Personal Garden
A Haikyuu! oneshot
by mew-tsubaki
Note: The Haikyuu! characters belong to Furudate Haruichi-sensei, not to me. For the prompt "flowers." -w- Read, review, and enjoy! *Done for ennotana week on tumblr.*
- ^-^3
On Monday, a dandelion is held in front of his nose, petal touching tip, yellow to pink. Ennoshita has no clue what spurred the occasion.
"What?" Tanaka asks, looking at him funny for Ennoshita looking at him funny. He furrows his brow, widens his small, light brown eyes, and shrugs, and there's an indication in his body language that he could shrink back and pull the flower away depending on Ennoshita's reaction. Even though nothing about Tanaka Ryuunosuke screams "hesitation" on the volleyball court, somehow that half-hearted shrug changes that perception, and Ennoshita realizes Tanaka has it in him to be timid. How cute.
"I'm surprised," Ennoshita admits, and he's glad they're the first in the clubroom this afternoon, just captain and vice-captain, without their friends or the second years or the new first years around to pry into their business. But, having just changed into clothes for afternoon practice, Ennoshita wonders what Tanaka expects him to do with this. Not to mention—dandelions are weeds, aren't they? He glances from the flower to Tanaka.
There's no doubt in his mind that the weed connection is lost on Tanaka. Tanaka saw something pretty, so he picked it for "someone pretty," as he would put it. And there's nothing wrong with that. The only part bugging Ennoshita is the belief he might be the "someone pretty."
Nevertheless, the gesture is there, so Karasuno's new captain accepts the flower and tucks it into the side mesh pocket on his duffle bag beside Tanaka's on the shelf. "Thank you," he says, at a loss for any better words when he knows what's running through Tanaka's head, what supposedly has been running through the ace's head for several months—what Ennoshita is skeptical to trust.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spies Tanaka beaming, and Ennoshita's cheeks warm, the dandelion no longer the only colorful thing in the room.
- ^-^3
On Tuesday, a pair of carnations—one white, one red—is dropped into his lap during lunch. They're up on the rooftop, Nishinoya with them, Kinoshita and Narita running behind in joining the gang, so only Nishinoya is there to witness Tanaka's ridiculousness.
"Two?" Ennoshita asks, putting his bento aside while the Wonder Twins high-five each other.
"Yep!" Tanaka confirms, unwrapping a melon bread and biting a hunk off. At least, all these years later, he's learned to talk after he chews and swallows. "Because why not? Two's better than one."
Ennoshita opens his mouth and closes it, trying to read Tanaka. He narrows his eyes at the shaven-haired teen, who merely grins and chats with Nishinoya about the quiz in Modern Literature scheduled for tomorrow.
Hmm. This isn't…some language of flowers thing, is it? People-smart and average student though Tanaka is, Ennoshita just can't reconcile the idea with Tanaka's personality. Besides, even though Ennoshita doesn't know the specifics, even he's fairly certain the two colors today send mixed messages.
…y'know. If there were messages even to mix up.
Ennoshita ignores the pleasant feeling bubbling in his gut and places the flowers beside him, picking up his bento once again. Not one to forget his manners, he mumbles a small "thank you" before resuming eating.
Tanaka flashes him another smile, and Ennoshita wonders if he's the only one receiving presents these days.
- ^-^3
On Wednesday, three pink rosebuds are presented to him, as if they're a bouquet of a dozen of the most gorgeous and expensive red roses on the market, i.e., with a flourish.
Ennoshita figured two days ago this might happen, if Tanaka kept up with this game. But now he can't believe Tanaka actually has ambushed him on the way to school, and he curses Kinoshita and Narita to high heaven for standing off to the side laughing. At least Narita has the decency to stifle his snickers, Kinoshita…!
"I—" The captain's mouth grows dry, so he takes the buds in hand and settles Tanaka with a mildly disgruntled look. He leans forward so only Tanaka hears. "You really don't have to do this, you know."
Tanaka snorts. "But I want to?"
"You're asking me?"
Tanaka cocks his head to one side. Then he pauses to throw the other two a look, so Narita gives in and ushers Kinoshita onwards to school, even though the blond yowls about wanting to stay and watch the show. Only once the street is theirs and theirs alone does Tanaka turn back to Ennoshita, and he reaches up to brush a lock of hair behind Ennoshita's left ear.
The action makes Ennoshita completely jittery, and he frowns, his grip on the rosebuds' stems tight. He doesn't meet Tanaka's eyes again, instead choosing a spot on the other boy's collar to observe.
Tanaka exhales, something heavy and akin to a sigh, but he doesn't back away. Rather, he turns so he can walk beside Ennoshita, and he bumps his backpack against his friend's arm. "Want to catch up with them?" he asks, jabbing a thumb in Kinoshita and Narita's direction.
Ennoshita nods, a little relieved. But the buds have him out of it, Tanaka's sincerity has him out of it, so they catch up to the other two and Nishinoya joins them, and the five are on the way to school, and they're almost to the lockers at school when Ennoshita remembers to thank Tanaka for this morning's gift.
