falling into step
A Haikyuu! fanfic
by mew-tsubaki
- ^-^3
Chapter 6: A Life Outside of Volleyball
His phone vibrated in the quiet of his room late on Sunday morning, but Watari didn't feel like answering the text. That lone sound in his room made the place seem so empty…though clearly he was occupying it, lying in bed in a t-shirt and shorts, staring at the cream-colored ceiling while a humid summer breeze blew in through the open window.
His dour mood at home had been carried over from school the day before and the evening before that. He honestly hadn't considered that they'd lose to Karasuno so soon in the year. Neither had the others, leading to a very subdued but brief club meeting after the half day the day after their loss.
Watari crinkled his nose at such thoughts. Even the word "subdued" itself sounded so miserable on its own…and then the word "miserable" reminded him of crying on Matsukawa.
He sat up, embarrassed at the memory and chastising himself. It wasn't as if Matsukawa and the others hadn't seen him cry before…yet things were different this time. Kind of like how Matsukawa comforting him was different from being playful with the others. So the memory of Watari crying morphed into the memory of Matsukawa walking him over to the bus after, an arm still wrapped around him, and Watari calmed down. He remembered sending Matsukawa a thank-you text that night and getting a kaomoji in response. The purely Matsukawa-ness of it all put Watari in a better mood now, even when his phone buzzed again.
The libero scratched his head and eyed the screen. He hadn't spoken to Yahaba outside of greetings the other morning, so the message wouldn't be from him, downcast as the captain had been. No, it was Matsukawa:
-＼(￣Ｏ￣)
Ah. Matsukawa's version of "hello," Watari guessed. He sent a quick response:
-Good morning, Matsukawa-san.
Two seconds later:
-Sleep well?
Watari tapped his phone to his chin—and winced when he got it too close to his injury. He gingerly touched his lip, where a scab was forming, and then he lightly massaged the purplish bruise right below, typing with his other hand:
-So-so. You?
-(。-ω-)zzz
The face made him chuckle. But he had a stab of pain again, and he rolled his eyes at having a split lip as a new message came in:
-No U＾ェ＾U today.
Ah. So he wasn't out with the dogs today. Watari frowned at that, because Matsukawa with the neighborhood dogs was an interesting sight. Before he could reply, Matsukawa sent something else:
-You free?
Hmm. Technically, he was. But Watari also wanted to get a head start on making his own study guides for finals next month… And he wanted to message Yahaba that, since their plates had lightened, they should decide on a manager before long—definitely before Spring High prelims, which was the obvious next goal. His phone buzzed again, snapping him out of his thoughts:
-【・ヘ・?】
…ah. Clearly, Matsukawa was trying to cheer him up. He could picture Matsukawa raising his eyebrows at him, waiting for an answer. Watari distractedly thought about Matsukawa's arm around him again and caved.
-Yeah, I'm free. What's up?
-Hardware store in 10.
And that was it. Nothing else, but Watari inferred that Matsukawa was asking Watari to meet him there. Considering that was the exact amount of time he'd need to get there, Watari swung his legs off his dark blue comforter, swapped his shorts for a nicer-looking pair of capris, pulled on his socks, grabbed his wallet, and went downstairs.
His dad did a double-take from the living room couch at seeing Watari up and around. "Shinji? Are you heading out?"
"Yeah. A friend wanted to hang," the libero replied as he pulled on his everyday sneakers right inside the vestibule.
"Make sure you have your phone and are back before dark. Tell Shigeru we say 'hi,'" he added as he turned back to watch the news.
Watari shook his head at that, entertained. He and Yahaba really did hang out a lot as it was…but it was kind of refreshing, leaving and not correcting his father that he had other friends, least of all pointing out that Matsukawa and Yahaba were two very different people.
Humid though it was out, the heat wasn't so bad, and the blue sky was peppered with bright white, cover-giving clouds, so the walk into town was fairly enjoyable. It was a little strange, Watari supposed, to be heading for the hardware store from this direction instead of just passing by it on his way to school, and a vague memory popped into his head, that Matsukawa's family's shop was blocks away from there. Huh. Did his family live above or close to the shop? If not, Watari wondered if Matsukawa had borrowed the delivery truck… If so, he really didn't wish for Matsukawa to go out of his way like this just to cheer Watari up.
Though the libero would be lying if he said he didn't like the idea.
