A/N: I am new to this site and hope I formatted this okay. I couldn't really tag things, so some warnings for things that'll be in this fic (not exactly in this first chapter): Intense angst, violence, internalized homophobia/homophobia, mental health issues, and mentions of previous child abuse. Enjoy!
The gym bustled with excitement as Sato and Kiyoko stood on the sidelines next to each other, watching. There wasn't much to do whenever the team divided amongst themselves and had practice matches, because usually at least one player ended up working the scoreboard. In the end, Kiyoko and Sato ended up filling water bottles and stuck on the sidelines.
"They've been getting better," Kiyoko said as she wrote something down in a notebook. Sato leaned closer to her, trying to catch a glimpse, as he nodded. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and snapped the notebook closed, which made him exaggerate a frown. "You can see there's a difference since Interhigh."
"Well, Tsukishima-san's been getting more into it, which helps a lot. Especially since he's a key part of our defense." Sato stared at the closed notebook in her hands and waited for a second. When he spoke again, his voice was whiny. "Come on, show me. I thought we were friends. Friends share everything with each other."
Kiyoko chuckled as she hugged the notebook to her chest. "I'll share it with you when it's ready. I'm just trying to help you out." She paused and looked him over. "Where are your notes?"
Sato tapped his temple three times. "All up here. I'm like an elephant, I never forget."
She shook her head slightly as she chuckled again, something she did a lot with him. It was almost like an affectionate way of saying he was annoying. After a few minutes, she went back to her notebook while he went back to watching the team.
Hinata was blocked out and then did an insane broad shot immediately after. That's what he did, run around and have Kageyama set to him until he scored. It wasn't going to work forever, everyone should know that by now, but they didn't. Seijoh should've been the wake-up call, because that's how Karasuno had lost. They had lost because Seijoh had managed to take down the one thing Karasuno had been so sure was invincible.
Ukai blew his whistle, and everyone stopped. "Good! Let's call it a day!"
Sato's eyes scanned over the gym, and everyone looked hungry. They looked like they were being taken away from a meal they had been craving. He had never seen them like this before, and he loved it.
"Can we do another set?" Hinata asked, and he didn't have that scary look in his eyes that freaked Sato out.
Sato wished he could figure out what exactly brought it out. Sometimes it never came out in a game, but when it did come out, it sent chills down everyone's spine. He wanted to know more about it. He wanted to understand Hinata better.
"Huh?" Ukai asked, and Kageyama stepped forward to stand next to Hinata.
"Yeah, just one more!" Kageyama asked, and Ukai scratched the back of his head.
"You know constantly practicing alone isn't going to cut it." Ukai looked over at Daichi. "Captain, can you talk some sense into them?"
Daichi couldn't. He was wearing the same expression Kageyama and Hinata wore. Everyone was wearing that same hungry expression, and Sato knew Ukai would cave. There was no possible way he wouldn't. He looked over at Sato.
"Can you talk some sense into them, Sato?" Ukai asked, and he jumped back slightly when he saw the same hungry expression on Sato's face.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't think I can," Sato said, and he picked up a stray volleyball. He held it in both hands, squeezing it slightly before he tossed it to Daichi, who caught it easily. "They don't seem satisfied just yet, so might as well let them continue. I mean, any practice is better than no practice, don't you agree?"
Ukai sighed, and it was because Sato wasn't going against the team. He was going against what Ukai wanted, because once Sato sided with someone, the decision was made. Ukai trusted him to know everyone's limits, but limits didn't matter today. Everyone was hungry and wanted to eat. If they wanted to eat so badly that they were going to ask for another set, then Sato would back them up. He always would.
"Okay, one more."
Almost everyone seemed to cheer.
When practice finished, Sato and Kiyoko started to hand out water bottles. Sugawara kept looking over at Sato, acting as if he had never seen him before. He always did this whenever Sato was sweating. Ever since they were kids, Sato would rarely swear, because he hated it so much that he avoided it whenever he could.
"You look like you worked out just as hard as we did," Sugawara said, and he took a water bottle from Sato. "Yet you barely did anything."
Sato had ended up having to be a ball boy, because everyone started to get careless. Out of everything a manager did, it was his least favorite thing.
"Stop being a little bitch," Sato said, and Sugawara choked on his water. Sato sighed as he slowly patted Sugawara's back, trying to help relieve the coughing. "Don't die, we need you."
"Don't call me a little bitch and we won't have to worry about me dying," Sugawara coughed out, and Sato held back his laughter. He stopped patting Sugawara's back when the coughing started to subside. "Even if I was one, you're still friends with me."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I enjoy it."
Sugawara gasped as he hit Sato's shoulder slightly. It wasn't hard enough to actually hurt, but enough to make Sato narrow his eyes and Sugawara back away a little.
"Don't say that! You know you love me!" Sugawara said, and his voice raised slightly.
Sato rolled his eyes. "You tell yourself that, Koushi."
"Kageyama, you can still go, right?" Hinata asked, and Sato looked over at him. "Give me some sets!"
"Right," Kageyama said, and they hurried back out on the court.
If he could, Sato would ban them from playing once practice was over, but he couldn't. There was no way to actually stop them. He had supported the whole playing another set, but they had played six sets at this point. They were going to abuse their bodies by practicing so much and so hard that one of them was going to end up getting sick.
"Just tell them off," Sugawara said, and he took another drink from his water. "I can tell that you're desperately wanting to."
"All I want is for you to shut up," Sato said, and Sugawara smiled at him.
"That means so much coming from you," Sugawara said, and Sato wondered if he could get away with punching him. Sugawara was infuriating, but they had been friends since elementary school. Sato couldn't leave him, and Sugawara used that against him all the time. "Usually you just punch people to make them quiet."
"I'm really thinking about doing that with you."
Before Sugawara could react, Takeda opened the gym doors and fell flat on his face. Sato wished he would be more careful, because he was bound to end up with a broken nose one day.
"Takeda-sensei, are you okay?" Sato asked, and Takeda looked up at everyone.
"We're going!" Takeda said, and Sato just stared at him. Takeda's nose was bleeding yet again.
"Going where?" Hinata asked.
Sato pointed at his own nose. "You have a nosebleed, Takeda-sensei."
Takeda ignored him as he pushed up his glasses and held up a piece of paper. "Tokyo."
"Tokyo?" Hinata asked, and Takeda hummed in confirmation. "That means we get to play Nekoma?"
"So this means we've got a practice match?" Sato asked as Takeda put a tissue in his nose that Kiyoko had handed him.
"Yeah, but it's just Nekoma this time," Takeda said, and Sato tilted his head slightly. "We'll be playing with the Fukurodani Academy Group. It's a group of schools from the Kanto region, which includes Nekoma. They hold practice games with each other all the time. Thanks to Coach Nekomata, Karasuno's been invited to participate in their practice matches."
Sato nodded and he was getting excited to the point it was getting hard to concentrate on what Ukai was saying. All he could think about was all of the research on the schools they were going to go against he was going to do. It would be useful for Karasuno to know what they'd really be up against, but also fun for them to analyze some teams outside of Miyagi.
"No, I really didn't," Takeda said as Sato started to tune in. Ukai had most likely brought up Takeda's begging problem. It wasn't a problem when it worked, but until this year, it had never worked. "Coach Ukai's reputation had a lot to do with it too."
They all knew that mentioning the old Coach Ukai always helped with everything, and it made sense. Coach Ukai had helped out last year and it had been some of Sato's favorite memories. The older Ukai was a strong coach and had managed to scare the team to actually improve. Without him, Sato wasn't sure if Sugawara, Daichi, and Asahi would be nearly as good as they are now.