Considering his attitude earlier, Tanaka should say something along the lines of "Don't think about it." But he doesn't. He just grins like usual, and Ennoshita's stomach does that flip-flop again.
The captain's still rooted to the spot when Narita nudges him to get a move on. "Or we're both going to be late for homeroom," he scolds the brunet, and he points to Ennoshita's outdoor shoes.
Ennoshita snaps out of it and hastily changes into his indoor shoes, using Narita to lean on so he doesn't have to stoop. The whole time, he never asks Narita to hold the flowers, and he nearly keeps them on him until Narita suggests he put them in his shoe cubby for safekeeping.
- ^-^3
On Thursday, he wonders if Tanaka will bring him something new.
On Thursday, Tanaka does: He produces a fledgling sunflower at the shoe lockers that morning, and Narita's warnings about them being late to homeroom fall on deaf ears.
Left behind by their friends and classmates, Ennoshita dawdles just for a couple of minutes at the lockers with Tanaka, and he's barely fighting his smile anymore, because who wouldn't be flattered by flowery gifts every day? Well, perhaps someone with severe allergies, but luckily Ennoshita isn't one of them.
"You really like the sunflower, huh?" Tanaka asks, and he rubs the back of his head, all averted eyes and bashful tones.
It's almost enough to make Ennoshita believe him. And he almost replies with "I do"—but then he remembers a different Tanaka, a Tanaka who wouldn't've given him flowers, who wouldn't've looked at him this way, and his happiness cools. His smile dulls, and his tone is polite and friendly as he says, "Thank you."
Tanaka blinks, confused, obviously having expected a small conversation in lieu of this abrupt bit of gratitude. He leans against the lockers and stares at Ennoshita. "That's all you have to say?"
"Yes," Ennoshita confirms, feeling bolder having recalled his skepticism. He's not ready yet to deny Tanaka's feelings outright, but still.
His vice-captain grumbles something under his breath to himself—Ennoshita misses it—but he refuses to show Ennoshita his disappointment. He stands up straight, glances at the sunflower, and smiles the longer he watches Ennoshita hold on to it. "I'll see you at practice," Tanaka says softly, and he grips Ennoshita's right shoulder as he passes by and avoids getting scolded by a teacher.
Ennoshita, on the other hand, is not so lucky, and he's scolded and tardy for the first time in his life. Despite trying to push the situation aside, Ennoshita can't help but be swayed—even the tiniest bit—by that smile as bright as the sunflower in his hands.
- ^-^3
On Friday, he anticipates receiving flowers, and it makes him a little anxious.
But most of the day passes, and Tanaka keeps to himself. Of course there's his usual obnoxiousness and some of his flirtations and his enacted senpai-ness. But Tanaka…has nothing for him.
Huh. Weird.
"Ennoshita-san?"
The captain snaps out of his stupor at Yachi's voice. "Oh, uh…" He chuckles, trying to laugh his absentmindedness off. "Sorry, what were you saying?"
"Is everything all right?" the tiny blonde asks. She peers up at him. "Practice went well today, overall, though I noted your accuracy and Ozaki-kun's could use some work."
At the mention of one of the first years, Ennoshita glances at the court. Clean-up is nearly done by now, with Ozaki, Akimoto, and Kondo wrapping up while Hinata politely bosses them around and Yamaguchi actually assists. He turns back to Yachi. "Oh. Um. How bad?"
Yachi hands him her clipboard and points to the statistics from the past two weeks compared to now. "He's usually between sixty and sixty-five percent, and you're between seventy-five and eighty. He's just shy of sixty this week, and you're…" She frowns and pushes her hair over her shoulder, but she doesn't have to read aloud the sixty percent written in his row in the data table.
"Ah. Bad."
"No! Not at all! This is just—you might have hay fever and not even know it!" she babbles, coming up with a dramatic and ridiculous excuse for him, though she doesn't need to do so.
"Yachi, it's all right. Everyone has their off days, even me." Of course, he tries to recall an off day Sawamura or Azumane had, and it's disheartening that he can't picture those times. Ignoring that demotivating fact, he hands the clipboard back to the manager. "Thanks for the head's up, though."
She nods, a partial whimper escaping her, but she knows when to stop. Besides, they both know the earful he'll be getting from Coach Ukai before heading home.
Ennoshita walks off to the side and takes a swig from his water bottle as he slides against the wall to sit on the floor. Nearby, his best friends observe him, dawdling despite being ready to head to the clubroom, so he prompts them. "Yeah, I know, I sucked today."
Narita and Kinoshita exchange a look, but Narita says "Yeah" while Kinoshita nods. "The question, though," the middle blocker continues, "is why?"
"I was unfocused, is all."
"But why?" Kinoshita insists, and he puts his hands on his hips when Ennoshita sinks one eyebrow aimed at him. "Oh, come on. You're not the type to be fine with answers alone. You like explanations, too."
Well…ugh. Why did Kinoshita have to be right? Then again…Ennoshita demanding reasons was what had gotten him into this predicament in the first place. But he's not sure he wants to analyze this with them right now.