Outside the hardware store, Matsukawa stood off to the side, hidden in the shade of the adjacent store's awning. He picked up his head when he sensed Watari's eyes on him and smiled.
"You must deal with the heat better than most people," Watari commented, stunned that Matsukawa had donned a black shirt again—a polo this time, along with jeans.
Matsukawa pointed to the awning overhead, like "I get by with shade only." He turned slightly, as he had before when he wanted Watari to follow him, and the two teens crossed the street and headed for the bus stop further down the road.
"'Where are we going?" Watari asked. He bumped into Matsukawa's side when they got on the bus right as it arrived, and he apologized since he couldn't do anything about the tide of weekenders sloshing out of the vehicle.
Matsukawa tugged him out of the way and kept him close as they grabbed the closest overhead handles. The bus got moving again, and Matsukawa gave Watari a small smirk. The likeliest translation: "You'll see when we get there."
He gave the taller boy an exasperated look, because he wasn't one for games when the weather was like this. But his expression only made Matsukawa's shoulder's shake with silent laughter.
It was only another ten minutes before they disembarked in a familiar neighborhood, and Watari hustled to keep up with Matsukawa's long strides as they entered the local movie theater, a gently used building sandwiched between a popular ramen shop and a lawyer's practice. The destination was a surprise, and Watari bungled offering to pay for his own ticket when Matsukawa picked up tickets for goodness knew what and continued to lead the way to one of the screens.
They grabbed seats pretty much in the middle of the theater. Watari wanted to ask what he'd been dragged to see, but the few previews began, and the film got rolling shortly after that. So Watari settled in for the ride.
The opening credits were slow-moving and dragged out as the camera set the scene in a bright village somewhere in the Western hemisphere. Using the light projected onto the screen, Watari stole a peek at his friend's face, hoping to discern what on earth would compel him here.
Matsukawa looked at ease, with his eyes glued to the screen. His eyes flitted over the foreign cast list and lit up once the subtitles appeared as the first characters spoke. That was when his excitement was plain on his face, and Watari guiltily tore his gaze away, remembering this was the older boy's treat and so Watari should try to enjoy this in the least.
…well, he tried. Though the dialogue was pretty, as were the actors, Watari found the story hard to follow. As best he could comprehend, this was some kind of parallel, semi-magical world, and the main characters literally could not live without each other. There were a few interesting sequences that built suspense but never bloomed into genuine action scenes, but Watari found that he kind of liked that, even if he didn't grasp the story.
When the end credits rolled, Watari still wasn't sure what they'd just watched, but the lights in the theater went on, and the excitement was still evident on Matsukawa's face.
"Different, huh?" the black-haired teen asked, a laugh in his voice as they stood and stretched after sitting for two hours.
"That's a word for it," Watari offered honestly. He walked beside the taller boy as they exited.
Matsukawa released his laugh. "It's fine, Watari. I wasn't sure you'd like it, to be honest. But it wasn't that bad, was it?"
The younger teen shook his head. He squinted when they returned outdoors to the admonishing rays of sunlight and said, "There were some things I liked. I just didn't follow the ideas too well, I think."
"Yeah. Me neither."
Watari blinked up at him. "You didn't get it?"
"Not entirely, but I like it anyway." Matsukawa put his hands on his hips and rolled a kink out of his shoulders. He cocked his head towards Watari. "I think it's enjoyable to like something even without understanding why."
There was childlike sincerity in his tone, which made Watari grin. In his mind, Matsukawa had always been a cool and funny guy. As of late, he'd become a kind figure in Watari's life, too, and friendly. But this side of Matsukawa? It was endearing.
Matsukawa opened his mouth to say something else, but his stomach growled. He closed his mouth and grimaced, definitely disliking having been interrupted.
"It's fine," the shorter boy told him with a chuckle. "I could eat."
Matsukawa nodded his thanks, and he let Watari pick out their lunch spot.
- ^-^3
Though Monday wasn't any easier than those first few days after the Interhigh prelims, Watari knew he wasn't as hung up on the loss as his teammates were. Lunch that day ended up being just him, Yahaba, and Kyoutani, which was a quiet enough affair. Lunch on Tuesday? Just him and Yahaba, which normally produced better results, but even Watari knew he only had about three tries in getting a conversation started without Yahaba's help before things were doomed an utter failure.
