Haikyuu!
Higher
Chapter 13: Warmth

Shinji rubbed his sleep-filled eyes as he practically stumbled down the stairs. A loud crash had roused him from his sleep at the unholy time of four in the morning. Even birds weren't up so early in the morning. Even the sun wasn't up as early as his sister.

He made his way into the kitchen, nearly tripping over a book he'd carelessly left out. Cursing, he blinked at the lights that were clearly on far earlier than they had any right to be.

His sister stood in the kitchen, apron hung from her neck, leaning over around a dozen lunchboxes, carefully placing something into each one individually. There were plates with huge amounts of food behind the boxes on the counter Her eyes were so focused that Shinji couldn't help but be curious as to why she was working so hard.

"Aika, what're you doing?" he asked. His voice wasn't loud, but it'd clearly startled his sister, who ended up dropping the chopsticks in her hand. The wooden sticks clattered on the counter as she whirled around with eyes wide.

She breathed in a huge sigh of relief. "Jeez, Shin, you scared me. Did I wake you up?" she asked, clearly choosing to ignore his question.

Amused, he crossed his arms. "C'mon, Ai. Tell me."

He could see the wheels turning in her head as she attempted to find a way to get out of answering his nosy question. Instead, she sighed, turning her attention back to the bento boxes. He swore that he could see a dusting of red coloring her cheeks as she turned away from him.

"I'm making lunches. The boys… they all work really hard, so I thought I'd try to make them a homemade lunch." She picked the chopsticks back up, carefully moving bits of the food she'd made into each of the boxes. "It's not… like, amazing… but it tastes good. I just wanted to do something for them," she mumbled, her voice so low that he strained to hear.

Shinji moved to stand next to her. "Then what was the crash?" he asked curiously, rolling his sleeves up. He pulled his own somewhat long hair up into a ponytail and reached for his own pair of chopsticks.

She frowned. "I-it was me moving things around. Sorry it was loud, but I tried to move the pot I cooked in." She paused, an embarrassed look sweeping over her usually-composed face. "I messed up a lot," she admitted. "I haven't really slept. I told myself that I'd be in bed by midnight, so I could refrigerate the lunches and get some sleep, but I messed up pretty badly."

"H-how?" he stuttered, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Aika hesitated. "I… I overcooked the rice. I had to make a second bowl, then I had to make more 'cause I misjudged how much goes into a bento. And then I nearly burned the potatoes as I made the curry, so I had to work real hard to salvage it." She bit her lip. "It-it's passable, at least."

For a moment, Shinji examined the lunches that she'd made, the ones that she'd finished, at least. There was curry at the bottom of each box, a layer of it. It was filled with carrots and potatoes, and it smelled rather good, even for Aika, who had consistently failed to cook.

It'd always been Shinji who made the food in the house. He always had dinner ready for when Aika returned from her volleyball practice in middle school, then later, her doctor's appointments. He had learned the recipes that their parents had written down before the accident, and had perfected them over the years. Food was his way of coping with loss and his way of providing for Aika as best he could until he graduated college and got a job.

Aika, however, had never been talented at cooking. She'd never been good at following step-by-step instructions. It didn't matter what it was, but what mattered was that she couldn't follow instructions. It could've been something as simple as building a paper plane, but she would never do it the same way as everyone else. She needed to do things her own way, and cooking had to be a certain way in order for it to be successful.

Yet here she was, slaving away over at least a dozen lunchboxes, all halfway full of curry. Some of them had been finished, with a neat portion of rice hiding the curry from view.

She was pouring her heart and soul into something that she wasn't confident in, just for a group of boys who lived and breathed volleyball, the very sport she'd loved until her love for it was shattered. She wanted to give them back something for the way that they'd convinced her to fall in love with volleyball once more, the way that they'd given her a way back in.

Looking closer at the lunches, Shinji fought the smile that was tugging at the corner of his lips. He noticed how, on the finished lunches, Aika had cut tiny designs from seaweed and placed them carefully.

"They're all different," he commented, looking from the lunch with the sun design on it to the lunch with the falling feather design. "You made one for everyone?"