There was uncertainty about Tanaka, Ennoshita, Kinoshita, and Narita improving due to him, but Sato had decided to wait to determine if that was true. Nishinoya continued to grow, but he had been the most talented player Sato had ever interacted with. The older Ukai may have helped him, but Sato believed that Nishinoya purely improved because he wanted to.
"Thank you!" The team yelled as they bowed, and Sato looked up to see Takeda looking at Hinata with a gentle smile. He assumed Takeda was looking at Hinata and Kageyama, but he couldn't see that far.
"Over the years, we've lost our connections with other schools in the prefecture that we were once close with. Many of the coaches who knew Coach Ukai have transferred to other schools," Takeda said, and Sato remembered trying to help him reach out to different schools his first year. They reached out to everyone, but when the older Ukai had retired, they were no longer interested, because without a strong coach, people believed a team would become weak and Karasuno had. "So, we shouldn't miss this chance!"
"Yeah!" The team yelled, and Sato noticed the bright grin on Sugawara's face. It was the one that made the corner of his eyes crinkle and the slight dimple on his left cheek come out. Sato couldn't help but smile along with him, because it was Sugawara. It didn't matter how annoyed he got with him; Sugawara always managed to make Sato smile, even when he didn't want to.
"I'm going to figure out that setter of theirs this time," Kageyama said, and Sato looked over to see that fired up expression that always made him look slightly evil. Kageyama wasn't evil, and everyone on Karasuno knew that, but Sato was fairly certain Kageyama didn't know what he looked like.
"This time, I'll be the one who helps defend our reputation!" Nishinoya yelled, and Sato's eyes flickered over to him. Loud, just as usual, and it was only going to get worse the closer they got to the training camp.
"Yeah! Hope you're ready City Boys, cause you've got it coming now!" Tanaka yelled, and Sato chuckled. It still sounded like he was saying 'shitty boys', but Tanaka never believed any of them when they said that.
Sato looked at Hinata, who was probably the most excited out of everyone. He had a smile on his face, like he always did, and beamed slightly when he spoke. "This time, I'm sure to break through for sure!"
"I don't doubt it," Sato said, but no one heard him. It didn't surprise or upset him, because he had been quiet while everyone was excited and screaming over each other. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Daichi looked over at him with a soft smile. Maybe he had been heard.
"Um, the only thing is, their prelims for Inter-High start this weekend, so it won't be right away," Takeda said, and Sato nodded. That was going to make the other teams more fired up than Karasuno would be since Inter-High prelims wins always put Karasuno into good spirits. "We have an invitation, but there are a lot of details to take care of and people we need to get permission from. We'll talk about all of that later. For now, I assume the team wants to attend?"
"Yes," Sato said, and Daichi grinned next to him.
"Of course we do," Daichi said, and it felt like he was backing Sato up. He didn't need to, but it was nice. It felt nice.
The majority of the team jumped with excitement. "Let's do this!"
Takeda quickly left for his faculty meeting when Asahi smiled. "It's going to get really busy."
"Definitely. We've gotta whip you guys into shape so you don't embarrass us," Sato said, and Daichi chuckled. They all knew he was joking, but Daichi was the one who usually laughed at all his jokes. "You'll be busy too, Kiyoko, seeing that this will be your first away game."
Kiyoko looked at Sato before she looked back in front of her. She hummed in agreement. "I'll do my best, too."
Sato nodded. "I'll do my best too."
Kiyoko turned to him and her smile felt different. Sugawara, Asahi, and Daichi had no idea what they were talking about, but that was okay. Sato and Kiyoko weren't ready for them to know yet, at least not until everything had been figured out.
"Let's get this place cleaned up and go home!" Ukai yelled, and everyone quickly did as they were told.
Usually, the club room was loud after practice. Most of the team still had left-over energy that needed to be burned off. The only times it was ever quiet was when practice had been harder than usual. No matter what, the volume typically relied on whether or not Nishinoya and Tanaka still had any energy.
The news about the training camp made everyone full of energy. It would be one thing if they only discussed that, but they never stayed on one topic too long, but that was rare. Or it was rare for Nishinoya and Tanaka to.
"Did you hear that Mori-san got a girlfriend?" Nishinoya whined, and Tanaka groaned with him. "How did he get a girlfriend when I can't?"
"I know! Girls never make sense, dude!" Tanaka yelled, and Sato looked over at them with narrowed eyes. He hated when they complained, but he really hated when they loudly complained. He never found their reasons to be valid enough to yell the entire time. "Like they never tell you what they want!"
"Exactly! Like what are you even supposed to do when a girl ignores you?" Nishinoya asked, and Tsukishima looked over at them with narrowed eyes and a frown.
"You leave her alone," Tsukishima said, and Sato bit his lip to try not to laugh at Nishinoya and Tanaka's confused expressions. "When a girl ignores you, that means to leave her alone."
"But how are we supposed to know that if she doesn't tell us?" Nishinoya asked, and Sato looked over to Hinata to see if he was paying attention. Thankfully, he seemed more focused on trying to correctly button his shirt. Sato really didn't want him to be focused on this conversation.
"Tsukishima-san's right," Sato said, and a couple of players looked over at him. "Think of it as if I'm ignoring you. You obviously know I don't want to talk to you, right? I don't have to outright say it."
Nishinoya huffed slightly. "Yeah, but-"
"Then there's your answer." Sato paused for a moment as he buttoned the top button of his shirt. "Girls aren't as confusing as you think."
"You sound like a shoujo manga character!" Hinata chirped, and Sato turned to see that Hinata had successfully buttoned his shirt. "The one that tells the love interest to just listen to his crush."
"You read shoujo manga?" Tsukishima asked, and Sato could practically feel the insult coming. If he wanted to, then he could come up with it himself.
"Speaking of shoujo manga!" Nishinoya yelled, and his interruption saved Hinata.
"I'd rather we not speak about shoujo manga," Sato said, and Nishinoya ignored him.
"Has anyone else noticed that all the girls are talking about one called Love Letters to You?" Nishinoya asked, and Sato's eyebrows furrowed together. He glanced over at Sugawara, who clearly wasn't even paying attention. He was too preoccupied with trying to figure out where the bottom buttons were.
"How do you know what it's called?" Tanaka asked, and Sato looked at Nishinoya again. He had the same question.
"I just said all the girls are talking about it!" Nishinoya defended himself as he waved his arms around a little, and Sato rolled his eyes. Of course Nishinoya would get defensive over that.
"Yeah! It's pretty good!" Hinata said, and Sato wanted to tell him to stop. He was only making it easier for Tsukishima to insult him, and no one was going to be able to defend him.
"Wait, you've read it?" Nishinoya asked, and his eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"He basically just said that," Sato said, which stopped Hinata from answering.
When Sato glanced back at Sugawara, he saw that Sugawara was watching everyone. Sugawara was interested now, and Sato knew it was because he could create some form of chaos with this information. The way Sugawara's eyes flickered around to everyone made it obvious. When his eyes landed on Sato, he smiled before he looked at Hinata.
"What's it about, Hinata?" Sugawara asked, and Hinata started turning pink at everyone's attention being pointed at him.
"Why? You got a girl you want to impress, Suga?" Nishinoya asked, and Sato rolled his eyes. How could anyone possibly think that Sugawara had a crush on someone?
"No, I'm just trying to be a good senpai," Sugawara said, and Sato turned to his cubby hole again. He couldn't imagine Sugawara really wanting to know about some random shoujo manga to be a good upperclassman. He couldn't imagine Sugawara actually wanting to be a good upperclassman. It was more that he could have information to hold over Hinata if he ever needed to.
