Prompt: Trail
Rating: K
Summary: It might be the last time they see each other in while. Shoyo can't help but feel scared that he'll be just another memory. He'll soon learn that he isn't the only one.
Warning: Fluff. So much fluff. And maybe (not just) a little bit of angst.
"Congrats guys! Make sure to call over the summer!"
"You still owe me a Gari-gari-kun Sora! Don't think I would just forget!"
"Yeah, yeah Mr. Stingy! Have a nice summer!"
"Bye guys!"
With a grin, Shoyo waved at two of his closest friends as they made their way across the street, their paths home parting just like usual although this time there was a melancholic and heavy feeling in his chest. Graduating was a constant dream to him, with his hopes in entering Karasuno, but as he sees his friends backs walking farther away from him he can't help but feel.
"Shoyo."
With a start, Shoyo turned his attention to the boy beside him, his grip on his bicycle's handlebars tightening. His dark orange eyes widened in surprise.
Blue.
Like a clear sky on a sunny day.
Like waves of water in the clearest beach.
And a soft smile that made his heart feel a little lighter.
"Congrats Sho-chan. Karasuno won't know what hit them." Soft and sincere. A crinkling of eyes, hiding the sky from view, and Shoyo can't help but return it with a grin.
"You can bet on it So-chan! KARASUNO HERE I COME!" He pumped his right fist in the air in excitement, previous feelings washing away as Sora's musical laugh echoed around them. He didn't even flinch as the tell-tale sound of a click made itself known, already used to his best friend's ways. His hand falls as Sora checks the photo through his fancy professional camera, a graduation gift from his parents.
"How does it look?"
Shoyo can't help but be curious, Sora's interest in photography and film easily becoming his own when they're pretty much attached to the hip. Even when Shoyo's out and about training, Sora's still by his side, filming anything and everything that catches his eye. Most often than not he ends up shooting Shoyo and their friends, but after a few weeks they pretty much got used to it.
Sora tilts the screen away from him and sticks out his tongue. Merong~
"You'll see it later. You know this is going up in my vlog anyway!"
Shoyo makes a false move to grab the camera and Sora shrieks and scuttles away, toward their trail back home.
"You'll never catch me!" Cackling, the bluenette ran ahead, leaving Shoyo behind, exasperated but with a smile on his lips. Leisurely climbing on his bike, he quickly caught up with the still cackling bluenette. He matched the pace of his already panting best friend, matching grins on their faces as the sun slowly fell from the sky.
"So-chan! You'll just trip and drop your camera again! Stop running!"
Just as expected, the clumsy bluenette tripped over air and fell forward, breath catching in his throat as blue, blue eyes widened in surprise. A Kodak moment, Sora would say later on, as Shoyo thrusts his arm forward to catch the falling boy.
"ACK!"
The bluenette lands in Shoyo's outstretched arm with a yelp, the sportsman having to abruptly balance himself and his bike lest they make things worse. Shoyo breathes a sigh of relief as he adjusts his position, not even bothering to move away from Shoyo's frame. They were used to this happening, Sora being the clumsy thing that he is. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that Sora tripped that time in Kindergarten then they probably wouldn't have been the best friends that they are now.
"Are you okay?"
Shoyo can't help but worry. People were confused- and surprised- the first time they saw Hinata Shoyo- goofball, loud, impatient volleyball-nut Hinata Shoyo- quiet down and be serious whenever Sora ever seemed to get in some sort of trouble. Whether by his own actions or because of the bluenette's clumsy self. Shoyo was always the first one there to take care of Sora. There was no doubt that the two were best friends.
"Hehe… Thanks Sho-chan." Sora grinned and pulled back from him, a sheepish grin on his face. Even now Shoyo can tell that the teen was ready to burst in laughter.
"Just get on already. " He mutters with a roll of his eyes, a smile rising on his face when Sora's laughter once again made itself known. A few well practiced movements later Shoyo felt hands grab him on his shoulders. Standing behind him in his usual position on his bike's well worn blue foot rests. Within a few seconds they were on their way back home.
For a few moments, the only sound that can be heard was the friction of wheels on the cement trail home. Comfortable, the silence may be, yet Shoyo can't help the resurfacing of his dark thoughts.
