Chapter Twenty-Three
Hinata refuses to go inside, not because he's scared, aces don't get scared. Except Asahi. But Asahi is a child in the body of a thirty year old man, which is none of his business. Daichi doesn't catch on, mostly because he's forcing the older man around town, asking him distracting questions that can't lead back to his refusal to enter Daichi's home.
"Why do they call it 'fixing' your dogs if their thing doesn't work after?"
"Hinata-"
"If rabbit's feet are lucky, then why did the rabbit get caught?"
"Please-"
"Why do we wash towels if we come out of the shower clean?"
"I don't know- I'm begging you."
Daichi stops walking, they had made loops all around town for hours until the sun was high in the sky, "Is something wrong, Hinata?" His captain is looking down at him, very intensely. He looks away, shrugging, trying not to think about anything about his issues, ignoring memories that are too fresh and sharp. I forgot my pills. I forgot my village. Pushes those away, because he'd been fine for years without the drugs, and the animals weren't real. "No." He lies, slowly walking forward and waiting for Daichi to follow.
He doesn't. "I don't want to pry-" Hinata turns back around, snapping, "Then don't." He's louder, voice cracking with how strong and sudden his words are. Spikes of guilt stab into his stomach at the look of shock on Daichi's face. "Please." He adds guiltily. Daichi nods, steps forward until they're close enough for Daichi to sling an arm around his shoulders, something he's not used to but enjoys. "Sorry-" They say at the same time, then they share an awkward laugh as they continue down the street. "I'm just worried, captain stuff and all."
He's pretty sure that Daichi's duties as captain begin and end on the court, but he's nodding anyway. "It's fine- I just can't talk about it. Not with you." He's not looking at Daichi, refuses to. The arm around him causes him to freeze in his stride, "Not with me?" Daichi echoes, that worried tone is intensified. Hinata sighs, tucks his chin into Daichi's hand, "Anyone." He corrects, Daichi makes a soft noise, and they continue walking.
The ground glows a dull orange by the time they finish walking, they're in front of Daichi's house, and the older boy is trying to lead him inside. "Hinata-" His captain starts, tugging on his arm but he's feet feel like cement under him. "I can't. I can't." His vision is blurring from how hard his head is shaking, Daichi's arm stops tugging on his, and instead lower him to the ground. He can see the door through his dark hair, "I can't." He says quietly into his knees. Daichi's arms are tightening against him, "It's okay to come inside, Hinata."
His head shakes again, can feel his hair flick against Daichi's face. "I'm scared." He admits, just because Daichi wouldn't force him to do something that scared him. "It's just my house, Hinata, I won't kill you." His captain laughs lightly for a second, then quiets down when he doesn't join. I'll kill you. But he's not scared of dying, the only thing he's been scared of was not playing professional volleyball, now he's scared of a stupid door. "It's just a door." Daichi hums in agreement.
"Just a door." He gasps, they're closer to it now. "Just-" His bags are split between them, he takes the one with his pills, "A." Hates himself for flinching as the door makes a sound as Daichi twists the knob. "Door." Daichi steps in first, fearless because there's no reason for him to be. His hands are tingling and his knees quiver under an unknown pressure, but he takes a step forward, more scared of losing proximity of his captain. It closes behind him and he whimpers into darkness before lights start to flick on. Breathing is easier after that, he's leaning against the door, panting.
He takes a moment to catch his breathe, ignoring the potential panic attack, because he's not scared. He ignores Daichi too, tries to imagine Kenma holding him, giving him attention and relying on him for physical reassurance. Kenma was what he needed, steal my best friend, but he can't go back to Tokyo. A flash of tan skin and Daichi's eyes are blocking his view, no shadows and no choking. "Are you okay?"Are you okay? Couldn't count the times that Kenma had asked him that, making sure his lungs could fill with air.
"I'm fine- Just tripped." Daichi's eyebrows are raised now, "You're not scared of the dark, are you?" It's a joke, Daichi's tone and smile make that obvious, but he can't help the spike of fear that travels up his entire body. He shakes his head, gasping out a laugh, "N-no, of course not. I'm not a child." Daichi doesn't look convinced, offers him a tanned hand. He breathes out hard when it approaches, but he takes it, rough and warm. He commits the feeling to his brain, because Daichi was just that. Rough and warm.