After take three—an "Oh, hey, I saw Mizoguchi-san yell with Kunimi at Terakado in the halls at the end of the day yesterday"—failed to bring a smile to the captain's lips, Watari rolled his eyes and gave up, settling for eating his bento in silence. Once he was a third of the way through his lunch, Yahaba finally piped up.
"…sorry," he grumbled. He sighed, bowed his head, and apologized again. Then he rolled up his sleeves and dug in to his own lunch with weak vigor. "I know practice resumes tomorrow and I need to realize that."
"Well, that is what any other captain would do."
Yahaba's light brown eyes narrowed at him. "Thank you, Vice-Captain Obvious."
Watari grinned.
Yahaba grunted at that, but he was starting to smile again. "Sometimes I wonder how Oikawa-san did it, y'know? I go nuts half the time."
"I think he knew Iwaizumi-san and the others and we had his back." He paused, recalling some distinct memories of practice last year. "Although I guess that was questionable at times, in Hanamaki-san and Matsukawa-san's case."
The captain barked a laugh. "Definitely!" He calmed down, though the smile didn't leave his face, and he stared at more than ate his lunch. "I'm glad."
"For what?"
"That the senpai came last week."
"Yeah." Watari dwelled yet again on how easily Matsukawa had come up to him to comfort him, but he shook himself free of the reverie when he felt Yahaba staring at him, so he stared back, warm gray eyes meeting brown. "What?"
"Nothing. Just… Shido-san was the same as ever. Hanamaki-san, too," he added quickly, and he took a bite of whatever meat his mother had packed into his bento. Then he returned to observing Watari. "Matsukawa-san, though…"
"What about him?"
"I didn't realize you guys were chummy."
Watari furrowed his brow. He was certain he'd said something similar to Matsukawa, about Yahaba and Hanamaki. It was odd, hearing this sort of echo. "Not that we didn't get along before, but I guess I understand your curiosity. I've been hanging out with him."
Yahaba's eyes widened—it was subtle, but to a trained, friendly eye, it was noticeable. "Oh."
"What?" Watari pushed. Yahaba at least didn't jump to funny conclusions as Hoshimura was wont to, but Watari believed he saw a gleam in his friend's eye.
"Just wondering how that happened, with him working and all."
"It was circumstantial. I cross paths with him on the way home. I guess we just never noticed each other before a couple of weeks ago." Which was an interesting thought. Matsukawa must've only just had the hardware store added to the delivery route, otherwise Watari was positive he would've seen him before then.
Yahaba kept watching him, interested in the new topic. "What's he like, outside of club?"
Watari pursed his lips. There was a part of him that didn't want to go into detail, since he was enjoying discovering things about their former senpai. But he also knew that Yahaba wouldn't let it go unless Watari coughed up some of the truth. "He's…about as talkative as you'd expect," he started, and he couldn't help smiling when Yahaba laughed at that.
"Go figure. What else?"
"He really does carry a snack on him at all times. Even if they're only mints," the libero added. It was a detail he'd learned when they'd gone to the movies, as Matsukawa had eaten a few like regular hard candies during the show. But thinking of that, of Matsukawa and the dogs, of Matsukawa who'd driven him home a couple of times now, he felt a twinge of sadness and, weirdly, loneliness. His shoulders sank as he met Yahaba's eyes again.
"What's wrong?" Yahaba's face fell, too.
"It's like…I wish I could've gotten to know him before they left, you know?" Although, Watari supposed, he probably just envied the idea of having time they hadn't had these past two years.
Much to the shaven-haired boy's surprise, Yahaba gave him a skeptical look and snorted. "What are you talking about? Of course we know them." He even put his lunch aside and held up his hands to count off on his fingers. "Oikawa-san and Iwaizumi-san are practically married. Matsukawa-san is the more levelheaded between him and Hanamaki-san. And Hanamaki-san…"
When the setter went quiet, Watari also stopped eating and focused on him. If he hadn't, he would've missed the small smile Yahaba nearly kept to himself.
"Hanamaki-san," Yahaba continued, "has a ridiculous sweet tooth, never keeps his hands to himself, and is much more of a child than he appeared to be in club." When he finished, color slowly crept into his cheeks, but Watari knew even without the visual clue.
"Oh. You actually know him like—"
Yahaba picked up his lunch once more, pushed the rice around in his bento, and nodded. "Yeah, I love him a lot." He sat up straight then, digging in to his lunch once more as if he'd simply pointed out that the sky was blue and that it was hot in the summer. "So I'm glad he came by and cheered us on, although I really could've done without the surprise."
