin.
Yamaguchi stammered. “I – I was waiting. For you.” Tsukishima frowned, looking him over. Yamaguchi felt his face heat up. He really hoped he wasn’t sweating.
“Your cheeks are red. Maybe we’ve been out for too long. Next time you should sit in the shade.” He took out his water bottle and handed it over to him. “Here, put this on your face.”
Yamaguchi felt something crawling up his throat, and before he could even register the cough, he was hacking away.
Two petals landed in his palm. Same fan shape. Same white color. He closed his fist quickly, shoving it into his pocket.
“You okay?” Tsukishima asked.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” he smiled. “Just a cough.”