No one ever wanted to be his friend.
He didn't think he was particularly mean or anything. He always tried being nice to the other junior high kids in his grade, though every single one of them ultimately ran away in fear. Sometimes he apparently made a scary face at someone, but surely he wouldn't do something like that on purpose. He just had an awkward, lopsided smile that he tried to fix by practicing every day but to no avail; and he was never the best at actually trying to express his emotions in a manner that most other people would understand.
But it wasn't like it was his fault...
No, not at all...
Eventually, the lack of social contact became unbearable for him, so in pursuit of any sort of relationship, he ran away in search of someone—anyone, really—to satiate his human desire for a relationship.
Unfortunately, in this fast-paced, technology-ridden world, maybe nature wasn't the ideal place to find companionship.
The only breathing thing the poor, young boy had ever stumbled upon was a lonely black raven that squawked and squawked at nothing in particular. He was careful to keep his distance from the wild animal. Though, he didn't actually mind being a faraway spectator. Seeing the candid bird in all its natural glory was rather peaceful. In this way, too, he was able to observe every fine detail of the winged creature to his leisure. He always noted how its shiny dark eyes were perpetually trained on the ground rather than the skies, and he noticed how its feathery wings rustled in the commonplace summertime zephyrs.
Still... there was never any real interaction between the boy and the bird, and eventually, after just a couple weeks, the raven had disappeared completely from its usual site; and all of a sudden, he was all alone again as he had always been.
Aimlessly, he ventured further into the depths of the outside world, even going so far as exploring the hidden world beyond the boundaries set by his parents. They would never really stop him, though. They were too lenient to do anything to him, and maybe he used that learned fact to his advantage every so often.
During one particularly breezy summer day, he found himself staring at a yellow ocean.
Huge stalks of green shot up into the air, sitting atop them a crown of petals. Unlike the raven who only looked down, the crowned princes turned upward to the sky and into the sun.
Cautiously, the dark-haired boy tip-toed into the field of flowers, craning his head up toward the sun in a similar fashion. Despite him being one of the taller boys in his school, the sunflowers were still a little too tall for him to be able to walk through them easily. They tickled him all the way up to the crook of his chin. The foreign touch of soft petals and leaves left him cringing, the surprising softness unnerving to him. Nonetheless, he continued to walk, a haphazard path of circles and squiggles.
Eventually, he found a small clearing devoid of any sunflowers. He found it interesting that there was just a barren patch of soil in the sea of sunflowers, but what surprised him even more was the small figure curled up on the little mound in front of him. He was unsure of what exactly the figure was, especially considering its peculiar hair color—a striking bright orange. Sort of like the color of shredded cheese.
On that note, he heard his stomach begin to growl. Instinctively, he groped at his stomach as a way to restrain it, but his stomach never relented on humming, eventually reaching a loud, sudden roar.
The strange figure on the ground stirred slightly and shot open its eyes, revealing a pair of giant honey amber.
Shocked and feeling a sense of danger from the strange person... thing... he quickly turned on his heels and bolted right out of the tickling field, heading straight home. Once there, the adrenaline was still pumping through him like crazy, so he decided to calm his nerves down by drinking milk, contemplating the situation he was just in. The figure, no matter how unnatural his hair and eye color were, seemed like a normal human boy around his age. What he was doing in the middle of a sunflower field was something he couldn't quite understand, but he was sure there was a perfectly acceptable explanation for everything.
After finishing his milk, he walked up to his room and jumped into his bed, staring up at the ceiling fan's whizzing blades. Even though he was scared right out of his senses, he was curious about the little boy. It reminded him of the raven he so affectionately watched from afar, observing, never being seen, never once exposing his presence around it.
And for some reason, the brilliant epiphany of treating the little boy much like the raven crossed his mind. Like an untouched, wild thing that's meant to only be looked at from behind the sunflowers.
With that new resolve, he drifted off to sleep, a content smile on his face.
He woke up bright and early the next day, and because it just so-happened to be the weekend, he was able to run right of the house, once again sprinting deep into the unknown. He found the sunflowers again with ease. It was hard to miss, anyway.
This time, he crawled right into the yellow sea, his shoulders brushing against the fuzzy green stems. The entire field was like a maze without any sort of direction, and he found himself completely lost and worried that he may have ventured too far into the flowers. So, he clambered up to his feet and stuck his head out through the canopy of sunflowers, looking around in search of that fateful spot. There was no sign of it anywhere, which he found odd, though he also realized he couldn't exactly see every single thing in the mass of flowers.
Thus, with his stubborn mentality, he sustained his steady pace and eventually discovered the clearing again. Just as he had anticipated, the figure was resting peacefully atop it, his stomach fluctuating in a slow, gentle rhythm.