"Ennoshita," Kinoshita bugs, and he nudges the brunet's foot with the tip of his sneaker. "En~no~shi~ta~"
Narita and Ennoshita both give him a look, but Narita doesn't let Ennoshita off the hook. "He's right, though," the dark-haired blocker states, and Kinoshita grins triumphantly beside him. "You might as well out with it. You'll feel better for doing so, and he'll stop nagging." The last bit is said with a playful poke to Kinoshita's nearer cheek, but the blond gets him back by grabbing his square jaw and squeezing until there are red marks on poor Narita's face.
But Ennoshita frowns. It'd be stupid to admit, is what he thinks. But…in the nearly three years he's known them, Kinoshita and Narita have never sold him out, so if he can trust anyone, he can trust them. So it's with ducked eyes and a grumble that he mumbles, "I—well, Tanaka…didn't bring me anything today." After five seconds of quiet, he peeks at them.
They blink and keep their mouths shut—for a moment. Then the most imperceptible of smiles toys with the ends of Narita's lips, and Kinoshita smirks like a devil. "You wanted him to bring you flowers?" Narita prods.
"I— No, it's not—"
"You were getting used to daily presents," Kinoshita says.
"…maybe."
Kinoshita snickers, and Narita keeps smiling. "You do realize," the spiky-haired wing spiker tells him, "that being captain doesn't entitle you to the royal treatment. Same goes for Tanaka. You're captain and vice-captain, not king and queen."
Ennoshita settles them with the driest of looks, but Narita seems to understand they're making light of the issue. Besides, they know what brought out this change in Tanaka, even if they, too, don't understand it. "I'm sure it's nothing," the blocker assures him, and his eyes scan the emptied gym before he meets Ennoshita's gaze again. "It'll work itself out. Probably."
Before the captain can question that "probably," Narita does as he did on Wednesday and ushers Kinoshita out of the gym, though it takes less coaxing this time since they had wanted to head home already. The others are gone, too, and Ukai dawdles after Takeda-sensei scurries back to the main building. The coach raises his eyebrows at Ennoshita and frowns, but he can read the humility on the new captain's face, so he doesn't heckle him this time around. And Ennoshita knows he's lucky for that…just as he knows he won't get off so easily if it happens again.
With a sigh, Ennoshita shuts his water bottle and contemplates heading out himself, hoping Ukai will pass the gym key to one of the others.
But someone joins him in the gym, and he knows it's Tanaka as a shadow looms over him and wordlessly releases five little wildflowers—the kind one can find in the grass on the school grounds—onto his lap. His anxiety from this morning returns, but it's a far thought in his mind as his heart thumps quite hard in his chest, and that happy bubbling in his gut appears again. He picks his head up.
Tanaka smiles, but it's a tad crooked—the rowdy teen's version of meek—this time, as if he knows he should've surprised Ennoshita sooner. "First one in the gym and the last one out?" he asks.
"Uh, yeah." Ennoshita licks his lips, trying to form words. But he can't. He just can't right now, because his hopes are getting up, no matter how many times he's tried to dash them.
Tanaka stretches his arms and takes in the gym. "Hey, the kouhai did a really good job cleaning up. Thought it'd take longer for them to become so docile."
Ennoshita chuckles. "I think that Golden Week training camp with Nekoma last week gave them something to work towards, so they feel more like a part of the team now."
"Yeah… A lot of good things happen at training camps."
They let that statement hang in the air, and Ennoshita pretends he didn't hear it. A wimpy move, but still. He gathers the flowers in the hem of his shirt and then bundles them in his hand, and Tanaka gives him a hand up. "Did Coach give you the key to lock up?" he inquires as they leave.
Tanaka nods and swings the key around on his finger. "I'll return it to Sensei while you grab your things, and then we can go home together."
Ennoshita agrees to this, but only because he'll have the chance to regain his composure in the quiet of the clubroom.
It doesn't take long to get ready and meet at the school gate. They leave the premises, taking the soft right that's in the direction of their neighborhoods. Several silent minutes pass, none too awkwardly, but eventually Tanaka opens his mouth. "Sorry I didn't have anything nicer," he comments, gesturing to the stringy little flowers which Ennoshita knots together.
"No, it's fine. They're nice. Thank you," Ennoshita replies.
"…they are cute," Tanaka decides, and his eyes flicker from the flowers to Ennoshita's face. His mouth's a straight line, but Tanaka's gaze is expressive, as if adding "You are cute."
Ennoshita fights down a pleased grin. No, he doesn't grin. He thinks over the past few days and what they mean…and that he still has no plans to give in. Not giving in will let them both save face in the end, when Tanaka's switch is flipped again and he forgets this fancy.
They part at the turn-off for Tanaka's road, and Ennoshita's thoughts are muddled, insistence on remaining platonic mixed with hopes for flowers tomorrow and the coming week. They become murkier when Tanaka walks backwards partway to keep his sight trained on him, lingering as if the ace had wished they'd kissed goodnight.
They're the murkiest when Ennoshita considers what it'd be like if they'd kissed goodnight.
