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Chapter Text

Dark grey clouds loomed overhead as Akaashi gathered his books. The school day was over and now it was time for him to start his trek home. He made his way into the mall from his English Literature class, waiting by the metal staircase that lead to the mathematics department for the rest of his friends.

"Hey Keiji," a quiet voice mumbled, drawing Akaashi's attention to his friend Kenma.

"Hello Kenma-san, how was textiles?" Akaashi questioned, not drawing Kenma's attention away from his phone screen, he appeared to be messaging Kuroo. Suddenly he changed screens and began flicking through his photographs.

"It was cool, I guess." Kenma paused, clicking on a photo and handing his phone to Akaashi. "Scroll left, I was able to design some more of my cosplay."

"Akaash!" A voice boomed over the sound of the other students leaving the mall, echoing along the walls and glass ceiling.

"Hello Bokuto-san, Kuroo-san." Akaashi responded after seeing the two boys walking over to them.

The quartet stood beside the stairs, exchanging greetings before making their way out from the mall and down the corridor to the main entrance. Akaashi falling into step with Bokuto, with Kuroo and Kenma following behind.

"Hey, Akaashi, can we stop off at the corner shop before we carry on?" Kuroo raised from the back of the group as they were about to head right from the school gates to make their way to the bus stop.

"It's in the opposite direction, let me check." Akaashi looked down to his watch, their bus was due in ten minutes, the walk to the bus shelter itself would take seven if they hurried. The next bus would be due twenty five minutes after the first. Going to the shop would be fine given the time it would take to go to the shop and then walk down to the bus stop would be around twenty minutes. "It should be fine, Kuroo-san."

"Sweet," Kuroo responded as the group turned left towards to parade of shops.

The four friends mulled around the shop, gathering some sweet treats and drinks for themselves before paying and heading to the bus shelter, making idle talk about their days as they went.

"And then-!" Bokuto paused for effect. "We saw the ducks, Agaashee!"

Akaashi smiled to himself, he'd long since gotten use to the butchering of his name. Hearing Bokuto talk about the ducks that nested in the courtyard of their school each year, and the large family of ducklings that followed each year, made him feel content.

The sky continued to darken, soon the rolling clouds had engulfed the sky, a cool breeze picking up and causing goose bumps to take residence on their arms.

"Kuro, I'm cold." Kenma complained as they reached the bus stop, tucking his blazer tighter around his body in an attempt to keep warm. Bokuto sat on the worn wooden bench, under the cover of the trees.

"The bus is due any minute now, Kenma," Kuroo said, while also wrapping his own blazer over Kenma's.

A gentle rain soon began to fall and they huddled for shelter under the trees that covered the bench. It was then that Akaashi noticed him.

"Do you think he's okay?"

"Who?" Bokuto questioned, following Akaashi's gaze, his eyes also falling on the boy across the road.

"He's probably waiting for someone to pick him up?" Kuroo hypothesised, eyeing the silver haired boy not making a move to seek shelter or in any hurry to start walking, despite the rain increasing in intensity.

"He's been there since before we got here," Kenma supplied, checking the time on his phone from inside his blazer pocket, "he's just been staring at the sky the whole time."

"He has? I didn't even notice him..." Akaashi mused.

"Here comes the bus!" Kuroo piped up, milliseconds before Bokuto said the same. The pair fell into their usual routine of racing to the curb and trying to be the first to flag down the bus.

As the four began to pile onto the dry, albeit chilly bus, the rain intensified once again. They looked to the boy who was smiling.

"I hate the rain!" Oikawa huffed, putting up his umbrella and turning to the other two boys coming from the school behind him.

"Then we'll hurry home," one of the other boys said, "were you able to do all your homework?"

"Not all of it, Iwa-chan! But almost!" Oikawa grinned.

By now the ground was full of puddles. The heaviest of the rain had stopped and now it was softer, but it was still enough to warrant the use of umbrellas.

"Well done for bringing those umbrellas, Oikawa," said the other boy, falling into step beside the other two.

"Don't help his head get big, Daichi," Iwaizumi glowered.

"Mean, Iwa-chan!"

The trio left the school grounds, making their way to the right to walk alongside the street towards the main road. Daichi watched the other pair bicker ceaselessly the entire length of the long, but narrow side street and onto the main road.

As they turned the corner Daichi's eyes fell onto a figure in the rain. His hair was dark grey, soaked by the rain and plastered to his face and neck. How long had he been there?

"Who the hell is that?" Iwaizumi asked, also noticing the boy.

"I don't know," Daichi responded, "do you think he's okay? He's just, sort of...standing there."

"He's smiling," Oikawa noted, "he's surely fine!" He continued forward, Daichi following him with Iwaizumi.

"He doesn't have an umbrella, should I give him mine?" Daichi questioned, worried for the boy's health.

"What difference would it make? He's already soaking!" Oikawa continued to argue, scrunching his face up in annoyance. "Besides, he has a hood!"

"I'll just let him take mine."

Just as Daichi moved to make his way towards the boy, the figure moved in the rain. He was smiling, the corners of his eyes crinkling in utter joy.

The silver haired boy became more animated, he glanced around his immediate vicinity, chocolate eyes bright behind a pale, almost ethereal curtain of lashes. A dark beauty mark placed perfectly beside his left eye. Daichi swore that at that moment all of his bodily functions stopped. His heart, his lungs, it all ceased. Like a sneeze.

He saw right through Daichi though, his eyes locking onto a pool of water only an inch or two deep. His grin widened as he ran to the puddle.

Daichi heard Oikawa mutter an: "Oh dear God."

And the boy's feet collided with the puddle of muddy water, kicking up the murk as droplets exploded around his legs, drenching his pants. The next puddle saw the same lack of mercy. So did his pants.

"Sawa-chan," Daichi turned at Oikawa's solemn tone of voice, "I love you, but please do not talk to a boy as old as us, who jumps in puddles as if he were five, I will hate you forever. Iwa-chan's cousin or not."

By the time Daichi's attention was back to where the boy previously was, the boy was gone.

His clothes clung tightly to his body. A seemingly endless shiver vaulted up and down his spine, illiciting a full body shudder with each gust of wind until he had finally closed the front door to the unusually cold, early September weather outside.

He huffed, trembling as he peeled each layer of clothing off, trudging up the staircase to the family bathroom. At the top of the stairs he turned up the thermostat and the boiler in the towel cupboard hissed into life.

The boy found his favourite pajamas, the ones with small red and pink fuzzy shrimps on white fluffy pants and a plain red, long-sleeved shirt. He let out a sigh as he gathered clean underwear, adorned by a pattern of small leeks, before heading to the bathroom.

His clothes were then draped over the radiator in the bathroom as he turned on the shower, finally removing his underwear to scramble under the warm rush of water. His skin not under the stream of warming water became littered with goosebumps and he spun in place, letting the water flow over his cold and numbed body.

Fifteen minutes longer than what was necessary and he climbed out. Encasing his body in a towel and drying off before throwing his clothes on at breakneck speed. His skin high on his cheek bones was as rosy as the shrimps on his pajamas, for a few moments his body betrayed him into thinking he was finally thawed out.

Then he sneezed his first sneeze.

Chapter Text

Sugawara would be lying if he said that he wasn't nervous about starting a new school.

He'd also be lying if he said that he wasn't bothered by the fact that his new classmates' first impression is a runny, sneezy nose, dry eyes, and chapped lips.

Yet, here he was, stood in front of his new form room as the form tutor spoke about how it was odd to have a transfer so close to the exams in the coming May. Giving him a basic introduction and handing him his planner.