Several things clicked into place then for Watari, and he laughed. "His sudden appearance threw you off, didn't it?"
"Did not," the other boy insisted, but that only made Watari laugh harder.
"But, Yahaba, while your free pass to escape mixers is all well and fine…please don't ditch me for Hanamaki-san again," he quipped, because that now was the only explanation for their shopping trip cut short.
Yahaba beamed and laughed, too, no longer bothering to hide his rosy cheeks. "No promises."
- ^-^3
With practice resuming tomorrow, Watari's day ended well before he might stumble across Matsukawa, so he went home, changed, got some studying in, and returned around the normal time like usual. Matsukawa's eyebrows knitted together in momentary confusion, but he seemed to get it when Watari got within hearing distance. "Cool-down period, right," the alumnus stated.
"Yeah. Freedom ends tonight," the libero said, and he took a seat in the cargo hold as he'd grown accustomed to doing.
"Only for a little while," Matsukawa reminded him. "Then you'll ace your exams and be on break."
"True, true." Watari beamed, even though summer practice was an ever-present thought in his brain. It had occurred to him yesterday that, though Matsukawa was busy working, Watari's break might make things more workable when it came to meeting up. He wasn't sure he wanted to see another movie so soon, but there were plenty of other things to do. …all right, aside from just hanging out and talking or maybe grabbing a bite together, Watari came up dry. But he'd put forth a solid effort if Matsukawa was open to seeing him more often.
Matsukawa quirked an eyebrow at Watari's quiet happiness but didn't prod. "You going to be fine tomorrow afternoon?"
"I think so," the shaven-haired boy replied, noting the smaller-than-normal stack of boxes in the truck this early in the evening. "Yahaba's back to being himself, too, and I think the chipper likes of Kindaichi and Okino will turn the rest around, if they haven't come around already."
Matsukawa nodded his head, like "Good, good."
Watari twisted his lips and watched Matsukawa's profile while the other male momentarily was lost in thought, counting boxes and checking an order paper he'd plucked from his jumpsuit's breast pocket. "Yahaba also told me about him and Hanamaki-san today," he ventured.
Ah. There it was: a slight twitch of his eyebrow before his eyes crinkled and Matsukawa turned to Watari with a demure grin. "It wasn't my secret to share."
"I figured you'd say something like that." Watari brought a leg up and rested his elbow against his knee, cupping his cheek in his palm. "How long?"
"Have I known? Basically from the start. Hanamaki is the type who wants to tell at least one person, and we're close enough that he told me. That, and Hoshimura saw them making out in a stairwell one time, so Hanamaki read me in, anticipating needing damage control."
The libero nodded. That also explained why Hoshimura had given Yahaba the mixer pass to begin with; the blocker knew. And yet… "How long?" he repeated.
Matsukawa did a double-take before it clicked. "Ah. Since the start of your second year."
Watari lifted his head up from his palm, stunned. "That long? I can't believe I didn't notice."
"No one else did either, so I wouldn't feel bad if I were you." He frowned, likely realizing how that sounded in light of Watari's friendship with Yahaba. He tipped his head toward the younger boy, a nonverbal apology. "I think it makes sense, to keep it quiet."
"Why?"
Matsukawa gave him a questioning look. "Watari…most people still find that kind of relationship weird even in this day and age, especially in Japan." He folded up the order and tucked it back into his pocket before turning fully to Watari. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, as if to ask "You don't find it strange in the least bit?"
But Watari shrugged. "Yahaba's my friend and he's happy, so I don't think I have any right to feel negatively towards him being with Hanamaki-san. Even if I thought I had the right, I wouldn't bother." His shoulders sagged, but only because this topic was shifting into familiar territory. "Boyfriends and girlfriends and all that—it's not that I don't care to think of such things; I just never devoted any energy to them."
Matsukawa shrugged, too, half nodding along with Watari's words. "I can empathize."
Not that he'd been expecting an attitude from Matsukawa that was like the other current third years' regarding Watari's lack of interest in having a love life, but Watari felt more at ease hearing that response. "We're two peas in a pod, I guess," he remarked with a quiet chuckle.
"Now there, I'd disagree."
"Oh?"
