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"Thank you, Oikawa-san!"

The smile he sent her appeared reluctant. Having to interact with his peers exhausted his limited social battery. It only took a few minutes of talking with others to make him wish to crawl into a hole. Glancing outside the window, he wondered how his brother was doing. Ever since that weird declaration of his at the gymnasium, Yuuma took it upon himself to avoid Tooru.

He shouldn't bother him anymore. It took a while but Yuuma now understood that if he kept pestering his twin, anger would only grow and Tooru would hate him more. That was the thing he didn't want. The hate he received now already made him cry; what's more if Tooru hated him further? What was he supposed to do then?

Yuuma was thankful that Tooru leaves earlier than him in the morning and goes home a lot later. In that way, the twins wouldn't bump into each other. Often times, Yuuma just stayed in his room and asked either Himari or Takeru for anything he needed.

Don't bother Tooru anymore.

Don't talk to him.

Don't approach him.

Don't even look at him unless absolutely necessary.

"Now that you don't have anything to do with him, why not just go back to Itachiyama again?"

Because even though he decided all that, Yuuma couldn't bear to leave the Oikawa household anymore.

"You're real stupid, aren't you? Your own twin brother hates you, you're burdening your sister and even your damn nephew, and you still want to fucking stay in that house? Wow, you really don't worth anything, do you? What a damn dead weight you are."

Yuuma ignored that voice and packed up his stuff. Placing the strap of his bag on his shoulder, he failed to notice the gaze that had been burning a hole through the back of his head all throughout the day.

Walking out of school grounds, going straight home didn't sound appealing this time. So that's why Oikawa Yuuma decided to take a walk.

With things as they were now, it really would be better if he went back to Tokyo, wouldn't it? At least, in that way, he wouldn't trouble his elder sister and he wouldn't drag his own nephew into his situation. In that way, Tooru could be happy. His brother would be happier without him, right? He did overhear him one time that Tooru would have preferred if he wasn't even born.

So, what was he still doing? Yuuma couldn't understand. He didn't understand anything at all. Why he was acting this way, why he was so stubborn about staying; just what was he doing troubling his family? Ever since he had gone home to the Oikawa household, a tense atmosphere was always present.

"That's right... what's the point anyway..." his grip on the strap of his bag tightened as his thoughts took a deep dive into that cold, cold ocean. "What's the point..." The question repeated again and again and again in Yuuma's head.

It continued that way until the sound of click was heard in the deep ocean he dived into. "Why... am I still breathing..."

"Yuuma-san?" Like grounded by electricity, a mellifluous sound reached his ears. It pulled him out and broke through the ocean's surface. His once blurry sight focused on the person in front of him. It was Sugawara Koushi of Karasuno.

The night had already come and greeted the world and Yuuma failed to notice that while taking his walk. Did he really walk for that long? Karasuno wasn't even that close from Seijoh so how did he manage to bump into Suga? The setter must have seen his confused expression because he simply smiled and said, "I'm here to do an errand. I've already finished though when I bumped into you."

"An errand... I see. It's nice... to see you, Koushi-san."

Sugawara Koushi didn't point out that Yuuma was on the verge of a mental breakdown (he had seen a few in the past and could identify if someone was about to have one) and continued their small talk. He didn't want to make Yuuma overthink more. The person in front of him didn't need comfort; he needed distraction.

Slowly but surely, those dead eyes Yuuma wore was no longer to be seen the more they talked about random things. Ever since the both of them just clicked with each other, Suga already noticed the numerous differences between his friend and the so called Great King.

What stood out the most was instead of that taunting and flippant attitude, Oikawa Yuuma was meek and polite. Suga really liked Yuuma's personality and he was a breath of fresh air from his own teammates. Don't get him wrong, he loved the Karasuno Volleyball Club but they do get a little tiring every now and then. "Would you like to come see us practice sometimes?"

Yuuma halted at Suga's question. All this time, he'd been trying not to bring up anything that was related to Tooru so the mere mention of volleyball had him freezing. "It's okay if you don't want to but you're free to stop by anytime." Suga informed him with that bright refreshing smile.

He wanted to object, really, but the more he spent time with Suga, the more he felt at ease. Then, his mind wandered to that little sunshine that caused his stammering to disappear in just a few seconds. "Alright," Yuuma decided. "I'd love to... see you guys practice."

That answer delighted the setter.

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"HAAAA?! THAT BASTARD'S BROTHER IS COMING TO WATCH US?!" Tanaka roared out in disbelief. It hadn't even been that long since they've lost to Seijoh but Suga already invited the opposition's captain's brother?! Suga tried to calm the wing spiker down and explain why he even invited his new friend in the first place.

"Tanaka, quiet down! I have a good reason why I want him to come here." While still reluctant, the second year did calm down while the rest of the team surrounded the third year setter. "When I bumped into him, Yuuma-san was deep in thought and... I heard him say something that concerned me."

"Say something?" Daichi quirked an eyebrow.

All of a sudden, Suga looked a hesitant but in the end, he told his team.

"He was... asking why he was still... breathing." Shock painted their expressions. Hell, even Tsukishima appeared disturbed by what he just heard.

"And the entire time we talked, he never once mentioned his brother. I really thought he would at least say something about how he was sad that his brother's team didn't beat Shiratorizawa. I was really worried that something was wrong but I didn't want to pry further so I invited him here. Maybe a change of scenery and people to hang out with might help."

Because Suga didn't want to assume anything. By doing this, maybe Yuuma's mood would improve.

He couldn't forget that dead look in his friend's eyes, after all.

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uwu Suga-saaaaAAAAAAAAAAAN ️