- ^-^3
On Saturday, he hopes for flowers from Tanaka.
To school, throughout the day, and on the way home, he actively ignores the looks Kinoshita and Narita give him, teasing yet not. Teasing at first because Ennoshita is coming around to the idea of him and Tanaka. Not, because the half day ends, and Tanaka gives him nothing.
"I'm sorry!" he exclaims to Ennoshita as he jogs out of the school building. He holds up a hand in apology. "I've gotta go home! I'm in a lot of trouble with my mom, so I'll see you Monday!" And he whizzes by, almost as fast as he runs on the court.
Ennoshita gapes with Kinoshita, Narita, and Nishinoya hovering nearby, and the libero pipes up, "Ryuu's not lying, you know."
The other three turn to look at him.
Nishinoya shrugs. "I heard Saeko-nee-san cackling this morning as his mom yelled at him. He didn't tell me what he did, though."
"Weird, though," Kinoshita says as they head home, too. "Isn't Tanaka all talk? He puts on the tough-guy act at school, but I thought he was a mama's boy at home, the well-behaved type."
The libero nods vigorously. "It's manly to be a good son!" he chirps.
The other three exchange another look, wary, but they keep quiet until Nishinoya breaks off from them. Only then do they voice their concerns.
"Okay," Ennoshita starts, stopping in the middle of the road and tugging his best friends' off to the side. He counts off on his fingers. "First, the you-know-what at the start of our Nekoma camp. Then the flower deliveries to me. Now he's in trouble at home? What the hell is going on with Tanaka?!"
Two pairs of eyes land on Kinoshita, who shrinks back. "Don't look at me. Sure, we're in the same class this year, but Tanaka has always marched to his own beat."
Ennoshita's shoulders droop. So…something's up with Tanaka. Something that would explain his sudden changes in behavior.
Narita frowns and shakes his head. "It doesn't mean his heart's not in it," he quickly remarks.
Ennoshita sighs at his defense of Tanaka, because he's not sure he agrees. Regardless, short of confronting Tanaka about his oddities, there's nothing for them to do, and Saturday fizzles out while the captain racks his brain, coming up with a plan to sort Tanaka out once and for all.
- ^-^3
On Sunday, he doesn't see Tanaka, so of course there are no flowers.
But Ennoshita finishes his homework and tidies his desk and schoolbag. That done, he cleans his room, and then he goes for the largest text on left side of his desk—an old thing on fishing in nineteenth-century Japan from his grandfather…a book he's never read—and opens it to check between the pages.
Tucked in the middle of chapter two is the dandelion, well-pressed but not yet brittle, as it's barely a week old. In chapter four are the carnations, one at the beginning and one towards the end. The rosebuds are in the heart of chapter seven, the wildflowers in eight, and the sunflower is in the index at the back because it's large and thick and needs the weight of all twenty chapters on it in order to be flattened properly.
He admires his little collection, and he debates keeping it. Should he? No, maybe he should toss them after all. Tanaka wasn't expecting him to keep them, right? Picked flowers only last so long anyway. They'll die eventually…unless one presses them and seals them in a bookmark or something.
But, if he doesn't toss them—then that's accepting Tanaka's confession, isn't it?
His face burns as he replays the scene from the training camp in his mind's eye. Day one, and the crows and cats were ready to test their new talons and claws on each other…but that'd been on the court only. Off the court, Ennoshita caught up with new captain Fukunaga, who ran a tight ship despite barely uttering a word. Yamamoto was an enthusiastic vice-captain, not unlike Tanaka, and Kozume seemed more willing this year than last to contribute to his team's victories. The former first years, too, showed their experience on the court and deepened their friendships off it.
Honestly, though, Ennoshita had thought it a joke after dinner that first night, Tanaka pulling him aside after hanging with Nishinoya and Yamamoto since the end of the day, blurting suddenly that he thought a lot about Ennoshita and had a crush on him and that he wanted Ennoshita to know and hoped Ennoshita might go out with him.
Even now, as Ennoshita mulls it over yet again, holding his head and sighing as he rests his elbows on his desk, it seems so…farfetched. Tanaka Ryuunosuke, straight as a board, confessing to liking Ennoshita? Ennoshita, who'd quietly nursed a mild crush on this "full steam ahead" dork who now supposedly returned his affections? It didn't make sense. That, coupled with the other batches of strange behavior, screams to Ennoshita that something else has to be going on, something else that needs to be solved before they let the school year fly by.
Sulking, his eyes fall on the fishing text, and he tucks it between his large-print dictionary and a pack of unused notebooks, tucking away the idea, too, that any of this is real. It can't be, and it shouldn't be.
It's just unfair that Tanaka's behavior manifested the one way that hurts the most.
- ^-^3
On Monday: zilch.
On Tuesday: nada.
On Wednesday: a big, fat, goose egg.
There are no more presents from Tanaka, followed by that sweet smile of his. He's back to his factory settings, as far as Ennoshita is concerned…though the captain admits to himself and himself only that he's a little sad to be proven right, because it's nice to be on the receiving end of someone's romantic gestures.
