YEAR THREE 2/9 Shared Adversity
A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. ~ Marion Garrety
Koushi Sugawara walks with Daichi behind Tanaka, Hinata and Kageyama. They are back in the market for food because the three in front of them can eat every meal like it's their last. He's pretty sure none of them know the meaning of portion control.
"I want yakiniku." The redhead says buoyantly, but Kageyama scoffs.
"You sound like Bokuto."
"We had pork curry last time, it's my turn to pick." Hinata says with a frown.
"What's wrong with pork curry, idiot?"
"We've had it twice in three days!" The redhead's exasperation bleeds freely into his voice.
"We could always get melonpan." Tanaka says nonchalantly, the bald crow slouching beside the two with his normal scowl.
"That's not something you make a meal out of." Kageyama mutters with a frown.
"Shut up, moron. We could, too." The redhead vouches on the bald crow's behalf.
"You'll be miserable afterword, too." The avian heir counters.
"We'd be fine, you—"
"How about ramen." Daichi says briskly and Koushi smiles.
"I could go for mapo tofu." He says since everyone else has tossed their suggestions in.
"I'd take ramen first." Tanaka says sourly. Koushi almost laughs. The bald crow dislikes most spicy foods and everyone is aware of how the thrush prefers his.
"Oh! Could I get an egg with mine?" Hinata asks, his face lighting up. Daichi half-sighs.
"You guys are expensive. Why don't Kageyama and Tanaka go hunting or something?"
"Can't. Kuroo's orders. Something about not going off by our—"
The bald crow breaks off, stopping on a dime.
Everyone turns toward him questioningly only to see him staring down at a small redheaded girl who has a hand fisted into the hem of his shirt. A little redhead girl who looks like Hinata.
Nevermind the fact that a child went up and grabbed Tanaka with his perpetual grimacing scowl, Koushi's mind stumbles at the resemblance to the small spiker. Her face, her eyes, her hair… even their body proportions are scary similar. And her wings. They have white ticking just like Hinata's did… although, they aren't quite 'right' and Koushi can't quite put his finger on why.
Everyone stares for a long moment before Tanaka moves. He drops down in front of her with a grin.
"Wow! I didn't think I'd see you again! I'm glad you're alright." He says and the little girl smiles just a little. She pulls her arm from behind her back and holds out a handful of large flowers. Tanaka blinks before he laughs.
"Right. Sunflowers." He says and pulls something that catches the sunlight from a pocket.
"Like these." He says and her eyes drop to his hand. Koushi had seen him thumbing the little glass ornamental hairpin a couple nights back, and he'd been puzzled over the deep contemplative look the crow had held, but hadn't thought much more than that.
The girl lets go of his shirt and runs small fingers over the tiny flowers that match the real ones in her hand. The bald crow watches her before his mouth quirks with a smirk.
"Tell you what. Why don't you keep this one and I'll take these." He says easily, grasping the sunflowers in her hand and laying them down next to himself. Carefully leaning forward, he slips the pin into her hair just above one of her pigtails.
"There. My sister is blond so it looks better on you. The yellow will stand out nicer against the orange. Saeko will like the real ones better anyway."
Her mouth drops, her eyes going wide. She brings a hand up and quickly pulls the pin out of her hair, earning a chagrined look from Tanaka, but she doesn't see it. She stares at the pin in her hands, awe and uncertainty in her gaze. Finally, she looks back up at him.
"Mwen ka kenbe?" She asks.
The foreign words mean nothing to the thrush, nor Daichi, he can tell, but it's not the case for all of them. A soft intake comes from Hinata and the girl's gaze darts around the bald crow at the sound. Both redheads freeze. The little girl is startled to be the focus of so many faces, but Hinata looks like he's seeing a ghost.
"N…Natsu?" The word that leaves Hinata's mouth is barely audible, but the child's almond eyes that are so like his snap to the grounded sentry's face. Her jaw slacks again and she takes a step forward.
"Ou konnen non mwen?"
"Hinata… can you understand her?" Daichi asks, but when Koushi glances back at him, he's gone white. His hands come up in front of him, the slightest tremble in them, and he shakes his head and steps backward.
"Hinata? What's the matter?" Koushi asks, but the redhead just takes another step back, horror filling his face.
"There's no way." He whispers. Kageyama's gaze cuts to his face, alarm flitting in the shadow of his jaw.
"Ki moun ou ye?" The girl says with a frown.
"Shouyou?" Kageyama says right behind him, his hands finding his shoulders both in question and reassurance, because in any other scenario, the boy's pale face would put all of them on edge.
"Sh… Shou?" The child echoes, stepping around Tanaka to get a better look at Hinata who's frozen up once more.
"Shou?" She says again and then looks at Tanaka. "Frѐ?"
Tanaka's jaw works, but he shakes his head apologetically. She grabs his sleeve with a frown of concentration.
