Chapter Forty
Daichi, Shouyou finds out, is a terrible tutor, the older boy does more sighing than teaching and the middle blocker eventually gives up on his quest for an adequate grade. He remains in Daichi's study area as the other boy stalks off, grumbling something he doesn't pay attention to; Shouyou stares at his page of rewritten notes, all of them, as Yachi had told him, were perfectly concise. Ink stares up at him, the words having lost meaning about two hours ago. He runs through every piece of advice that Yachi has given him in the past week, tries to drag all the information and rituals to the working part of his brain; when nothing shows up, the middle blocker allows his head to fall onto his notes with a drawn out sigh. For Shouyou, not passing meant not seeing Kenma and no volleyball, those thoughts alone drives him into another hour long study session where he learns that pronouncing English is too difficult when his muscles are barely responding.
Eventually, he tucks himself under Daichi's heavy arm, lets the older boy guide him into sleep full of numbers and words he doesn't remember while dreaming. Daichi is awake before he is, can only tell by the absence of warmth draping across his chest; Shouyou swallows dry pills and decides to look for his captain instead of staring at too much orange. He finds the older boy in the kitchen, shoving fish into an already sizzling pan, "Morning." He offers quietly but the older boy still jumps when he speaks. "Good morning." Daichi nods, flicking over a pre-breaded fish-sticks until they're pull the stove into smoke. "Brain food." The older boy mutters, stabbing at the screaming concoction that he assumes is his captain's attempt at making breakfast. "Are you feeling alright?" Shouyou questions, taking in the unsettling pan and his captain's jittery shoulders. "Just a little worried for everyone today, it'll be difficult to manage everyone on the team if everyone fails." The older boy explains with a flick of a greasy spatula, Shouyou frowns, "Everyone will be fine." He asserts, watching as his captain takes in a big breath before letting it out slowly. "Everyone will be fine." The other boy echoes, Shouyou repeats it back, watching as the pan full of mush is divided between two bowls.
He waits for Daichi to take the first bite and contemplates throwing the meal out of the window when his captain isn't looking, the older boy grimaces as a spoonful of something lands on his tongue and Shouyou is pretty sure that he can see green splotching on his captain's cheeks. "Good?" He teases and the older boy takes time to glare at him before taking the two bowls towards the window, they make a gross slopping sound as they land on the grass outside but Shouyou ignores that in favor of cleaning up his captain's mess.
"It was hard my first time too." He offers and the older boy pauses in scraping the last of his mess out the window, "It wasn't my first time." Shouyou snorts into his arm, biting on his lip to avoid getting hit. "Good thing I'm here, right?" The question is weird coming out of his mouth, the idea that he wasn't as much of a burden as he felt like was an interesting one, he knows that he is a burden but doing something to pay back his captain was something he was oddly drawn to. The older boy shrugs, waving a still smoking pan as he speaks, "Saves money, I guess." The answer is noncommittal, he can tell from his captain's tone, but it makes him feel important, if only for a moment. Not that Daichi needs to know that.
Suga-san is outside of Daichi's house when he opens the front door and Shouyou takes a step back, swallowing hard. "Are you okay?" The silver haired boy asks him, silver bangs flopping in one direction with a tilt of the older boy's head. Shouyou nods, ignoring the memories tugging him back to that morning; Suga's nod exposes a sympathetic tilt of his lips and the middle blocker tries to smile back, "Daichi made breakfast." He offers when they fall into a too quiet silence on Daichi's porch. The setter's face twists into discomfort, Shouyou isn't sure if it's because the taller boy has witnessed any of Daichi's previous attempts at cooking or if he had been dragged back to that night. "Brain food?" Suga-san guesses with a knowing smirk, the middle blocker laughs, jumping down the stone steps until he's standing in front of the older boy. "I'm pretty sure he put frozen fish sticks in there, Suga-san, it was terrible." He ws over protein bars and cans of coffee, Shouyou nods, feeling quite proud of all the studying he's actually done. "Daichi helped me study, Yachi too!" Suga-san makes another face at Daichi's name, "Daichi-san never helps me study." They look back at their captain, who's mumbling incoherently into his breakfast and gives them a glare when the taller boy finally notices their staring. "Really?" He asks, dragging his eyes away from his pouting captain and onto Suga-san's smile. "Not since we were kids." The older boy confirms, Shouyou stares at both of them thoughtfully for a moment, wondering not for the first time, if he and Kenma would end up like Daichi and Suga, best friends that share everything and walk to class together, talking about poorly made breakfast and laughing. He texts his protector, wishing him luck on his tests only for Kenma to tell him that he didn't study. At all. Shouyou isn't really sure what to make of that or of Kenma's uncaring attitude about his studies, he offers the older boy his love and some more luck on his exams.
hispers conspiratorially, the older boy laughs and Shouyou is glad to find there's no wince to follow.