He took the items before moving to sit down in a free seat, beside a boy with streaked grey and black hair. The sneeze that rippled through his body moments after sitting down had him almost falling from his stool.

"Whoa, that sounds rough," his neighbour said, looking at him, "you must've gotten drenched!"

He was taken back by the statement. Was it a lucky guess?

"How did you--"

"How did I know? Me, Kuroo, Kenma and Akaash saw you yesterday! We couldn't understand why you were just standing there and we were wondering if you were okay, but then the bus came and I had to race Kuroo."

"I- I see..." The boy stammered, he'd moved here in hope that he could keep his passion and obsession under wraps. Yet the metaphorical cat was already out of the metaphorical bag.

"I'm Bokuto Koutarou," Bokuto introduced, offering his hand to him.

"It's nice to meet you, Bokuto," he smiled, shaking his hand. He noted the strength Bokuto's uniform and blazer hidden. "I'm Sugawara Koushi."

"I know! You were just introduced!" Bokuto grinned a big toothy grin. "What timetable do you have?" He picked the paper out of Sugawara's planner, looking at his class list. "Oh! You gotta write these into your planner when you get the chance! But it looks like you're with me for the first two lessons!"

Sugawara's head was throbbing, Bokuto was so loud and just made it worse. But he was already talking to someone and had the potential to become friends with him. He'd just have to keep his obsession hidden.

He and Bokuto spent the final ten minutes of form making idle, albeit excited, chatter. Sugawara was at a loss most of the time, Bokuto was so enthusiastic and Sugawara tried to return it in kind. But he couldn't escape his cold, nor his utter lack of social skills needed to make a friend.

By the time they needed to go to their first lesson Sugawara was already exhausted.

The first lesson progressed without incident, Sugawara was given a seat on the far side of the classroom and a maths textbook.

He was grateful to be away from the windows, he wouldn't get any work done if he had been sat there, but he was also sad.

Is this what it was like to be a bird in a cage beside an open window?

He was also away from Bokuto, but that was fine, he was here to start a new life so he couldn't just latch onto someone on the first day.

He found the hour went slow, he was bored, spacing out and thinking about the differences between his old school and this one, wondering if he had made the right choice.

He sighed before sneezing.

"Sugawara, while I'm sure you are nervous about your first day you do not have time to dawdle. Your previous school was on a different exam board from ours." Oh. He hadn't known that. "I'd appreciate it if you'd pay more attention." The teacher reprimanded.

Great, so now he had to learn two years worth of maths in eight months.

"Yes, ma'am," he mumbled, trying to stifle a cough. He then delved into his work.

Finding that, knowing he had eight months to learn two years worth of material, there suddenly wasn't enough time in the lesson.

Or in the year.

When the class was dismissed Sugawara felt a wave of stress flow over his body. He immediately approached Bokuto.

Latching be damned.

"You don't happen to know a maths genius, do you, Bokuto?" Sugawara questioned, thrusting his forehead agains Bokuto's bicep.

"Not really... Sorry, Suga. There might be someone, but I'm not too sure." The pair began walking to their second lesson of the day, science. A depressive air settling over the pair.

"Want to come and sit with me and my buddies at break?" Bokuto asked, trying to repair the mood. Sugawara debated the idea.

"Sure, why not?" They arrived at the classroom, discovering the teacher was cleaning up a large mess of ash and glass.

"What happened, Sir?" Bokuto questioned, going over with the intention to introduce Sugawara. The teacher whipped around, seeing Bokuto.

"Screaming jelly babies with you friend." Their teacher said with exasperation whilst also with resignation.

"Oh man! Is Kuroo okay?"

"He won't be by next lesson." Grumbled the teacher, finishing brushing the glass and ashes into the fire safety sand bucket.

Sugawara was at a loss for words.

"Your friend did this?" He finally decided to ask, only then noting the very obvious grin plastered onto Bokuto's face.

"Kuroo is a chemistry nerd, but he's shit with fire. I think he's a pyromaniac, although I feel sorry for the jelly baby."

"I see..."

"Oh, Sir, this is Sugawara Koushi! He's just transfered!" Bokuto exclaimed, following the teacher. He stopped and looked at Sugawara.

"Nice to meet you, Sugawara, please take a seat wherever you'd like." He responded, reaching into his desk draw and drawing out a note book.

Sugawara sat beside Bokuto after finding out that this teacher was more lenient with seating charts than the first. He found the lesson fun, the teacher made it fun. Even his cold and the newfound stress of Maths couldn't dampen the mood that the teacher had set for the room.

Before he knew it the lesson was over and he was heading to the canteen with Bokuto to meet his friends.

"We go through here, Sugawara!" Bokuto said as they entered the canteen, heading towards a set of double doors, this took them out into the quad. A courtyard within the school grounds. "There's ducks!"

"Ducks?"

"Yeah! There's a duck family that come here each year and they have ducklings!" Bokuto explained, pointing to a line of shrubery, sure enough there was a nest with ducks in. "They stay until late October."

"Bo!" A voice yelled. Sugawara peered over to see a boy with an atrocious bed head sat on the wooden table under a tree with a predatory grin plastered to his face, there was another boy with bad roots sat on the bench beside him with his phone in hand, and a boy with curly hair situated on the other bench with a book in his hands.

"Hey you guys!" Bokuto replied before gripping Sugawara's arm and pulling him along to the group.

"Bo--" Kuroo's eyes landed on Sugawara's form dragged behind Bokuto. "Hey, you're that kid that was in the rain yesterday! You sure looked happy."

"Oh, yeah, I found out some good news..." Sugawara lied.

No way was he going to tell the truth, no way was he going to break the fragile tendrils of friendship that he was beginning to sew together.

"Oh, where are my manners? My name is Sugawara Koushi." He said, hoping to distract the conversation and start a new topic.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kuroo Tetsurou, book nerd--"

"Go fuck yourself, Kuroo-san."

"--over there is Akaashi Keiji and the guy on his phone is Kozume Kenma. But just call him Kenma, he hates formalities." Kenma remained silent. Kuroo nudged him but the boy remained oblivious.

Bokuto took a seat beside Akaashi and Sugawara sat beside Kenma.

"Suga!" Sugawara jumped, looking to Bokuto.

"Suga?"

"Sorry, I just thought it would be a cool nickname, y'know?"

"Oh." Sugawara paused. How he'd yearned for someone to give him a nickname and drop formalities.

"I'll stop, sorry, I shouldn't have said it outta the blue like that."

"No, it's fine," Sugawara smiled genuinely to ease Bokuto's fears, "I was just surprised. I like it, please call me Suga."

The twenty minute break period passed with discussions about Sugawara's previous school as well as his first day here. Sugawara lied where he had to, unwilling to give away his secret.

"What lesson do you have next, Suga?" Kuroo asked, prompting Sugawara to fetch his timetable from his planner.

"Cookery." Sugawara sniffled, his nose beginning to run in the below average temperature. "That'll be fun, I guess..."

"You're lucky, the cooking labs are over there," Kuroo pointed to a set of doors a few feet away, "to the right. Me and Bo have PE now."

"I believe those 'cooking labs' have a much more mundane name, Kuroo-san." Akaashi drawled.

Sugawara followed their directions and found himself outside the student kitchens. He waited as other students filtered into the hallway, all waiting for the teacher to call them in.

His eyes settled on one student, he was looking at him with mild disbelief. Did they know one another? No, that was impossible. Then who was he?

A sneeze racked Sugawara's body, he withdrew on himself and caught the sneeze in the tissue hidden up his sleeve.

"Did you catch a cold from yesterday?" The stranger asked, when had he gotten so close? Sugawara scrubbed furiously at his nose to make sure he wasn't going to embarrass himself.