He immediately hid himself behind the sunflowers and gazed out at the little body. It was difficult to see any other striking features beside his spiky orange hair, so he gingerly circled around the field to look at the other side. As he made his way to the opposite side, though, the figure shuffled and suddenly turned his body in the other direction.
With an irritated cock of an eyebrow, he once again crossed the field to the other side, only for the other boy to repeat his actions. This pattern continued for a good while, neither side relenting in their childish endeavors. But a tired dark-haired boy eventually plopped on the ground, crushing the surrounding flowers around him.
The impact caused him to close his eyes momentarily, and when he opened them, his midnight blues were met with the same honey amber as before.
He jolted upward and knocked heads with the figure. The accidental touch made him falter, and he tried backing away deep into the field of flowers again.
The mysterious boy, rubbing the pained pink spot on his forehead, pointed at him with his free hand. "You've been watching me."
The taller boy frantically nodded his head sideways in total denial, a hilariously flustered expression washing over his face.
The orange-haired boy slowly walked up to him, peering down. "Who are you?"
"I-I should be asking you the same thing!" he said haughtily, now being able to find his own two feet again.
The little boy crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. "No, you're the one who's trespassing on my land!"
In disbelief, he dark-haired boy scoffed. "You don't own all this!"
"Well, I am the owner of all these sunflowers, so I think it's fair to say this is my land and my property." His eyes squinted. "Now, tell me your name..."
Maybe it was out of guilt or peer pressure or a hidden desire to please and comply, but the dark-haired boy finally gave in to the mysterious boy's whims and, with a deep breath, stated, "Kageyama."
"See, that wasn't so bad?" The orange-haired boy offered a bright and toothy grin. It was glaring, just like the sun, but Kageyama noted that it wasn't hard to look at and was actually really pleasant, like he would be able to stare at it for hours on end without for once tearing his eyes away for anything. The shorter boy continued, "I'm Hinata! Prince of the Sunflowers!"
He eyed the little boy, still grinning like a fool, with every single ounce of suspicion in his body. That title seemed very unfit for someone as tiny as him, much less someone who didn't seem like there was any royal blood running through him. And Kageyama also thought the little nickname to be ostentatious, like he was making it sound a lot cooler than it actually was. Hinata was really just the Sunflower Planter, or something like that.
Nonetheless, the dark-haired boy forced a tug on his lips, a crooked smile forming.
He was met with wide-eyed reception, the smaller boy's lips wavering in amusement. "What is that! That's kinda scary!"
Before Kageyama could say anything, he noticed the sunflowers had begun to slowly sink and droop. Hinata, too, seemed to be losing his natural fervor as well as the brightness in his hair. Above them, the sun was resting against the horizon, snug behind the low hills and outstretches of forestry beyond them.
"You... need to go," Hinata whispered. It was almost hard to here, but Kageyama was close enough to him to be able to barely make out what he said.
He nodded in agreement and started to walk back into the field of sunflowers. He peeked behind him to see what was wrong with the mysterious little boy, but he was only met with a wave and a smile.
He wasn't exactly sure how to react in this sort of setting, and he definitely didn't want the little boy to see his supposedly scary smile again, so he opted to stick with a simple thumbs up, promptly running away to hide his ruddy face from the little boy.
As he ran back home, all he could think of was the sun rising again, and then he would be able to see and talk to Hinata again.
DAY ONE
The following day, Kageyama forced a cough and sniffled a little too often and a little too loudly. School could wait a bit later, he was thinking to himself.
He decided to wear a mask during his meeting with Hinata to prevent the latter from seeing his so-called horrific face. Fortunately, his parents both left the house pretty early in the morning, so the lucky boy was able to freely roam about as he pleased.
When the mysterious little boy caught a glimpse of his mask as the boy wearing it emerged from the sunflowers, he fell into a huge fit of laughter. Every chortle that escaped his mouth was like a little stab at Kageyama's self esteem; so naturally, to save it, he tackled the little boy and kept chanting an icy demand: stop laughing, stop laughing, stop laughing.
Yet, the orange-haired boy persisted on doing that anyway, not listening to a word the dark-haired boy said. "It's... scarier... than... your smile!" he was able to blurt out through choked breaths and laughter.
That lead to Kageyama staring at his mask in bewilderment. Actually, he thought it was rather cute, the way it looked like a baby version of the raven. The blue eyes were down-turned and furrowed as if in anger, yes, but it was still appealing.
Hinata, though, completely disapproved of it, and through the way he snatched it right out of Kageyama's casual grip and how he threw it across the yellow seas like a skipping rock made Kageyama believe that the smaller boy absolutely despised it.