"Are you ready for your tests?" The setter ask
Their group splits up at the stairs and, for some reason, the middle blocker is feeling nervous about pieces of paper and a pencil. Shouyou pauses in front of the door to his class and lets himself take a deep breath, he's pretty sure that he can smell tears inside the classroom, letting go of the urge to text Kenma or call for Daichi, he steps into the classroom and takes his seat without a word to anyone. The classroom is as quiet as the hallway had been, the silence forces his body into awkward alertness and Shouyou is almost relieved when the teacher walks in after too many bounces of his leg. "Remain seated." The teacher, his spit bearded mathematics teacher, coughs before continuing. "These exams will be thirty minutes each, they will partially determine your class placement next year, so be careful." He can't find in it himself to laugh at the spittle that lands in the guys beard, his legs are refusing to relent on their attempt to shove his knees through the desk and his fingers won't take a proper grip on his pencil.
"You may begin." The rush of pencils scratching against paper forces his spine into erectness and Shouyou glances down at the paper in front of him, uncomprehending of every question. He supposes he should have expected this, should have known that there would be more than just studying to get him a good grade. Romanji. He curses the stupid adaptation of his language and taps his eraser against question one, wondering if not answering the questions would get him more remedial classes than just guessing them wrong. On a whim, the middle blocker decides to make a solid attempt at learning Romaji during the next twenty-seven minutes, the next three minutes are filled with frantic answers he's not sure will even match the questions. The process continues, odd minutes filled with deciphering meaningless words and then random answers, his only break is during his mathematics exam, even if some of the equations are beyond him, Shouyou manages to finish that one in half the time allotted and spends the rest of that time wondering how badly he had failed his other exams.
The entire school is dismissed through the intercom after the final exams are taken up, he waits by the entrance for Daichi and Suga, the older boys are talking about the difficulty of a question when they finally walk through the front doors. "They're preparing our gym for a practice ceremony." Daichi informs when the three of them end up walking away from the gym instead of toward it, "That sucks." The middle blocker mutters, dragging his cell phone from his gym bag and praying that it will ring; Shouyou doesn't bring up the fact that he couldn't read the majority of the tests and tries really hard not to look like he had just wasted the last three weeks of his life. Daichi leads them back to his house, Suga-san joining them with promises that prayer will keep his perfect GPA alive, he's pretty sure that saying a few words will not help him learn to read a useless language, but doesn't disagree because he's happy to have the silver haired boy around. Suga insists that they teach their captain how to cook after Shouyou spends the entire walk home staring at his cell phone, pleading quietly for it to make a noise, he agrees, if only because his eyes are starting to strain. The setter leads them into Daichi's kitchen and starts giving captain a lecture on the necessities of expert kitchen awareness, Shouyou is pretty sure that there's more to this exercise than just helping their captain learn how to make breakfast but he's unable to think of anything substantial; they share laughs at Daichi's failed attempts at making proper ommelettes and the middle blocker is left with a strange, unknown feeling throughout the entire experience.
Their journey to help Daichi learn to make eggs is cut short when the taller boy drops the last egg on the floor, uncooked. Suga-san laughs, slinging an arm around their captain's shoulders before leading him out of the smoking kitchen. The three of them settle in Daichi's study area and Shouyou is the only one not studying, he's not really sure what to make about the fact that exams had just finished and the older boys were already opening their books again. The middle blocker is pretty sure that he doesn't want to be a third year if it meant more studying until the sun goes down and then to keep going; he leaves the older boys to themselves, deciding that he'd rather study the inside of Daichi's fridge instead of snooping on Suga-san's advanced mathematics that aren't that difficult.
He decides to text Kenma before his hands are covered in soy sauce and grease, the reply is almost instant, offering support with simple words. Are you okay? Shouyou would like to think so, but his brain is melting and his hands are shaking in ways they shouldn't be; he thinks they should be worse, that he should scream or cry because Grand King had ripped him open and used that word. His theory on Kuroo definitely being the one to come here was looking more and more hazy as he recalls his interaction with the Aoba Johsai captain, Kuroo had never made him bleed, the dark haired boy had only made him terrified of the dark. Shouyou thinks about the laugh, barking laugh, one that belongs to Kuroo, the middle blocker returns to square one.
