Chapter Twenty-Five
Daichi is awake before he is, the older's boy gaze is pinning him where his arms fail to squish him into the mattress. "Hinata." His captain's voice is so, so careful but it still sends spears rattling down his spine in fear; he can't blame Daichi, he's trying to do his best, but Daichi could never understand. Hinata remains silent, hoping to prolong and count the moments where his life is ruined, where his captain doesn't hate him and kick him out. He suddenly realizes how short this stay would be, he already knew that he couldn't stay with Daichi forever, he was sure he'd last at least a week.
"I'm going to ask you some questions." His fake sleeping was clearly not convincing enough, or Daichi was too observant, he's not sure which one he need to work around more. "Or, I'm going to call the police." He freezes. Daichi was going to have him arrested. "If you lie to me..." I'll call the police. He nods, the first sign of his consciousness, and then opens his eyes. Daichi is hovering over him, he feels exposed, a first with his captain.
"Where did you go after practice?" He bites on his lip, "With Kageyama." It's the truth, some of it, Daichi knows that, might have seen it. "Did Kageyama bite you?" He shakes his head, feeling dazed all of a sudden. "Can you tell me who bit you?" Shakes his head again. Daichi sighs, his body sags like he's falling asleep, his captain's forehead settles against his. "Were you-?" He wants to comment with was I?like he does with Kageyama, but that might get him hit, because Daichi isn't bad with talking like Kageyama is. Hinata would ever go so far as to say that Daichi was too good with verbal communication.
"Did Kageyama see who did this to you?" His heart stills at that, but he nods slowly, trying to tilt his head away from his captain. The weight of Daichi's head doesn't allow much movement, the older boy leans forward until it starts to hurt. "Sorry." He gasps out, but Daichi growls at him and he stops talking. "Hinata, did they hurt you?" He's certain that Daichi is talking about more than his neck, more than his feelings probably. He shakes his head, ignores the scratches across his thighs and the burn there. "I'm fine." It's almost the truth, he'd rather just not talk about it, ever.
"Don't be mad at me." He pleads, but Daichi is silent, and the weight on his body is still crushing him. "I'm trying to understand, please just- let me think." He nods against Daichi's skull, swallows an apology. Daichi is rough and warm on top of him, wanting to help even if he really, really doesn't want it. Grand King apologized, but this still looks really bad. His neck is throbbing in time with his pulse, his eyes are red, and he did end up at Daichi's door screaming, bleeding, and crying. Two of those things could be blamed on the dark, but he couldn't explain why the dark had caused those reactions.
"Were you raped, Hinata?" He jumps when Daichi speaks so suddenly, but he's shaking his head as soon as Daichi's stops weighing his down. Tears start to prick at his eyes at the thought that that could have happened. Grand King apologized. Everything is fine. He just can't voice these thoughts for some reason, the pills would help some, but it could make things even worse if he couldn't control the names he spilled out. "Was it someone you know?" He nods. "Someone I know?" Another nod, Daichi sighs, looking like he might make a list of the people they both knew. "Someone on the team?" He shakes his head, Daichi frowns, Hinata thinks he shouldn't be, but that does take quite a few number of people off the list.
"Boy or girl?" He frowns, he doesn't know many girls in the first place, Daichi was trying to make him crack. "Boy." He whispers. Daichi nods, their heads almost colliding, "Are they tall?" He glares, everyone is tall to him. Daichi looks sympathetic, but only for a moment. "Taller than me?" He doesn't answer, Grand King was taller than Daichi, a lot of people were taller than Daichi, not that many that were male, not on the same team, and someone they both knew. "Hinata." It's harsh, clear despite the deepness of Daichi's voice. His nod sends tears rolling down his cheeks.
"I can't tell you, please don't make me." He pleads, not sure what would happen, Grand King was close to hurting his own friend over him, he wouldn't react well to Daichi's snooping and accusing as lightly. Daichi sighs like he's been living for too long, but nods. "I shouldn't force you." He doesn't like that word, but he nods as well, "Thank you." Daichi's grip loosens on his arms, his captain lowers down until he can't breath. He thinks he can feel Daichi crying. He stays still, hoping that he'll stop existing, that Daichi will stop asking questions. "Are you okay?" It's muffled into the pillow they're now sharing, but Daichi's mouth is close to his ear that he can make out the words, Kenma's words. He nods, "It's nothing." It's almost nothing, Grand King apologized.