Everything is easier after that, he takes off his shoes, tucks them next to Daichi's, and grabs onto his Captain's shirt as they tour through his home. "Very traditional." He comments, not sure what he means by it. Daichi's house is similar to the one he grew up in, but bigger due to being on the outskirts of town instead of on a hill. He likes the open space, there's room to run around, except he won't because he's pretty sure his captain would throw him out. "Did you do your summer work?" Daichi asks once they're settled at a small table, separated from the spacious rooms by looming partitions. He wonders why Daichi doesn't just study in his room if he's going to make the area around him small. The older male looks up, and he realizes that he hasn't answered, "Uh- No." Daichi's eyes narrow at that.
"My school bag is there." He can't call it his home, not out loud anyway, because it's not. Daichi blinks, obviously confused, "My mother's house." Then his captain nods, and he looks away before Daichi's eyes can flash in sympathy. I don't care. "Can't you go back?" His voice is harder than he expected, not exactly banishing him, but it makes one of his darkest thoughts more solid. I can't stay here forever. He didn't plan on it, didn't plan on even texting Daichi until it was already too late. He shakes his head, and watches as Daichi chews on his lip, before returning to his work.
"Do you need anything?" I need everything. He shakes his head again, all of his school books are in his shoe locker, he's only missing his pencil case and a few empty notebooks. He can just borrow from someone, because Daichi was nice enough to house him, he didn't need anything else. Except maybe dinner. "Your hair is black." Daichi notices, as if he'd just noticed after spending the day together. He nods, smiling shyly, wondering if his imaginary Daichi will live up to real Daichi. "It's different." He blinks.
"Uh- Yeah." He's not sure what else to say, "Did you hate your old hair?" He jerks back, hate is a strong word. "I don't think so..." He trails off only for Daichi to follow up with a low, "But?" He shrugs, tugging at the dark tresses, "I like this better, reminds me of Noya-senpai." Daichi is nodding, but he looks tired. "Please don't turn into a wild child, Hinata- I'm begging you." He giggles wickedly, feeling stupid for having a serious conversation about his hair. "I dunno, he's pretty cool..." He teases.
Daichi is filling out papers that don't look like school work sometime later. "What are you working on?" He asks over his senpai's shoulder, trying to mouth out the printed romanji. "Papers for university." Daichi admits, quiet, like a secret. He hums emptily, "What are you going to study?" Daichi's shoulder tenses under him, "I have no idea." There's a laugh, then Daichi's face smooths into blankness. "You want to know what I think?" Daichi doesn't look like he wants to humor him, even for a second, but he shrugs, a barely there movement that he knows is there since he's practically hanging from his captain's neck. "I think you'd be a great leader." Daichi scoffs, "I'm serious." He whines back, "I think you could be a restarunt owner, or run like, a bike shop. Something cool! You'd be all gwaah with your employees when they're good and go all grrrr when they're bad, you know?" He pouts when Daichi starts laughing at him.
"I don't think there's a bike shop major on here." Daichi says once he's calmed down, pulling out a long list of half kanji and half romanji. "You should do that one, then." He points down, "Business?" Daichi asks like this is a joke, he nods into Daichi's neck. "You really think I'd be able to do that?" Daichi asks, voice quiet in sincerity. He nods again, "If you can run a bike shop like you can run a team, then you'd be the greatest bike shop owner ever!" He's practically yelling in Daichi's ear, but if his captain gets the message, then he'd be a great deaf bike shop owner.
"I'll ask Suga about it then." He blinks, "Why would you do that?" Daichi smiles at him, "We're applying to the same place, he's been asking for a long time." He nods, humming again. "That's cool! You guys are gonna be like, best friends for life, right?" Daichi laughs, but nods again, his cheeks are flushed with color. "Yeah, he's been my best friend for a while. Always supporting me." He thinks it's nice, that Daichi, a rock, has someone he can depend on. "What about you, Hinata?" Daichi asks after filling in more papers much faster than he had been before. He shrugs, "I don't think I can go."
Daichi stops writing, "Why do you think that?" His voice is different than he's ever heard it. He shrugs nonchalantly, "I'm stupid, besides, I only want to play volleyball." Daichi nods, but his lips are squirming. "You're not stupid." He pulls back, "Don't joke like that." He mumbles seriously, making his captain sigh, then there's hands twisting him, until he's sitting in between Daichi's legs. "You're not smart-" There it is. "Like Tsukishima." I don't think anyone is smart like Tsuki. "But you're smart enough for college." There's pride in Daichi's tone now, a condemnation, but not a bad one. He's been pinned with expectations by his captain.