"I miss you" Being honest with Kenma is easy, forcing himself to offer the truth to the older boy is much more difficult when he can't express every apology that he knows he should, the older boy's mood seems to shift with his words, the setter starts to ask questions about his day and says another few words that make Shouyou's heart beat a little faster. "I love you." Shouyou knows that, knows that love is the only way that someone like Kenma would put up with him for so long. He tells Kenma about his dinner making process and about his captain's inability to cook, the older boy texts him a picture of a cat eating a flower in return and tells him that he and the cat share a resemblance; Shouyou stares at the pixel bound feline while he prepares strips of something he's pretty sure is cow, he tells Kenma that he doesn't see the resemblance. The setter calls him salty, which he still doesn't understand, and then gives his goodbye. He's not sure if it's worse knowing that he would see Kenma tomorrow or not when the older boy says goodbye.
He finishes preparing the rest of the meal as quickly as possible, knowing that the sooner his stomach was full the sooner he could go to sleep. Masuo walks through the door as soon as he finishes making what could be a salad if it weren't covered in ranch, there's another set of footsteps following him that makes Shouyou look up before he wants to. Daichi's dad smiles at him, leads his mysterious echoing footsteps towards the kitchen until the middle blocker can finally see who it is. "This's Honoka, sweetheart that's Shouyou." He stares at the woman half hidden by Masuo's form, her head peaks over the top of his and Shouyou can just make out the brown of her hair in the almost dark house. He bows as lowly as the burning in his sides will let him, "Thank you very much for letting me stay here." Honoka moves out from behind Masuo, grabs the older male's hand in hers before replying. "I thought you said he had red hair?" Shouyou is caught between laughing and screaming, an odd sensation that forces a tight smile onto his lips; Honoka looks down at him with narrowed brown eyes and Shouyou pretends not to notice while he finishes making a meal with nowhere to put it. "Well, I reckon we'll just get over it soon as we taste his cooking." Shouyou is pretty sure that comment was supposed to be half a joke, he offers her the last moment of his smile and then pulls the meat and salad off the counter.
Daichi looks up when he returns to the table, looks around the two serving dishes and towards his parents, Shouyou almost trips when the older boy makes a face. The middle blocker settles the two dishes onto the table, and rushes off for chopsticks and water, he's pretty sure, even as an unwanted house guest, that he shouldn't be making all the dinner preparations but he finds comfort in having something to do besides ignore the stares that Daichi's parents are giving him. He's almost tired by the time he's able to sit down between captain and vice-captain, the older boys offer him thanks while Daichi's parents just start eating without a word; Shouyou's not sure which is worse, the pregnant silence or the moment where Masuo and Honoka decide to ask questions with ranch trailing down their lips. Beside him, Suga-san holds a laugh in a mouthful of salad and Daichi sighs something far too ancient, even for a third year.
"So, you play on the team with these'uns?" Shouyou nods, pretty sure that if Daichi had mentioned him before that the subject of volleyball was quick to follow, "A'int you supposed to be tall to play?" For a moment, he almost considers throwing the table on top of them and leaving, the thoughts ebb when someone's hand lands on his back but they still linger and make his blood feel warmer. "I may be small, but I can jump." The words lack the enthusiasm they would usually garner, Daichi's parents share a look, then stare at him as a beast with four eyes. "I had to jump once." Masuo replies cryptically, Daichi's breath catches on another sigh and Shouyou has a bad feeling about what's going to happen next. Story time happens next, a very boring tale about how Masuo had to jump off of the horse named Daichi and Shouyou is left with the urge to fall asleep before he can finish his salad. Honoka offers her own jumping story, three sentences about how she had to jump from a car that wouldn't stop and Shouyou actually wants to know more but the woman refuses to say more than she already has.
Dinner falls into just eating sounds, he pretends not to notice that the two boys munching in his ears are somehow quieter than the other side of the table; he offers to clean the dishes, but Honoka is very insistent that Daichi does them and that Suga-san helps him, which leaves him alone with Daichi's parents. He thinks, not for the first time, that jumping out of the window would be an excellent solution to this problem. "So, can you tell us why you're stayin' here?" He's not entirely sure what the purpose of Honoka's question, he's certain that Daichi had told them everything that had happened. "I got kicked out." Honoka frowns, something tells him she's more disappointed in him than the actions of his mother. "Right." Masuo drawls but the middle blocker is still distracted by the ranch on the older man's face.
"You ain't Yakuza, are ya?" The older man asks after a too short silence, Shouyou is pretty sure he hears a dish dropping in the kitchen but he's too busy suppressing the urge to laugh at the question. "No?" He offers, Honoka's head tilts unfavorably, "No?" She questions, and Shouyou nods, not really sure if he's handling this situation correctly. "Well, I reckon that's a good thing." Shouyou is pretty sure he doesn't have to reckon that not being a Yakuza is a good thing, he nods slowly and the people across the table offer small smiles. "That was a damn good meal but we gotta get to bed." He waves to Daichi's parents as they disappear down the hallway, presumably towards their bedroom.