He glared at the orange-haired boy and thought to himself that maybe he too disliked the little boy and his childish antics. Yet, there was a compelling urge to visit him again and again and again, and it was hard to ignore that urge. It felt almost the same as when his stomach begged for food, except feeding it was a lot more satisfying than hanging out with Hinata.
For now, though, he wanted to continue talking to the "Prince of the Sunflowers," because he was never able to talk to someone so easily before.
Also, it was a good excuse to miss school and use one of his faking sick reserves.
Definitely worth it.
DAY TWO
His mother checked his temperature this morning. It was exactly the average temperature for a normal human body.
Regardless, she said something about being able to stay in again but definitely having to come to school tomorrow or else he would fall behind everyone else. Something like that. Kageyama was still half-asleep when his mother nudged his shoulder to awake him from his light slumber. The words may have been jumbled and some may have been omitted from his mind, but all that mattered was the fact that he could once again skip school and hang out at the sunflower field.
So he could see Hinata.
Just the thought of the exuberant and happy-go-lucky boy brought a warm feeling in his chest.
Could he be a friend?
Kageyama brushed the thought away from his mind. He shouldn't be so hasty with something as fragile as a friendship. They still barely knew each other, and Kageyama especially was still curious in the enigmatic mannerisms of the orange-haired boy: what he was, how he was always hanging around the strange clearing, why he was alone... It was a real mystery, that boy.
When the tall young boy saw the petit boy for the first time that day, he was determined to interrogate him everything about his lifestyle. The questions were a mumbled string of words that went by way too fast, accelerating as he was losing his breath. The orange-haired boy just looked at him funny and smiled, not saying anything but looking directly at that giant fireball in the pale blue, cloudless sky.
The dark-haired boy, dejected, tried staring at the sun too but felt his eyes burning much too quickly, so he averted his gaze back to the peculiar boy. Didn't his eyes hurt from staring for so long? Yet, even so, the orange-haired boy continued to gaze at the sun, his pale face illuminated with jubilee and light.
Kageyama snuggled in his lonesomeness and reserved the burning questions for another day.
DAY THREE
School that day was dragging and boring. The teacher lectured as always, and no one seemed to miss him. In actuality, he heard too-loud gossiping around him with snide remarks like, "wow, why is he back?" and "he should've just stayed home and left us alone;" and even though no one ever explicitly mentioned him by name, Kageyama knew—he just outright knew—that those cruel words were directed toward him.
It saddened him but there wasn't anything he could do about it. Though, he tried his best to think about the only person who accepted him, and though the fluffy feeling in his stomach returned just by the mere thought of the strange orange-haired boy, he also felt melancholic in the way that he knew nothing about the small boy. Well, all besides his name—Hinata—and the fact that he's the "Prince of the Sunflowers," apparently.
Whatever that meant.
During lunch, he opened up his bento and, though he was oftentimes ravaging with hunger at this time, he decided to sneak away from school to see Hinata and share his food. Leaving school, surprisingly, wasn't as difficult as he thought it would be, and in no time, he found himself in the field of sunflowers, shuffling around in search of that one small clearing. He felt that, at this point, his feet were guiding him toward it with ease, and he quickly find himself stumbling upon the orange-haired boy sitting on the mound. In his hands was a tiny seed.
"Is that your lunch?" Kageyama asked half-jokingly and also as a way to introduce his bento.
Hinata looked at him oddly. "That would be cannibalism. Or something."
This time, it was the taller boy who gave him an odd, questioning look. "Well, whatever... You wanna, uh, eat my bento with me? I have more food than I thought."
The smaller boy looked up at him with glee tracing his bright almond eyes. "Sure! Just let me plant this!" And with that, he scooped up a little hole in the middle of the mound and carefully placed the sunflower inside, tucking it in with the stray soil. Then, with his dirtied hands, he began to motion his fingers in a way that meant something like "give it here," but Kageyama just looked at him as if he was stupid.
"Your hands are dirty," he stated in a matter-of-fact manner. It was obvious enough, but Hinata just stared at his hands with unfeigned surprise.
"Oh, yeah..."
The dark-haired boy sighed and sat down right next to him, putting the bento box in-between them. "I'll feed you."
The small boy nodded vigorously and opened his mouth happily, sticking his tongue out with the usual accompanying noise. Kageyama felt his ears grow hot, but he ignored the strange yet pleasant feeling and started shoveling down food into the other boy's mouth. The response that came from him was a satisfied sigh and eyes that shined and asking for more.
Kageyama felt compelled to comply, and sooner or later, the bento was completely cleared out of any sort of food save for little crumbs and a couple grains of stray rice here and there. Hinata was lying peacefully on the floor in a daze, his lidded eyes looking like it would shut down any second now.
The dark-haired boy's stomach growled, but the pervasive warm feelings in them helped him ignore the hunger. Seeing Hinata's happy face was much more satisfying.