He sighs, then leans over the table, "I can't even read Romanji, Daichi. How could I get into school?" Daichi is quiet, but his body is still warm behind him. "What do you mean?" He sighs, "I can't read Romanji." He says, louder and now annoyed. Daichi is quiet again, "Didn't anyone teach you?"
Hinata scoffs, a bitter sound that echoes in a quiet room, "Nope." He pops, then leans back against his captain so he's not obstructing the papers any longer. "There's nothing wrong with that." Daichi says evenly, so much that he wants to believe it, but he can't, "I can't even read this stupid paper, what do you mean there's nothing wrong?" His voice is loud and hissing, he's half reminded of his mathematics teacher who spits when he talks. Daichi sighs again, and he feels bad for forcing that reaction out of his senpai, but the sooner his captain realizes he's stupid, the sooner they can move on.
"Half the stuff in Tokyo is in Romanji." He says, further cementing his point. "Why were you in Tokyo?" Didn't he tell you? He shrugs, not appreciating the change in subject. "I was staying with Kenma, didn't he tell you?" He looks back at his captain's folded chin, "Kenma- That's the Nekoma setter?" He nods, everyone should know who Kenma is. "I texted their captain, just in case, he said he'd keep an eye out." But he didn't tell you I was next door, that he-He swallowed, "I met him." He admits, but he'd refuse to say anything more about him.
"Stupid guy." Daichi scoffs, but he's certain that Kuroo is anything but stupid. They don't talk for a while, Daichi working on his papers while pointedly ignoring him. Even when he starts chewing on Daichi's arm. Eventually, his captain drops his pen, and starts rubbing spit off his arm. "Are you hungry, by chance?" He giggles quietly and nods, "How could you tell?" Daichi sighs, but smiles, "Oh you know, signs were all there. I've been a bad host." He disagrees, Daichi was giving him what he'd been depending on Kenma for, warmth and attention. He wondered why he was so needy for it, like a physical ache to be near other people, but Daichi's warmth against his back is answer enough. Who wouldn't want to be warm?
He follows his arm, clenched in Daichi's shirt, to his kitchen. "Your rice cooker doesn't sing." He comments, staring at the accused device. Daichi coughs into a laugh, "Uh- Should it?" He asks, his big hands wandering over the steaming device. "Kenma's sings, I just thought they all did." Daichi's nodding, "Ah well, Tokyo is a strange place." He hums in agreement, helping Daichi by scooping rice for him while the older man works on his leash, obviously trying not to twist his arm into awkward angles.
"Nekoma has a new guy- He's really tall." He says after swallowing a too big mouthful of rice and seaweed, Daichi's brow raises in question, "How tall?" He asks out of courtesy, but Hinata can tell he's interested, if only a little. "Taller than Tsukishima! He said he was over one-ninety!" Daichi hums around his spoon, but his eyes are a little wide, "And his name is really hard to pronounce." He adds, because that is a very important detail, at least to him. "Rr-Leavea" Daichi's brow furrow at his self-imposed challenge. "Leb." He shrugs, close enough. Daichi smiles at him, almost proud, even if he couldn't do it. "Is he good?" He remembers most of Lev's spikes, the awkwardness in his limbs, how the ball flew through his too wide set arms, how he cost them the game, Loser does what the winner says. He nods, silently.
"Hinata?" Daichi asks, his captain's eyes glancing between the differences between their bowls. I forgot my pills. He looks up. "Y-yes?" The older male has his eyes narrowed now, "You're not eating." He nods, because he knows that, but his stomach cramps when he thinks about putting anything into his mouth. "I-I-Not hungry, sorry." Daichi frowns at his words, "Your stomach was growling earlier." There's no room to deny that, Daichi's hand had been on his stomach at one point. "Sorry?" He offers instead of an explanation.
Daichi shrugs, "Don't expect meat buns if you skip breakfast." Is all he says, before he's taking their bowls away, he rushes to follow. Daichi is tossing his rice- "The window?" He asks in slight disbelief, a very surreal feeling washing over him at what he's witnessing. Daichi looks back at him, and shrugs one shoulder, "Wild animals eat it." He snorts, You'd be a great farmer too, captain. He joins the dark haired male at the sink, he washes but only gets the sponge through insistence. "Kenma has a robot that does this." He says, rinsing off the last dish from a full sink. He hands it to his captain, "I kind of like washing dishes by hand though." Daichi hums quietly, "Feel free to wash my dishes anytime, Hinata." They share a laugh at that, the previous spike of whatever being picked away slowly.