Shouyou makes his way into the kitchen and decides to watch the older boy's scrub egg residue off of the stove instead of helping them. "Sorry about them." Daichi mutters to a stain, his words almost muffled by his violent scrubbing. "It's fine." He knows that even if the opposite were to be true, there wasn't much he could do about it while staying under their roof. The older boy nods, continuing to scrub his stove with increasing fervor, Shouyou turns his attention to Suga-san, who is already staring at him, and offers the older boy a smile. "Dinner was good, Shouyou." The older boy praises, "If only your skill could help our student." Daichi huffs, throwing his sponge onto the stain that won't come up. Shouyou shrugs, "I'm sure our captain will get it one day." He commends with a smile directed towards the dark haired boy.
With the kitchen mostly clean, Daichi leads the way back to the table and starts digging through a textbook. Suga-san smiles, offering him a place on his lap while they talk about finances, the middle blocker accepts the seat but zones out when the setter starts talking about income taxes. Suga-san stops explaining each line of text at one point, Shouyou isn't sure when, his consciousness only reviving long enough to notice that they're on a different page. The older boys finally decide to stop studying when he decides to cover both of their text books with his body, Daichi half carries him to the bathroom with an order to brush his teeth before he goes to sleep; the middle blocker complies, lets foamy toothpaste wash over his teeth and tongue until all he can taste is mint. Suga-san makes to leave once Daichi leads him to the bedroom but he's across the room in a second, stopping the older boy from taking another step by grabbing onto his shirt.
Suga-san turns back to him, a weird look on his face that Shouyou can't identify, "Yes, Shouyou?" The other boy prompts, his tone teasing enough to draw a flush onto the middle blocker's cheeks. "Stay." He says, almost pleading but not quite. The older boy smiles down at him, "I don't know, that futon is pretty uncomfortable." Suga laughs but is easily led towards their captain's bedroom, he pushes the older boy onto the mattress where Daichi is already settled. Their captain looks surprised but shrugs, shifting an extra centimeter back until the three of them can squeeze onto the bed. Shouyou finds his drowsiness returning quickly when he can feel Suga-san's heartbeat against his back, a combination of knowing that the older boy is safe and the lamp light keeping him from the dark allows him to fall into blank safety.
He wakes up with two left hands cradled over his chest, both of them, thankfully, are far enough away from any bruising that he doesn't notice any additional stinging. Suga-san mumbles something into his hair that Shouyou can't hear, the youngest boy settles again, content to wait for the older boys to get up while he stares at the glowing clock on Daichi's nightstand. The middle blocker is pulled away from his staring after an hour, both of the hands on his stomach, leaving to cover up heavy yawns and morning breath, he takes the new freedom to put his feet on the ground and works his way into a handful of orange. The pills slide down dryly but Shouyou hardly notices because today would be the day he sees Kenma again. He watches Suga-san extract himself from Daichi's bed and offers the older boy a smile when half closed eyes settle onto him, the gesture isn't returned as the older boy makes to leave the bedroom.
The setter returns a handful of seconds later, carrying three cans that Shouyou is pretty sure will be their breakfast, the older boy hands him one and takes a sip from another. He offers his vice-captain a small boy and the taller boy winks at him, tossing the spare can into the air a few times before launching it at their captain's body. The lump of hoarded blankets groans in agony and Shouyou laughs so hard that coffee trickles down his chin, the blankets shift to reveal a displeased Daichi who glares at both of them before shifting to grab the object thrown at him. The coffee opens with a hiss and the middle blocker watches, with slight concern, as the older boy drains the entire can without stopping. "I think he might have a problem." Suga comments, draping an arm across his shoulders in a way that Shouyou wishes he could be comfortable with, his muscles twitch with each shift of the older boy's weight but the arm doesn't remove itself. "I need it to deal with you idiots every morning." Their captain replies, worming his head on top of a pillow like the older boy might go back to sleep after ingesting a can full of caffeine.
"You'll understand when you have your own team." Shouyou is pretty sure the comment is meant to be negative, but there's a smile forcing its way onto his lips at the thought of having Daichi's title one day. "I'll be the best captain ever." He promises, Daichi groans, burying his head under his pillow without replying, Suga leads him out of the room, promising him another surefire way to wake their captain up. They share kitchen space, Shouyou keeping an eye on the older boy while he fiddles with the rice cooker, the middle blocker tries not to let his eyes fall onto the wrinkled material covering old scars; Suga-san catches on quickly, glances back at him with a half smile. "Can I see them?" He blurts before he wants to stop, Suga-san's hands start shaking where they're wrapped around a measuring cup. Dark eyes dart away from him, towards Daichi's bedroom, then there's a sigh that is followed with a nod. Silver bangs tumble over, covering the older boy's eyes as trembling fingers start to tug on his school shirt, Shouyou watches raptly, horrified but unable to look away. The first line falls into sight, a long unnecessary flourish that just dodges the older boy's navel. The middle blocker takes a step forward, tracing a finger over the raised skin while Suga works up the nerve to lift up the rest of the material. It reads as it should, the same way it did all those nights ago, "Mine." Suga huffs out, letting his own hand move over the injuries without looking at them. The skin is still discolored, an almost brown that promises that they'll remain there forever, the tension in Suga's eyebrows makes him think that the older boy already knows that. "Mine." The older boy repeats, fists clenching into the curled up fabric. Shouyou hates that word, wishes that it would disappear because owning is wrong.