Which didn't make sense to need more information on Hinata when there was plenty already.
"Well, there's this girl named Masaki and she's in love with her upperclassman Kutsuki, but she doesn't know how to talk to him, so she starts writing him letters!" Hinata explained, and Sato didn't have to look at him to know there was a wide and bright smile on Hinata's face. "Right now, he's trying to figure out who she is and how to send one back while she's trying to figure out how to finally talk to him!"
"That sounds so cool!" Nishinoya yelled, and Sato would do anything for him to lower his volume. Anything.
"It sounds cliché," Sato said, and he carefully pulled his folded gakuran out of his cubby.
"What do you mean?" Sugawara asked, and Sato turned to face all of them again.
"Well, he'll obviously figure out how to send letters and they'll start talking to each that way. She won't be ready to reveal herself, but he'll end up walking in on her leaving him a letter." He chuckled slightly as he put his gakuran on. "Bonus points if he starts having conflicting feelings about letter girl and, what did you say her name was again? Masaki? Yeah, he'll have conflicted feelings about her and letter girl once she finally gets the courage to talk to him. But it's really all just shoujo manga 101, they get kind of predictable after a while."
Hinata frowned slightly. "I hope it plays out better than that. They deserve to have a happy ending."
Sato didn't say it, but of course they'd have a happy ending. If they didn't have a happy ending and fall in love, then it wouldn't even be considered shoujo.
"I'm going to read it," Nishinoya declared, and Tanaka nodded.
"Me too!"
"If you like it, then the mangaka also has a series called Hold Me Tight! It's finished and really good!" Hinata said, and Sato hadn't pegged him to actually be obsessed with shoujo manga. He seemed like someone to be more into shonen. "I don't really read a lot of shoujo manga, but I really like her stuff!"
"We'll have to read that one too," Nishinoya said when he turned to Tanaka, who aggressively nodded.
"You do know it'll take more than just reading some shoujo manga to make girls like you," Tsukishima said, and Yamaguchi snickered slightly. Sato held back laughing at Nishinoya and Tanaka's upset expressions.
"Hey, let's not be mean," Sato said, and Tsukishima looked at him.
"You were also thinking it," Tsukishima said, and Sato looked away from him and focused on buttoning his gakuran correctly.
"Doesn't mean I'm going to say it.
"Wait, Sato-senpai, do you read shoujo manga?" Yamaguchi asked, and Sato looked at Yamaguchi as he tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows. "You said it's shoujo manga 101, so you've read it, right?"
"I was wondering the same thing," Sugawara said, and Sato scoffed in Sugawara's direction.
"Am I not allowed to?" Sato asked, and Yamaguchi's expression morphed into pure terror. "So, just because I'm a guy means I'm not allowed to read shoujo manga?"
"No! That's not at all what I meant!" Yamaguchi screeched, and Sato looked over at Sugawara.
"Why are you asking me?" Sato asked as he narrowed his eyes. "It's mainly all that Kairy reads, and you've literally been in her room before."
Sugawara's mouth opened in an 'o' shape and he was an idiot. Somehow Sato had forgotten about that and knew he needed to start lowering his expectations again when it came to Sugawara.
"Well, in my defense, I haven't been in her room in awhile,'' Sugawara said, and Sato rolled his eyes.
"You were at my house just last week and our rooms are across from each other," Sato said, and Sugawara shrugged. As Sato turned away from him, some of his hair got into his eyes. He huffed slightly at it before he quickly brushed it out of his eyes and blinked for the feeling to go away.
"What's your favorite manga, Sato-senpai?" Hinata asked, and Sato wasn't sure. He had read a lot of manga in his life, because it was the main thing he liked to read growing up.
"Well, it all depends to be honest. Fruits Basket is a really good one, sad though, but I also like Naruto. Although I'm starting to wonder if it'll ever end. It's more of a favorite because it was one of my first mangas to start reading. I've been reading Kuroko's no Basket and it's pretty good," Sato said, and he started to blank on every manga he'd ever read. "If you want, then I'll make a list for you."
"Yeah!" Hinata exclaimed with a bright smile. "I'd love that!"
Sato nodded as he grabbed his backpack and looked over at Sugawara, who still wasn't fully dressed. He always took forever, either because he zoned out or started talking. Sato sighed slightly at him and knew he was going to have to wait forever for him.
"So, what's that mangaka's name?" Nishinoya asked, and Sato turned towards him. Nishinoya and Tanaka were both looking at one of their phones with squinted eyes.
"Saito Aiko," Sato said, and they looked at him confused. "What? I already said I read shoujo manga."
"What's the kanji?" Tanaka asked, and Tsukishima groaned.
"I'm leaving," Tsukishima said, and opened the club door while Yamaguchi scrambled to follow suit.
"Bye!" Yamaguchi called out as he hurried after Tsukishima, and a chorus of 'bye' was thrown back at him.
Lunch. Hinata's second favorite part of the day after practice. Or was it third since practice happened twice a day? It didn't matter. All that mattered was that his mother had made his favorite lunch today.
"I wonder who that girl is," a guy said, and Hinata looked over his shoulder to see people crowding around the door. Everyone typically either stayed in their seats or left the room during lunch. They never acted like this.
"There's a guy following her," a girl said, and she had a dreamy sort of expression on her face. Whoever was out in the hallway had to be really pretty because a crowd was now forming. More and more people kept getting up and hurrying to the door to see what was going on.
"Maybe they're third years?" Another guy said, and a girl mumbled 'so pretty' as he spoke.
Hinata hurried to the door, trying to get a peek at what was going on out in the hallway. There had never been a crowd like this on the first-year floor. Also, why would third years even come here? They usually avoided this floor like the plague.
"What's happening?" Hinata asked, and he saw Kiyoko and Sato once he got past the crowd slightly. They were walking with each other down the hallway, looking in each class, and it made sense why everyone was in the hallway now. Both of them were pretty; Kiyoko was like a goddess while Sato was similar to a model. Sato hated being called that and pretty, so hopefully no one said that to his face. Hinata jumped slightly and ended up in the hallway. "Shimizu-senpai! Sato-senpai!"
They turned away from one of the classrooms and looked at him with surprised expressions. Sato's expression fell faster than Kiyoko's did, but it was weird to see that his expression had changed to begin with. He almost always looked annoyed with his narrowed eyes, a frown, and fidgeting hands. He didn't look like that right now though, but instead just bored.
"Hinata knows hot third-years?" The guy next to him said, and it was weird to hear his upperclassmen be called hot.
"What are you doing here?" Hinata asked when they got closer. Kiyoko was holding papers while Sato had his hands in his pockets. If Hinata really looked at Sato, then he'd be able to tell that he looked more uncomfortable than anything, but he always looked like that when he was the center of attention. Everyone was staring at the three of them and he didn't have Sugawara or Daichi to hide behind.
"There you are," Sato said, and he pulled one of his hands out of his pocket to fix his hair. His fingers nearly got stuck in his wavy blonde hair.
"Hey, Hinata," Kiyoko said, and she leaned in closer to Hinata with an excited expression. He had never been this close to her before, and his heart was racing. "Do you know of any first years who haven't joined a club yet?"
"It's alright if you don't," Sato said as his hand fell to his side. "You're just more social than our other first years, so we thought maybe you'd know someone."
"Not yet, but I can help you look!" Hinata said, a smile growing on his face, and Sato reached out to ruffle Hinata's hair. Hinata's face felt hot, and he knew he was turning red, but he couldn't help it. Sato never did that to anyone, but he had done that to Hinata. There was even a faint smirk on his face. Did that mean he liked him? Or that at least he didn't hate him?