Yet, despite his concerns and all his talk to Kinoshita and Narita about getting the truth from the rowdy teen, Ennoshita doesn't have a single proper chance to talk with Tanaka. Tanaka arrives at school and morning practice in the nick of time each day, he eats lunch rather silently with them and therefore providing no good opportunity for a private chat, and he leaves immediately when afternoon practice ends. The most Ennoshita gets out of his vice-captain—his partner in leading their murder of crows—is that he is honest-to-goodness grounded, so he has absolutely no free time and no privileges.
But Ennoshita watches his form vanish each day, the frown deepening to a grimace. No privileges? Including texting? He can't even pick up the damn phone for a moment to explain?
By Thursday, even Nishinoya understands how pissed their captain is, but he assures him that Tanaka's not singling Ennoshita out for this treatment. "He really is grounded," he states after the other four third years stop at Sakanoshita Shop. He unwraps his popsicle and continues, "Saeko-nee-san's been laughing non-stop, though she seemed a bit tired and over it this morning. His mom was fine with me collecting him to go to school today, but she insisted he be right home at the end of the day." He raises his eyebrows and chomps on the sweet treat, which vanishes in three bites.
"He won't be grounded forever, so I wouldn't worry about it too much," Kinoshita remarks dismissively, though Narita behind him displays a doubtful look and offers no supporting evidence.
Reluctantly, Ennoshita agrees what Kinoshita says has some merit, and he goes home. He gets home, he changes into a t-shirt and shorts because it's summer now, and he attempts to catch up on his history reading.
Reluctantly, Ennoshita goes back downstairs and pulls on his sneakers, calling out to his mother that he'll be back before dinner.
It's likely a bad idea, a very dumb one. But…he's anxious and confused and, as Kinoshita liked to point out, wants answers and explanations, because they go hand-in-hand, and he's prepared to walk away with a broken heart if only he can solve this stupid conundrum.
Several blocks away, in another neighborhood, he arrives on a street that ends with a local restaurant. A few houses up the row from the eatery, he slows until he stands in front of the two-level home, and he focuses on a window on the right of the top floor. Light pours from the room, but no one's at it to spy him outside. Ennoshita clenches a fistful of his t-shirt in his hand and stares, willing for Tanaka to appear at that window.
A clinking sound, like metal on metal, reaches his ears down on ground level, and then Saeko pokes her head up over the top of the shrubs that line the front of the property. Her eyes light up, seeing him. "Chikara-sensei! How are ya, kiddo? Captaincy agreeing with you?"
His expectations fall, but it's not bad, tripping over Saeko right now. If anything, he eases up, and he musters a smile for her. "Yes… It's not bad. I think last year prepared me for a lot of what I've encountered so far." He fidgets for a second. "Um. Is Tanaka home?"
She blinks and tilts her head back, also spying her brother's window. "Yeah. My favorite little dummy landed himself in house-arrest, essentially."
"If I may ask—what did he do?"
Saeko turns back to him, and it's unnerving, the Tanaka stare that the siblings share, though Saeko's irises are darker and her makeup seems permanent, since Ennoshita's never seen her without it. She wipes her grease-stained hands on the hem of her ratty, old, gray tank top, and he glimpses her motorcycle behind her, pieces strewn about on the green lawn—though the grass looks blue in the early moonlight. "Why don't you come inside for a bit, Chikara?"
"Sorry. I don't think I can stay long. I promised my mother I'd be right back." Now he kind of wishes he hadn't. But he, not unlike Tanaka, is a well-behaved son.
Saeko doesn't take "no" for an answer, however, so she winks at him. "Then give me a sec, okay? Stay put!" she orders as she heads into the house, not pulling the front door closed behind her as she hollers inside. "Hey! Ma!"
Ennoshita internally groans. Oh, good grief. Is the whole neighborhood going to hear everything that happens at the Tanaka household tonight?
Eventually, Tanaka's mother answers back, and Saeko nags the older woman until the mother is convinced—somewhat begrudgingly—to let Tanaka come downstairs and have a word with his captain. Despite the utterly vanilla motive behind the nighttime visit, Tanaka's mother nevertheless gives Ennoshita an odd look, as if scrutinizing him for the first time, even though he's been over multiple times by now and believes he's always been on his best behavior.
Huh. Weird.
His view of that look is interrupted when Tanaka traipses downstairs, and the appearance of the rascal reminds Ennoshita of tonight's objective. Interestingly enough, Tanaka's face, too, is a mixture of unusual expressions, emotions that fight for dominance. Elation, from seeing Ennoshita on his doorstep. Nervousness, likely because of his mother giving them the eye. Uncertainty, maybe because he knows how bad everything looks. Like his sister, he doesn't close the door behind him, but at least he walks into the yard, and they hover near Saeko's bike.
"Is she fixing something?" Ennoshita asks after an odd beat, having no clue how to jump to his desired topic.
"One of the cylinders, I think…truthfully, I have no clue," Tanaka adds, chuckling at himself. He turns that sweet smile on Ennoshita, as if he'd delivered some flowers as faithfully as ever, but then he checks himself and stands up a little straighter. "What's up?"