"Where are your parents?" He asks once they're at a different sink, brushing their teeth instead of porcelain. Daichi spits ungracefully into the sink, tugging his worn toothbrush from his foaming mouth, "They work on and off again in the city, three weeks there, three weeks here." He nods, frowning. It's not an unusual thing, he'd lived with almost the same thing for most of his life, but he always expected Daichi to be surrounded by comforting people, a hard mom and dad that were comforting when he needed it. He shouldn't feel sad but, "Do you get lonely?" Daichi pauses in his attempt to remove his enamel with too hard strokes, "Sometimes. But it's nice too." He's not sure how being abandoned for weeks at a time could be considered nice, but he's nodding anyway. "You'll thank them for me?" He asks, rinsing toothpaste from his mouth. Daichi's brow furrows, "You'll probably meet them, you can just do it yourself." He's not sure how he feels about meeting Daichi's parents, but he smiles up at his captain.
"They're not scary, right?" Daichi laughs, spitting toothpaste onto the mirror in front of them, "Something like that." He's not sure what that means, but Daichi doesn't elaborate. Just rinses his mouth, and wipes the mirror. He's led into what must be Daichi's bedroom, bigger than he anticipated, about the same size as Kenma's but with half the clutter. "It's clean." He sounds more shocked than he is, Daichi seemed like he always had his business together. "Were you expecting a pigsty? I can take you to Noya's house if you want that." He snorts, then flops onto Daichi's bed. "I guess I'll deal with it, my humble host." Daichi looks like he wants to say something, about him being on his bed, about calling him host like he's an old man, or because of loud he's being. His captain just sighs, then steps forward, joining him on the bouncy mattress.
Hinata stops him before he can turn off the lamp, "Can you-" Daichi's muscles twitch under his fingers, then there's a sigh. "I guess but..." He doesn't say anything more, just scoops tan arms under his body until he's squeaking, then hoists his body until their positions are switched. He's facing the lamp, it seems brighter now, but he's sure if the light had been off he'd wake up screaming. "Thank you." Daichi's spine twitches against his, but he says nothing.
He wakes up streaming anyway, his face and throat burning with ghost touches, a solid roughness making him gag, blinding flashes. Daichi's body jerks next to him, holding down his convulsing body. "Hianta!" Then his eyes open, taking in his captain's alert eyes. "Sorry." He offers through a sob, hiding from the light of the lamp so Daichi won't see. "Sorry." He says again, but Daichi is gone, his bedroom door wide open, revealing too dark shadows.
He's back, emerging from the darkness without fear, because Daichi shouldn't be scared. "Just a nightmare." Daichi says, moving to pet his sweaty hair but he's jerking back before the connection can be made. Then his other hand rises, offering him a glass of water. He takes it, giving his captain a hopefully grateful look, then liquid is soothing the frayed nerves in his throat. "Sorry." He whispers, voice no longer cracking, but Daichi says nothing, taking the empty glass from him, and setting it on the table.
Daichi joins the bed once more, rough and warm weight slide over his stomach. "Few more hours before I have to work." He feels bad for interrupting Daichi's sleep, his captain would need it, Daichi had work, school, and volleyball practice. He slows his breathing so Daichi's fingers stop fidgeting against him, and finds sleep in the smell of peas. The sun isn't shining when he's pulled from sleep by a chill on his stomach, he opens his eyes to lamp light and Daichi's tan figure, changing into loose clothes. He should probably look away, for both their modesty, but he's seen at least two men naked before so his captain's nudity shouldn't bother him now.
His clothes are still stiff, they're the same ones he wore through the rain, but he shifts off the bed without them. "I didn't mean to wake you." Comes from the far side of the room, he grunts softly, "I should help you- for waking you. Sorry again." Daichi's lips smack together, like he wants to say something. "You don't have to." He knows that, but he should. "I'm going." He decides, and Daichi just nods. "Get changed then, leaving in a few." He nods back, dashing out of the room and towards his bags. Takes them both into Daichi's bathroom, stares down into menacing orange.