"That's all we ask. Here are the club forms to pass out if you find anyone," Sato said, and Kiyoko quickly handed Hinata a couple of papers.
"Can I make a flyer?" Hinata asked, and Sato turned to Kiyoko, who nodded as she smiled.
"That would be great!" Kiyoko was usually reserved, but she was smiling so brightly and it made Hinata smile too. "If you need us, then I'm in Class 3-2 and Sato is in Class 3-5."
Hinata nodded and his face still felt hot from Sato touching his hair. It felt stupid to be like this, but Sato was mean to everyone. He never held back on what he thought, even if it wasn't the nicest thing to say. He was even mean to Sugawara, and they were supposed to be best friends!
"See you at practice," Sato said, and Hinata nodded. Sato turned to Kiyoko again, and she still had some forms in her hands. "Hand those over, I'll go look on the second-year floor. I don't want you to be bombarded by those idiots."
"Bye!" Hinata said, and Sato smiled at him slightly with a nod. Hinata felt his heart stop because of it, because he couldn't remember if he had ever seen Sato smile before. Kiyoko handed Sato the papers and waved bye to Hinata.
Once they were gone, everyone stared at Hinata. A guy in his class put a hand on his shoulder. "How do you know those third years?"
Hinata turned to him with a bright smile. "We're in the same club! You can get to know them too if you sign up!"
Tanaka's screaming greeted Sato when he entered the club room. Everyone was around Tanaka as he gripped a magazine in his hands. Sato's eyes narrowed, because if Tanaka weren't careful, then it was going to tear.
"Oikawa's featured in Monthly Volleyball, and there's a picture to go with it!" Tanaka yelled, and Sato peeked over Hinata's shoulder.
Sato couldn't read the article from where he was. Squinting wasn't even helping him. "Well, that's usually how it works. Pictures going in magazines I mean."
No one said anything, clearly ignoring him, and it didn't bother him. He knew he was being a smartass and it was mainly just to piss them off.
"Well, he's good enough to play in a national league," Sugawara said, and Sato chuckled slightly.
"I could've told you that. We lost to him for a reason," Sato said, and he felt some of them glare at him. "Anyways, what does it say?"
"Oikawa's favorite food is milk bread. His personal motto is 'If you're going to hit it, then hit it till it breaks'," Tanaka said, and Sato tried to hold back his laughter.
"That's one shitty article," Sato said, and Sugawara glared at the magazine.
"What the hell?" Sugawara asked, and Nishinoya leaned forward to see it better.
"Yeah! Who cares? That's completely useless!" Nishinoya yelled, and Sato agreed with him for once.
"His fangirls most likely care," Sato said, and it seemed to only make Nishinoya angrier. Sometimes Sato forgot how badly Nishinoya wanted girls to like him.
"Wait, looks like nearly all of Seijoh's third-year regulars stayed on the team to try to defeat Shiratorizawa," Tanaka said, and Sato rolled his eyes. As if they'd ever accomplish that. Spite only gets you so far, and he'd know. "Come on and bring it, Seijoh!"
"Hey, you're going to fucking rip it if you're not careful!" Sato yelled when Tanaka started to pull the magazine apart. Sugawara hit Tanaka, which made him drop the magazine.
"Kai's right! Be careful!" Sugawara yelled, and he picked the magazine off the floor. "For crying out loud." He stared at the magazine article. "Hey, it's Ushiwaka."
"I'm pretty sure he hates being called that," Sato said, and once again, no one listened to him. It made sense because they weren't on the court. Although this year the team had started listening to him, most of them didn't care what he had to say outside of volleyball. He didn't take it personally, but instead that they were all just volleyball obsessed idiots.
"Japan?" Hinata asked, and Sato immediately put his chin on Sugawara's shoulder so he could read the article.
"Hey, get out here already! It's time to run some laps," Daichi said, and Sato looked back at him with big eyes.
"Ushijima's in the Youth World," Sato said, and Daichi and Asahi's expression morphed into surprise.
"Youth World?" Yamaguchi asked, and Sato looked over at him. Yamaguchi was one of the few on the team that didn't make Sato want to rip his hair out. He was quiet but laughed at Tsukishima's remarks. That wasn't a big deal though.
"Basically, it's players under 19. He's Japan's representative, which is really impressive," Sato said, but it made sense. Ushijima was insanely talented; the most talented player Sato had ever seen. "Only one high school can represent Miyagi at Spring Nationals, so for us to get to Nationals, we'll have to take down Ushijima and Oikawa. It isn't even easier said than done."
Everyone went silent and the tension was thick. It always became thick when Oikawa and Ushijima were brought up in a competitive context. Daichi stepped into the club room. "All right! Let's go running!"
"Right!"
Kiyoko used to be in track, Sato knew this, but she still stayed back whenever the team ran laps. She missed it; he knew she did with how she perked up whenever they mentioned running laps. He watched how she quickly looked away and tried to busy herself with something else. Sometimes he wanted to tell her to just go help Daichi out. The team would be fine with it. They'd all love it.
When she first applied for the club, Sato spent his time researching her. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, but he made sure to research everyone back then. He had to make sure they were all who they said they were. Kiyoko had been the most interesting with her history in track. She had been good. Really good. She could've easily gone to a good high school (like Seijoh or Shiratorizawa), but she ended up at Karasuno. He never looked into why. He didn't feel like he should.
He wanted her to tell him on her own terms, because if she wasn't ready to share it, then he didn't need to know. He did stay behind with her though. Out of everyone on the team, including Sugawara, she was the only one he always wanted to make sure didn't feel alone.
"Has there been any progress on getting a manager?" Sato asked, and Kiyoko didn't respond. "Don't worry, I'll figure something out."
"Not to be rude, Sato, but you're not exactly the best with people," Kiyoko said, and he laughed a little. She was right. He usually walked around looking like he'd rather be anywhere besides where he was, but that's typically how he felt. "I think you should just stick with me when trying to find someone."
He was quiet for a minute. He couldn't see her, their backs faced each other as they cleaned the supply closet. "Are you going to go look on your own?"
Kiyoko stopped moving, but that wasn't a solid enough response to know. He was overprotective of her, and he knew it was stupid. She looked like Kairy though. She looked like Kairy did when she was 17. It didn't matter that Kairy was 25 now while Kiyoko was 17, but the similarities in their appearance made him feel like he was protecting both of them at the same time.
"Is that alright?" Kiyoko asked, and she wasn't really asking for his permission. She was far too independent for that, but she was trying to see where Sato stood on it. She had always been considerate like that. He still didn't understand why, even after knowing her for three years.
"I don't know," he said, and he realized he had stopped moving as well. "Karasuno guys are weird."
"You're a Karasuno guy."
Sato smiled at the floor mats as he shook his head. "You've got me there, but how do you know I'm not the kind of guy they are?"
Kiyoko took a couple steps, her shoes were noisier than usual, but Sato kept his back to her. "You would've done something by now."
He looked over his shoulder at her, and she was right. She knew she was pretty to an extent. She knew that was why he didn't want her to do things alone, but that wasn't all of it. She didn't fully realize how pretty she was, only knew of Tanaka and Nishinoya's obsession with her. Kiyoko had always focused more on her imperfections than the things that made her beautiful.
In a way, that was her biggest weakness; not being self-aware.
"You've got me there," he repeated, and she had a gentle smile on her face. He let out a big sigh. "You know, in anime, they'd have it where the guy shows the girls that he's still a man, but I'm not going to do that. You're barely an inch shorter than me and it's really creepy when they do that, isn't it?"