Ah, so unfair, showing that smile and then taking it away… Ennoshita groans and goes for it: "The better question is, what's up with you?" He crosses his arms in front of his chest and tries for his best captain glare, demonstrating that he's not leaving until Tanaka is honest with him.
Tanaka stares for a moment. And then—he heaves a dramatic sigh. A sigh. And he scratches his head and juts his chin towards the shrubs. "That."
Ennoshita follows his motion and sees the shrubs are bushes, really, various flower bushes. There are carnations beside roses and— "Wait. My flowers are from here?"
Tanaka nods to some silent, slow beat and gestures to the other side of the yard, beyond Saeko's bike. "Mom's got some sunflowers 'round back, and dandelions crop up all over the place. But…yeah. Mostly I've been picking from her garden." His voice is tired and ragged, as if he's tried to explain this before, and Ennoshita…is kind of amused by this brand-new brand of idiocy.
"You picked flowers for me, from your own mother's garden?" He can't help it; some of his amusement leaks into his tone, and he passes it off with a fake cough, though the grumpy look Tanaka gives him tells him he's not very convincing.
"Yeah, I did." He takes a step towards the flowers—towards Ennoshita, the captain notes—and explains further. "When I told her they were for someone, she huffed that I should've been buying them flowers to show I really care." He mumbles, too, about her tearing in to him for plucking from her own collection, but that's less a genuine complaint and more of a grumble by now, considering he's been grounded for several days already.
Ennoshita blinks a few times, something clicking into place. "Oh. That explains why she glared at me, then."
Tanaka gawks at him. "She what?!"
"Does she know they were for me?"
"Well, yeah, but—"
Ennoshita shakes his head, as if it's all right. "I get it," he says quietly. "She was hoping for a girl to show up tonight, right?"
"No, Ennoshita—"
Well…hell. He's been so certain the past few weeks that this was all some practical joke that he never stopped to consider how he'd feel once it finally fell apart. Though, really, he's been expecting the other shoe to drop with Tanaka, not with his mother… A part of him considers that maybe crushes are meant to stay crushes… He's not supposed to feel like this when he's so certain Tanaka's feelings are a whim…
Tanaka groans and curses various deities and grabs Ennoshita's wrist, taking him around the back where they are well and truly alone. Then he brushes that lock behind Ennoshita's left ear and turns the brunet's face until their gazes meet head-on. "She's a little surprised, is all. She'd be just as ticked if I was giving a girl these flowers, Ennoshita. Any girl or any other guy. Honest."
But the captain furrows his brow.
…which Tanaka doesn't like. He pokes between Ennoshita's eyebrows and rubs his finger on the spot until it hurts and Ennoshita relaxes his muscles. "Is it really that hard, trusting me?"
Ennoshita opens his mouth, flashes back to the training camp confession, and promptly says absolutely nothing.
Tanaka growls at that lovely vote of confidence, but he simply sighs a second time, albeit less dramatically this time. "Well…I don't blame you."
The other boy quirks an eyebrow. "You don't?"
"A lot of people would take a surprise confession as a joke. But mine wasn't a joke. Neither are all the flowers." He frowns and leans forward, his face distractingly close to Ennoshita's. It doesn't help that he takes hold, gently, of both Ennoshita's wrists, and he dawdles before attempting to hold Ennoshita's hands. "Honestly, I…really like you. Like. A lot."
How to respond? Ennoshita doesn't shake Tanaka's hands off, but he can't help but let his doubts override his happiness. This isn't Tanaka at all. And he says as much: "I just—how can you be so sure you do? It's as if you woke up one day and decided you were interested in me. Are you sure it's not a side-effect of our new roles in the club?"
Stunningly, Tanaka lightens up after hearing that. "It's definitely not because we're spending more time together as captain and vice." He tugs on Ennoshita's hands and tugs again, more insistently, when the brunet is reluctant to sit on the stones in the backyard with him, in front of the small wall of sunflowers that are pale green at night. "If not for that switch," the ace continues, "I wouldn't be who I am now."
Ennoshita narrows his eyes.
But Tanaka doesn't laugh; he nods. "Yep. One day in elementary school, I simply decided to play volleyball. Simple as that. Same with befriending Noya—happened at opening ceremony in our first year, when everyone first had that dangerous impression of him. I thought, 'I wanna be that cool guy's friend.' Same with admiring Kiyoko-san, too, with all my heart…and also deciding I wasn't actually interested in her that way." He pauses, bites his lower lip, and then he adds something else. "And same with my bit of confusion over Kanoka last winter," he says of his pretty childhood friend. "I'd just come around to the idea that, after how we handled the prelims in the fall and you were so kickass, I might be viewing you in a different light than I'd liked Kiyoko-san. But then Kanoka's half confession really messed with my head, because it was the first time I'd had someone like me, so I was a mess when I went to meet with her, even though I went to turn her down. And then Narita implied that Kanoka wasn't the only person who liked me, that my feelings might be mutual—that was when I decided to forge ahead and start everything anew with our third year." The mention of a fresh start reinvigorates him, and he beams at Ennoshita, as if everything is being smoothed over now that he has his direly needed five minutes of spotlight. He even plays with Ennoshita's fingers, drumming the pads of his thumbs and fingers against Ennoshita's. "So, I went for it—at the training camp. 'Course, Noya-san and Tora's encouragement helped, but…yeah. I asked you out. But you didn't believe me, so…flowers."