Aika flushed a dark red, her head hanging and her hands freezing where she was attempting to place a cartoonish-looking bird cut from seaweed on another lunch. "I… they're all different because all of the boys, they're all different." She bit her lip and carefully set the bird on the rice.

Shinji smiled softly, seeing the happiness in her eyes, something he hadn't truly seen since she'd met that boy, her friend, Shoyo Hinata.

"Do you want my help, or would you like to do this yourself?"

She looked up at him and managed a soft smile. "I'd like to do this myself," she replied. "It's important that these are from me to them."

Moving away from her, Shinji kept a careful eye. "I'll make you your lunch, then. I counted fifteen lunches, and that's enough to feed a small army, but I don't think you included yourself." He smiled even wider at her flustered face.

"T-thanks," she stuttered out, refusing to look at him. Instead, she simply reached for the rice bowl and began to finish another of the lunches.

Shinji just laughed quietly.

I should thank those boys on my own later. They brought back my little sister.

Kageyama had always been an early riser. It was part of his routine, and he was proud of it.

He'd get up early and get dressed in his gym clothes, including his favorite sweatshirt he'd bought when he was in middle school. He'd run about two miles, one mile away from his house and one mile back. When he got home, he'd shower the grime off and prepare for the day. He'd pull his uniform out of the dryer and dress himself, preparing for the day ahead.

After he'd ensured he'd finished all his work, even if it meant sitting down and sometimes cramming in time to finish homework while eating breakfast, he'd leave for early morning practice.

But tournament days were different.

Tournament days made it difficult for Kageyama to focus on anything but the games ahead of him. The night before a big game, he'd almost always dream of both winning and losing scenarios. He'd almost always dream of every play, every toss, every possible outcome.

And he'd always arrive on time, determined to make sure that the outcome was victory.

As he arrived at Karasuno, he noticed that someone else was already there.

He wasn't used to being second to arrive. He'd gotten to the bus earlier than he had the previous day. It was still only six in the morning.

All he could see was a familiar, small girl with candy colored hair sitting on the stairs of the gym, leaning against a boy who looked to be a bit older. The boy had the same color hair as Aika, and held a manga in his hand, flipping lazily through the pages of the comic.

Kageyama met the other boy's eyes, only to receive a smile in return. "Good morning," the boy said, closing the manga as he focused on Kageyama. "You're part of the volleyball team, right?" Kageyama only nodded, but the boy seemed relieved. "Oh, great, I'm so glad you're here. Listen, I'm on morning duty, so I need to get to my classroom soon, but Ai fell fast asleep, and I can't bring myself to wake her up. Would you mind just… taking my place?"

Blood rushed to Kageyama's cheeks as he stuttered out a not-so-intelligent response. He couldn't bring himself to answer the boy, but instead just reluctantly nodded. He nearly punched himself for nodding, but his rapid heartbeat stopped him.

"Great, thanks so much." The boy beckoned him over, and gently, with one hand, lifted Aika's head off his shoulder. "C'mere, please. She'll only sleep comfortably if she has someone warm to be close to."

Kageyama wanted to argue that he wasn't a warm person, that his warmth was only physical. He'd be too stiff for Aika to properly relax, too nervous for her to have a nice pillow, too alert to really give in to the comfort of having someone close.

Yet, for some reason, he kept his mouth shut and moved around the boy, sitting down next to Aika on the stairs.

He felt Aika's companion lower her head onto Kageyama's upper arm. She shifted in her sleep, furrowing her brow, like she knew that there was something wrong, that there was some sort of difference, but she didn't wake up. Kageyama could only stare at her sleeping face, the one that was pressed against his arm. She was so short that she didn't reach his shoulder, even while sitting down.

The older boy breathed another sigh of relief. "Thanks so much for this." He bowed, further flustering Kageyama. "You really saved me here. It's near impossible to wake her up when she sleeps like this, plus she didn't really sleep last night." He softly ran a hand through Aika's hair, which was, for once, not in her signature ponytail.

"Why was she awake?" Kageyama couldn't help but ask.

Chuckling a little as he pushed a strand of hair from Aika's face, the boy replied, "She was up late working hard for the people she cares about." He then turned his gaze, one that reminded Kageyama far too much of Aika, and smiled. "Thanks for taking care of my sister. I'm counting on you."