"Do they hurt?" The older boy laughs, something bitter that makes Shouyou's heart clench. "Only when I think about it." The middle blocker understands, probably more than he should; he removes his fingers from the bruised skin and lets them settle onto one of Suga-san's trembling fists. The setter hand grips his, he's not sure who's hand is sweaty but the feeling doesn't bother him as much as it should. "I want answers." The older boy admits, anger laced with a sadness someone like Suga doesn't deserve; Shouyou wishes he could give them, he knows that one of two people are responsible, both of them too dangerous to speak of because both of them own him.
Daichi emerges when the smell of meat starts to overwhelm the air, Suga-san offers their captain water along with a bowl of rice before chopping the older boy on the head. Shouyou's body jerks in respond to the sound but doesn't offer explanation because neither of the older boys are looking at him. "You're being nice." Their captain mutters, a hand dragging over where Suga had just attacked him, "We leave today and you need to be able to handle our teammates before they get lost in the city." Daichi huffs like he doesn't want to be reminded but makes an attempt to look more alert, Shouyou serves Suga-san before himself and lets the kitchen fall into almost silence. He watches their captain gets progressively more aware with each bite until the older boy looks like his usual self, the older boy gets up with his empty bowl and rinses it out without a word. "We should get going." Suga-san grunts in agreement, offering his bowl to their captain, who just stares at him for a long moment before taking it and rinsing it as well.
Their captain leads them through the front door, Shouyou closes his eyes before the cross the threshold and doesn't open them until he can feel gravel under his shoes; Daichi starts walking towards the farm instead of towards the school and the middle blocker isn't sure why he's surprised. The older boy opens creaky windows until he can see old wood and the unsettling faces of too big animals, Shouyou grabs onto Suga-san's arm, guiding the older boy past each of the horses and offering their name while Daichi pours food into their cages. Suga takes a liking to the last animal, the horse named after their captain, Daichi feeds his horse counterpart and Shouyou leads Suga out of the stable before their captain decides to lock them in.
The walk to school reminds him of the tests, the ones he couldn't read and had no chances of passing. Shouyou stops walking, takes a look at the school gates in the distance wondering if he'd be kicked out for having the worst grades in the entire school; his grip on Suga's hand makes the other boy freeze in his tracks, "Something wrong, Shouyou?" Daichi stops walking half a step front of in front of him, and turns back to them with concern twisting his eyebrows, "No, I don't think so." He lies, urging the taller boy forward before they can read the lies twisted his own face, the vice-captain makes a weird face but allows himself to be pushed down the street and through the school gates. Suga stops walking next, they're next to the steps where they would separate, the older boy turns to face him and does something weird.
Suga's embrace is warm and smells like toothpaste, his words are soft, exhaled praise making a patch of his hair warm. It's nice and he can tell that it means something, what he doesn't understand is why, Suga had been attacked because of him, Shouyou didn't even have the courage to tell the older boy that it had been his fault that he had been attacked, that the people who owned him had caused this mess, the same people that had written the same thing across his chest but with blood instead of steel. He was luckier than Suga in that respect, Grand King had touched him out of passion, because Grand King loved him, he knew that all for fact. Grand King had written on him in his blood and Shouyou had seen it happen with his own eyes, the setter holding him didn't know anything about his attack except for pain in the dark and the burning in his stomach. Message. The message hadn't even been for the older boy.
"You'll do great, we'll be in Tokyo by tonight and you can see that someone." Thoughts of Kenma, of belonging with someone, were difficult to think about when he could feel Suga's message colliding with his; he knows, in that moment, that the older boy is alone. Shouyou wraps his arms around the taller boy before he can resist, ignores the tears that are threatening to make spots on the school jacket his face is pressed into. "You're not alone." He promises, wishes that he could sound firm instead of the shaking ground they're always standing on. Suga's hand settles on his shoulder, cold and warm at the same time, and more words follow. "Okay." The response is simple and filled with something he can't bring himself to understand. They separate and the older boy smiles too brightly for Shouyou to keep staring at, he doesn't understand his vice-captain at all, Suga was unnaturally strong, like being cut up had no effect on him while Shouyou broke down constantly because of simple words like mine and love. The middle blocker envies that strength as much as he detests it, he knows that if Suga were to fall that he'd be there, without that reaction he feels like he has nothing to do except wait. Not that Suga-san needs to know that. The older boys wave him goodbye, with smiles and promises that he'll pass.