The two of them had been travelling home like this together for so long that Shoyo could hardly remember a time when they didn't. From the suburbs wherein their (now) former school stood, the view changes so abruptly from walled in houses to the vast plains of the farms of Miyagi. Cars were less likely to pass by than students walking or cycling home.
To him, the ride home was always a time for him to unwind. In some days, they lasted the whole ride talking about his struggles with volleyball; how it was so hard to find somebody to practice with, how happy he was that his friends kept supporting him even when he knew that they had other things to do, how thankful he was with the three freshmen when they joined volleyball club and how awful and determined he felt after that one and only match with the King.
In other days it was Sora that shared some thoughts and feelings; of how the recent video was doing, of ideas for skits that he knows they should try out, of how he wanted to make his brother smile wherever he is in the States, of how he loved what he was doing and how hurt he felt whenever a commenter starts hating on his pieced that he poured his heart and soul on, of how he still felt pressured on becoming the golden kid of the family, of his fear that the rift between his parents and his Nii-san would never mend itself, of how he just wanted to live his life without any regret.
For Shoyo, the ride home with Sora was/is always something he would look forward to. Because when they were alone together, Shoyo was just Shoyo and Sora was just Sora, and nothing else mattered.
"Hey, Sho-chan. Do you think I should film our way home?"
A soft voice interrupted his thoughts as they passed through the store that used to give them free steamed pork buns. Time showed its age, the paint starting to fade away from its original vibrant red.
"Hmm?"
"I mean, the trail."
Shoyo's eyebrows knit together in confusion.
"Why? You've filmed it a dozen times already."
He could feel the fingers on his shoulders tighten their grip as his passenger tried to arrange his thoughts.
"But those are different! This'll probably be the last time we ride home like this."
"I just don't want to forget, that's all."
Shoyo frowns and cycles at a slower pace, he felt sort of guilty that he didn't realize how bad Sora must have really felt at their impending separation. His grip on the side bars tighten until he could feel the new handle grip's (another graduation gift from Sora's parents) patterns digging into his skin. He keeps silent for a few seconds before doing what he always did whenever Sora got too deep in his head. He stops the bike, turns his head to face his best friend and reaches out to pinch Sora's left cheek tightly.
Once again, auburn eyes met blue.
"Stop being so gloomy. Like it's so easy to forget about you and your craziness."
That familiar feeling of warmth pools in his stomach as he notices the pink tinge on Sora's cheeks. A smile curves his lips.
"Hey!" As per routine, Sora slaps his hand away and massages his now sore cheek with a glare and a pout. Shoyo gives in to the feeling of butterflies in his stomach and laughs, high and loud. His face thrown back to face the heavens that dared to separate them from each other. He laughs harder as he hears Sora's answering laughs, echoing in the empty trail to home.
They were young, barely even teens, and they shouldn't be worrying about the future just yet. Let them have their happiness.
"We'll still see each other as usual anyway! Just because you're going to Shiratorizawa doesn't mean we'll stop being best friends!"
Once they've calmed down enough, Shoyo forges on, the hands a welcome weight on his shoulders and the warm body behind him even more. It isn't until they're only a few meters down the road that Sora chose to show one last doubt.
"... Really?"
"Of course! Why would you even doubt it?"
"Right!"
If Shoyo's face was as warm as his heart felt at that moment, well, Sora didn't need to know that just yet. And if he doesn't hear the telltale sound of Sora snapping away photos, well, all the better. After all, they'll be traveling down this trail home again, someday.
Author's Note:
-Here's another one for the road. :)
-Hello! Here's the second installment of my For You series, this time focusing on our favorite little Decoy, Hinata Shoyo. This wasn't planned at all, Shoyo's series was supposed to be made later on but it just won't leave me be.
-Hope you had fun reading this! If you have the time, please drop n a review just for me to know if you want some more of this pair. Shoyo's partner here is pretty interesting, and crazy, if I do say so myself. If you have any prompts you want done, just tell me, I have no actual plans for the next chapter yet hahahahuhu.
Happy Reading!
-theScarletteWriter
P.S Have you ever gone hiking? If you have, how was it? If you haven't, where would you like to go?