Daichi doesn't believe him, "There's a chunk missing from your neck, you end up on my porch screaming in the middle of the night- You'd have slept out there if I hadn't heard you, wouldn't you?" He's pretty sure that the question is rhetorical, they both know that he would have, that he had done it once before already. "And you said someone's name last night." Daichi adds as an afterthought, the words make his heart freeze, frantically trying to recall the blur that was yesterday.
He's slammed back into the mattress by biting hands, "Did Kuroo-san do this to you?" His voice is dangerous and quiet. He shakes his head, Kuroo did something to him, but Kuroo didn't bite him. Whore."Kuroo didn't do this." He promises, Daichi nods. "Are you lying, Hinata?" He shakes his head until tears are rolling into his hair instead of down his chin, "He didn't do anything, I didn't want it!" He cries out and Daichi pulls back. "What didn't you want?" His captain's voice is soft and uneven, like he's scared. Hinata can't figure it out. "He told me to stay away." He admits before he can deny anything.
"From?" Begging, pleading, warm and rough fingers petting at him, praising him for crying. He feels sick now. "Kenma." Daichi looks confused, he should be. "The setter?" He nods, crying harder now that it's out there. That Daichi knows something he shouldn't. Everyone will see. Daichi is pulling away and he follows. "Don't say anything, please." His captain frowns at him, but doesn't move away. "He has- pictures." He doesn't say of what, not when Daichi tries to coax it from him.
Eventually Daichi gives up, holds onto him, the clock tells him that Daichi should be working, picking pea plants until it's time for school, but the older boy doesn't move, keeps his big arm around him until he's calm. It takes a while for his body to stop shaking, he feels scared and ashamed. "You can't tell anyone." Turns back to make Daichi promise, but his captain is giving him a hard look, like he wants to object, to scream at him for being an idiot. I already know that. "Someone needs to know."
"You know." Too many people know. Daichi snorts, a ghost of a smile against hard features. "An adult." He shakes his head, then his whole body shakes. Daichi's arm tightens. "Nobody can know, he'll show everyone, tell everyone-" He chokes on his own breath, scared of what happens if Daichi doesn't promise. "We can fix this." We. He's not alone, no family but not alone. He should feel warm. "No adults, if he- if Kuroo finds out, he'll send them out." Daichi nods, face stony and full of conviction and promise.
"You have leaves in your hair." Oh. It was a random thing to point out, but he nods, almost smiling. "I jumped out a window." Daichi blinks, gives that old-man sigh again, then closes his eyes. "You jumped out of Kuroo's window?" He frowns, "Kuroo didn't do this." Daichi's eyes open.
"A friend of Kuroo's?" He flinches at the implication, steal my best friend, he's not sure if Grand King and Kuroo know each other, He said he'll send it to Grand King. He chews on his lip as he thinks about it, how Kuroo could know that Grand King loved him. One man not good enough? He shakes his head. "No." He confirms, Daichi nods, eyes closing again.
"Shouldn't you be working?" Daichi takes a while to respond, Hinata is sure that the older boy had fallen asleep again, "We- And no." He blinks at that. We. He's never had a job before. He shrugs, lets Daichi comfort him until they're both sated.
Daichi wakes him up again with too much strength and stares, "Let's go." Then everything is gone, and he's alone. He sits up, and crawls over his pills when Daichi leaves to take a shower, he's glad that there was nothing left to talk about or he'd never shut up, and Daichi would probably jump out of the window himself to murder Grand King and Kuroo, and maybe Kageyama. He takes water from the kitchen sink to wash down an all too familiar chalkiness. Memories of home are an uncomfortable weight in his stomach, he tries to make them disappear, but he can almost hear Natsu and Sato as he starts the rice cooker. It beeps in service and then he digs through fridge again, kelp, eggs, soy sauce, and the weird meat are pulled out.
He washes Daichi's bento while the pan heats up, smashes eggs against the pan, sending shell shards everywhere, he's not sure how Natsu does this. The eggs in the pan is the most he can really ask for,second time cooking, he counts, second day in Miyagi without being home. He'd like to think of Daichi's house as his home, even if it's only a temporary thing, but something he can't name is stopping him from doing so. He slices strips of the mystery meat, they're awkward and don't look appetizing, he tries to convince himself it's because of how raw the meat is.