DAY FOUR
Right after school, Kageyama ran straight to Hinata.
Once he stuck his head through the green stalks, the extra bouncy orange-haired boy began to bombard him with all sorts of questions.
What's school like?
Why are you always going there?
Are there many people there?
Do you like it there?
And even though Hinata never answered any of his questions, Kageyama still answered them truthfully and honestly. The words against his mouth felt weird, because he never really expressed his thoughts so openly before, but he felt at ease with the orange-haired boy and found it easy to say whatever was on his mind.
School is boring.
It's the law that I go there.
There's a lot of people all around the same age as you.
Not really.
That last question—Kageyama found himself hesitating, his chest clenching up with the same sort of rejection and sadness he always felt when he was around his gossiping peers.
A pair of honey amber was suddenly settled on his face, and Hinata comforted the poor boy with a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "School must suck then."
Kageyama just nodded, subconsciously resting his head on top of that reassuring hand. It was warm and nice.
And he thought to himself, even though Hinata was the one who asked the questions, he felt like he was starting to know more about the strange boy—how he didn't go to school, maybe to the point where he didn't even understand the concept of school. After all, Kageyama had only mentioned him going to school yesterday, and suddenly Hinata was curious about it.
He wanted to ask the orange-haired boy more questions, but he also wanted to just stay in this nice position for a while longer.
He chose the second option and closed his eyes, the last thing he heard was a sweet, childish laughter resounding around him.
DAY FIVE
Today was a quiet day. The two young boys sat alone in the silence of each other, the only audible sounds being the swaying of the sunflowers and the rustling noise they make when they brush up against each other; and then there's the occasional sound of cicada crickets echoing off in the distance.
Suddenly, Hinata plopped his back against the soil and, in one swift motion, brought Kageyama down with him. In his white shirt, Kageyama cringed that the dirt had soiled his perfectly white shirt, and he wanted to yell at the irresponsible orange-haired boy, lecturing him on being more careful and to be more aware of the consequences of not only his actions unto himself, but of the consequences his actions had on others.
Hinata responded with a playful poke to Kageyama's chubby cheek, to which the dark-haired responded with a single twitched eye and a flushed face.
"You're unbelievable," Kageyama murmured against the wind.
Hinata grinned. "So are you, mister grumpy face!"
And then, the blanket of silence was suddenly lifted, and the two began to chatter as they always had—about nothing in particular but about every frivolity in life.
Kageyama noted how, even though he felt comfortable and safe in their shared quietness, he liked hearing Hinata's voice a lot better.
It was nice and warm and bright and a good way to end an otherwise drab day.
He wished he could hear it forever.
DAY SIX
Something strange happened today.
When Kageyama walked into the empty clearing that day, he saw a sight he never wanted to see ever again: Hinata splayed against the soil, his face smothered in dirt, his eyes closed in pain, the color from his hair and face dulled and washed out.
With a sudden rush of emotion, the dark-haired boy frantically ran up to the small boy and knelt down, trying to pick him up. Surprisingly, the sickly-looking boy wasn't very heavy at all. Alarmingly light.
That very fact caused Kageyama's long legs to travel faster and faster until he was at home, where he promptly ran up the stairs to his room. He cleared out the top of his bed from any miscellaneous toys and objects and gingerly laid down the young boy.
He then stared out at the darkened sky, devoid of the sun, and closed the curtains.
He'll be okay, Kageyama chanted to himself as he clutched the edge of his bed sheets.
He'll be okay.
He'll be okay.
He'll be okay.
DAY SEVEN
All day, Kageyama stayed by his bedside, his head laying down right next to the pale, motionless body beside him.
The sun was still cowering behind bothersome clouds.
The dark-haired boy cursed for the first time in his life.
DAYEIGHT
Begrudgingly, he left the young boy on his bed as he went to school. Throughout the entire day, though, all he could think about was Hinata and how he still hadn't woken up. He thought to himself, he really missed the happy boy's happy smiles and the way they shined and was all toothy and bright.
His chest hurt just from thinking about it. He wanted to see those smiles again.
And again.
And again.
So right as the bell rung, he sprinted right out of the school and made his way back to his home and into his room. It was then he realized the previously motionless body on his bed was gone and that the window to his door was open. The worst possible scenarios engulfed his mind in a vertigo madness, and he started running again, and he kept running and running until he felt himself pushing against the sunflowers.
His breaths were labored and his legs felt sprained, but there was a crash of relief when he saw the orange-haired boy smiling at him again, sitting next to the small mound.
Kageyama didn't know what came over him, but with a pounding heart, he rushed over to the smaller boy and wrapped his long arms around his tiny frame.
A small tear formed in the corner of his eye when he felt little, twig-like arms wrap around his own body.