He turns the water on to mask the sound of the rattling bottles, takes two of them like he should every morning, and tucks them back in before cupping his hands under the sick to wash down the itch they leave in his throat. He pulls on a different pair of shorts and a t-shirt, looks through all of his clothes for something else. I don't have my school uniform. Daichi is more than a handful of centimeters taller than him, and his shoulders are broader. This is bad. He hums in thought as he brushes his teeth. He'd only ever worn Kenma's clothes besides his own. Like breaking a bond. It fills him with almost sadness, but he ignores it, detention -and missing practice- would probably be worse than wearing not-Kenma's clothes.
He checks his phone as they walk out the door, all of his notifications are from Kenma, including one missed call.
"Shouyou, you promised to call." He flushes with guilt as he reads that, he was the one who told Kenma he would call.
"Shouyou, are you okay?" He's never heard read those words from Kenma, they were always spoken.
"Make sure you take your medication." He feels proud, he remembered one of the two things he promised.
"Sorry i didnt call i took my pills" He sends it, wondering if Kenma had been waiting up for him, one of the texts were from pretty early in the morning.
He tucks his phone into his pocket after a minute of staring at it, Kenma wouldn't be mad at him for not calling. Too mad. Maybe more worried.
"Gotta girlfriend?" Daichi teases, and he pauses in the street. Girl troubles? He swallows hard, "No." He says, hoarse and quiet. Daichi's smile softens at his tone, but he his arm around him, matching his smaller strides. "It'll be fine." He's not sure which issue in his life that will be fine, the girl troubles, his family kicking him out, having to leave Kenma, Grand King's attention and then ignoring him, Kuroo's- He nods, wrapping his arm around Daichi's stocky waist as they walk.
They talk while they work, scooping peas into the big bucket until it's full, but it's mostly just small talk. Him asking about Daichi's possible bike venue, Daichi asking about other strange Tokyo customs he's discovered, but never about Kenma, and thankfully never about Kuroo. "It rains a lot." He says as his final piece before a deep rumbling interrupts him, he looks for its source, at a big truck approaching them. "Payday, already?" Daichi asks from beside him, lifting the bucket by himself until he's settled under his chin.
"Yo, Daichi!" A friendly voice calls out, followed by a slam that makes him flinch, then a short man is standing in front of them. What's left of his hair is white, and very pretty, like pine needles covered in snow. His teeth are all but gone as he smiles at Daichi, then at him, "Who's this, boy?" The man asks, his accent far worse than his own could ever be, he wonders for a moment if the man is actually speaking Japanese or just mumbling out sounds that coincidentally mean something "This is my- Kouhai." Daichi says, the last word coming off of his tongue so very awkwardly that it makes Hinata laugh. He gets a glare for it, but he doesn't mind. "He been helping long? He wasn't here last time." Daichi shrugs, "Today and yesterday." The old man nods, scratching at his hunched back. "Well then, I suppose introductions are in order before I pay the boy." He steps back as the older man steps forward.
"You got a name?" He asks, and he nods silently. Name. Name. Name. "Uh- Hinata Shouyou." The old man nods, "I knew a couple're Hinatas in my day. All of 'em got wild hair, though." He's frozen in fear as he deciphers the old man's words, Wild. Orange wild? He doesn't ask. "Nouka Mao, you can call me gramps, though." He will not be doing that. Ever, he decides, looking over at Daichi wondering if he's ever called this man gramps, but Daichi is gone, he wonders how someone can move silently with a bucket of peas in their arms, but his attentions is brought back to gramps. "You like farming?" Nouka asks, his snowy eyebrows rising minutely. He shrugs one shoulder, "I've never been on on until yesterday." Which is a lie, but it was the first time he's been on a farm with the intention of farming. The old man's face lights up from his admission, and he takes half a step back, slightly frightened now. "Well, you'll meet my animals sometime then, you'll love it!" He tries not to think of cows, or his captain crying, but nods around a forced smile. "R-right."
Daichi returns shortly, from around the truck, and he smiles pleasantly at the old man in front of them. "I thought you weren't coming until next week?" The old man laughs, he's not sure why, then he mumbles something as he pulls his wallet from his pocket. Handing Daichi a nice stack of bills, then his hand is being pulled open, a single one placed into his hand. There's one thousand yen in my hand.He's not sure what to think of that, he only did the work because he didn't want to be alone, which isn't a reason he should be rewarded for. Daichi's hand on his back tilts him into a low bow, "Thank you very much." They say in almost unison, then the old man climbs back into his truck, slamming the door so loudly he flinches a second time. He takes off, bucket of peas bouncing in clouds of dust.