He completely turned to face her, and she laughed a little. She had some hair she hadn't managed to pull up into her ponytail and he wanted to fix it. He knew how to do a proper ponytail, had even helped Kairy whenever she was sick when they were kids.
"It really is," Kiyoko said, and she looked around the closet. "Do you think we've cleaned up enough today and should just move onto the water bottles?"
Sato looked around and it wasn't clean. It never ended up being clean, but at least they had gotten rid of the broken broom Sugawara had been so obsessed with. He had always been obsessed with things that could be seen as plot points if they were in a manga, but they weren't. They weren't in a manga.
"Yeah, let's move onto water bottles."
No one mentioned Hinata and Kageyama running into Ushijima. Sato had yelled at them when he had found out, so he assumed it was mainly fear from them. Now everyone was circled around Takeda, and Sato didn't have a good feeling about what was about to be said.
Takeda was nervous, more than usual, and Sato could tell by the way Takeda's shoulders were slouched in and how he kept wiping his hands on his slacks, which meant they were sweaty. He rarely ever saw him like this.
"Ahem," Takeda started, and he placed his hands in his lap. "About that trip to Tokyo, currently it's planned to be next month, so it'll be here before you know it. For trips like this, we'll need your parents' permission and I'll pass out the paperwork. Luckily, the school has given consent as well."
Takeda's expression got serious, and Sato didn't like it. It made Takeda look like a whole other person.
"However, as you're aware, you have final exams starting next month. You do know that don't you?" Takeda asked, and it went dead silent. Sato noticed how Karasuno's four idiots were completely frozen, and this felt like it was going to be bad. He knew it was. "So, I think you know what I'm getting at, but if you fail any subjects, supplementary classes will be held that weekend. Which means you won't be able to go to away games."
Fuck. This was bad.
Nishinoya, Kageyama, Hinata, and Tanaka started yelling before the second-year duo tried to run off. Daichi quickly stood up. "Hey! There's nowhere to run! Ennoshita, grab them!"
Ennoshita immediately sprang into action, and Sato liked him most out of all the second years when it came to things like this. He listened and kept the rest of them in check. In a way, he was like the second-year captain. Sato didn't know who the first-year captain would be though.
"What counts as a failing grade?" Hinata asked, and Sato looked at him perplexed.
"That's your first question?" Sato asked, and he shook his head in disbelief. "You can't be serious."
Chaos ensued throughout the gym, and Sato felt like he was about to get a headache from all of it. They were all so loud and so stupid. He just hadn't realized how stupid until now.
"Since we said we were going to continue club activities, we have to at least make decent grades," Sugawara said, and Sato lightly hit him upside the head.
"You always made decent grades thanks to me, so stop acting like it's hard for you," Sato snapped, and Sugawara rubbed his head. "Also, no one on this team can afford to fail."
"Maybe if we beg the vice-principal!" Hinata said, and Sato shook his head before he let it fall to rest on Sugawara's shoulder.
"It's easier to just work on passing," Sato said, and he knew he was sounding like he was acing all of his subjects. He had never made a failing grade, but it wasn't like he was making 100s.
"Even if we got his permission, the tutoring sessions still take priority," Takeda said, and Sato nodded.
"As they should," Sato mumbled into Sugawara's shoulder.
"Are you just going to use me as a pillow?" Sugawara asked, and Sato didn't look up at him.
"I don't see why I can't, best friend."
Sugawara huffed slightly but didn't move to make Sato get off of him. It was nice throwing Sugawara's bargaining chip right back at him.
"Sato-senpai, help!" Hinata yelled, and he grabbed at Sato's arms. Sato had to keep himself calm and remind himself that Hinata didn't know what personal space was. "You're good at helping me with volleyball stuff!"
"That's different. I suck at helping people academically. I only help out Koushi because I deal with him all the time." Sato detached Hinata from him and sighed. "I promise, it's not hard once you find something that works for you."
"Will you help me do that?"
"Hinata, you're not going to like this, but Kai doesn't even take notes. He's only able to help me because he can figure out my notes," Sugawara said, and Hinata deflated. "So, if you don't take decent notes, then he's no help."
Hinata dramatically fell to the ground.
"I'm sure you don't have to worry about this too much," Sato said, and he awkwardly put a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "Everything will work out just fine."
Hinata looked up at him. "I've never had a double-digit score on any of my quizzes. Will it really work out?"
Sato's eyes went wide. Sugawara used to struggle with school, but it had never been that bad. Maybe a failing grade on a quiz or two, but Sato had always been able to help. He didn't know how to help if there was barely anything to work with.
Sugawara looked over at Nishinoya and Tanaka. "You're already saying your prayers? How bad is this?"
Sato blinked a couple of times and shook his head. "Oh my god. I'm actually surrounded by idiots."
"We still have time before exams start," Daichi said, and everyone looked at him. "There's no way Karasuno could bring our best without these four idiots! Not a chance!"
"He's got a point. We heavily rely on you guys in order to keep our side of the court balanced and that quick attack is a major point getter," Sato said, and he paused as he looked at the four of them. "If I were to be honest, which I am, then I'd have to say that you four make up the majority of our key players. We literally can't do this without you."
Maybe that would be inspirational enough. It wasn't a lie, but it felt painful to say. Sato wasn't known for emotional things, but rather screaming at them to be better. It always worked out in the end.
"I don't know whether to be happy or sad," Tanaka said, and Sato let out an annoyed laugh.
"Happy, obviously. I was just nice to you."
"We're all going to Tokyo," Daichi said, and Sato watched as Hinata tried to shake Kageyama back to reality.
"Well, that's if Kageyama-san decides to live again," Sato said, and Sugawara gently elbowed him in the side with a slight snort. Sato elbowed him back, making Sugawara let out a cry.
"Behave yourselves," Daichi said, and he turned to them. "You have to set an example."
Sato rolled his eyes. "I never agreed to that. I agreed to being an asshole."
"And you're very good at that," Sugawara said, and Sato rolled his eyes.
Daichi shook his head, but there was a fond smile on his lips. Sato didn't know who it was aimed towards. He told himself it didn't matter. "Let's just start cleaning up."
The club room wasn't filled with energy like it had been, but instead filled with tension. Hinata, Kageyama, Nishinoya, and Tanaka were kneeled in front of Daichi while Sato watched from the wall. He was ready to jump in and make some of the comments he had been dying to make all year if this went the way he wanted it to.
"Okay, let's establish one rule," Daichi said, and Sato leaned his full weight against the wall. Right now would be the perfect time for popcorn. "Never fall asleep in class. No all-nighters. It'll only make you screw up in class and on the court. Get eight hours of sleep every night."
Sato tilted his head slightly. "So, we're going to ignore how that was technically three rules, but isn't it kind of unfair for only them to have that rule?"
Daichi looked over at him with narrowed eyes. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that, sure, they're all idiots–that's been made clear–but that doesn't mean that they're the only ones who need certain rules," Sato said, and he gestured slightly as if he were pointing at something, but there wasn't anything there. "I doubt you get eight hours of sleep every night and pull your fair share of all-nighters."
"I've never pulled an all-nighter before and I get about eight hours of sleep every night," Daichi said, and his voice was low, as if he was ready to snap.
"That doesn't mean that we all have perfect sleep schedules," Sato said, and he didn't know why he was arguing about this. Those four needed this rule more than anyone else at Karasuno. "So, it's not fair to give them that rule just because they're failing classes."
"Are you saying we should let them sleep in classes?" Daichi asked, and his fists clenched at his sides. Sato noticed the way his left eye twitched while his right remained steadily narrowed.