"Ah...yeah," Sugawara thought fast, "I got caught in the rain on my way home."

"You looked like you had fun though," the boy said, handing a small pack of tissues to Sugawara, "you looked right through me as I was about to offer you an umbrella."

The student laughed, it was warm and not at all patronising like Sugawara thought it would be. His thoughts raced at the thought he'd been seen by at least five people he now went to school with.

"I- I'm so sorry about that..." Sugawara wanted to curl up and die, he was the worst.

"No, no, it's fine." Was the student blushing? "I'm Sawamura Daichi, but just call me Daichi."

"It's nice to meet you, Daichi, I'm Sugawara Koushi," Sugawara said in response before remembering, "but just call me Suga." He smiled as warmly as he could considering his lips were cracked and chapped.

The teacher opened the door and they filed into the room, Sugawara followed Daichi into the room before going to introduce himself to the teacher.

"Good morning, ma'am, I'm Sugawara Koushi and I just transferred here, this is my first day."

"Good morning, Sugawara," she responded, "you'll find your seat next to Sawamura, this room is alphabetical order for the seating chart." His eyes followed her motion and saw Daichi at his work station, cotton white apron already around his neck and tied at his waist. There was a space next to him.

Sugawara made his way over, gripping an apron from the rack by the door and fitting it over his head and haphazardly tying the back.

The teacher began the lesson, they'd be making shortbread cookies and then decorating them. After explaining each step and writing it onto the white board the teacher sent them to do their own work.

Sugawara set up his station next to Daichi after gathering ingredients for both of them while Daichi gathered the equipment.

"Oh, here," Daichi said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a tub, "one of my friends is always saying he can't be seen with someone with a bad complexion-- Not that you have a bad complexion!" Daichi stammered. "You're beautiful--!"

Sugawara smiled, unsure whether the warmth in his face was from his high temperature or not.

"Thank you." He said, taking the small tub of lip salve, his hand lingering on Daichi's. "Are you sure you and your friend won't mind?"

"I'm sure, you're lips look painful, colds can be so horrible."

The pair began mixing the ingredients as the teacher directed them, they shared banter about failed baking attempts while the dough took shape.

Sugawara noticed that Daichi had moved onto using the cookie cutters.

Cloud shaped cookie cutters.

Daichi noticed him staring, punching the cutter through the dough.

"Are these shapes okay?"

"Huh? Of course!" Sugawara wondered if he'd dare to press on. "Why did you choose the shape?"

"Honestly?" Daichi almost seemed bashful. "They remind me of fair weather clouds, I love the fluffy clouds in summer where you can see the animals in them. I have no idea if they have a proper name, my family just call them fair weather clouds."

"Cumulus..." Sugawara mumbled before he could realise what he had said.

"What, sorry?"

"Cumulus clouds...they are characterised by being individual heaps of cloud, generally white on top with flat, darker bases. There's four species: fractus, humilis, mediocris and congestus. There's one variety, radius, and multiple clouds which show cumuliform features alongside stratiform or cirriform, these are stratocumulus and cirrocumulus--"

Upon realising what he had just blurted out he covered his mouth, furrowing his brows and looking up at Daichi's shocked face in a state of panic.

"I- I'm sorry...! Dammit, I said I wouldn't do this anymore!" Sugawara almost whimpered, angrily pushing the cutters into the cookie dough and washing each cookie with raw egg.

"That's...so fascinating," Daichi finally said in awe. "You know that much about clouds?"

"I know a lot more than that..." Sugawara said, a guarded tone flowing into his voice at Daichi's reaction.

"Please finish what you were just saying, it was really interesting!" Daichi pleaded, putting both trays of cookies in the oven.

"Um...you're not weirded out...?"

"No! Why would I be? That's just amazing knowledge to recall as if you were reading from paper. You can tell it's your passion."

"St- Stratocumulus clouds have three species: castellanus, lenticularis and stratiformis. There's also six varieties: duplicatus, lacunosus, opacus, perlucidus, radiatus, translucidus and undulatus. Cirrocumulus clouds have four species: castellanus, floccus, lenticularis and stratiformis. But with Cirrocumulus, they only have two varieties: undulatus and lacunosus."

Sugawara stopped, looking at Daichi's reaction. He was smiling, his eyes glittering with...something.

"There's altocumulus with four species, the same as cirrocumulus, and six varieties, the same as stratocumulus. There's also cumulonimbus clouds which are thunder clouds, they have two species: calvus and capillatus." He finished quickly before coughing to cover his embarrassment at being stared at so intensely.

"You're amazing." Were the first words to leave Daichi's lips. "It's incredible; it's such a unique thing to know."

Sugawara could feel his face heat up at his words, nobody had ever spoken so highly about his passion. His parents and teachers didn't like how distracted he was, how he never excelled in anything academic, they were always telling him to grow up, to get his head out of the clouds. He always thought he would never be accepted.

"Would you like to sit with me and my friends at lunch?"

That broke Sugawara's thought process, he looked up to Daichi, taking a moment to register what he had asked him.

"I think they'd love your knowledge, especially Oikawa--"

"No." Sugawara responded quickly, causing the taller boy to startle. "I don't want people to know."

"Okay, okay." Daichi breathed, it almost looked like a sigh of relief to Sugawara. "But you'll still sit with us?"

"Yeah," Sugawara smiled, watching the rest of the tension leave Daichi's body, "if the offer is still open then I'd love to." He watched Daichi duck down to check the cookies, possibly also to hide a smile if the swell of his cheeks was anything to go by.

The rest of the double lesson progressed with the pair decorating their cookies and cleaning the utensils before lunch.

Sugawara followed Daichi as he lead him out behind the main school building and in a matter of moments Sugawara knew some divine being was testing him.

They were heading to a vast expanse of the sports field, a leisurely spot for lunch under the blue sky, seeing the clouds tumble over his zenith.

There were plumes of the morning cumulus congestus cloud developing along the horizon, the clouds developed enough to start their own convection without much help from the thermals on the ground and creating pileus clouds when they reached the tropopause, the pileus looked like hats adorning the crowns of cloud before dissipating into the dense layer beneath them.

Altocumulus and cumulus humilis settled overhead, the cumulus humilis offering spatters of shade as it moved through the sky and the altocumulus creating patterns like fish scales, revealing blue between the soft-looking wisps.

"Sawa-chan~!" A new voice crooned, distracting Sugawara from his reverie. He turned to look at the owner of the voice, taken back by the perfectly coiffed chestnut hair, matching eyes and handsome face attached to a figure who seemed more than a little irked to see him. Did he upset this guy some how?

"Hey Oikawa, this is Suga--"

"What did I tell you yesterday, Sawa-chan?" Oikawa questioned, making Sugawara furrow his brow in slight confusion.

"Oikawa he's in my cookery class, I wanted to make polite conversation."

"But, Sawa-chan! I told you! 'please do not talk to a boy as old as us, who jumps in puddles as if he were five--'" Oikawa was stopped short by the look on Daichi's face. The tight lipped smile could only mean one thing. "No, Sawa-chan, no!" Oikawa took off, sprinting across the field. Daichi in close pursuit.

Despite the almost ten centimetre height difference, Sugawara watched as Daichi was on top of Oikawa within seconds, pinning him and wrecking the perfectly styled hair he probably had taken hours on.

Oikawa rotated onto his back to try and offer a fight against Daichi's friendly fire. Sugawara could hear screeching, but any words were lost on him. He continued to watch as Oikawa's clothes and skin took on a greenish hue from the freshly cut grass and couldn't help himself from grinning. What was so wrong about liking to jump in puddles anyway?