"He's kind of scary." He notes once the truck can no longer be heard, Daichi laughs, the arm on his back turning into an arm around his shoulders. "He's an oddball, kind of like you." Now he really doesn't want to be a farmer, "Whatever." He huffs, but snakes his sweaty arm around Daichi's equally sweaty waist. They walk back to Daichi's home, only stopping in front of the door, that he refuses to go into without Daichi going in first. Coward. But he finally manages to work his heavy feet into the doorway, the lights are on before the door closes this time. He's as grateful as he is embarrassed.
Daichi disappears into the spacious house, mumbles of bathing following him. He's left alone in Daichi's house for the first time, he wants to explore, maybe run around now that his captain isn't around to yell at him, he decides to make rice instead, something he's never done before. It's equally as thrilling as jumping around in his captain's home. Two hundred grams water for everyone one hundred grams, right Sato! He can hear Natsu's voice as he measures water carefully, not bothering to remember what Sato had said afterwards.
He dumps the ingredients into the empty device, and it beeps to life, he blinks at it, not sure what to do now. Hinata looks in the fridge for things, for Daichi of course, and not because he's nosy. It's full, like he thought it would be, some take-out boxes, a bag that has meat buns in it, a small basket of peas, some dried kelp, a lot of sauces, eggs, not cow meat or any that he could recognize without having it cooked. He hums for a moment, takes out the eggs and kelp, then closes the fridge.
He doesn't find a pan that's made for omelettes, but he does find bentos, and decides to make Daichi lunch, something else he's never done. He wonders if he's going to make Daichi sick with his meal, but decides that he'll just make double sure the eggs are cooked. He makes himself one, deciding if he gets sick as well, then Daichi can't get mad at him. He's pretty sure that eggs and rice don't make a meal, so he searches the fridge, finding carrots and puts those in after cutting them. I have no idea what I'm doing.
It would take too long to cook the mysterious meat in Daichi's fridge, so they'll just have to go without, but he does cram each of the cold meat buns into the rice, hoping it'll be less hard by the time lunch comes around. Daichi emerges with his school uniform on by the time they're wrapped up. He stares at the blank wraps for a second, almost sad that he'll never have cute dogs on his lunch again, but shrugs it off. He takes one of the bentos, holding it out for the approaching male, who takes it and stares at it as if he's never seen a lunchbox before.
"Uh- thanks." Daichi says, confused by also sincere, and it really shouldn't bring a blush to his cheeks, but it does. He scoffs, "Just thought I'd be nice. For letting me stay also-" Daichi's eyebrow raises at his stop, "I uh- Can I borrow a uniform?" Daichi blinks, scanning over his smaller frame, "Uh- I don't think... Don't you?" He almost laughs at Daichi's dumbfounded mumbling, but he really needs clothes. "Go shower." Daichi says instead of answering his previous question, he nods, scampering off to the already steaming shower.
The weirdest thing about Daichi's house, is his unscented shampoo, which makes him uncomfortable, because he's always had hair that smells like other things. Desperate times. He washes quickly, slinging dry sweat off his body with non-scented body wash, and he's just very desperate not to be in this bathtub any longer. He shakes off water before grabbing a towel on the sink that hadn't been there before, makes quick work of expelling any water that remained on his body, and left his hair to dry as they walked to school.
Daichi hands him a set of clothes, not looking at his towel covered body, he almost laughs, because Daichi had very unfortunate locker placement that forced him to look at several sweaty boys changing at once, so he should be used to an almost naked teammate. He can almost hear Daichi sigh once he's tucked away in the boy's bedroom. The clothes are too big for him, as expected, and they kind of drape over his shoulders in a way that Kenma's didn't. He rolls up the dangling sleeves as carefully as he can without wrinkling them, they settle above his elbows, despite the thick wad of material the sleeves are quite loose. Maybe I should lift peas too. The pants are more tricky, but he manages to find a balance in adjusting the belt until it's biting into his hip bones, then rolling up the cuffs until his feet are visible.