"Still ugly." He sighs when the meat has turned brown with soy sauce and kelp. Frowns at it, he still has no idea what it is, but is kind of scared to try it. If I die, Daichi dies with me. He probably shouldn't be experimenting with a teammate's diet this way, but cooking is kind of exciting, fire and flicking pans. He finds another bento in one of the cupboards he can reach, a pink wrapping stuffed into it. Did Daichi have a sister? He supposed it could belong to Daichi's mother, but the little cartoons on the side made that seem unlikely. He tries to organize the bentos as neatly as possible, but the meat soaks into the rice no matter where he puts it, and a soy soaked egg was much worse than soy soaked rice. He ends up just pouring the rest into his, not really caring because organizing a lunch box should not be difficult.
Daichi emerges from the hallway dripping wet and only in a towel. He blinks at his captain, stares at his exposed skin, wondering if he could be attracted to anybody not Kenma. "Smells good." Daichi comments, and Hinata is left to wonder if the smell had drawn his captain out of his shower prematurely. "Oh, I guess I could have made breakfast, while the pan was hot." All of the dishes were cleaned now, dripping with water like Daichi is now. "I'll buy you something." Daichi says easily, turning back, probably to wash the bubbles from his hair.
"Not meat buns!" Is called from the hallway before a door is slammed, he frowns, kind of hoping the meat is toxic and will kill Daichi. I can offer mine to to Tsuki- or Kageyama... So many options. He contemplates them as he waits to shower, decides to text Kenma when Daichi starts taking too long.
"Kenma"
"I'm sleeping."
"You cant text and sleep"
"Yes, I can."
"You cant say i love you if you sleeping"
"If I say it can I go back to sleep?"
"Love isnt a deal, you jerk"
"Is that a no?"
"Say it" Say it. He wants the text back.
"I love you, Shouyou. Good night."
He checks the time to make sure that it's actually morning, left slightly confused when it is morning. He grabs Animal Crossing from his bag, ignores the picture of Natsu, ignores the pills, and effectively his problems. Until Daichi walks into the room, wet and dripping but lacking bubbles. And a towel. He adverts his eyes until he's in the safety of the already steamy bathroom, tries to purge his brain by shampooing roughly, ignores the sting in his neck as water rips the clotted blood from his skin.
He puts on his borrowed clothes, stares down at his club jacket thoughtfully, because it wouldn't cover his neck, and it was too warm for a scarf. Daichi was calling his name, threatening to leave without him by the time he made a conclusion on his predicament.
"What are you wearing?" Daichi comments as soon as he's in view. "Clothes. Little roomy if you ask me." He retorts, offering his captain a rather innocent smile. Daichi sighs, "I was talking about this." Plucks at the jacket -Daichi's club jacket- that's currently zipped up and covering the majority of his body. "You can still change into your's, we're not that far." He glances back at Daichi's house, still looming over them. "I could." Then back down as he pulls out Animal Crossing.
So many weeds. He decided to introduce Daichi to Kageyama-cat, Daichi thought the cat was rude and should probably learn some respect. He was inclined to agree. They walk to school quietly, he's not sure of the pace since his attention is pulled onto flowers and fruit. "Good Morning, Daichi!" Someone calls out, and he looks up, then back down. "Good morning, Hinata-kun." He's pretty sure Suga-san hasn't used an honorific with him in a while, decides that virtual animals are his priority for now. He mumbles something that he can't even make out, but Suga-san is laughing so he must have used an actual sentence.
"Daichi said you made him lunch yesterday, and you're wearing his jacket today, something I should know about?" Suga-san sounds so innocent and curious. He glares up at the silver haired boy, face flushed completely. I've seen things you wouldn't believe you stupid jerk. He hisses at the older boy but Daichi is holding him back from actually jumping at him. "My-my, I didn't think Hinata would get so defensive over a crush." Daichi almost lets him go, almost. He's not sure he likes being on the end of Suga's teasing side.