"Frѐ… bro-ther." The word slips out as if she isn't used to it and Tanaka's brows almost meet his shaven hairline. She points at Hinata insistently.
"Brother?" Everyone turns toward the grounded redhead.
"Shouyou?" Kageyama murmurs beside him. Hinata's large eyes dart up at him before locking back on the girl.
"Sѐ… lan...She died." He whimpers, the foreign words fractured and unsure.
The girl releases Tanaka and walks right up to Hinata, earlier timidness abandoned.
"Frѐ? Shou?" She says and Hinata stares at her for a long while, his face a mask of fear.
"Natsu?" He whispers again.
They all knew Hinata had had a kid sister before coming to the rookery… but given that his mother had died, they'd all assumed the girl, who'd have been no more than a toddler at most, wouldn't have had even the faintest chance. The odds that this kid could be the same child seem slim to none… and yet, their faces a rounded in the same places, their small noses turned up just a touch, even their earlobes attach the same. Combined with the overall similar everything else, it really makes him wonder.
He supposes all those things could theoretically just be characteristics of whatever avian species Hinata descends from, but they've never met another one like him to compare to. And the foreign language is an odd detail that gives him pause, but by the time he'd met Hinata, the small spiker had already spoken strictly in crow, so he can't draw on his memory for any feel of familiarity to the words. It has been seven hundred years since Hinata would have last seen her. She would look nothing like he'd remember.
The redheaded boy leans backward into Kageyama when the girl reaches for him, but the crow setter seems just as intrigued as everyone else when she takes one of his arms. Her brows pull down in foggy uncertainty, as if she's following an impulse more than a thought. She turns Hinata's palm up and pushes his cloak back so she can see his arm clearly up to the elbow. Her eyes pause on a scar near his wrist before it travels up the pale skin toward the joint. Hinata watches with confusion as she pulls his hand up above her head, her eyes scanning the underside of the softer skin along the inside of his forearm. They focus sharply and one finger traces another scar that curls almost invisibly up to the crease of his elbow.
"Falcon…" She says softly and Hinata flinches. He presses even more into Kageyama.
"Ou kriye." The girl's voice is quiet as she releases him, but confident and Hinata blinks.
"Hinata, what does she say?" Kageyama asks. He glances up at Kageyama like a spooked animal.
"She says I cried… I think. Kageyama, she knows how I got that. Mom said we got too close to a nest and that's why the falcon attacked us. Sѐ… sister. Kageyama, she's my sister." He says, completely dazed.
"Frѐ?" She asks again and Hinata looks back at her.
"Frѐ…" He says softly.
"If she's your sister, what's she doing here?" Tanaka asks and she turns back to him.
"Mwen rete la." She says pointing down the street. Everyone looks at Hinata who shrinks back.
"I… I don't remember much. I don't know what she said." He looks so overwhelmed that Koushi takes pity on him.
"Natsu?" He tries and the girl looks up at him warily. He drops down level with her and Tanaka.
"That's your name, right?" She nods.
"So you understand crow?" Another nod.
"Shou hasn't spoken your language for a long time… can you talk a little slower?" He asks carefully, using the name she'd attached to the redhead. She looks back at Hinata.
"Mwen rete la." She repeats and Hinata frowns in concentration.
"I think… she said she lives here? I'm not sure." Her face lights with determination and she latches onto Hinata's shirt.
"Kote se manman?"
"I…" He looks up at Kageyama helplessly, but the crow setter is as useless in this situation as the rest of them.
"Manman…" He murmurs, looking back at Natsu, his face going dull, "Mom died… um… mouri?" He says uncertainly. Her face drops.
"Mouri?" She echoes.
"Wi." Hinata murmurs.
"Ou? Kote ki te ou?"
Hinata frowns as he tries to remember a language he hasn't heard or spoken in seven centuries. His face wrinkles in frustration.
"I… I don't know. I'm sorry." He apologizes and her eyes blaze to life with irritation.
"Kote ki te ou?" She says with a hard edge, frowning up at him.
"S-sorry," he murmurs again, his discomfort clearly building, "I don't remember."
"Lѐ sa sonje!" She snaps.
Long fingers close around the hand that has a hold of Hinata's shirt, and she looks up with a scowl only to meet a cobalt one with equal intensity.
"Maybe you still speak whatever language that is, but he's been surrounded by crows for centuries. If he knew what you were saying, he'd talk back. You understand us, so try speaking crow." He says frostily.
Hinata looks like he wants to protest the setter's rebuke, but doesn't get the chance. The child releases Hinata and fixates on Kageyama with instant panic.
"M regrѐt!" Hinata jumps at her sharp outburst and his hands clamp onto the crow setter's wrist.
"Tobio, let go! She's sorry!"
"Wi! Sorry!" She echoes.
Kageyama blinks, his gaze flicking between the two. But rather than releasing her, Kageyama fluidly kneels beside her and lays a hand on her head, ignoring her flinch.