He really was okay. Kageyama couldn't be any happier.
DAY NINE
After the incident, Hinata told him that he would explain everything about himself.
Kageyama was more than ecstatic about finally getting to know all about the smaller boy, and even though he was usually asleep or doodling ugly sketches during class, he was unusually restless and couldn't stop the corners of his lips from tugging into a perpetual smile.
His peers around him started gossiping more and more about him, but the dark-haired boy didn't care because knowing more about Hinata was definitely much more important than everyone around him combined.
When the school bell rang at the end of the day, Kageyama tried rushing out, but a group of boys that were shorter than him but intimidating nonetheless obstructed his path. He tried to awkwardly go around them, but they all stepped in creepy unison in his direction and shot glares at him.
"What are you so happy about?" one of them asked. The dark-haired boy was taken aback because he had never been confronted in such a direct manner before, but he tried his best to ignore them and go about his way. His obvious ignorance, unfortunately, was met with an angered yell and a punch to his eye.
The impact was surprisingly hard, almost like he could feel his eyeball falling out of its socket. Fortunately, some girls who had been spectating screamed in terror, and a nearby teacher took notice immediately and broke away the shorter group of boys and tried dragging Kageyama into the infirmary.
Before the adult could do that, though, the dark-haired boy dodged his grip and dashed away, clutching at his bruised eye.
When Hinata took notice of the purple of his skin, it looked like he didn't understand the implications of the circumstances in getting one and directly asked, "what's that?"
"Nothing," Kageyama breathed out, forcing a smile on his face.
Hinata stuck out his tongue in feigned disgust and shot one of his goofy grins. "With that combination, you look like a monster!"
The dark-haired boy tried to laugh, even though the pain was sending shocks all over his nerves. It really, really hurt, and what hurt more was that he didn't understand why anyone wanted to hurt him. The only thing he had done all day was smile, and he knew people didn't like it when he smiled, but again, it wasn't like it was his fault. His smile was just plain weird sometimes, even though deep down inside he was really, truly happy.
The bruise on his eye was a clear reminder that he had no friends, and it pained him.
Hinata, surprisingly, noticed the sudden shift in Kageyama's mood and crawled up to him, worry evident in his bright eyes. "What's wrong, Kageyama?"
The dark-haired boy wanted to answer, but something else struck him: Hinata called him by his first name for the first time since they first met. The pain in his chest suddenly dissolved into happiness, and he looked at the orange-haired boy with newfound vigor. "H-Hinata...!"
"What is it, Kageyama?" Hinata laughed at how Kageyama had once again shifted his emotion so quickly, so easily.
"I want to know about you," Kageyama said.
Hinata just looked at him and brought his face down. "Okay, okay, well, I..." And he just talked for the rest of the day, and Kageyama took careful note of every single little detail that the orange-haired boy spewed out of his mouth, taking in every word and syllable like a greedy little child.
I'm Hinata. My full name is Shouyou Hinata. I'm the Prince of the Sunflowers.
I don't have any parents and didn't know anyone for a long time, until I met you, Kageyama.
I don't know how I ended up here, but I think I vaguely remember my past. I was from another planet. I'm the prince of that planet.
It's a planet that's full of sunflowers and is always sunny and warm and I'm the only one who inhabits it.
I ended up here somehow and decided to spread the happiness around.
By planting sunflowers.
But this world is dark sometimes and it's scary. It's cruel, really.
All I want to do is go back home.
To a normal, average, everyday person, Hinata's words may have been a signal to send psychological assistance. But to Kageyama, who had known the orange-haired boy for some time now and noticed the subtle honest passion dripping in his words, believed everything he said. After all, Hinata, who wasn't human but some sort of human-like alien, was just like him in that they were both lonely; and maybe the smaller boy wasn't outright seeking companionship, but to Kageyama, he knew even a solitary alien would enjoy the company of another person.
The rest of the day, they talked about nothing in particular as always, their soft murmurs being carried around by the warm summer breeze.
DAY TEN
Because of the obvious bruise on his face and various calls from the school district explaining the situation to his mother, she told Kageyama to stay home for a couple days while she went to the school and talked about what was going on with him with the rest of the school staff.
All that meant to Kageyama were a couple days with just himself and Hinata. All day long.
The rays of the sun today was unusually strong. The heat penetrated his olive skin like little stabs, but it was also strangely refreshing.
Today, he planned on teaching the small little alien about fun things that humans do. Just the night before, he packed a backpack full of various items from around his room to play with.
When he laid them all in front of Hinata, he curiously cocked his head in confusion, his eyes scanning over all the peculiar objects on the dirt. "What's all this?"