Almost as if his body wanted to prove a point, his chest rattled with another sneeze.

Sugawara saw the pair coming back, a pout gracing Oikawa's lips as he dusted his clothes down, and of course, with a tongue as silver as his hair, he couldn't refrain from passing a comment.

"I think you'd rather enjoy puddle jumping!"

This earned a glare from Oikawa.

"Shut up, Suga-chan. Go jump in a lake."

"Wanna come and jump with me?" Oikawa huffed and sat down on his blazer. Sugawara took that as a personal victory and sat beside Daichi. Minutes later someone else joined them, he was fixing his tie under his shirt collar and Oikawa was shamelessly staring.

"This is Iwaizumi Hajime, Suga, he's my cousin," Daichi filled in, Sugawara watched recognition spark in Iwaizumi's eyes, "Hajime, this is Sugawara Koushi."

"Ah, so we meet puddle jumper in the flesh, eh?" Iwaizumi inquired, no malice in his tone or words. "Nice to meet you Sugawara--"

"Just Suga is fine!" Sugawara smiled, he watched Oikawa huff and take out his lunch box. He quickly followed suit along with Daichi and Iwaizumi.

"Well, Suga-chan, don't go calling Iwa-chan 'Iwa-chan' now~!" Oikawa sing-songed.

"Don't worry, Oikawa, I won't get involved with your kink~" Sugawara snickered, he watched as Iwaizumi spat out his drink in surprise and Oikawa's face turn bright red.

Tension began to shroud the group in a veil thicker than stratus opacus on a dreary autumnal morning.

Realisation dawned on Sugawara.

"Wait...so you guys aren't dating?"

"N- No, we're not." Iwaizumi coughed and scratched the back of his head. "We're just childhood friends."

Sugawara looked to Daichi to see him smiling awkwardly. There was a story there.

So he dropped the conversation, drawing his timetable and planner from his bag and writing in the lessons he had that day.

"Where's the geography rooms?" He asked, noticing his last lesson wasn't in a corridor he'd been in.

"Ah, they're up by the history rooms, I can take you up there if you want, I'm in history next." Iwaizumi said, peering over Sugawara's shoulder to look at his timetable.

"Thanks, Iwaizumi!" Sugawara replied, he was grateful to have kept his obsession under wraps, he'd extended the hand of friendship to seven people today and they'd all reciprocated, some even enthusiastically extending a hand to him first.

Lunch time for Sugawara continued with conversation, food, and colourful pens writing in the names of his lessons and their locations for the next two weeks.

He almost didn't realise that the lunch time had come to an end, and it wasn't until a teacher came onto the field to start shooing students to lessons that he became aware that he had five minutes until lesson began.

"Ready to go, Sugawara?" Iwaizumi questioned, standing up before pushing his hands into his pockets.

Sugawara hummed in comfirmation as he packed away his planner and timetable, standing up and calling his goodbyes to Daichi and Oikawa.

The pair walked into the North East entrance to the school, a subdued silence falling over them. Despite the raucus bustle of students rushing to make it on time to lesson, Sugawara and Iwaizumi were quiet.

"Just so you know, neither me or Oikawa want you to feel uncomfortable about your comment today," Iwaizumi started, lifting his hand to silence Sugawara, "he knows how I feel, and he isn't sure how he feels, so I'm just letting him figure it out."

"So, do you mean that you're not sure if he likes you back?" They began the ascent up the staircase, battling the flurry of students around them.

"No, he's not sure of his sexuality, he's only ever had girlfriends before but since I've made him aware of how I feel he's been questioning. I don't want him to feel pressured so I'm leaving it to him."

Sugawara debated revealing to Iwaizumi how Oikawa had looked at him when he had first arrived on the field, however, he decided against it. He didn't want to build any hopes just for them to be dashed.

Iwaizumi seemed to appreciate Sugawara not saying anything and not questioning any further, the air around them relaxed. As they reached the top of the staircase, Iwaizumi spoke up.

"At the end of this corridor is two double doors, you turn left and the rooms have numbers on, one of them will match your timetable."

"Thanks, Iwaizumi! I'll see you later!" Sugawara smiled, following Iwaizumi's directions and locating the room G2. He walked in and introduced himself before sitting down in his newly assigned seat, and preparing for the next hour.

Sugawara would be lying if he said he didn't lose track of time in that clasroom. Of course his luck had worked against him as the teacher had given him a window seat.

Over the course of the hour Sugawara had frequently stopped working to watch as active convection continued to heat thermal pockets at ground level, allowing for warm air to rise and fuel the cumulus humilis' growth into cumulus mediocris.

He'd watched as the flatter, pancake shaped clouds grew upwards into columns, dense white crowns illuminated by the sunlight extended vertically while the bases grew darker with the increased density. The cloud then started on a horizontal journey, beginning to display stratiform features.

Before Sugawara knew it, the day was over. He gathered his things before heading out into the corridor, seeing Iwaizumi in the throng of students exiting their history rooms.

"Iwaizumi!" Sugawara called, heading over to greet the other boy.

"Sugawara-san?" Another voice questioned, causing Sugawara to turn to his left and see Akaashi leaving the history room beside Iwaizumi's.

"Hey Suga," Iwaizumi greeted in response, upon hearing Akaashi's voice he also turned to look at him.

"Hey! You guys have history at the same time!" Sugawara grinned happily. "Can we walk together?"

"Of course, I usually meet Bokuto-san and the others in the mall." Akaashi turned to Iwaizumi. "Akaashi Keiji, a pleasure." He offered his hand to Iwaizumi.

"Hey Akaashi, I'm Iwaizumi Hajime." He replied, shaking the hand in front of him. "So you wait in the mall? I meet Oikawa and Daichi in the mini mall."

"Oh, so they're different places?" Sugawara deflated slightly, walking down the staircase with the other two boys and heading right to walk through the canteen.

"Yeah, the mini mall is the sport centre of the school, the mall is English and maths." They continued to walk through the canteen walk way before passing through double doors. "This is the mini mall, I'm gonna wait here for Daichi and Oikawa. I'll meet you both in the mall?" Iwaizumi questioned, waiting beside a single door on the left hand side of the cobbled mini mall.

"Okay!" Sugawara said quickly, looking around the large hallway.

At each end there were a set of double doors, on the left there were three single doors, the first had a sign saying the girls' changing room, the second had a small corridor which lead to the gym and sports hall, and the third door had a sign that noted that it was the boys' changing room.

Between the boys' changing room and the double doors at the end of the hall there was another set of double doors at a 45 degree angle which lead to the same large sports hall as the middle door to the left.

On the right of the mini mall were more doors, the first being double which lead into a computer room, next was a single which presented another single door at the end of a corridor.

Beside this door was another set of doubles leading into a dance studio and finally, a second set next to those which lead to the outside. The final detail that didn't escape his notice was the flooring, old, yet polished, brown cobble stones.

Sugawara and Akaashi left Iwaizumi in the mini mall, using the doors on the far side to walk through the science corridors and follow the walk way to the mall to meet Bokuto, Kuroo and Kenma.

"Akaash!!" Bokuto roared, running from his English lesson, Kuroo hot on his heels. "Hey Suga!"

"Hello, Bokuto-san," Akaashi smiled softly, "Sugawara-san would like us to wait for his other friends."

"Hey Bokuto! Hey Kuroo!" Sugawara said with excitement. "The other guys will be here in a minute, I'm assuming that because you've all seen me get wet yesterday that you all walk the same way. So maybe we can all walk together!"

"Sure, that sounds like fun, the more the merrier." Kuroo said with a smile.

