pTobio flips the card over in his hand. It's just a piece of plastic with basic information about the owner plus his dorm room building name and number. It isn't anything too interesting; Tobio has pretty much the exact same thing stuck in his frocket./p
pWhat kind of dumbass runs off without taking their belongings first? This 'Hinata Shoyo' apparently. He decides to give it back, but how? How can he track down Hinata without looking like some kind of creep? He wants to keep it in the library's desk drawer until he comes back, but it could take days, weeks, months, even. The other could be one of those types who take forever to return books because they either forgot or ignored the return date. Scratch that, he thinks, feeling a little defeated./p
pWait. He rummages through his pants' right pocket, his hands touch something round yet lumpy- is that washed gum in its wrapper? Grimacing, he switches to his left pocket and feels the cold surface of his old flip phone. He flicks it open and pulls up his contact list. He pushes the down button to go through his grand total of 10 contacts: his dad, mom, home phone, Tooru, various mobile assistance hotlines, voicemail, and himself. He stares dumbly at the screen as it goes dim. Only 10?/p
pThat can't be right. He desperately clicks through his contacts again, pressing a little too forcefully on the little button. There has to be some kind of miscalculation. There isn't: 10 again. And then it hits him: he has no friends. His relationship with Tooru is more towards begrudging upperclassman respect, which makes on and off conversations that amount to nothing. When was the last time he talked to him anyway? Last month?br / It never really occured to Tobio that he would need at least one friend in college. But first, the ID return. He considers calling his parents but he knows that they would say something akin to how an 18 year old is too old to be asking for a solution for something like this. Oh, and possibly a downward spiraling coversation about his grades and so on. He always fears the worst when they talk about his nonexistent major, because he hasn't chosen one yet./p
pThe mobile assistance hotlines are out of the question. What would he do? Tell his whole sob story of how he has no friends and that he has a stupid dilemma- "Excuse me sir, would you like me to contact a therapist?"- If not that, the most they could do is probably tell him how to view his phone bill online./p
pThen came to Tooru. What was he supposed to say? "Hey, I just called you to ask how you can return an ID to this guy I barely know without looking like a stalker"? Tooru would do that stupid and condescending laugh of his and then ask him to say it again for shits and giggles. It would not be pretty./p
pHe snaps the phone shut, extinguishing the light, and pinches the bridge of his nose. He mentally sets his priorities straight. First, homework, housework, other things, and then the ID. Tobio prepares to stick the annoying thing in his wallet, but not before he scrutinizes the face of the owner one more time. Ridiculously unruly brown? orange? hair catches his eyes first, seconded by the wide smile that made Hinata look much younger than 18./p
pHe rolls his eyes and puts it in one of the spare credit card pockets in his wallet, dropping it off by his kitchen counter. He moves to his dresser, takes out a wrinkly white shirt, and drapes it over his shoulder. He eases down the ironing board, ignoring the screech as the legs touch down on the floor. He reaches up to the top shelf of the closet and takes out the iron, plugging it into the nearest outlet. This process is systematic. A little too much, but Tobio is accustomed to it./p
pHe spreads the shirt out on the ironing board, sprays it a few times, and tugs so that it's taut while he waits for the iron to heat up. A few minutes later, as he irons away the creases in the sleeves, Tobio wonders about how Hinata is coping without his ID and, despite himself, cracks a hint of a smile./p
p-br / In a dorm room located on the east side of campus, a Hinata Shoyo is frantically searching through his belongings./p
p"Argh! Where is it?!"/p
p"Where is what?" A shaven headed male inquires as he walks in, narrowly ducking a flying t-shirt./p
p"Yeah, where is-mmph!" Another voice echoes, until he's cut off by the aforementioned article of clothing hitting him in the face./p
p"My ID!" Hinata exclaims, patting his pockets and his person. "I had it with me but then I lost it somewhere!"/p
p"Did you forget it in the wash again? Because I remember last time and it melted a little." The one who got hit in the face suggests helpfully, combing through his spiky strands of hair. He tosses the t-shirt aside on a growing pile of discarded clothing by the door./p
p"It didn't melt! It just got a little heated so..." Hinata retorts, peevishly./p
p"Don't worry, I'm sure it's in a classroom or something, right?" The other male reassures, patting Hinata on the back./p
p"I hope it isn't; I already got in trouble last time and couldn't get on dorm." Hinata moans, remembering when he went out to get something in the dining hall during unholy hours in the morning and forgot to bring the ID with him. He had stood out in the cold, banging at the door until his roommates Tanaka and Nishinoya ushered him back in, but not without some adults getting wind of it. They wanted to know why a college freshman was standing outside in the cold in nothing but underwear. Was that a meat bun from the dining hall? They let him off with a warning, but Hinata knew it was going to be worse the next time he forgets his ID and sneaks food out./p
p"Oh yeah," Nishinoya muses. "That was funny."/p
p"It was," Tanaka agrees, "but it would've been better if Kiyoko was there to see us save the day!"/p
p"And then she would've..." Nishinoya's voice becomes faint as he moves into the common room, Tanaka following him./p
pHinata doesn't have the heart to tell his upperclassman friends that the chance of her seeing it happen is a one in a million chance, and then some since she ignores them anyway. Their voices cut in and out at odd intervals, until with a shout of "Kiyoko!", do they fall silent. And then, the sound of the TV comes on./p
pHinata kicks at a lump of clothing on the floor, and his foot touches something angular. Books. When did they get there?/p
p"I got it!" He cheers, heart thumping as he cracks open the covers, to reveal absolutely nothing. "I don't got it," He mumbles, slapping his hand against his forehead. Maybe he should check the library? It wouldn't hurt to try. After all, that was the last place where his ID-/p
pHe runs into the common room and skids to a halt in front of the TV, arms spread wide. "Guys! I know where it is!" He says excitedly. "Let's go get it!"/p
p"Move, Hinata! We're trying to watch TV!" Nishinoya complains, craning his neck to watch in the spots where it wasn't covered by the short underclassman./p
pTanaka is surprisingly more to the point. "It's already night, so it won't be open." He adds./p
pOh. Right./p