And instead of explaining them with words, because he wasn't the best in expression himself verbally anyway, Kageyama grabbed the bottle of bubbles, dipped the wand in, and started blowing out small little floaty spheres that drifted off into the air, popping when they touched a sunflower.
Hinata's bright eyes widened in amazement, and he frantically waved his arms around, exclaiming how he wanted a turn to blow bubbles. Kageyama handed the smaller boy his bottle, and the latter began to mirror his actions, pouting every time a bubble escaped the wand.
"Mine are always one notch smaller than yours!" Hinata's pout grew as he hurried his bubble blowing. The entire field was showered with shiny, colorful bubbles, all floating around in random directions and sometimes bumping into each other.
Kageyama smirked and picked up another bottle of bubbles, blowing more of them alongside the smaller boy. Their bubbles danced in the air, like a gentle waltz, the blue skies acting as a porcelain dance floor and the sun as chandeliers. It was a breathtaking sight.
After a while, Kageyama asked if Hinata wanted to try something else, but the orange-haired boy was insistent on eventually creating bigger bubbles than Kageyama.
So all day, they covered the skies with bubbles, leaving a lonely jump rope, volleyball, and paddleballs on the ground, right next to a sprout on the mound.
DAY ELEVEN
Before she left for work, his mother kissed his forehead and asked him if he was alright and if he was okay at school and if he had any friends.
Kageyama shrugged but said "I have a friend," and the incredible face of relief his mother pulled was pretty amazing. She smiled just from him saying that he had a friend, and he even found some satisfaction in his own words.
He had a friend.
For once, he wasn't alone.
His mother left without another word and Kageyama left right after her, running straight to where Hinata was as he had always done. It seemed like the orange-haired boy was expecting him because right when the dark-haired boy entered the clearing, he felt the smaller boy jumping into his arms. "Kageyama!"
Shocked, the dark-haired boy slowly wrapped his own arms around the small of the other boy's back, taking in the fragrant of nature from his orange locks.
When they pulled away from each other, Hinata examined his face with strained concentration, and then he asked, "why is your face still blue?"
"It's nothing," was Kageyama's hurried response, terse and avoiding.
"I tell you everything, but you can't even tell me that?" the small boy looked genuinely hurt.
The pained expression he wore in his usually bright face tugged at Kageyama's heart strings. Immediately, his mind gave in to Hinata and he let out a deep sigh before he started to explain. "Some guys at school punched me for no reason. It was a hard punch. That's why it's still here. It'll be gone in a while."
"School... the place you hate..." Hinata murmured softly. "They hurt you for no reason?"
Kageyama nodded, the memories still fresh in his mind. A shivering chill ran down his spine as he tried to push away the bad thoughts.
Hinata just eyed him carefully, like he was thinking deeply about what Kageyama just told him. To the dark-haired boy, it wasn't the biggest deal in the world. Children were oftentimes cruel, and his peers, gossiped about him and were afraid of him and treated him like a kingly monster, were no exception. Sometimes, it was just easier to ignore the cruelty of the world and go on with your life, just as Kageyama was doing. Besides, Hinata was his sunshine, and everything about him was better than anything else in the world.
The rest of the day, Hinata refused to talk, so Kageyama just sat beside him, inwardly reveling in how nice it was just being beside the orange-haired boy.
Above them, a stray cloud momentarily covered the sun and the striking shadows hit the flower field. Hinata paled slightly, but otherwise, he continued to stare at the ground, his legs huddled inside his wrapped arms. Kageyama subconsciously inched towards him until their shoulders brushed against each other's, and then they both stared at the growing sprout in front of them, a hint of a budding leaf on its side.
DAY TWELVE
Breaking news on the television screen had a scene of the front gates of his school. Nevertheless, Kageyama turned off the television his parents had carelessly left on and ran to his usual hangout.
Today, Hinata was more excitable than usual, his voice stentorian and his face sparkling with glee. He commented on how Kageyama's bruise was starting to fade away and that made him really, really happy. The innocent way in which the orange-haired boy expressed himself made Kageyama smile.
He awaited the usual comment Hinata made about his smile being scary, but instead he was met with a horrified glance. "K-Kageyama... that was... actually... normal..."
"Then why do you look so horrified!" was Kageyama's angry retort, but even then, there was satisfaction bubbling in his chest felt like it would burst and dribble out of him. Did he really smile like a normal person? He tried smiling again, but Hinata's sudden roars of amusement made him glare at him.
"I guess that was just a one time thing," Hinata said with a dorky smile. "Don't worry, Kageyama. You'll get it again soon."
DAY THIRTEEN
He awoke to the sound of his mother's panicked voice, complete with her hasty nudging. Kageyama's still sleepy eyes slowly drifted open and he saw his mom staring at him in despair. She said something about the news, but he was still too tired to be able to register what she was saying.
