A/N: So... this chapter's a little shorter, but it kind of gives me a warm happy feeling even though it's still tripping on some light feels, so I hope you all enjoy it.

Level Pair; Day Seven 3/3

I want to take care of people. The maximum joy that I have is when I can create something that makes someone's life lighter, brighter, or better. ~Will Smith

Shouyou hears Noya before he sees him.

The nurses finished their evaluation in solemn silence maybe ten minutes earlier, so he's alone with his mom now, but the redhead tenses slightly. Their mother had been a hurdle but not one he'd been worried about. Noya on the other hand…

Well, I suppose it had to be the toughest reunion first.

And Kageyama isn't here. Shouyou has caught himself turning to speak to the black-haired crow twice already only to remember that he'd left to speak with his father. He really wishes he was here right now; he misses the comfortable familiarity of his abrasive demeanor. He has almost no time to dwell on it, though, before Noya is crashing through the doorway, running into the frame and nearly stumbling in his haste.

"Shouyou!"

He freezes at the sight of him and Shouyou hunches slightly, knowing Noya is aghast at his empty shoulders.

"Noya, really, you weren't supposed to—" Asahi rounds the corner behind him and his words cut off.

Ah. Double whammy.

Shouyou wants to sink through the floor. He knew these two were rarely apart, but he'd still somehow imagined he wouldn't meet them together. His hand unconsciously tightens around Momma Yu's and he pulls a half sheepish smile on his face to meet their wide-eyed stares.

"Hey guys. It's been a while." He says softly.

Noya is the first to break his stupor and he stumbles forward and reaches out to him tentatively with shaking hands.

This is what he hadn't wanted to see, he thinks. He didn't want to see the fear and sorrow cross his friends' faces, the horror and dread slacking their features and blowing their pupils wide. He didn't want to hear the choppy intake Noya pulls in or the staggering silence from Asahi. He didn't want to see their worlds as shaken as his own. But he will deal. He's already lost his wings, so he's been through worse.

Still, Shouyou is surprised at how calm he is. He'd expected this to be brutal but just by looking at these two, he can tell that he's not the one suffering at the moment. He's been living this hell for the last week so he's used to it and built up a tolerance for the emotional pain; they on the other hand have been blindsided. Noya's hands brush his shoulders and pull back as if he's terrified the grounded crow might shatter and Shouyou half-sighs. He's already been shattered and he is through with mourning his loss. He reaches out and pulls the other crow into an embrace.

"It's okay Noya, I can't really break much more." He says with a wry smile and he's surprised that it doesn't hurt to say it. The part that hurts is how Noya is rigid in his grasp and his determination wavers just a moment. But then Noya's hands uncertainly return the hug before he sucks in a breath and crushes him.

"Skies, Shouyou." He says, his voice straining with emotion. "What the hell happened?"

The redhead scoffs.

"I got my ass handed to me, what's it look like." He murmurs and Momma Yu tsks softly in disapproval.

"That's not funny, you idiot." Noya growls but it fails on every level as a rebuke.

"Eh, it's true. Still likely doing better than Kageyama at the moment, though. He's probably going through an interrogation with the Grand King right about now."

Seeing their pain, it's suddenly easy to be light and witty like normal. That was always his strength— to be able to stay up in the greatest moments of down. So that is what he does. He draws both Noya and Asahi in and welcomes them to stay. He chatters away about his and Kageyama's misadventure and insists they tell him everything that's been going on while they were gone. It's harder than normal, but he's able to get them talking.

Kageyama had said that once— you have the ridiculous talent of getting people to talk. It had happened after a six hundred year old Kageyama had somehow managed to tick his dad off and he'd gotten himself a bout in the race pits alone. The pits were a hell of a punishment in and of themselves, but to have to face it alone was a new level of merciless intensity.

A twisting four mile air track hacked out of the largest swath of blackberry brambles for leagues around, it was a hazard all on its own. Nevermind the sharp banks and random trees that popped up in the middle, the vines themselves were murderous and encroaching, and abundantly armed with up to inch long thorns pretty much all along the lengths of the canes. If the terrain itself wasn't enough with vines on three sides and trees to dodge, the pits were run once a day with all that day's screw-ups— be it entire units or errant individuals— tossed in with one goal in mind: catch the person in front of you and secure a feather.