The taller boy's face was painted with his trademark impish grin. "I bet you were thinking earlier that it'd be far too soon if I dragged you to another movie I'm interested in."
Damn. So he'd been found out. …though he was impressed how little escaped Matsukawa's notice. "I didn't say that," he blustered, cupping his cheek in his palm again if only to hide his face. The skin of his cheek felt hot against his rough palm.
"It's okay, Watari," he assured him, though there was mirth in his tone. Matsukawa heaved himself into the back and shifted some things around, calling over his shoulder, "I don't expect anyone to share my weird tastes these days. Not even Hanamaki and them. None of them go with me either."
Watari frowned at that large, gray back. Sometimes he wasn't sure he liked how Matsukawa said things—like stating this simply now, or rattling off where all his classmates had gone when the two of them initially caught up. Matsukawa had this tendency to…gloss over things that Watari knew would make anyone else sad. "I never said I wouldn't go with you again," he asserted.
Matsukawa was quiet for a moment. He stood up straight then, collecting a small box into his arms and returning to the mouth of the cargo hold. He dropped to his haunches at the edge, having to look up ever so slightly at Watari with their poses this way, squat by sit. He locked eyes with his companion, and, in the streetlight that flickered on nearby, Watari imagined steel-colored chunks appearing in those warm black irises. That's what Matsukawa was—all blacks and grays. It was a color palette stunningly devoid of real color, but it suited him nevertheless. But at last Matsukawa conceded, closing his eyes for a moment and making Watari feel triumphant. "There are probably other things to fret over anyway," Matsukawa said, half to himself, as he slid out to stand on the pavement.
"Like what?"
The amusement was back in his eyes and there in his smirk as he chuckled. "Now that you know about Hanamaki and Yahaba, expect to be ditched on a regular basis."
Watari groaned exasperatedly, eliciting a snort of true laughter from his friend. "Hell… I hadn't considered that."
"Ah, Watari… Just hit me up if Yahaba abandons you in the near future."
"I might take you up on that…" He couldn't help the dry look he gave Matsukawa.
But the older boy only laughed harder. "I swear, it was a good movie. It's based on one of my favorite books, and they did an okay job, transitioning it from page to screen."
"If you say so…" An idea popped into Watari's head while Matsukawa dashed inside the store to make the delivery, and he asked when Matsukawa returned. "Could I give it a try?"
Matsukawa's eyebrows lowered while his eyes widened—the Matsukawa gawk. "Making a delivery…?"
"No! The book! I want to read the book the movie's based on!" Watari elaborated. He reddened and gave Matsukawa a rare but tiny glare when the older boy guffawed, obviously messing with him. Really…!
"Sure, sure… I'll bring it with me on Thursday. Text me so I don't forget, okay?"
Watari made a show of pulling out his phone and setting a reminder of his own in his calendar. He gave his friend another little glare when Matsukawa kept snickering, but he didn't hate Matsukawa's reaction. In fact, he could read on that countenance how pleased Matsukawa was, hearing that Watari wanted to borrow the book, and Watari liked seeing Matsukawa happy like this.
Seeing Matsukawa like this, talking with him like this, interacting with him like this—Watari was coming to appreciate the value in seeing things from a different perspective in order to learn new things. In particular, new things about others…no, about Matsukawa, the libero corrected with a mental apology to Yahaba, because Matsukawa was a more interesting subject to Watari than the topic of Yahaba and Hanamaki was. Even just watching Matsukawa's profile again and taking the time to make note of the bemused dimple that formed on his right cheek when Matsukawa caught Watari lost in thought—these were experiences Watari had missed out on before, but he decided not to mope any longer about getting to know Matsukawa this late in the game.
Instead, he looked forward to Thursday.
- ^-^3
*SCREAMS* It's there. The Matsuwata's there. I just. *screams again* I've written some angst for my boys before, but I really wanted this story to be a slice-of-life slow build that's fairly lighthearted, because they deserve all the love, and they deserve each other. Hanayaha shouldn't come as a surprise for anyone who knows me or has read my works, but let's just say that, in a way, Hanayaha ends up playing a key part a little later on. ;3 Mattsun's texting habits and weird movie tastes, tho… *loves him even more* But I hope you're all falling for Watari just as you're falling for Mattsun alongside Watari. -w- Our lovely little libero leaf needs more appreciation~!
Thanks for reading, and please review! 7 will be an interesting ride for Watari.
-mew! ;}