He tried to go back to sleep, but his mother shook him more vigorously and it forced him awake. His face looked irritated beyond belief, but he still looked up at his mother to see what exactly was so urgent as to wake up him.
She said that his school was being under investigation right now. Apparently, some of his classmates were missing since two days ago and they still haven't found them yet. There weren't any signs that could lead the police to any possible suspects or motives, but everyone was still searching, and as of right now, school was cancelled.
Thoughts of Hinata started flashing in his mind, and for some reason, he started thinking of the prospect that this was the strange boy's doings. Then, he immediately shook that thought out of his head. Hinata was too nice and innocent to do something like that, right?
Right?
Just as his mother left, Kageyama did too, and he started running toward that yellow field. He stumbled around the wall of curtains, his heartbeat running faster than he did, and then he suddenly tripped and fell face flat on the ground.
As he recovered from the sudden fall, his eyes shot open at the figure in front of him. It was the boy who had punched him, his ripped open and a lone sunflower shooting through the hole. The stench of blood mixed in with the flowers was overbearing and made Kageyama want to throw up.
He was paralyzed with disbelief. Hinata couldn't possibly...
Kageyama left the decaying body and ran back home.
That was the first day in a long time that he hadn't visited the peculiar orange-haired boy.
DAY FOURTEEN
Until midnight the night before, Kageyama was practicing his interrogation with Hinata in front of his mirror. He wanted to ask him everything about the startling scene he saw yesterday and wanted him to say something that would let him be able to rest easy. He wanted any sort of indication that Hinata was clueless about that murder and that he absolutely nothing to do with any of what's going on at his school.
When he met Hinata that day, he was smiling as bright and cheery as always, his honey amber full of optimism and hope and glee. Because of that, Kageyama had hesitated in asking his question, but after a bout of silence, he was able to choke it out: "Hinata, did you do that?"
And the brightness in the orange-haired boy's expression suddenly turned dark, his smile crooked. "People are cruel, Kageyama." He paused and almost as an afterthought added, "why do you think I'm the only one on my planet?"
And in that moment, he realized they were actually opposites, in which Hinata was someone who forced his own lonesomeness and Kageyama pursued companionship.
"These sunflowers were my only happiness. They kept me company. So I planted them and let them consume the earth and the cruel people of this world."
"They're... a trap," Kageyama suddenly realized, his jaw dropping open. "But then... why not me..."
The orange-haired boy smiled, as he always did, but this time it wasn't the same bright and happy one he always had. It was twisted and distorted and sad all at the same time. "Because you're like me."
And even though Kageyama sent him a questioning look, the orange-haired boy ignored him and continued to smile, refraining from answering the dark-haired boy's constant questioning.
He thought about it for a while when he returned home.
Because you're like me.
What did that even mean?
DAY FIFTEEN
Kageyama spent the whole day today thinking.
He thought about a lot of things, all of them involving the strange alien he met not too long ago.
How he was the first friend he ever made.
How he was a murderous psychopath who killed his classmates.
Even though they did hurt him, Kageyama was still sympathetic, and when he saw the parents of his peers' crying on the news, he started shaking his head, still in disbelief that Hinata, of all people, regardless of him being an alien and not understanding of basic human emotions, would do something as drastic as that.
It made him not want to visit him today. He still needed to sort out his thoughts, his feelings, and everything. He was so confused and at the same time, even despite everything, all he wanted to see was Hinata.
It was Hinata who had shown him happiness in his drab world of hate. He was like the epitome of the sun, bright and shining, full of optimism and life, and yet it was he who caused death too.
And he so desperately wanted to hate someone who would resort so quickly to the use of violence, but when it came to HInata, it was surprisingly difficult to have ill thoughts about him; and it was in that moment when he had an epiphany on just what Hinata had told him.
Because you're like me.
They both protected each other. In different ways, mind you, but they still did their best to protect each other, because the only thing that mattered either to them was each other's smiles.
The only thing that mattered to them, who both had never had the feeling of a close relationship with each other, was the other person and their happiness, and they would do anything to preserve that sacred emotion for all eternity.
Because when Hinata was sick and feeble, Kageyama was mad at everything.
And when Kageyama was hurt, Hinata probably felt the same kind of rage in him.
They were both alike in that way, and in some odd twist of faith, Kageyama unexpectedly found himself craving to just be by Hinata's side. Maybe because he was feeling that one adult emotion everyone in his grade would talk fervently and passionately about: love.
He thought he really, really loved him, and that was why he had the desire to be with him and to protect him from the evils of the world.
And he thought that, because Hinata did the same to him, he reciprocated his feelings.
Tomorrow—tomorrow definitely—he will talk to Hinata and tell him his revelation.