"What are you guys talking about?" A new voice asked, making the group look up towards the metal staircase. There stood Kenma, leaning slightly over the hand rail. Once he had been seen he continued to walk down the stairs and turn to greet them.

"Suga has some friends he wants us to walk with!" Bokuto excitedly proclaimed.

Sugawara drowned out the chatter of the group as he looked up, the mall had an expanse of glass for a roof. The cumulus mediocris had completely covered the sky now, thick stratocumulus covering the sky. He felt slight unease in his lower stomach at the darkening sky.

He continued to gaze at the sky, anxiety bubbling up into his chest, it felt as if every cell in his body was vibrating with anticipation of something he didn't want to happen. But he could never pin point what. He took a deep breath, trying to remain discrete.

Sugawara felt the nape of his neck grow colder with the sweat-dampened skin being exposed to a rush of cold air from the entrance of the mall. He could feel the persperation under his shirt clinging to his skin, slowly trekking down his spine until it reached the waist of his pants.

"I hate sweaty ass cracks..." he mumbled almost inaudibly, although by the side glance that Kenma had given him then he'd heard him. Dammit.

"Suga-chan~!" An obnoxious shrill flooded the air around them, breaking him from the beginnings of distress and sending his stomach rolling. He swallowed down the nerves, turning to greet the trio.

"Hey guys!"

Sugawara could feel Bokuto, Akaashi, Kuroo and Kenma staring at his back as he greeted the other three, a further awkwardness making Sugawara's stomach cramp in protest. Did the groups somehow know one another and dislike each other?

He muffled a sneeze by pinching his nostrils.

"Iwaizumi! Daichi!" Bokuto was the first to announce, he ran over to the pair. "Fancy us walking home together!"

"Hey Bo, good race today," Iwaizumi said, stepping forward to give Bokuto possibly the most muscular and testosterone filled hug Sugawara had ever seen.

Could it even be called a hug?

It was more like a chest-bump-turned-hand-grip-turned-hug.

Whatever it was, Sugawara had never seen anything like it in his previous school.

His previous school was an all boys school and had some sort of aversion to physical contact that wasn't fighting. He often wondered if the masculinity there was too fragile. Whether they were too scared to be called gay; faggot; twink.

Whatever it was, it was saddening.

On the way home Sugawara observed the two groups merge somewhat with one another. Daichi, Iwaizumi and Bokuto were conversing about sports, something that Sugawara had never really gotten into. So he tuned out to catch Kenma compliment Oikawa's ears.

What?

He turned quickly to his left to see Oikawa's ears, each lobe adorned by a green blob. Upon closer inspection he realised that it was, in fact, aliens; those god awful green faces with enlarged skulls, small mouths and gaping almond eyes.

"Ohmigawd! I didn't even notice you had your ears pierced!" Sugawara exclaimed, crowding Oikawa to get a better look at the Martians piercing his lobes.

"Oh Suga-chan, you're so naïve!" Oikawa responded with a grin, grabbing Sugawara's face and pushing him away. "There's a lot of things you'd notice about me if you took a second glance~"

"Like you're a raging bisexual who wears makeup?"

The group plunged into silence.

The tension quickly grew thick.

He just couldn't catch a break, could he?

"Like I said. Naïve." Oikawa hissed out, walking ahead of the group as they rounded the corner onto the main road.

"This is where we have to love and leave you guys~" Kuroo interjected, the four getting the bus promptly made their escape.

Lucky bastards.

Sugawara watched at they approached the safety rail, preparing to play chicken with the traffic to save them an extra twenty metres of awkwardness.

A chorus of goodbyes followed the quartet as they saw a break in the vehicles and ran across.

Oikawa continued to walk ahead of the remaining trio, silent and brooding. Sugawara fell into step with the two cousins, guilt settling into his stomach and he dipped his head.

"I didn't--" he began, only to be cut off by Iwaizumi.

"He just doesn't know how to handle someone who can see what most people don't." A hand clapped his shoulder and he glanced up at the male. "He's been wearing makeup for the past two years, not once has anyone noticed. You picked it up within half a day of meeting him, he just needs to suss you out."

"Yeah," Daichi entered the conversation, "he just needs to know you won't use the information in a malicious way, that you aren't a threat."

Sugawara pondered the new information, he just had to reveal himself to Oikawa. An information trade.

Although that could just be Daichi trying to reveal his quirk to the group, despite what he said.

All in all, Sugawara was incredibly confused.

This was all too much.

Too much socialisation.

Too many tendrils of friendship.

Too many secrets between them already.

He shouldn't do this.

He should run as soon as possible.

Go home?

No. He didn't want to go back to a prison cell.

He would just have to stick it out.

Not run away.

Stick it out.

Make friends.

Be honest.

Slowly, but surely.

Be honest.

Sugawara dreaded finding out who out of their group would separate next, and the minutes passed by torturously slow.

Time proved to be a traitor.

Daichi and Iwaizumi were the next to reach their street. Bidding the remaining two goodbye as they walked into a cul-de-sac, entering the third house.

So now he was left with Oikawa. Alone.

Information trade.

Be honest.

Show him you're not a threat.

"I hate people like you." Distracted him from his train of thought. For a moment he believed that he'd only imagined it, but when he looked up and his eyes met the cold, hard gaze directed at him, a full body shiver rocketed up his spine.

After several long seconds of silence, Sugawara steeled himself.

"Why?" He whispered, daring to step closer to the taller male.

"You see everything, perceptive little shit." Oikawa almost growled, shoving his hands into his blazer pockets and turning away to keep walking. "You figure people out and use it against them."

"I would never do such an awful thing, especially to someone I saw as a potential friend." Sugawara shot back, feeling a fire ignite in his blood at the accusation.

"Don't give me that shit." Oikawa spat.

"I'm not giving you any shit, you piece of shit!"

"Don't call me a piece of shit!"

"Then don't accuse me of shit, you shit." Said Sugawara with venom.

He took a deep breath.

No.

This was getting him nowhere.

"Listen, I wanted to apologise for the outbursts I have made today, I wanted to be humourous but I guess that this isn't appropriate for a first meeting."

"Yeah, you think? Assuming someone's sexual orientation and then mocking it twice?" Oikawa responded harshly.

"Yes, and I'm deeply sorry, that's why I'm going to reveal something about myself. For your viewing pleasure only."

"What? Is this some sort of porno proposition?" Asked Oikawa, eying Sugawara with caution.

"No!" Sugawara scoffed, feeling the heavy air dissipate minutely. "I have a secret, I wanted to try and keep it hidden but it turns out that I'm pretty shit at it." He sighed, fiddling with his hands.

Sugawara glanced around before his eyes settled on the sky.

"See those clouds there?" He pointed up to the South, bulbous heads of cloud were patterned across the Southern sky. "They're called mammatus clouds, because they look like breasts."

"They're the only boobs you're going to ever see if you have a hobby like cloud watching."

Sugawara hummed in acknowledgement.

"You're probably right," he said with a smile, "I don't really find boobs attractive, y'know?"

There was a silence that lastest a few seconds as Oikawa mulled over the answer.

"Wait, you're gay?" He asked in disbelief. Another hum in acknowledgement.

"My, is that what they call being attracted to guys? I always thought it meant happy." Sugawara said, breaking into a smile.

"Why are you telling me this?" Ah, there's that wall of suspicion, back again.

"Blackmail material, why else?" Sugawara questioned before continuing. "I mean, if you're so concerned about me knowing about how you feel for your friend and that you wear makeup, then I want us to be on equal footing. Those are my biggest secrets, do with them what you will."

There was another pause before Oikawa laughed.

"Jeez, you better not be one of those drama kids, you malodramatic fool."