The whole time, Ennoshita's mouth has morphed from rigid, straight line to slight frown to small gape. Now that everything's out in the open, his brain processes everything as if it's a computer from the start of the previous century, and his thoughts often derail when Tanaka's fingers glance over ticklish parts of his digits. Every now and then, his pulse quickens—no, it's his heart skipping a beat—when Tanaka drums a frenetic rhythm on his fingers, a rhythm that's nonsense, really. But at least Ennoshita is given plenty of time to gather himself. Several minutes pass, and all he can manage is "…are you kidding me? That roundabout reasoning is your thought-process?"
"Yep. So have I convinced you yet? 'Cause I'd like to go on a proper date before I die, though we've gotta wait since I'm grounded." He laughs then, and that—that ballsy poise is clearly all Tanaka Ryuunosuke…and one of the things Ennoshita fell for originally. "Ah. I'm surprised you showed up here, demanding I sort out my nonsense. It gives me a bit of hope," he adds, and his smile is smaller now, but it's more genuine; his lips are pressed together so tightly they're near puckering, and slight dimples form on either of his tan cheeks.
Ennoshita blinks, catching himself mid-swoon. Maybe…it's okay to let a crush develop into a real relationship. Maybe…it's okay to believe Tanaka—after all, his volleyball switch hasn't flipped off since it was first turned on, right? Maybe…maybe it'll be the same way with the two of them. Maybe Tanaka is as great a boyfriend as he is a vice-captain, an ace, and a friend. "…maybe," Ennoshita muses aloud, partially to answer Tanaka.
"Only 'maybe'?!"
But Ennoshita stops Tanaka from playing any more with his fingers. He turns his hands over, covering Tanaka's palms with his, and he holds on, hoping Tanaka can feel his nervousness and excitement…especially as they put his doubts to rest.
- ^-^3
On Friday, Tanaka is still grounded. But he manages one surprise for Ennoshita.
Despite an agreement made at club that morning to pick up Ennoshita from his classroom for lunch on the rooftop, Tanaka is late. Actually, he's completely absent. He sends Nishinoya in his stead.
"Ryuu will meet us on the roof. He is totally not breaking any school rules right now," the libero tells Ennoshita with the utmost confidence in the third-year hallway.
Ennoshita doesn't need to see the green look on Narita's face beside him to know that these problem children are as problematic as ever. Cripes. What on Earth did Sawamura pass on to him this past spring?
Deciding to give Tanaka a little leeway since he's been on his best behavior since the year started, Ennoshita, Narita, and Nishinoya head for the stairs, Kinoshita meeting them partway. In the stairwell, they stumble over Tsukishima and Yamaguchi with, surprisingly, Hinata.
"Not eating with Kageyama and Yacchan today?" Nishinoya asks.
The redhead shakes his head. "Kageyama's practicing tosses outside with Akki, and Kageyama said I'd be a distraction," he grumps, though the others stifle snickers and Tsukishima rolls his eyes at Hinata's obliviousness. "Yacchan's eating with her friends in her class today. Oh! By the way, were you looking for Tanaka-san?"
"Not exactly," Ennoshita says with a pointed look to Nishinoya, who whistles innocently. "He has an errand to take care of first."
"Must be important. I saw him skulking around the back of the school, and he did this amazing run and jump over the back gate—his jacket flew behind him like nuwoah," Hinata states with admiration, flapping his arms out behind him, and Yamaguchi's shushing comes a second too late to stop the blabbermouth. On the freckled teen's other side, Tsukishima snorts at Hinata's penchant for saying too much.
Ennoshita's hackles go up, and he settles Nishinoya with a disapproving stare, but Nishinoya quickly steps around the captain and uses Kinoshita as a shield while he and the blond dash up the stairs. So Ennoshita purses his lips at Narita.
"Hey, I didn't know," the middle blocker rushes, hands held up in defense.
"Maybe not," Ennoshita agrees after they leave the trio of second years behind and trudge up to the roof. "But you're still in the doghouse with me. You told Tanaka I liked him," he hisses lowly as they throw the door open and a summer wind catches it.
Narita rolls his eyes. "So you've complained since homeroom this morning." Nevertheless, he smirks, proving he can be as much a mischief-maker as his blond, spiky-haired better half any day. "But I don't think you're really complaining, just as I don't think you're going to read Tanaka the riot act when he turns up."
Ennoshita grunts, lacking a decent comeback.