Everything inside of him freezes over when he steps into the classroom, the entire class is staring at him and there are words hidden by hands. Too many stares and too many questions make his knees buckle before he can make it to his seat, his recovery isn't quick enough to be completely ignored and several people laugh at his panic before returning to their whispering; he doesn't manage to catch any of it, only the general sense that something is wrong and all of it is directed at him, like these people know everything that he's done when he doesn't remember half of their names. An unknown teacher enters through the classroom door and slides it shut loudly, the classroom turns quiet except for the shuffling of papers being flicked onto desks. "You'll be dismissed as soon as you get your tests, look over your marks thoroughly, and make sure you don't need to take remedial classes- unless you want them of course." The teacher chuckles but is met with silence, he continues to pass out papers going through each row until Shouyou can see the guy standing in front of him.
"Hinata Shouyou?" He questions, like he had done to the row before, the middle blocker nods and his tests are placed faced down on his desk. Shouyou is very hesitant to actually look at the papers, he can already see too much shadowed red through the parchment, he's pretty sure that he can feel his dreams of Tokyo are being shattered before he even gets a chance to look. Wasting as much time as he can with making sure the pages are straight and digging dirt from his fingernails, Shouyou flips the pages over and heavily contemplates throwing himself out of the window without landing on a shrub. His average score is ten out of forty, which is, understandably he supposes, not passing. The middle blocker sighs, glances over pages he can't read except for crimson laid notes asking if he had even read any of the questions before answering, the final page holds only the ones he got write, all of them math questions. Shouyou thinks of his vice-captain, the one that taught him that calculus is more difficult than algebra, he supposes that the older boy would be both proud and frustrated with him for getting these ones correct.
The older boys are waiting by the stairs, blocking his path towards remedial classes, not that they know that. "What did you get?" Suga-san asks, like he had passed and wanted to know how smart he actually was. With frustrating but not debilitating panic, he hands the taller boy his tests and watches an array of emotions flicker across his vice-captain's face before melting into half disappointment. "Well, at least my tutoring paid off." There's a chuckle but it falls off quickly when Daichi snatches the paper from the setter's hands, Daichi's face holds only grimness that Shouyou resents. His captain's eyes go wide as he glances over each of the pages. "Romanji." The older boy notices, Shouyou feels his cheeks heat up in mortification, he had forgotten that Daichi knows that. He nods to the older boy, looking away long enough for Asahi join them without his notice. "Good morning, Suga-san, Daichi-san, er- Shouyou." He's able to feel Asahi's awkwardly hard gaze without looking up at the older boy. "Asahi-san." He offers, not really sure how he should be acting after getting the older boy attacked by two manager obsessed teammates and then not apologizing.
"How did you guys do on your tests?" Shouyou is pretty sure that the wiggling in Asahi's legs means he really wants to talk about the tests, he lets himself zone out of the conversation, content with not cuddling into their captain's side and letting the older boy take most of his weight. He learns, after Suga-san and Asahi stop exchanging test scores, that he only has one day of remedial classes via school policy; the fact that he only had a week to see Kenma made the situation indefinitely worse. Daichi leads him upstairs, to an almost empty classroom where he finds Kageyama already sitting, the taller boy makes a point of not looking at him when the door slides open and Daichi looks back at him with raised eyebrows. The middle blocker shrugs, still not entirely sure why Kageyama is either ignoring him or glaring at him, a part of him wonders if the setter is jealous of having a relationship or upset that he's not Shouyou's first priority. He finds Kageyama to be an idiot either way and decides to take the seat next to him, just for kicks; Daichi snorts from the doorway, makes a phone out of his fingers and mouths what he imagines to be call me later. The middle blockers nods, watches his captain scoot past their remedial teacher, who gives the volleyball captain a sneer before scooting past, something tells him that this might be the longest day of his life.
Shouyou was rarely correct, his test scores proved that in several instances, his assumption, unfortunately, about their remedial teacher was unfortunately one of those rare instances. The older woman, with boobs that hang bigger than Kageyama's head, glares at them hard enough for the setter to be taken back by it. Shouyou makes the mistake of laughing at his teammate's misfortune and that stony gaze is turned onto him. "You idiots are here because your test scores were abysmal." He's pretty sure that abysmal means bad, even if the words is fun to play on repeat in his head while the teacher prattles on about why they failed the tests. Shouyou knows why, he just really doesn't want to ask anyone to teach him Romanji because while it would be helpful in some cases, in most others it would be a complete waste of effort. Kageyama's icy demeanor changes by the time the study-lecture is over, the taller boy still glares at him, but there's not as much hate in his eyes.