"Perish the thought!" Sugawara responded in kind with a grin on his face. "Although I'm looking for a maths genius who can save my ass from learning two years of shit in eight months."

"Well, Suga-chan! It's a good job you didn't make an enemy out of me, because I'm your Lord and Saviour, Oikawa Tooru, top maths student for the whole year group." Oikawa's left arm snaked over Sugawara's shoulders.

"Oh God, I've just made a deal with the Devil, haven't I?"

"Perish the thought!"

Chapter Text

The next day Sugawara woke up to the sound of hail on his bedroom window and he sighed, today was going to be rough. The pattering on the window made Sugawara's stomach tumble with nerves and his heart rate increased.

The body to his left moved their head onto his torso and whined, he peered down at the white and moussey coloured Australian Shepherd.

"Morning, Lissy~" he cooed, taking the dog's face in his hands as he kissed between her eyes and tickled behind her ears. The dog sneezed in response before jumping on him fully and licking his face. "Eww, Lissy your breath stinks!" He laughed.

Another head popped up from Sugawara's right, eagerly joining the other dog in giving Sugawara kisses, earning a halfhearted screech and flailing.

"Morning, Bora! Ah-- stop the licking! I'll give you a kiss too!" Sugawara bargained before grappling the dog's ears and kissing her firmly on the forehead.

"Koushi! Are you awake?" A feminine voice called from downstairs, bringing his attention back to the present, back to his fear.

"Yeah, I'll be down now!" Sugawara called, trudging out of bed to get ready. He noted how his throat hurt less and his sinuses felt clearer.

Perhaps today wouldn't be so rough after all.

Once he was wearing his uniform he moved to his bedroom door, hand poised on the knob.

"Lissy! Bora!" He shouted and the dogs who were still settled on his bed raised her head, understanding what their owner wanted.

"Are you ready?" Lissy jumped onto the floor, closely followed by her litter-mate.

"Get set..." They joined him at his bedroom door.

"GO!" He yelled and flung his bedroom door open, darting towards the stairs with Lissy hot on his heels and Bora taking an early lead.

The trio traced the staircase, tumbling into one another on the second landing.

"I'm gonna win, you two!" Sugawara called, recovering and running down the second set of stairs. But he almost needed to do a double take as Bora overtook them once again and reached the bottom first, looking at Lissy and Sugawara with an almost smug set of brown eyes. Lissy was quicker again and as the pair reached the bottom steps she jumped the remaining distance.

"Dammit, Lis!" Sugawara laughed, kneeling down to play with her ears again before giving Bora an congratulatory tickle. "You always win, little cheat!"

"Good morning, Koushi," smiled his guardian, approaching the boy and his dogs with a chuckle, "go and wash your hands, I've made pancakes for breakfast."

"Thank you, Auntie!" Sugawara responded, heading to the kitchen sink to wash his hands while the woman went to the back door, letting Lissy and Bora out to do their business.

Sugawara sat down at the old, oak kitchen table, eating his breakfast and chatting away to his aunt about his timetable for the day.

At 7:45AM a knock at the door made the pair look up and Lissy started barking in excitement, Bora quickly following her sister's actions. Sugawara's aunt moved to open the front door and mere seconds later Sugawara heard a voice that made him tense.

There was no way he could crawl back into bed now.

"Koushi, your friend is here!" His aunt called from the hallway and Sugawara sighed in resignation.

Another few seconds passed and Sugawara looked up to the taller boy now standing over him and his remaining pancakes.

"Ya-ho, Suga-chan~"

"Hello, Satan," Sugawara replied before stuffing another piece of breakfast into his mouth, his eyes darting to the kitchen window to glance at the thick cloud layer.

"Koushi! That's no way to speak to your friend." His aunt scolded, returning to the dishes in the sink.

"It's fine when it's the truth," Sugawara muttered, his mouth still packed tight with food. He earned a sigh from his aunt as Oikawa sat in the chair opposite Sugawara, "why are you here?" He asked after swallowing his food.

"I wanted to talk to you about yesterday. I told Iwa-chan and Sawa-chan to go on ahead so we won't have to worry about being interrupted." Oikawa said, watching as Sugawara fastened his shoes and straightened his tie.

It took Sugawara a moment to realise what Oikawa was saying, but as soon as he realised he was rushing to get ready.

"I'll see you later, Auntie! Bye Lissy! Bye Bora!" He said, donning his blazer and coat before grabbing his bag.

"Bye Koushi!" His aunt called from the kitchen, rushing through into the hall to say goodbye to the duo. She waved them off down the garden path before shutting the door.

Sugawara was grateful that the hail had stopped as they were leaving, noticing the heavy cloud cover was more speckled than he had originally predicted. Turrets of cumulus gave the impression of harmless cauliflower shaped clouds, however Sugawara noted how the vast amount of broken clouds had shafts of dark grey rain or lighter grey hail.

Sunshine and showers was his forecast for the day.

Not a total disaster, a workable one.

"Are you even listening to me?" Oikawa asked, his voice breaking Sugawara's thoughts. "Oh my gosh! You're not even listening to me!" Sugawara could hear the false offense.

"Sorry, sorry, what were you saying?"

"I wanted to say that Lissy and Bora are such cute names for your dogs!" Oikawa grinned, Sugawara's eyes narrowed in suspicion. He was hiding something.

"Well, actually, they're just nicknames," he heard more than saw Oikawa's slight surprise, a muted noise escaping his partially closed lips, "Lissy's full name is Aurora Australis and Bora's is Aurora Borealis."

Now he could feel Oikawa's stare turn into a questioning glare, then realisation.

"Northern and Southern Lights? Really?"

"What the fuck is wrong with that?"

"They're dogs, not magnetic fields!"

"Did you just assume my dogs' existential make up, you motherfucker?"

"What the actual fuck is this conversation?"

The pair began laughing, rounding the corner of Sugawara's street and onto the main road.

"Enough chit-chat, what's the deal with you showing up at my door?" Sugawara asked, a serious tone creeping into his voice. By Oikawa's reaction he figured that the reason is what he was hiding.

"Well..." Oikawa began, "I, urm, I think I like Iwa-chan back. But I'm confused and you're the only person I know beside Iwa-chan who's gay."

"What do you mean by you're confused?" Sugawara asked with a hum. "About your feelings? Sexuality? What are you confused by?"

"I- I'm not bothered about sexuality," Oikawa stammered, losing his bravado and confident exterior, "I'm scared." He looked at Sugawara pleadingly, begging for questions he could answer rather than just tell him.

Sugawara knew that feeling, no way would he deny the request, regardless of who was requesting it. They rounded the corner and began to walk down the narrow road to their school.

"What's scaring you?"

"I think I've liked him for a long time..." Oikawa whispered, looking down at his hands as he anxiously clasped them together. He seemed to be trying to steel himself, Sugawara noted. "I just thought what I felt was admiration for my friend, he's amazing. I couldn't do what he and Sawa-chan do..."

"You don't have to explain anymore if you don't want to. But I wouldn't be scared, if sexuality doesn't bother you then I say persue him." Sugawara advised, what else could he say? "You shouldn't be scared, he told you that he liked you, remember? So it will work out."

"But Iwa-chan might get a job this Winter, and we have exams, I can't be selfish and monopolise him like I want to," Oikawa said, "I want to spend every moment with him now that I've realised how I feel."

"He wouldn't have told you if he didn't feel the same." Sugawara said matter-of-factly, watching Oikawa's features twist into something he'd never seen on the other boy's face before.