"That's not what I'm saying at all. They need to stay awake in classes, because that's how they'll fucking learn, but–" Sato stopped himself for a moment as he clenched his own fists. He needed to breathe. When he spoke again, his voice was gentler but frustration still consumed it. "But we shouldn't treat them like children just because they make bad grades. How much you sleep doesn't always affect your academic performance."
This was the first time Sato had ever seen Daichi truly angry. He feigned anger a lot of the time to get people to listen to him, but Daichi looked ready to fight. He looked ready to hit Sato, and Sato didn't want that. He didn't want to see what the end of that would be like.
"What Kai's saying makes sense," Sugawara said, and Daichi didn't look at him. Sato could tell that they were both wondering the same thing; was Sugawara purely siding with Sato because they were friends? "We can't punish them just because they're struggling."
"We need to," Ennoshita said, and Sato had never liked it when he entered a conversation. When Ennoshita helped them out with the second years, Sato didn't mind him, but this wasn't that. Ennoshita always seemed on edge, but also held too much confidence whenever he spoke. He acted like he knew what he was talking about when Sato knew he didn't. "They won't listen any other way."
Sato looked away from Daichi to the four who were still kneeling on the floor. They all seemed shocked, and there were multiple reasons they could be. Either they were shocked because he was going against Daichi or because he was defending them. He wasn't sure if he really was though or if he was just against the stupid rule.
"If I were to tell you that you had to sit out during practice because you fell asleep in class, would you make it your mission to not fall asleep?" Sato asked, and their eyes widened.
"How would you even find that out?" Nishinoya asked, and his voice was shaky. He was scared, and Sato didn't care about that. He didn't care how any of them felt, and maybe that meant he wasn't defending them after all.
"Takeda-sensei."
The four paled, and no one had thought about that. No one had thought that they could go through Takeda for information about anyone on the team. Sato had, but he always thought of everything. He tried to always be prepared.
"I'm captain," Daichi said, and Sato looked back at him. His eye was no longer twitching, so maybe he was realizing that Sato didn't want them to fail. Sato could only observe so much about someone though. "We're going to do what I say."
Sato simply nodded, because there wasn't a fight to fight anymore. At the end of the day, Takeda would side with Daichi while Ukai would side with Sato. They both knew that Takeda was in charge of this ordeal though, and Ukai wouldn't be able to change that.
"Is everyone on the team going to follow those rules?" Sato asked. He didn't know why he asked that, because he knew there was no point. He clenched his practice shirt in his hands, so he didn't hit anything. He wanted to hit something though, because he didn't snap due to this. "Or just them?"
"Does everyone need to follow these rules?" Daichi asked, and there was a mixture of anger and curiosity in his voice. He wanted to know if there was something he didn't know, which was always a loaded question. How was Sato supposed to know exactly what Daichi didn't know?
"Kai doesn't want to," Sugawara said, and Sato didn't look over at him. He knew he'd punch him if he did. "He doesn't sleep much, but at least he doesn't fall asleep in class."
"When's the last time you got eight hours of sleep, Sato-san?" Daichi asked, and Sato rolled his eyes.
"This isn't about me," Sato said, and he wanted them to stop focusing entirely on him. This really wasn't about him, but instead the four idiots.
"When's the last time you got eight hours of sleep?" Daichi repeated, and Sato looked at the ground. He didn't like the look in Daichi's eyes. It made him think of when he was younger and he was getting yelled at.
"December," Sato mumbled, and Daichi took a step closer.
"I didn't hear that."
"December! Was that loud enough for you?" Sato snapped, and now everyone was looking at him. He wanted the ground to swallow him whole.
"Are you serious?" Ennoshita asked, and Sato didn't look at him.
"I mean, I don't see what the big deal is," Sato said, and he looked at his nails. "It's not like I'm dead."
"You will be if you don't take care of yourself," Daichi said, and Sato looked at him as he scoffed.
"You wouldn't have known if I hadn't told you." Sato ran a hand through his hair, trying to keep his hands busy. "Actually, you basically forced it out of me."
Daichi rolled his eyes. "Next you're going to say you don't eat three times a day. That it's fine that you don't."
Suddenly, Sugawara was in front of Sato, covering him from everyone's wide eyes. Sato let out a shaky breath that he knew only Sugawara heard, and it was okay that he had heard. Sugawara was allowed to hear, because he knew. He knew this was all becoming too much for Sato.
"Kai knows his limits," Sugawara said, and he was trying to make it better. Sato didn't know if he could, or if he even believed what he was saying. Regardless, he found himself fisting the back of Sugawara's practice shirt in an attempt to ground himself. "His body works differently than ours does. Always has."
"I can't believe you just let him not take care of himself," Ennoshita said, and Sato couldn't believe that Ennoshita was talking this much. He couldn't believe Nishinoya and Tanaka hadn't spoken yet. "I thought you two were best friends."
Sato fisted Sugawara's shirt harder, because he needed to breathe. He promised Sugawara and Kiyoko he wouldn't get into any fights this year. They couldn't cover for him anymore, even though he told them they never needed to. He was perfectly capable of taking every consequence that came with it.
Ennoshita could say whatever he wanted to. He didn't know anything about Sugawara and Sato's friendship. He didn't need to know. All that was needed was for Sato to breathe, because everyone was just frustrated. It was all Sato's fault. He didn't get the right to want or start a fight.
"First off, don't speak like that to me," Sugawara snapped, and Sato tried not to smile. Sugawara rarely snapped like that and it always made Sato feel some kind of pride. It was just that Sugawara never appreciated it when Sato smiled about that and Sato didn't want Sugawara to be upset with him. "Secondly, he's his own person. Are you going to force those two idiots to completely take care of themselves?"
Sugawara had motioned to Nishinoya and Tanaka. Ennoshita looked surprised and blinked a couple of times. "No, but–"
"Then why should I force Kai to take care of himself? I'm not the boss of him, he is."
"I think we should calm down," Daichi said, and he never liked it when Sugawara got involved. He always tried to shut it down, because Sato was bad on his own, but he was worse when Sugawara joined him.
"You don't get to be rude to him and then just back down whenever I come in," Sugawara snapped, and he leaned back slightly. Sato let himself pretend that Sugawara was leaning into his touch. He let himself pretend that it was more for Sugawara than it was for himself. "I'm not saying he didn't participate as much as you, but he wanted to back down, whether or not you believe it."
Sato leaned forward and let his forehead rest against Sugawara's back. He was so warm. He had always been so warm. His warmth had always been able to ground him back to reality.
His warmth couldn't stop Sato from hating when Sugawara defended him though. He had done it since they were kids, but that didn't change anything. It still made Sato nauseated and dizzy. He deserved that though, because he was the problem. He had always been the problem; just a problem that inserted itself into every single equation it could find.
Sato couldn't focus with how hard his heart was beating and how nauseated he was getting from it. He was going to vomit if he didn't get out there. Tears started to stream down his cheeks, and he was going to crash. He could feel it.
"It's fine," Sato said, and his voice cracked slightly. "Let's just go home."
Sugawara didn't turn to look at him. He hadn't looked at Sato when they were in this situation since they were 12 and there had been a nasty fight. Sato had started it and tried to end it by breaking someone's nose, but he ended up getting shoved into the wall. There was a scar above his eyebrow, nearly going into it, from when they had hit him in the head with a brick they had found.
He remembered how he called out for Sugawara. He pathetically called out for Sugawara and Sugawara came. He came and jumped in front of him, and somehow the fight was over. Sometimes Sato wondered if he would've died if Sugawara hadn't found him. He wondered if he would've died if Sugawara wasn't the way he was.