The time limit was usually fifteen minutes but could last up to a half hour if the Grand King was in one of his moods— but you were allowed to leave the track early if you collected five feathers. The more feathers you lost, the harder it was to fly, and flying was critical in avoiding trees and vicious blackberry thorns (and that didn't even cover how much harder training was until they'd grown back in the following week). And the ones who made sure it ran were the Grand King's sadistic 'war dog' unit who treated it like a contest to see who could grab the most feathers and never left the track at five.

The first time Shouyou'd been sent to it was after a day of bickering with Kageyama around their five-hundredth year. Neither had flown the race pits before and in the end, both had constellations of cuts over their arms and legs and they'd both lost probably half their feathers.

Five-hundred year old kids were no match for adults that were three times their age and Shouyou was pretty sure the only reason Kageyama hadn't gone homicidal on him was shellshock... and perhaps consolation that Shouyou had lost more feathers than he. At ten minutes instead of the normal fifteen, it had even been a short day; Shouyou still had a silvery scar under one eye where he'd caught a grasping vine to the face near the end of the race. It was the Grand King's most effective tool to get them to mind.

The day Kageyama had been tossed in alone had been like a replay of that first time, and he'd come back covered in cuts, missing half his feathers, and holding back furious tears. Shouyou remembered finding him standing outside their door in the dark and he'd gone to see what was wrong only to be punched in the face.

Shouyou had been so surprised that he'd started hitting back, not realizing where the black haired boy had just come from. No one in their unit had known he'd been sent to the race pit let alone why. When his fists had come away bloody in the light that filtered out of the Yu residence, Shouyou'd stumbled back and gotten his first solid look at Kageyama. He'd paused for only a moment before dragging the battered young crow around to the landing branch behind the house where he'd be out of sight in case Momma Yu came outside. Shouyou had tried a couple times to get him to talk but Kageyama had just sat silent.

So Shouyou hit him. It got the response he was after and soon they were kicking the crap out of each other under moonlight.

And between swings, it came out.

Kageyama had been arguing with his dad over something trivial when he'd made a critical miscalculation. He'd said something along the lines of 'Mother wouldn't have done it that way'. Something so simple, an offhand remark...and he'd wound up in the race pits for it.

The fight had gone out of the other boy and they'd both slumped to the ground breathing hard. It was the first time it had happened, but it would become habit in the following centuries whenever Kageyama was close to losing his mind and had to get something out of his system. Momma Yu would probably be horrified if she knew how often her back landing platform had gotten used as a boxing ring… or where half those bruises actually came from.

"You are right Hinata. That bastard is a monster. I don't think he cares about anyone." Kageyama had said that night. Shouyou had shaken his head.

"I think you're probably wrong. I think he probably loved your mom… and that you were right. And I think he knew that, too, but couldn't stand it." He'd said. Kageyama had blinked at him, before scoffing and staring up at the stars overhead.

"You have the ridiculous talent of getting people to talk. You'd be the perfect interrogator." He'd muttered and Shouyou had laughed back then...but Kageyama was right.

So he talks to Momma Yu and Noya and Asahi until one by one they drop out of the waking world. It doesn't take that long since he is sure they are all exhausted, the first to go being Noya, his head resting on the foot of Shouyou's bed. One of Noya's hands stays on his shin, the comfort of touch a reassurance that Shouyou is there even while he sleeps. Asahi ends up in the corner and Momma Yu finally drops off still clinging to his hand.

The lights have been dimmed in his room for close to an hour when Kageyama finally staggers back in. Shouyou is half asleep himself, but clumsily reaches out toward the movement with the hand not held captive by his mother. Even though he's comfortable and fuzzy with the edges of sleep, he still wishes he could curl up against the other boy. He marvels at how quickly he got used to it and how he misses it now. He knows he feels safe and content when he's wrapped in the taller boy's embrace, his large black wings a familiar protective barrier against the outside world. The fact that they are missing is probably the only reason he's still awake when he finally returns.

Kageyama takes his grasping limb and sits down beside him with a heavy sigh. It makes Shouyou wonder what the Grand King put him through and he squeezes Kageyama's fingers. He can just see the taller boy's outline in the low light.

"You okay?" He asks softly.

Kageyama just nods and lays his head next to Shouyou's shoulder, his grip only tightening around Shouyou's fingers.