"I've been stupid, haven't I?" Oikawa scoffed as they neared their school. "Here I was, so caught up in my own emotions that I'd completely forgotten that he approached me first." Then Oikawa's face shifted into a blinding smile, grin splitting from ear to ear, brilliant and bright. "Thank you, Suga-chan."

"Don't thank me!" Sugawara said, returning his smile with his own, "I say you kiss him in the next rain shower! Like in the movies, all romantic like."

The pair laughed as they crossed the quiet side street, entering the first set of gates on the campus.

Their eyes settled on the two students waiting outside the second set of gates. Daichi and Iwaizumi's eyes quickly found them and they beckoned the pair over.

"Oikawa! Suga!"

Sugawara watched as dark clouds settled overhead, but despite the rolling in his stomach he felt electric excitement.

He nudged Oikawa with his elbow as the first raindrops began to fall around them.

"Go get him, 'Kawa." Sugawara smiled as the rain came down heavier, he watched Daichi use his blazer to cover his head and Iwaizumi reaching to do the same.

"Iwa-chan!" Oikawa yelled, deciding now that he would throw his fear to the wind.

Sugawara watched Iwaizumi's hands go from holding the lapels of his blazer to out in front of him.

He watched as Oikawa moved closer to Iwaizumi, reaching out for him.

He heard Iwaizumi yell out expletives as Oikawa collided with him.

Although there wasn't enough force behind Oikawa's movement to send them toppling the the floor, Iwaizumi still instinctively wrapped his arms around him protectively.

Finally Sugawara watched Iwaizumi's glare turn into surprise as he found Oikawa's lips on his.

Sugawara wasn't an expert on kissing, but he was sure that they should've lost at least one tooth each with the impact.

Oikawa's first boy-kiss was nothing but teeth.

Sugawara broke down into cackles as he watched Daichi's shock register on his face. He clearly wasn't expecting this outside the school gates.

His laughter only grew as, just like in the movies, Oikawa's leg bent at the knee. A fucking leg pop. What a drama queen.

What Sugawara didn't expect was the black leather shoe that skimmed passed his face.

Another look at the two kissers confirmed that the shoe was from Oikawa's popped leg. Perhaps he was trying to grasp his shoe all along.

"Nice try, Oikawa," Sugawara laughed, picking up the offending item, "I'll take this as payment for my services!"

"Suga-chan, you bitch! Give me back my shoe!" Oikawa glowered, hopping towards Sugawara.

Sugawara took this as his chance, bolting into the school with the shoe, a hopping Oikawa hot on his heels and the two cousins trailing behind with amused, and for one, slightly red faces.

Sugawara ran into the Mall, the main hub of the school, running up the metal staircase towards the maths rooms. Oikawa continued the chase him, once he was in the school he stopped hopping, his longer legs giving him an advantage over Sugawara.

The pair stood at a face off, on opposite sides of the upper walkways. Sugawara stuck by the entrance to the library, Oikawa on the opposite side of a six metre drop by the staircases, holding onto the ugly yellow and blue railings.

The only thing separating them was a large octagonal gap with the other students of all ages walking below them.

Sugawara looked down at the bustle beneath them, then looked at Oikawa and grinned. He held the shoe over the side of the railing.

"Suga-chan you absolute prick! Don't you dare drop my shoe!"

"What's that, Oikawa? I can't hear you!" Sugawara cackled, letting go of the shoe.

They both watched as it descended through the air, Sugawara's laughter and Oikawa's anger melting away into horror as the shoe collided with someone's head. The person in question yelled before looking up.

"Mornin' Kuroo!" Sugawara said with a wave, dissolving into giggles along with Oikawa.

Then he remembered his mission.

"Kuroo! Go hide Oikawa's shoe!" Sugawara called down.

"No! Don't you dare, Rooster-Head-chan!"

"Rude, see you later Suga!" Kuroo picked up the shoe, placing it in his blazer pocket and walking towards the science labs.

Sugawara looked up to see Oikawa's angry glare and pout before bursting into another fit of raucous laughter.

"Never, ever do that face!" He wheezed, leaning onto the railing once more. "Ohmigawd, ho don't do it, your mouth looks like a butthole!"

"Your face looks like a fucking butthole!"

The pair couldn't continue with their insults as teachers began opening their classroom doors, ready for their respective form times to start.

"Welp, time for me to go to registration!" Sugawara said, waving to Oikawa and heading to the technology block for form.

"Hey! What about my shoe?" Oikawa called after him.

"I dunno," Sugawara said with a smile and a shrug, "Kuroo's got it so fuck knows where it is now. Probably in a bin or something."

Sugawara heard Oikawa's petulant whine from the far end of the mall, friends were fun.

Sugawara's morning flew by in his anticipation to see whether Oikawa had found his shoe, surely he had by now. It had been two lessons, well, technically two and a third including the twenty minute form time.

He walked into the canteen where he'd agreed to meet Bokuto during form, and Iwaizumi in the corridor between first and second lesson. Sugawara saw Akaashi and Kenma already sitting in a booth to the left, Daichi was taking a seat in the booth directly beside theirs, only a foot tall, metal divider separating the tables.

"Hey guys!" Sugawara greeted with a smile, taking the seat opposite Daichi. A quiet chorus of greetings came from Akaashi and Kenma, a slightly louder one from Daichi.

The sound of someone sliding into the seat beside him made him turn to see Iwaizumi and Oikawa. Iwaizumi had taken the seat beside him and Oikawa the seat beside Daichi.

"Hello, Suga-chan." Sugawara didn't like the tone of voice Oikawa was using, nor did he like the glint of menace in his eyes. He jumped slightly when he felt something land over his legs, looking down to see Oikawa's socked foot, still shoeless.

"No luck finding Kuroo then?" Sugawara asked cautiously, he didn't like how Oikawa's foot was so close to a sensitive area.

"What do you think?" Oikawa moved his foot slightly.

"Wh- Wh are you doing?" Sugawara questioned with a stammer, fearing for the safety of his crotch.

"I'm gonna crush your fucking balls, you pain in the ass." Oikawa drove his heel down once, causing Sugawara to whine in discomfort, before removing his foot.

"Yooo!" Bokuto said, approaching the table beside Kuroo, a shoe placed precariously on his head. "Look what Kuroo found! I got me a new hat!" He put his hands on his hips and laughed loudly.

"Give me my shoe!" Before Sugawara could blink Oikawa was on the owlish boy, grappling for purchase on his missing item of clothing. "You have no idea the shit I've gone through today! I was dying for a piss! I was terrified to stand in unmentionable liquids!"

Oikawa sat on the floor and put his shoe on.

"What the fuck, it's wet!"

"Yeah, sorry about that, dropped it in a puddle in PE." Kuroo said with practiced nonchalance.

"Why did you have it outside while you were doing sports?!"

Kuroo simply shrugged.

"Why not?"

"I hate you." Oikawa hissed before running back to his seat beside Daichi.

Sugawara looked up from where his head was resting on the table, between his legs still feeling tender.

"What--"

It was then that Sugawara saw the dark clouds that had gathered above the canteen, the glass ceiling letting him view the full extent of the shower that was about to fall on them. His heart rate sped up and he felt winded, his throat went dry and uncomfortably tight and he then began to feel hot all while his skin became littered with goosebumps and rivulets of sweat.

"I need the toilet." He spoke quickly and curtly, climbing over Iwaizumi before he even had a chance to move to let him out of the seat.

Before anyone could ask him anything else he was already gone.

Sugawara didn't go to the bathroom.

As he escaped the canteen he heard the hail begin to batter the glass roof, his panic reaching higher levels at the sound.

He watched out the window by the boys' toilet religiously, eyes scanning the clouds for something he logically knew wasn't there.