Daichi laughs when he comes out, wearing brightly colored socks in heavily folded clothes. He flushes in annoyance and pulls on his volleyball jacket, zipping it up to his chin, "Shut up." He mumbles, tapping his toes into his shoes. Daichi is still laughing when they leave his house, Daichi carrying his school bag and both of their bentos. They walk more quickly than they had previously, which is kind of difficult with the excess weight he has built up with clothing alone, Daichi snickering when his eyes travel over his flapping uniform.
He pauses in front of the school doors, different than Kuroo's in every way, but fear still stops his feet from moving. He contemplates just diving through the open window next to them, but he's certain that window leads into the school's office, and would rather not risk expulsion. He faces his fear by grabbing onto Daichi's school coat, the older boy leading him inside, he's still holding onto his senpai when the reach their splitting points. "Hinata-" Daichi pauses, looking down at their connection. "I have to-" He nods back to the stairs, the set that separates the first years from the second and third years. "S-sorry." He mumbles, forcing his fingers to let go.
His captain smiles down at him, handing him one of the bentos in his hand, "You better not make me sick." Daichi says seriously, then smirks, before walking up the stairs. He walks back to the shoe lockers, putting his bento on his books before picking all of the up. The bell rings sometime after he takes his seat, and he looks around at the suddenly full classroom, spit-beard-teacher walks in later, drones on about youth and other stuff that he barely manages to catch. He takes out his mathematics book, but stares at its pages with an empty look. The rest of the day passes similarly, it's nice to be back in school, but only for the anticipation that at the end of the day, he can play volleyball.
Kageyama stands in front of his desk as soon as school is over, he blinks, wondering if the boy is going to speak. "Uh-" This is going well. "Uh." He calls back, smirking when Kageyama's eyebrow ticks. "You-" He nods, "Me." Kageyama frowns suddenly, more than usual. "You ran away from home." It's loud enough to draw attention from the desks surrounding his, he glares at the taller boy, "I didn't run away." He scoffs and Kageyama's face starts to squirm, like he's trying to decipher his words.
"But-" He sighs, "But."
"You-" His eyes close, "Me."
"And-" He looks over at the window. "And."
"I-" We're on the first floor. "I."
"Hinata-" He stands up, looks back. "Kageyama."
"Hey!" He jumps. "Bye!"
The bush is much harder than he thought it would be, but at least he's away from Kageyama.
He'll have to go back, get Daichi's bento, but that'll come when it comes. "Idiot!" Is shouted from above him, but he just walks to the gym, a head start for him. He walks to the club room, settles against it after finding it locked, and picks leaves from his hair.
"Thank you." Is called from next to him, making him jump, and then Daichi is laughing, pulling a key from his pocket. "It was good. I didn't think you could could." He snorts, "I've never done it before." Daichi pauses at that, "Maybe you should be a chef instead of a farmer." He smiles at that, pulls of Daichi's clothes and into his volleyball stuff. Noya-senpai calls him out loudly while he's tugging on his knee pads, "Yo! Who's this?" Then he's being swarmed by the only person shorter than him.
"Uh-" He explains brilliantly, "Shouyou?" Noya-senpai exclaims, jumping back from him. He nods, quietly, watches the emotions flicker across his senpai's face, until it settles into the biggest, cheesiest smile he's ever witnessed on the older boy's face. "Taking after your senpai, eh, Shouyou?" Daichi is laughing loudly from the doorway, and his face flushes, because that had been a factor in the decision. He nods, and Noya-senpai's grin gets even bigger until his lips look ready to break.
He's pulled into a hug, it quickly turns into the libero lifting him off the ground, "Say it!" The smaller boy demands, squeezing his stomach until he's gasping for air. "Senpai." He gasps out, then he's deposited on the ground. "I think you're ready for the Rolling Thunder!" Noya-senpai pats his shoulder, but he's pretty sure it's bruising under the multiple slaps, then he's backing away, dropping his pants as he tries to hold a conversation. He's not sure how to feel about this since he's seen another man's penis, and touched it. He decides to feel nothing, but he will admit, his senpai has a very nice body. His face burns in mortification at that.
Kageyama decides to make an appearance once Noya-senpai is pulling on his knee pads, I think they might be magic. He glances down at the garments, wondering if they might glow. "Your-" He sighs almost violently, "My." Kageyama is practically twitching now, and he moves past the setter and towards the gym. As much as Kageyama has annoyed him in the past hour or so, he's kind of missed having his practice partner.