He bowed again and, before Kageyama could untie his tongue to manage the words that were rattling around in his mind, he sprinted off towards the school. He left Kageyama behind with Aika sleeping peacefully against the setter.

Still red from the sudden burst of thanks from who he now knew was Aika's older brother, Kageyama simply moved his gaze to Aika. She was still fast asleep, and now seemed comfortable against him. She'd shifted again, her hair falling into her face as she pressed her cheek into the sleeve of Kageyama's jacket. He couldn't help but note how long her hair was, note the way it fell over her shoulders.

He couldn't help the way he reached over to her, carefully twisting her hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear.

He couldn't help the way his heart beat a little faster when he finally saw all of her sleeping face.

But he didn't move.

Instead, Kageyama sat there, forcing himself to stay completely still as she napped peacefully against him.

The bus rolled up to the Karasuno high school, stopping right in front of where Kageyama was sitting with a still asleep Aika. Somehow, the bus didn't wake her.

"You're early," Takeda commented, seeming somewhat surprised by the appearance of the two kids who had to have gotten to the school at least thirty minutes before him. "Is Aika alright? If I'd seen that she was asleep, I'd have been quieter."

Kageyama shook his head. "It's fine. She doesn't really seem that easy to wake."

Takeda couldn't help the smile that spread across his face at the sight of the introverted setter and the stoic assistant coach, two people who hadn't really opened up to much of the team, curled up together, waiting for the bus to pick them up.

"Do you need help waking her?"

The younger male shook his head again, instead shifting, letting Aika fall against him again. "No, thank you. I'll take her onto the bus," replied Kageyama politely.

Much to Takeda's surprise, Kageyama hooked his arm underneath Aika's legs. He was sure that he saw a large blush covering Kageyama's face, but chose not to comment on it. Instead, he moved out of the way as Kageyama, who had Aika tucked into his arms, carried her onto the bus.

"Can you get her bags? I couldn't grab them without putting her down."

Takeda carefully picked up Aika's bag after hearing Kageyama's request. He slung it over his shoulder and followed his students onto the bus, if only to put her bag down. Kageyama had already put his bag on the seat near the driver's seat. Takeda made sure to place Aika's down right beside her friend's.

He looked up, searching for the two, only to see Aika still snoozing, her entire body relaxed as Kageyama allowed her to sleep against him once more. The boy was flipping through a magazine, his earbuds in as he read. Even though there were pillows for napping that Takeda had brought after nearly all of the team had fallen asleep the day before, Kageyama had allowed her to continue sleeping against him.

The supervisor smiled again, feeling his heart fill with warmth for his students and their growing relationship with each other.

He turned on his heel, hoping not to disturb the two, and returned to the outside of the bus to wait for the rest of the students.

Somehow, no one commented on how they found the two when they arrived.

Not even Tanaka, who usually would comment on something like this, or Tsukishima, who took every opportunity to make fun of the "King of the Court." Everyone was silent and respectful, taking their seats without even giving the odd pair a second glance.

Shoyo was the only one who got close. He sat down next to the sleeping Aika and curled up next to her. He flexed his fingers and arms, trying not to move and disturb her. He simply watched as Kageyama, who was now watching a video on his phone, didn't even acknowledge his stare.

The small middle blocker couldn't help but smile.

Aika had never really had any friends besides him during middle school. He remembered her saying that she'd always thought that volleyball was all she needed, and that she'd never made an attempt to get close to her teammates. They were her teammates, yes, but they weren't her friends.

She'd often said, "you know, you're the first person I've ever told this to," whenever she would tell him something personal, even if it was as minor as her feelings about a certain book series or her preferred place to get ramen after a game.

Maybe she wasn't talking to people about her personal life yet, but she was letting them close. She let him in, and she was letting both Sugawara and Kageyama in. That was an important step for her.

To Aika, maybe they weren't friends just yet. Maybe they were just people she could deem as allies, people who she could rely on during a game to be on her side, even if she wasn't playing.

But maybe they could turn out to be friends to her.

Shoyo hoped they would, at least.