his shirt feels sticky with sweat. as if someone pasted glue and stuck it onto his favorite hurley shirt. the pencil that he clutched in his hands also felt slightly wet. he subtly takes a glance onto the clock that reads 2:52 which means that he has exactly 8 minutes before he can finally escape the ruination that is math class. he quickly shifts his eyes to his paper as the teacher decides to point his stare at the whole class. 

"we, class, have a new project that will be done partners." as the word 'partner' sinks into everyone's minds, the whole class is turned into a chatter of many kinds. words like 'yo jan i got you' and 'wanna be partners?' cause the teacher's bald head to redden in embarrassment. 

"i meant as in i pick the partners. i'm the teacher after all." mr. dixon laughs as if wildly proud of him and his accomplishments. his transparent smile cuts through everyone's painted faces. tadashi looks down. 

no one in this class appeals to him. every partner will just cut him with their stony hard face and their sweet, succulent smile, then spread salt into his wound like a true emperor. tadashi frowns as reality sinks in. 

"oikawa tooru and kenma kozume." tadashi looks back at the two— flashing devious smiles at each other. they are friends. that means that they are going to have fun embarking on this journey together. two heart beating at the same time. 

"kuroo tetsurou and yuuji terushima." the two look into each other's eyes, as both somewhat don't like each other. tadashi shivers as he remembers yuuji bragging in english about his new tongue piercing. 

dyed hair screams out trouble. 

"iwaizumi hajime and tsukishima kei." tadashi looks around for the latter one. he then remembers that he's sick. 

tadashi pales. 

"he's sick today sir." asahi azumane pipes up. 

"fine, yamaguchi tadashi. you're going to be with iwaizumi hajime." 

two hearts beating in an array that is not rhythmic. a grand epiphany with ethereal features paired up with a person with evanescent courage. a fearful youth with hopeless fantasies with someone who is always placed in a fantasy. 

he sighs. it's not that iwaizumi-san is a bad person. it's just that he would much rather go with ten other people that ticks him off. tadashi wills to be wanted. to be surrounded with a solar system of his own. 

but right now he feels like pluto.