They're released with a bell and a practiced promise to do better, he would make sure to do that by guessing even harder during the next exams. Shouyou slides past too big boobs and is left wondering why she felt the need to stand in the doorway while they were dismissed, the thought doesn't linger past a shudder that makes his spine numb. Digging into his bag for a moment, the middle blocker pulls out his half dead cellphone and sends a text to Daichi that he and Kageyama had been dismissed.
"Tanaka's sister will pick you up." Shouyou stares at the message for an indecent amount of time, Tanaka-san has a sister. He imagines someone just as tough and cool, not dissimilar to Tanaka-senpai at all, except with hair. The walk down the stairs and towards the school gates allows him to debate on telling his setter about the arrangement or just letting the boy walk home to enjoy sitting on his ass for a week, the decision, unfortunately, is pulled away from him with the appearance of a truck pulling in front of them with a squeal that makes his ears ring. "Yo, failure boys!" A woman, barely taller than him steps out of the smoking vehicle in front of them, Shouyou takes in her dyed hair and multitude of piercings only to wonder if this person is going to violently murder them. "A-are you Tanaka-senpai's sister?" He asks, praying that she'll say both yes and no, the woman adjusts her hair for a moment before offering him a grin that looks more well suited on a shark than a person, "You can call me Saeko-nesan." Shouyou is pretty sure that he won't be doing that more than once and offers her a bow, dragging the boy next to him in a similar position, "Thank you very much, Saeko-nesan!" She laughs, something less intimidating than her smirk and waves them over.
Kageyama makes irritating noises and grunts something that the middle blocker can't make out, he grabs onto the taller boy's arm but Kageyama is refusing to move and refuses to say anything. Shouyou thought the longest day of his life was over. Saeko taps her foot almost impatiently but her face reflects amusement more than irritation, with a sigh, Shouyou decides to do the only thing he can think of. His hand collides with the setter's head before he can think about the consequences and darts towards the vehicle in front of them, he's already tucked away before Kageyama even reacts to the hit. A scream follows him along with rushed footsteps and finally a thud. Shouyou looks around his defensively placed hands to find nothing but the open door, laughter from Tanaka's sister draws him away from his hiding spot and towards the empty doorway where an angry setter should be.
It takes him a moment to find the other boy and for him to realize that what he is stepping on isn't cement, Shouyou glances down at his setter, specifically at a giant bruise that is forming on the taller boy's forehead. The middle blocker finds Kageyama's sleeping face to be distasteful, but the fact that Kageyama frowns even in sleep is equally as amusing. "That is one way to do it!" Saeko cackles, stepping forward to grab at shoulders of the unconscious boy like it wasn't unusual for her car to knock someone out. Shouyou takes his feet off of his setter's body and grabs at limp legs until they've lifted the body into the backseat, he finds satisfaction in closing the door, his plans usually don't work out that well. Tanka's sister leads him to the passenger door and opens it for him, he climbs into the seat wishing he had more to say than quiet appreciation.
Kenma is the subject of his thoughts when Saeko pulls away from the school, each too sharp turn reminding him of every decision he's made in his life. Too much. They're on flat road before he can escape thinking about stupid things because he knows what's done is done, that he couldn't go back to home or that he couldn't take back his yes all those months ago. "Hey, stop sulking!" Saeko chides, sharp nails digging into his cheeks before he's comprehended her words, "I get that you're in a hurry but," Candy that hadn't been there before is pulled away from her mouth, "There are some flowers you can only see when you take detours." The words are cryptic but her tone says enough.