"I'm not angry. But if you want him to understand, you have to try, too. Got it?" He says, more subdued, maintaining an intently serious blue stare on her. She nods with wide eyes.
The avian prince releases her before standing once more. The child continues to watch him with a mix of unease and awe, but he frowns at the stares he gets from everyone else.
"What?" He mutters defensively.
"Oi. When did you figure out how to deal with kids?" Tanaka asks with narrowed eyes and Kageyama glances at him reproachfully.
"I watched you with Noya's kid siblings. Though I don't think it works as well when I try. It doesn't have the same effect." Koushi huffs with amusement.
Not even close. If Tanaka puts kids at ease, Kageyama makes them mind.
Natsu's disposition with each is a blatant example.
"We are going for ramen. Perhaps Natsu would like to join us for dinner? Maybe you guys can find something of a blend between the two languages?" Daichi says diplomatically and the little girl turns toward him with surprise.
"Would you like that, Natsu? We can go get some food and you can talk to Hinata some more?" Koushi asks. She looks back at him and then the bald crow with a small smile.
"Wi — yes." She says, her gaze flicking back up at Kageyama as she utters the crow equivalent. Ever cautious of the blue-eyed crow, she latches onto Tanaka's shirt as they continue down the street once more.
But that doesn't stop her from shyly attempting conversation with Hinata again. She tries to put everything into crow words, but the sentences are broken at best, her grammar all over the place and the wording jumbled. She sometimes starts in crow but completes a thought in her native language which is a trick to decipher and pretty soon, they are all engrossed in the stilted and fractured conversation that tentatively holds between the two redheads. Hinata does remember some words and occasionally tests one out, but for the most part, his memory of the language is pretty rough.
Natsu darts frequent glances up at Kageyama who is always just off Hinata's elbow, but she looks like she's relaxing. Until Kuroo and Kenma show up.
"What the hell? When did you go and duplicate yourself, shrimp?" The girl goes rigid, her grip on Tanaka's shirt turning iron.
"Chat." She whimpers. Hinata looks at her with a cocked brow.
"Cat? Of course he's a cat."
"Cat bad." She says, pressing into Tanaka.
"What? No, they are our friends. They saved our lives. This one is Kuroo and this one is Kenma." Hinata says. The black cat blinks and turns to Kageyama.
"Seriously, Feathers. I feel like I'm seeing double. Where did he find a mini-me?"
"It's his sister." Kageyama says flatly.
"Really?" Kenma asks with a rare spark of interest and steps closer. Natsu shrinks back further from the golden cat's inquisitive appraisal. Kenma turns to Hinata with a soft smile.
"She does look a lot like you."
"We were thinking ramen for dinner, you guys in?" Suga asks lightly. He imagines if they all seem comfortable around the cats, she will eventually relax again, too.
"Ramen? Whose idea was that?"
"A compromise!" The thrush grins.
"Meaning you guys couldn't make up your minds, so Daichi pulled rank." The black cat murmurs blandly.
"It sounds good." Kenma says, drawing the black cat's gaze with his unusual contribution of opinion.
"Whatever. If we are getting large bowls to share, there better be no more than one spicy one."
Suga laughs at the subtle barb and they are soon scouting out a ramen place. With Natsu, they are eight people and the hostess seats them in a room by themselves. Food comes and gradually, the girl relaxes again.
She remains attached to Tanaka's side regardless, mindful of the cats and still conscious of Kageyama, but she does begin a conversation with Hinata once more. Her eyes go huge when a bowl is set in front of her, her guard dropping as she inhales the meal. Her comfort level with the bald crow is baffling to the thrush, but he supposes that next to Kageyama's imposing demeanor, even Tanaka could seem… secure. Maybe it's the easing comfort level, but the moment inevitably comes when she hesitantly points to Hinata's shoulders.
"Zѐl?" She asks timidly.
Koushi had seen her glance at his empty back more than once and knew this heartbreaking question would come eventually. Hinata's face goes more serious but he still smiles. He gets up, his sister and leveler following suit. Hinata pulls off the cloak and then his shirt, explaining how he lost them and then showing her the new ones. Her pupils blow wide with horror at the scarred wing base and awe at the ridges, and perhaps it's because they are focused on wings at the moment, but looking at her now next to Kageyama with his pristine wings and Hinata with no wings, it finally strikes Koushi what is wrong with Natsu's. He drags in a quiet breath.
Somehow it was all the more tragic that both siblings knew what it was to be grounded.
A/N: Ah! Apologies for missing yesterday. Have some more Natsu :)
So a couple chapters back, the title was actually in Italian and I completely missed that before posting. I meant to switch it, but I'm not sure I care enough to figure out an english equivalent now. I promise that no other chapter titles will be in another language... but surfacing in the chapter itself might be fair game lol
Kudos to whoever figures out what language Natsu speaks! I'll give a hint... if you were to hear it in any Asian country, that person would be a HELL of a ways from home. :) Have a special evening you guys!