His mood lightens some as the four eat together. Even though Tanaka's absence is a niggle in the back of his mind, he enjoys times like this, with the railing at his back as he eats, with Narita being the straight man to Kinoshita's funny man, with Nishinoya reenacting the climax of an old movie that was playing on TV last night and waving his jacket around, with Kinoshita and Nishinoya running around like three-year-olds and not third years, with Narita filching food from Ennoshita's bento when he thinks the captain's not looking. He enjoys times like this, because, while third year might not last forever, these friendships which he has produce lasting memories…and he's excited to think of what kinds of lasting memories he might make now, with Tanaka.
A daisy appears in his line of vision when he looks away from the others, and he follows the flower to the hand holding it, up the arm to the shoulder, across the chest and up neck, chin, and nose until his eyes connect with Tanaka's. He sighs as he takes the flower, though the sigh loses its weight as he smiles and Tanaka sits beside him. "A daisy," he says, twirling the stem between his forefinger and thumb.
"A special daisy," Tanaka corrects. He tugs on the price tag attached at the bottom and grins impishly.
Ennoshita blinks and gives a snort of laughter. "You left school to go buy me a flower?"
Tanaka whines and gesticulates at Nishinoya, who doesn't understand and gives him a thumb's up instead. "I told Noya not to tell…! I swear, no one saw me leave or return."
"Uh, check again. Hinata's in awe of your fence-jumping skills."
The shaven-haired ace smacks his own forehead. "Agh, dammit! I coulda sworn…!" He exhales and leans back against the railing with Ennoshita…leans in towards Ennoshita, as if he could rest against the brunet's left shoulder at any second. "Well, it was worth it." His eyes flick from the flower to Ennoshita's face, and his gaze is more intense than usual.
Oh. It's that same mood from before, that Tanaka might or might not kiss him. It makes that bubbliness pop and fizz in Ennoshita's gut, and his cheeks burn.
Tanaka grins.
"Thank you," Ennoshita remembers, tearing his eyes away and focusing on the flower and his lunch, wishing for the lunch block simultaneously to end and not to end.
"You're welcome," Tanaka replies, but he takes the daisy back and breaks off the bit of the stem with the price tag still on it. Before Ennoshita can complain, Tanaka tucks the flower behind Ennoshita's left ear, and he waits for Ennoshita to face him in surprise before he pecks his lips, not caring at all that Narita politely averts his eyes and Kinoshita and Nishinoya respectively wolf-whistle and cheer him on in the background.
- ^-^3
On Friday, at home, Ennoshita opens the fishing text and tucks two pieces of a flower—the daisy itself and its price tag—between the pages of chapter nine, because it means the world to him. And then he puts the book back between his dictionary and notebooks on his desk before Tanaka returns from the bathroom up the hall and they hang out for the first time as more than friends, because Tanaka doesn't need to know about this collection, this private exhibit, just yet. He'll learn of it—someday. He'll be shown it when the flowers are too numerous to remain in the lone volume, when Ennoshita concludes for himself that Tanaka's really in love with him, and when Ennoshita has concrete faith in his own feelings for the goofy romantic who is willing to bend…and break…a few rules to make Ennoshita stupidly happy.
- ^-^3
-w- So, funny thing: Outside of Birds of a Feather, I seem to write Ennotanas in May? Like, my first ("Time Horizon") was in May 2015, and then "Distraction" and "Stress Signals" were May 2016. Even a drabble I did for them was in May 2016. I guess the Ennotana in me is so strong—and strongest from Tanaenno Day (5/6) 'til Ennotana Day (6/5)! XDDD That aside, I'm beginning to wonder if it's rather tough for me to write a good Ennotana fic outside of BoaF… There are certain parts of this story that I quite love; others, I merely like or am still :L about…ah, well. I am my own worst critic, no? Although, upon editing, I find this to be more charming than I did on the first go. -w- Anywho, despite my interest in symbology and knowledge of the language of flowers, this story deffo wasn't gonna head in that direction, so please don't look too deeply into the flowers, *lol*. Also, I liked the Kinonari inclusions (and there was even an implication of them 'cause I'm weak), but Narita—I think it's just a headcanon for me now that the bestie Enno needs to worry about meddling in his affairs is Narita and not Kinoshita (not to mention Narita often filches food from Enno's bento like an annoying sibling—yet another headcanon that's developed recently). XDDD Ahhh, I love the 2nd-yr trio! :3 I can actually see Ennotana starting out this way, because Tanaka's rather impulsive, but it doesn't mean he doesn't put his heart into his endeavors. Even regarding the Kanoka thing (for manga readers—sorry, anime-only peeps!), he turned her down in ch246 despite being excited that she liked him, sooo. Yeah. (Don't get me wrong; I still love Kanoka and think Tanakano's cute, but Ennotana will always be #1 for me.) ALSO! Little cameos (rly, mentions, *lol*) of my first-yr OCs~! I love my boys. -w- And I could picture the books on Ennoshita's desk since I drew it a while back, even. XD But yes. Some lightly angsty but mostly stupid Ennotana fluff. And onward we march with Ennotana week! :D
Thanks for reading, and please review! There are hordes more HQ! fics from me, and you might enjoy Birds of a Feather if you liked this Ennotana by me! Plus, Ennotana art on my tumblr, le-amewzing—so much Ennotana love to share!
-mew-tsubaki X3