"If that's what you want," Sugawara said, and he took a step forward to let Sato leave the club room.
Once he was out the door, he started to harshly wipe his eyes. It hadn't been bad in there, but now it was bad. Sobs wracked his body and didn't know how to stop it. He didn't know how to stop crying or feeling pathetic.
A couple minutes passed, and Sugawara came out of the club room with Sato's things. He gently wiped a tear running down Sato's face as Sato put his shoes on. Sato looked up at him and let out a shaky breath. Sugawara probably thought it was because Sato was starting to spiral and maybe he was. Sato told himself the shaky breath was because Sugawara's eyes were so pretty under the lights out here.
"Need me to hold your hand?" Sugawara asked, and it was genuine. He used to hold Sato's hand whenever either of them cried when they were younger.
Sato sniffled a little. "Fuck off."
Sugawara laughed and grabbed Sato's hand anyways. Sato focused on the warmth instead of the whirlpool of emotions inside him as they walked home.
"Are you ready to find a new manager?" Kiyoko asked, and Sato held a couple of the club forms and flyers for her. He knew she had heard about last night but wasn't going to acknowledge it.
For most people, he'd know it was them trying to pick and choose what they wanted to see, but that wasn't how Kiyoko was. She was waiting for him to say something, because she knew it wasn't her place to judge, so she didn't. She didn't judge him for his outbursts, and he wished she did. Maybe it'd make it easier to stop if she did.
"I've been practicing my smile for it," he said, and she turned to him expectantly. He remembered the time he and Sugawara made paper cranes for his mother whenever she had been hospitalized and smiled. It was a real smile, not forced or awkward.
"You're going to end up getting confessions with that smile," she said, and he chuckled as he shook his head.
"I doubt that. I'm pretty sure girls are more into my asshole behavior because they think I'm a tsundere," he said, and she smiled softly.
"You might be onto something there. Too bad you're not actually a tsundere, right?"
He shook his head, but he didn't actually know. Whenever he read any type of romance, he had always preferred when the characters were open about their feelings. He liked when there wasn't miscommunication, and maybe that was because that's what he wanted to have in his life.
"I'm going to prove that I'm good at talking to people by us splitting up," Sato said, and Kiyoko's smile turned into an amused one.
"How will I know you're good with people if I'm not there?" She asked, and he shrugged.
"Honor code."
It was surprisingly easy to part ways, Kiyoko didn't make a fuss in the slightest. He told himself it was because of his new and improved smile, but he knew it was because she knew it would be more effective that way.
A brunette girl stood at the bulletin board at the end of the hallway and Sato grinned. This was his time to see if what he and his mother had gone over this morning would actually work. He shook his hands slightly as he picked up his pace to stand next to her.
"Excuse me," he said, and his voice was gentle along with the smile on his face. She turned her head to look at him. "I was wondering if you could give me just a moment of your time."
She turned her body towards him, which was already a success. He watched as her crossed arms slowly fell to her side. The joke Kiyoko had made about confessions may have not been a joke.
"Yeah," she said, and her voice sounded as if she was in a dream.
His smile widened. "I'm Sato Kai, Class 3-5, and I am wondering if you'd be willing to listen to me talk about the boys' volleyball club?"
She had hearts in her eyes as she breathed out. "Yeah."
"Before I start, what's your name?"
She looked down at the ground as her face turned rosy and started playing with the bottom of her cardigan. "Abe Akina. I'm in Class 1-5."
"It's nice to meet you, Abe-san." She looked up with sparkling eyes. "I mentioned the boys' volleyball club, because we're currently looking for a new manager, someone who will take over the other manager and I graduate."
"I don't really know anything about volleyball," Abe said, but she took the flyer from him anyway.
"Don't worry, you don't need to. It's one of those things that you just learn as it happens, and I bet you'd pick it up quickly."
"What all would I have to do?"
Sato wanted to dance, because this was the first person who genuinely wanted to know more about it. "Managers usually fill water bottles, do inventory, clean up with the team, set up with the team, go to games, and other things as well. It's a really fun position, and I've enjoyed doing it the last three years."
She nodded, but she wasn't looking at the flyer anymore. Her brown eyes were focused on him instead, and he had no clue as to why she was looking at him like that. Like she had seen him before.
"Has anyone ever told you that you look like Tachi Kazuhiko from Hold Me Tight?" She asked, and he blinked a couple of times as his mouth opened slightly.
"What?"
She nodded. "Yeah, you definitely look like him. Wait, do you even know what manga I'm talking about?"
"Yes," Sato said, and somehow, he was still managing to look and sound friendly. "I work in a bookstore and it's highly recommended by customers."
Abe smiled, and it was so bright. "No guy has ever known what I was talking about before. Have you read it?"
He let out a nervous laugh and looked away from her. Sato didn't want to answer that. He didn't want to talk about that manga with anyone. All he wanted was to get someone to be the new manager for when he and Kiyoko graduated.
"Sato-senpai, what are you doing here?" A voice asked, and Sato turned to see Hinata staring at him and Abe. Sato grinned at him.
"Oh, I was just speaking to Abe-san about if she'd be interested in being our new manager," Sato said, and Abe held the flyer out for Sato as she shook her head.
"I'm sorry, but I'm already in the manga club." She paused as he took the flyer back. "They'd all love to meet you though, or I bet they would since you look like Tachi Kazuhiko."
Hinata gasped. "You're right! Sato-senpai does look like Tachi!"
Abe's head snapped towards Hinata. "You know Hold Me Tight?"
"Yeah, it's one of my favorite shoujo mangas!" Hinata said, and he beamed. Sato had never been more thankful to know Hinata than he was right now, even if he had also said Sato looked like Tachi.
"You should totally join the manga club! We're currently reading it together," Abe said, and Sato wanted to laugh at the idea of Hinata actually going. It would interfere with practice, so it wouldn't happen.
"Oh, sorry, but I have practice after school," Hinata said, and he rubbed his neck awkwardly. "If it was a different time, then maybe."
Abe nodded and looked at Sato before going back to Hinata. "I can't be a manager, but I will find a way to get you to one of the meetings before we're done with the manga. We'll probably read all of Saito Aiko's work though." Hinata nodded, and he looked confused. So did Sato. "What's your name?"
"Hinata Shoyo," Hinata said, and his eyes flickered from her to Sato back to her.
"Alright, Hinata-san, see you around," Abe said, and she went to walk off before she turned to Sato. "Come with him when it's all set up."
With that, she was gone. Sato and Hinata stood there for a moment, quiet, before Sato laughed. He laughed so hard the forms and flyers went everywhere due to dropping them. She really had to compare him to Tachi? Not that Tachi was bad, he was the best guy in Hold Me Tight, but their personalities were polar opposites. He supposed that having blonde hair and blue eyes, just like Tachi, was what made her think that.
"That was really weird," Hinata said, and Sato nodded. Hinata looked around slightly. "Oh, where's Shimizu-senpai?"
"At the other end of the hallway I'm pretty sure, why?" Sato asked as he and Hinata started to pick up the papers.
"I looked for people in other classes who haven't joined a club and found someone, but it might be best for her to talk to them," Hinata said, and he was still on edge. His shoulders were tense, and he kept looking around.
No one mentioned what happened last night during morning practice, besides for Sugawara, Sato and Daichi. Sugawara had forced them to actually talk it out and reminded Daichi who he had been fighting with. Everyone else had just been watching him cautiously from the court. It made sense, he couldn't blame them, but they were starting to keep him at least an arm's length away. It was similar to middle school and the last two years of high school, even though he thought that maybe it was getting better. He thought they had finally started connecting.
