"Be careful, okay?" Shoyo Hinata said cautiously to his crippled sister, Natsu as he tried to hold her arm to walk towards the toilet. She was already used to walking with crutches so this was a challenge for her, walking without any help of the tool. Natsu took a step at a time, trying not to trigger any fall. Her face displayed determination, dotted with sweat as she tried to take on the challenge. With the aid of her brother, she managed to reach the toilet within a few minutes.
"Yay! This is a new record!" They cheered and they slapped their palms together. They walked back to the living room again and just then they heard a beeping truck outside their home. The truck was loaded with some furniture. Incomprehensible words exited the driver's mouth. He was replied with more incomprehensible words.
"Daddy! Are we going to stay here? I don't feel safe." A boy said worriedly and puffed his cheeks.
"Yes, we are going to stay here. Don't worry. While I go to work, I can drop you off at a daycare. You remember Uncle Sugawara? He said there's a daycare somewhere nearby." His father replied.
Hinata caught sight of a tall man in his late 20s with neat crow black hair, slanted eyes and a boy with tousled hazel coloured hair. They must be the new neighbours. The boy was holding a plushie that looked like a rather deformed cartoon alien. Huge black eyes with white dots as pupils, bridge-less nose with only two holes as nostrils and the body was smaller than the head.
Hinata, being an extrovert, took a lemon flavoured lollipop from a can that was filled with variety of sweets and walked out his home to greet them. "I will be right back, Natsu!" He said to his sister.
He looked at the little boy for a moment before gesturing to him to come nearer as his father was chatting with the driver.
"What's your name, little boy?" Hinata asked, kneeling down in front of him.
"Daddy told me to not to talk to strangers."
"How cautious. You see, I am your new neighbour and I live next door! I'm Shoyo Hinata." He held up the lollipop and offered it to the little boy.
His eyes brightened up and took it from Hinata's hands. He peeled off the wrapping and popped it into his mouth. "My name is Tooru. Kageyama Tooru."
"Aww, how adorable!" Hinata cooed at Tooru.
Hinata was blurred from his focus for a few seconds before realising that Tooru's father hit him in the head.
"What the hell are you doing with my kid? Are you trying to kidnap my son? Get lost you dumbass!" Kageyama barked, shielding Tooru from the short stranger. He snatched the lollipop in his son's hand and tossed it away in disgust. Tooru crossed his arms and pouted, about to cry.
Hinata fumbled to his feet and looked at Kageyama. "Excuse me! I'm not kidnapping your son! I was only offering him a lollipop. My sister and I lived next door and we noticed your truck outside!"
Kageyama's eyebrows brought together bitterly and barked back. "And why do you think we should believe your words?!"
"We literally lived here," Hinata pointed at his house as Natsu walked slowly towards him with a pair of crutches.
"Are you okay, big brother? I saw you tottered just now." Natsu looked at her brother confused and turned to gaze at the enraged man.
"I'm fine. Let's go, Natsu." Hinata turned and walked back to his house, pulling Natsu along by her arm. He kept an indifferent face and tried to hide his crossed feeling.
Kageyama huffed at Hinata and continued to chat with the truck driver.
"Let's go, Tooru. We will move the furniture about." Kageyama signaled his son to come. Little Tooru furrowed his eyebrows and started to stomp his foot on the ground.
"No! I want to play with Hinata!" He wailed. "Why did you chase him away?! He's not a bad guy, you... you..." Tooru paused to look for a right word. "... judgmental person?"
Kageyama rolled his eyes at Tooru and said, "No, Tooru. You can't play with him. He cannot be trusted. He might take you away from me. Who knows? I don't want to lose you, Tooru. Mom has left us for another man and I know we are unhappy with that but let's face it: you cannot leave my side. I cannot live without you." His eyes were glassy at a glance.
"Tobio-kun, I-I have something to say." A woman stuttered.
"What is it?" Kageyama lifted his gaze from the newspaper he was reading at the moment.
"I have been cheating on you for the past few years. I couldn't keep this secret anymore. It hurts me every day seeing you loving me yet I'm hurting you indirectly. This isn't fair. But, I don't love you anymore. I just couldn't bring myself to tell you." She blurted out her heart's content, tears streaming from her chestnut coloured eyes.
Kageyama was appalled by the news. His wife? Cheating on him? FOR YEARS? Introduced by friends from the same college, dated since they were 18, made love at times, cuddled when bored, married when they graduated, had a honeymoon at Osaka. Where did it go wrong? They had such a good life together, they had little Tooru a few years later. So what made his wife turned back from her so-called mistake?
"When did you start cheating on me?" He whispered. His voice barely came out, still stunned by the news.
"A year after we got married." She shifted her gaze to the floor instead, avoiding looking Kageyama in his eyes.
"So... Tooru. Whose child is it?" He asked with his fists clenched into balls, ready to punch the wall if he receives unwanted answers. Silence. "Answer me!"
"He's my lover's, Oikawa. But he doesn't know."
Kageyama knelt down in dismay. His son, no, someone else's son, has been under their care for full 4 years and he did not know it. He was there in the labour when his wife gave birth to Tooru. Pain was pulsing through her nerves, contracting and expanding, pushing the baby through. She was sweating profusely and gripping tightly to his hands. An hour later, a sweet little baby was born. His hair was soft, his nose and eyes were identical to his mom's. He looked nothing suspicious, just an innocent newly born infant.
"I'm filing a divorce. I haven't sign the form yet. I'm just notifying you." She informed. "I'm going to leave once the divorce is done. However, I won't be taking any of your property. I won't take anything with me either except for my clothes and personal belongings. Everything else stays."
They filled the petition form in silence. They paid the fees. They sent in the form. They filled in more forms. Everything came to an agreement and there we go: They are now divorced. However, the unfaithful woman decided not to take her child along but instead left him under Kageyama's care. He didn't like it at first, but agreed to take care of Oikawa's child. On the night before she left, Kageyama asked, "Why did you cheat on me?"
"You were getting more distant day by day ever since we were married. You never noticed that. I felt like I have married the wrong person. You were never the same person I have met when we were still in the college. You buried yourself in your work. When you came home, you just eat your dinner and then go to sleep. If you are going to use stress as an excuse, I'm sorry but I have met someone much better than you. You never open up to me and kept your secrets bottled up. You have changed, Tobio-kun. I bid you farewell."
Poor Tooru, he couldn't cope his life without his mother but eventually he understood the situation and just went along with the flow. He may seem to be too young to understand but he's intelligent enough to comprehend Kageyama's words.
Kageyama's phone vibrated, meaning he has just received a new message.
"About the daycare I told you about, good news! You just moved in NEXT TO IT. Wow. Such good luck! -Suga"
His house was at the corner, the last of the street. Shit. Does that mean that orange hair dude is running that place?
"Oh, by the way. The guy managing it is called Shoyo Hinata. He's extremely friendly and awesome. -Suga"
Shit. How could he make it up to the guy he just called a dumbass?