DAY SIXTEEN
When he woke up that fateful morning, he heard some commotion downstairs. He walked to the living room and was met with his parents concentrating everything on the television screen. Curious, a bushy tailed Kageyama walked up behind them and stared at the screen.
His eyes went wide when he found the familiar yellow see he went to every day. There were investigators hacking away at the tall flowers, with dead bodies set aside and covered in a black sheet of fabric. His breath caught in his throat and his fingers felt sweaty with anxiety. A newscaster was saying something about someone having discovered one of the bodies in the sunflower field, and now they're cutting away all the flowers to recover the rest of the missing children and hopefully find answers to this catastrophe.
Kageyama couldn't take it anymore and rushed out of the door, ignoring his parents yells at him. He ignored everything and ran his fastest through the fields, his bare feet stinging from the harsh impact against all sorts of rocks and hard soil on the ground. Everything around him went by like a blur, and he wasn't sure if it was because of how fast he went or the tears forming in his eyes.
When he finally made it to the destruction of the field, he pushed his way through in a different entrance to avoid being seen by the investigators and ran straight for the empty clearing, hoping and praying that Hinata was still there.
Fortuately, once he set foot on the clearing, he was met with the orange-haired boy, who looked weakened and depressed.
"Hinata!" the dark-haired boy screamed frantically. "You need to get outta here! They're tearing everything down!"
"I... can't..." Hinata's voice was uncharacteristically soft.
"What do you mean!"
"I need to stay here. With my sunflowers." He sounded really defiant and stubborn.
Kageyama looked at him in disbelief. "Listen, Hinata, you're not the smartest person in the world but you seriously need to think about this! You'll die out here!"
"I'd rather that happen than abandon my flowers."
"...wh-why?" Kageyama's voice was now being choked, the tears spilling out of his eyes. "Why are you being so adamant about this? This is your life we're talking about... Hinata, you idiot..."
"Kageyama," Hinata said suddenly, his voice sounding serious for once. "All my life, I had to deal with cruelty from everyone. These sunflowers saved me from them. The least I can do is be with them. I'm powerless in your world, but that's okay, because I was able to meet you."
"You're an idiot," Kageyama choked out, his feeble knees falling to the soil.
Hinata smiled—his regular old, bright and sunshiney smile. He looked up to Kageyama, grabbed his face with his dirty hands, and brushed his lips against the dark-haired boy's moistened ones. It was brief and momentary but full of unsaid emotions, and Kageyama cried harder and harder, and he heard Hinata starting to sniffle alongside him too.
The sound of hacking and slashing grew strong and stronger, and Hinata grew weaker and weaker with every sunflower that fell to the soil. His moist eyes, with their honey amber losing color, and his hair drooping and dull, all looked tragic, and it hurt Kageyama just to see his only friend dying in the most unfair of ways.
The darkened skies above them suddenly crackled, and the sun was no more, angry black clouds covering the skies. A heavy drizzle of droplets started pouring onto them, and Kageyama noticed Hinata's breathing was slowing and labored.
With a prolonged sniffle, the dark-haired boy carried the smaller boy in his arms in bridal style and settled the small figure next to the sprouting sunflower on the mound. Hinata whispered something that made Kageyama, full of emotion, fall down in a weeping ball beside him.
"I love you, Kageyama. I wish everyone was as nice as you were."
They thrive off of the rays of light and shy away from any sort of darkness. When the darkness consumes, it destroys them from the inside out. That's what the sunflowers in the bright, yellow ocean were. They ate the sun and burned in the shadows.
It's been years now since the fateful incident. The dead were prepared proper burials and the case was never solved. Kageyama thought no one would ever believe his extravagant story so he never spoke up, but he visited everyone's funerals and told them all sorry.
Thoughts of Hinata never left his mind. He would think about the bright, sunny, orange-haired boy. It was hard not to when the sun followed him everywhere he went. He really missed the little alien boy and his strange peculiarities and wondered if there was a heaven for aliens like him.
Nonetheless, he assumed there was, and it made him happy imagining the orange-haired boy with wings, playfully spreading his optimism on the clouds by planting sunflowers everywhere. That's what he would do. Definitely.
Every day, he walked back out to the field of sunflowers. It wasn't a sea of yellow anymore. It was flat and brown dirt, but it brought a lot of memories in him and he always found himself both smiling and crying just by looking at what once was a beautiful ocean of sunflowers.
He still remembered where the clearing was. It was distinguishable from its little mound. Surprisingly, the sunflower Hinata had planted on the mound was still standing tall and bright, looking up at the sun in hope.
Kageyama knelt down beside the mound and brushed his fingers against the soil next to it. He whispered I love you, Hinata, and went off on his day like normal.
In the distance, a black raven stared at him curiously, and then flew off in the direction of the sun.