Although Hinata looked nervous, he didn't look scared. Sato had seen him truly terrified before, and this wasn't it. Sato could work with nervous if he wanted to, and he did. He didn't want Hinata to be nervous when around him.
"I'm sorry if I scared you last night," Sato said, and it wasn't painful to apologize to Hinata. It was so much easier than having to apologize to Daichi. "It's just that sometimes I can get out of control, but I've been working on it."
The only reason why it hadn't exploded into a fight was because he'd been working on it.
Hinata shook his head, clearly trying to not shake his hands too to avoid dropping papers. "No, you didn't scare me at all! I was kind of surprised that you stood up for us when you didn't have to!"
Sato nodded slowly. He'd just let Hinata believe he had been standing up for them. When he had gotten home to an empty house, his mother wasn't home yet due to work, he realized he had started shit just to start shit. He wished he could say it was a one-time thing, but he had been doing it for years. He learned from a young age that starting shit got your parents' attention.
"I never realized how much manager stuff you guys have to do," Hinata said, and Sato looked over at him. "If there's anything I can do, then I'd be happy to help."
Sato smiled at him, and he didn't have to think of some happy childhood memory. "That means a lot, Hinata-san, but Kiyoko will refuse."
Hinata looked at him with wide eyes. "What? What do you mean?"
"Beyond writing notes, coming up with strategies, and basic cleanup things, she never lets me do anything," Sato said, and he looked ahead. "She wants to do her share of the work, and I'm not going to stop her. If she wants to do most of it, then so be it. It's not like she'll let me help, even if I tried to force her to."
"But I want to help!"
"You can help by studying and passing your exams."
"Are you guys talking about me?" Kiyoko asked, and she appeared behind them.
Hinata tried to squeak out a 'no' while Sato nodded. "You're fun to talk about."
Kiyoko rolled her eyes. "I heard what you were saying. You make it sound like I don't let you do anything."
"You don't."
"I do too, but I want to feel useful. I'm part of the team as well, you know," she said, and he nodded.
"Yeah, doesn't mean I'm not going to be annoying and not complain about it."
Kiyoko laughed a little, and Sato knew this whole interaction was probably strange to Hinata. Kiyoko was consistently quiet and sweet while Sato was consistently annoyed and had a strange temper, but they were friends. They were really good friends.
"Sato-san is right though," Kiyoko said, and Sato raised an eyebrow. "About Hinata needing to pass." She turned to Hinata. "We need you. You're the Greatest Decoy after all."
Sato chuckled at Hinata's flustered response, and he could tell Kiyoko had done that on purpose. She was genuine, but she knew when to be genuine. She knew when it would have the most impact. It was something he had always liked about her, because it made it clear they were similar. They knew when to play the right cards to get what they wanted.
Hinata calmed down and his face brightened slightly. "Oh, I already told Sato-senpai, but I found someone you should talk to!"
Kiyoko's eyes widened slightly and she took a step closer. "Do you have anything on this person?"
Hinata quickly got the paper he had been holding when he had originally met up with Sato. He handed it to Kiyoko and she looked over it. "Perfect. Thank you so much."
Sato smiled. Maybe they'd have a new manager by the end of the week. Hopefully.
The summer air was heavy on Sato's skin. His arm started sweating where his jacket hung over it and he had unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt. He hated this heat. Sugawara loved it though since he had always been so cold natured. He wasn't affected by the heat like Sato was and it was annoying. Sato wanted both of them to be miserable if he was.
"So, tell me, where have you been going off to during lunch?" Sugawara asked, and it was only the two of them now. They lived close enough to Karasuno they didn't need to take the train, but far enough away that walking with everyone to the train station was really out of their way.
Sato looked over at him with dull eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."
He did know, but he had promised Kiyoko he'd keep it a secret. She had made sure to emphasize that Sugawara couldn't know since he talked about everything there was to talk about. It was hard to keep it a secret from Sugawara though since he was so nosey and persistent.
Sugawara rolled his eyes. "Don't lie, you know what I'm talking about."
"I don't know," Sato said, and Sugawara scoffed as he looked forward.
"You're a terrible liar."
Sato laughed slightly. "I'm not lying and even if I was, I'm a way better liar than you are." Sugawara went to open his mouth and Sato put a hand up. "A great recent example is when you tried to tell me Daichi ate my sushi when you had, and you were so obvious about it. I've never seen anyone sweat that much before."
"Well, you're impossible to lie to because of your reading skills," Sugawara said, and he had always called it that. Sato preferred observation skills if there really needed to be a title for it and Sugawara knew that. He just liked to annoy Sato.
"I don't do that to you like I do everyone else," Sato said, and he turned to look forward too. "I respect your privacy, so I only focus on your volleyball skills."
Sugawara looked at him and his gaze was hot on Sato's skin. It always was. "Only me?"
Sato looked at him and Sugawara's eyes were so alive and warm while he knew his own were dull and somewhat lifeless. "Only you."
Sugawara grinned and Sato couldn't help but softly smile. They went back to silence for a couple of minutes as they continued walking until they saw a restaurant. It was one of their favorites to go to whenever they walked home. The food was cheap but good.
"Let's get something to eat," Sato said, and Sugawara stared at the restaurant. They'd end up going in, Sato didn't need to use any kind of skill to know that. All he needed was enough experience of walking by the place every night.
"Mom's making dinner," Sugawara said, but he didn't sound convinced in what he was saying. His mom was making dinner, but he had a hard time rejecting food.
"I can always call her," Sato said, and he stopped walking when he noticed the uncertain expression on Sugawara's face. Soon they were both stopped in the middle of the street. "It'll be my birthday gift to you since we won't be able to do it tomorrow."
A smile made its way back to Sugawara's face. Sato had never been one for birthdays, especially his own, but he always celebrated Sugawara's and made sure to give him something. Last year it had been a new pair of volleyball shoes that Sugawara looked at one day when they went window shopping at the mall. This year was going to be Sugawara's favorite food at one of his favorite restaurants.
"So, there is going to be a party," Sugawara said.
Sato rolled his eyes. "There's always a party, dumbass. Are we going to eat or not?"
Sugawara's eyes flickered from the building to Sato a couple of times. He was thinking too hard when he shouldn't, and Sato wanted to say that. It was an easy decision to make, so why think? Instead, they stood in silence for a minute.
"I mean, I guess if it's for my birthday and you're going to tell my mom for me." Sugawara's voice was teasing but the decision was serious.
Sato shook his head as he rolled his eyes again. "Alright, let's go inside."
He went to turn but Sugawara grabbed his wrist. His hand was warm around his wrist. Sato didn't know how Sugawara was so warm while being so cold natured. Ash blonde strands gently fell into Sugawara's face and Sato's breath got caught in his throat, but he didn't let it show. He never let it show, instead waited for Sugawara to speak.
"Thank you, Kai," Sugawara said, and he sounded so genuine. "I know I can be a pain in the ass, but I'm really happy you're my best friend."
Sato nodded slowly as he smiled. "Me too. Now stop being sentimental so we can eat. I'm fucking starving."
Sugawara laughed a little as he let him go. As they walked in, Sato couldn't help but keep looking at him. The last time Sugawara had said that to him was when they were in junior high. There had been some fight between them that Sato couldn't remember, but after a week of not talking to each other, they made up. It had felt so good to hear that back then. It had felt like a breath of fresh air.
It still felt good to hear it, but it hurt a little. It no longer felt like a breath of fresh air, but he ignored that. Instead he let himself smile as they ate and joked around like they always did. He'd ignore it for as long as he could, because Sato was happy they were best friends–happy he had Sugawara and he didn't want to ruin that.
51