"I don't really get it, but thanks!" She laughs, twisting the wheels with her eyes closed that Shouyou is certain will lead them to certain death. "It means, you should be grateful for your failing grade, because now you get to ride with me." He's pretty sure that failing is supposed to be a bad thing, especially when it keeps him from Kenma, but he nods and takes a look at her without the assumption that she's a well-known criminal leader. "When'd you start playing, Shouyou?" He takes in her question but wonders instead if Daichi had been the one to inform her that it was just Shouyou. "When I was in grade school, I saw the spring tournament on TV, it was right when Karasuno was playing and-"
"You saw the Little Giant?" They say at the same time with different pronouns, she laughs again and Shouyou takes another look at the woman beside him. "You know the Little Giant?" She shrugs, "I think I went to school with him, but I never spoke with him." The middle blocker is both confused and in awe, unable to understand why someone wouldn't throw themselves at the opportunity to talk with the Little Giant was beyond him. "I might have, if he was a little more of a trouble maker." The words don't surprise him as much as he thinks they should, "Were you the type to make friends with all the bad guys?" He asks instead of what gang she belongs to, she laughs again, wheel twitching in her grasp enough to make Kageyama's limp body slam against the door beside his head. "Pretty much, but-" She pauses long enough to take a taste of the twirling candy in her fingers, "I saw one of their practice matches once." She takes another pause and Shouyou watches goosebumps crawl up her arms, "He was... scary, but something more intense." She continues with a shrug, "He was being switched out, he stormed past me and I could feel the air getting cold and hot, you know?" Shouyou nods, too familiar with the feeling but too wrapped up in her tale to say anything. "He walked by and slammed his head into the wall." They both take a moment to look at Kageyama, who's shifting on the seat like he might wake up before going completely still. "Then he turns to me, with these eyes. Like a snake or a demon, or something." Saeko's body shudders in the same way his does, for different reasons he knows. Snake eyes. Another thing he's too familiar with. "He's the uh- ace, right?" He hums in confirmation, she hums back. "He felt like an ace, not like- that, I mean, almost like the air around him was different." The middle blocker nods, almost getting what she means, but he thinks of heartbeats instead of empty air.
The tires squeal as they pull in front of Nekoma High school, Shouyou smiles at Saeko, certain that this was her signature move when it came to driving. "One piece, just like I promised! Woo!" She jumps onto the ground and stretches for a bit before tugging on the door to the backseat, Kageyama screams as the door is opened and Shouyou takes a step back, the setter jumps out of the car with ease since they hadn't bothered to lock him down with seat belts and is suddenly looming over him. He offers the taller boy his best placating smile but Kageyam glares at him before glaring at the area around them, "Tokyo?" He mutters, Saeko laughs before he can explain that they hadn't been kidnapped. "Tanaka-senpai's sister drove us here." He neglects to add that the driving almost got them killed and that Saeko-nesan knows the Little Giant, tugging on the setter's hand, he leads the taller boy towards the gym in front of them, wishing that he didn't feel like he was walking towards certain doom, even if it were mixed with the excitement of playing volleyball and seeing Kenma.
Saeko ends up taking the lead while he does his best to fill in Kageyama's memory with as little words and insults as possible, making sure to act as surprised as possible when he points out the bruise forming on the taller boy's forehead. "Here we are!" The door squeaks open and Shouyou stops walking. Loser does what the winner wants. With a sigh, drawn out like he's out of breath from just walking as an excuse for his pause, the middle blocker forces himself into the Nekoma gym where the darkness had started to form. The gym is more lively than it had been last time, each of the courts filled up with different teams and Shouyou only recognizes two of them. His attention is pulled onto Kenma and isn't interrupted with calls of his name, his protector is in the middle of a game but golden eyes manage to find his within a moment, like the older boy could sense his proximity. Kuroo, who was standing next to the blond setter, follows his neighbor's gaze and Shouyou feels ice starting creep along his spine when he makes the mistake of glancing into chopper eyes.
"Yo! Shouyou-senpai!" There's waving off too long arms that draws his attention away from both Kenma and Kuroo, Lev stares at him from across two courts and Shouyou can just make out the green of the other boy's eyes. He waves back, not sure how to feel that his name has just been announced to the entire gym. "Shouyou! Kageyama!" The gruff voice of one of his favorite senpai's calls out, Noya-senpai waves them over to their court and Shouyou takes a look at his sweating teammates along with the unfavorable scoreboard. A timeout is called as soon as Ukai takes notice of them, the other boys offer them brief greetings before attempting to drown themselves in water. Ukai switches him in with Kageyama and Shouyou finds his fingers twitching more intensely for every extra second the timeout lasts.
Their quick feels awkward and almost wrong, the location and flashes of light he knows aren't real attempt to ruin the experience of being in the air. The ball cradles in his hand for the last time that game, he can feel treated leather sliding against his palm before rocketing past outstretched fingers, the slam makes him flinch and he lets himself off the court before the whistle blows. It had been the last game for Karasuno that day and Shouyou had scored the final point for them, he just wished he could bring himself to feel good about it, but he doesn't and Daichi notices almost as soon as he does. "Something wrong?" It sounds like a question but Daichi's eyes are reflecting that I know that makes Shouyou shrug instead of nod. He wants to explain, talk about the flashes and the terror that threaten to make him stop jumping, but he can't bring himself to actually say the words I'm scared to Daichi again.
The older boy's hand lands on his shoulder, can feel the twitching muscles around cotton and sweat enough to know that Daichi is going to ask him something. "You did well." The hand pats his shoulder then the warmth is gone, the team splits up with Kageyama going the complete opposite direction as he does. Shouyou works his way around the gym, towards that red, the right one, and feels his heart start to work properly when he sees nothing but gold.
"Kenma."