"It's nothing." Daichi confirms, using his captain voice. Suga's smirk is more telling than his silence, he focuses back on his game, maybe mashing buttons too hard. "What do you want for breakfast?" Is asked along with a nudge to his shoulder. "Whatever you're having." He mumbles as he decides if his house would look better covered in pink or red flowers. This is probably the most important decision of my entire life, don't fuck it up. He decides on pink, because strawberry pocky is delicious, not that he eats flowers.
My life is ruined. He decides, saving and closing the game, with only Suga-san to look at while Daichi purchases them breakfast. "So-?" The silver haired boy asks once he notices he's being stared it. "So?" He calls back, Suga-san smirks, something fox-like that sends chills up his spine. "Want to explain why you're wearing Daichi's clothes?" He looks away, "Nope." Can hear the older boy smiling.
Daichi returns after a too long silence, offering both of them a few objects. Green tea and protein and... coffee in a can. He's never seen Daichi in the mornings before, he's not sure if coffee is his tradition, or if this is new. "Thank you very much." He offers with a bow, trying not to sound as confused as he feels. "Thank you, Sawamura-kun." Daichi flinches at the name that Suga calls him, and he's holding back a cackle at his captain's expression. I've never heard someone use Daichi's name before. Daichi has a given name. He's pretty sure he's dreaming at this point.
"Uh- R-right." Daichi mumbles, an odd expression on his face. They all open their coffee in sync. He's never had coffee before, especially not coffee in a can. It smells bitter, but so does Kageyama, and Kageyama is good at volleyball. Genius coffee. He swallows the whole can at once.
Daichi is staring at him with raised eyebrows and an open mouth. "I've never had coffee before." He admits, "It'll make me good at volleyball!" He screams, feeling very hyped all of a sudden. Daichi sighs for an impressive amount of time but he's focused on Suga-san's laughter, different than usual. Then his teammates are staring at him, I thought out loud.
"You're still doing it." Daichi comments, he decides not to think. It's easier than he thought it would be, too focused on watching his fingers tremble. "Are you okay?" Kenma's words. Coming from Suga-san, who blinks at him with a hard to read expression, especially since everything is jumping. "I'm great! What's better than great?" He's not sure, very great! He grabs onto Daichi so the world stops hopping then realizes that it's him that's doing the hopping. "I feel like I'm going to regret this." Daichi is attempting to stop him from being the best rabbit he can be, very rude, he thinks but Daichi just sighs, rubbing at his face. Tired old man.
He's pretty sure that he can read minds by the time lunch comes around, Kageyama is at his desk before the bell rings. "You're gonna ask about Grand King!" He chirps, his seat vibrating very rudely; he pullsAnimal Crossing from Daichi's pocket, and starts replacing all of the pink flowers with red ones. "Nothing happened. It's fine. More than fine, I'm great by the way, how are you?" He doesn't wait for Kageyama to answer, because he knows what his teammate is going to say, "You're fine. Then you're gonna ask why Grand King showed up."
"I dunno! Life is full of I dunno sometimes, you know, Kageyama?" He jumps up from his seat and then runs out of the room without another word, runs into each classroom looking for someone that draws his attention, runs into Yamaguchi instead. "Hi Yamaguchi, I noticed that you're eating food!" The taller boy's bangs flick as his head turns to face him, there's a polite smile and a nod. "Of course you are! It's lunch time, lunch time is the time for eating lunch, but who really decides that lunch time happens when lunch time happens, you know?" Yamaguchi looks like he knows, gives him a smile, "Why are you here?" Is asked from not-Yamaguchi, drawing his attention to Tsukishima. "Ah! Tsuki, just the man I wanted to see. You're a pretty smart guy, right?" Tsukishima's forehead creases at the nickname, but he doesn't respond. "I didn't take you for the modest type! Ah well, I have a question for you. So, how do you think they decide when lunch time is?" Yamaguchi is laughing, he frowns at the dark haired boy, this was a very serious matter.
"Why don't you go ask someone else?" Is suggested to him by the ever-wise Tsukishima, "You're absolutely right, Tsuki-chan, the world must be asked this question, it is the most important one there is!" He's running out of class four, almost trips over someone else, and then he's apologizing and then the other person is holding him, shaking him, and smiling at him.
"Ah! Noya-senpai, say, you're a pretty smart guy right?"