But his body was screaming danger and the hail becoming heavier and deafening on the roof was enough to make him panic further.

He was going to be sick.

That was when he did go to the bathroom.

Sugawara spent five minutes hunched over the sink, nothing happening, not even a hiccup. The boys' bathroom muted the sounds of the frozen precipitation as it battered the school.

"Suga?"

His head jolted up, looking at the mirror in front of him to see Bokuto standing in the bathroom door.

"H- Hey, Bokuto," Sugawara spat out, he felt like his mouth was full of feathers, "everything okay?"

"We're all worried about you, it's been, like, seven minutes or something since you left." Bokuto said, stepping fully into the bathroom to rest his large hand on Sugawara's back. "Holy shit! Do you feel okay? You're roasting! I can feel it through your blazer, take it off!"

Sugawara weakly shucked off his blazer, feeling the cool air hitting his feverish skin, he was glad he'd not worn a jumper today.

He felt the steady hand return to his back.

"You're really clammy and sweaty, what happened? Have you been sick?"

"Ah...no, I had a panic attack, it's no biggie." Sugawara reassured, only to have his body prove him wrong as red liquid leaked from his right nostril.

"That's pretty big, Suga..." Bokuto said, using his ruler to close the clasp on the toilets, disabling anyone from entering. He then went into the cubicle, fetching a wad of toilet paper for Sugawara's nose. "You're so stressed and anxious your capillaries have burst."

Sugawara grimaced at Bokuto's apparent perceptiveness. He wasn't going to escape it. His left nostril joined his right in its bleeding.

"You know about panic attacks?" Sugawara asked, gripping the bridge of his nose, leaning his head forward and using the tissue to mop up the escaping blood.

"I suffer with them pretty bad sometimes, I got Post-Traumatic or somethin'."

Sugawara hadn't been expecting that.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Sugawara tried to console, "are things better now?"

"Yeah, it happened three years ago so I only get some pain in the Winter." Bokuto said, a small smile gracing his lips, it was a reassuring sight.

"Broken bones, then?" Sugawara asked curiously, clearly catching the two-tone haired boy by surprise.

"Huh? What?"

"You said it hurt during Winter, so it must be a broken bone, right?"

"Oh, yeah, you're new here," Bokuto realised, "everyone in the school down to the Year 9s know what happened, they don't know I still have problems, only Kuroo, Akaash and Kenma know about that."

"So what happened?" Sugawara asked quietly.

"I was on the school rugby team, well, I still am! I'm the captain!" Bokuto said with an excited smile and Sugawara found himself smiling with him. "I was thirteen and we'd just finished this badass match where we won. It was pretty late and pops was driving me home, and we totally didn't see this car coming up on the other side. The driver was drunk as hell, like, dangerously drunk. He was speeding at almost twice the limit, and we were on an A-road so the speed limit was, like, fifty or somethin'? And he hit us head on."

"Ohmigawd are you okay?" Sugawara gasped, looking Bokuto up and down, noting the lack of visible scars.

"Yeah, my pops took the full force of it, it crushed his legs and stuff. But he's okay now! And he has these badass prosthetic legs!" Bokuto said before reeling himself back into the conversation. "My head hit the head rest, well, what could be called a head rest, it was this real hard and uncomfortable thing."

Sugawara listened intensely, not really knowing what to say.

"And as my neck snapped back with the impact my back vertebrae shunted into one another, and caused really, really tiny fractures. But they found, like, three per vertebrae in my neck and upper back so I had to wear this annoying neck and upper back brace for ages. I couldn't play rugby because they were scared that any other impact could cause the fractures to meet up and I'd lose bits of bone and need operations to remove them and I could become paralysed."

"Are you okay? Did you make a full recovery?" By now Sugawara's nose had ceased bleeding, he felt light headed and washed his face in the basin.

"Yup! They're all healed up and I can play again. Like I said before, it can get pretty painful in the Winter, and I still have bad nightmares and flashbacks, sometimes I wake up unable to move my head and I panic that my recovery was just a dream. But I'm okay!"

Sugawara admired his bravery and positivity, put in his friend's position he wouldn't know what to do.

"I'm glad you're better," he said sincerely, "and I'm glad I got the chance to meet you, you're pretty damn amazing."

Bokuto seemed to lift with the praise and recognition, his chest puffing up with pride.

"C'mon, we should get to lesson," Bokuto said, changing the subject, "try these." He said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pack of chewing gum. "It's got a herbal remedy in them so they help ease anxiety. I don't know if it's placebo or whatever and it's just the chewy distracting you, but it works for me."

Sugawara looked down at the little cardboard box in his hand, looking at the logo and the bright yellow packaging.

"I've heard of this, Rescue Remedy, my aunt has been telling me to try it but it looked so expensive! Are you sure you want to give me this?"

Bokuto fiddled with the lock again, dislodging it and opening the door.

"Sure! I can get more no problem, give them a try!" Bokuto said, the pair walking through the now empty halls, Sugawara's blazer draped over his arm.

Now that Sugawara was out of the confined bathroom the chill in the air nipped at his sweat slicked skin and clothes. His body temperature plummeting.

"Hang on a minute." Sugawara said, dropping his backpack to the floor and donning his blazer, his body trembled visibly.

"Are you sure you're okay, Suga? You're looking really peaky..."

"H- Huh?" Sugawara mumbled weakly, he continued to tremble, unable to hear Bokuto's words clearly. His head felt stuffy, like his skull was full of cotton wool and like he was deep under water.

"You look peaky, are you sure you're okay?" Bokuto repeated, slower and focusing more on pronunciation.

"I can't hear you..." Sugawara gasped, his vision beginning to blur in his peripheral vision and becoming distorted by dark spots.

He was beginning to panic, he couldn't hear properly, he couldn't see properly, he felt like he was perched on a spinning top, he felt so cold but his clothes were sticking to his body with sweat. He slumped against the wall, his legs feeling weak as he dropped to the floor.

"Suga?" Bokuto questioned, kneeling down. "Are you okay?!"

Sugawara suddenly felt the ground disappear underneath him and then he was moving. There was shouting and then cold air hit him before he was surrounded by warmth.

Bokuto would be lying if he said that Sugawara slumping against the wall didn't scare him half to death, or that when he fell to the floor that it didn't finish him off.

His skin had turned ashen, a tinge of green evident in some places. Bokuto had never thought that a person could actually go green, but here in front of his eyes was his friend who was green.

It was then that Bokuto noticed Sugawara's lips, the corners were a deep shade of purple, the colour fading to pale blue at his cupid's bow.

"Suga? Are you okay?!" The first thought he had was to lift the semi-conscious boy and taking him to the administration office.

So that's exactly what he did.

"Hold on, Suga! I'll get you some help!" He frantically spoke, more to reassure himself than Sugawara.

Bokuto made it as far as the mini-mall before bumping into their drama teacher and his top drama student at A-level.

"Koutarou?" The man asked, looking the panicking boy up and down. "You know I love you, but please don't just steal the new kid for my affections."

"Now's not the time, pops! He just fainted!"

"What?!" The older man exclaimed, his voice rising to a shout. "Put him down! You're meant to keep him warm and get him into the recovery position!"

"What do you mean "recovery position"?!" Bokuto whined.

The pinkette beside the teacher watched the father and son flap over the student that was still pressed against Bokuto's chest before sighing in exasperation and rolling his eyes. They were causing a scene again.

His stomach and arms were cold from standing in the poorly insulated sports corridor, that was his curse for enjoying wearing cropped shirt-vests.

"Bokuto, bring him to the medical room." He said, walking ahead of the two Bokutos, the pair sped after him.

After he'd explained to the admin staff they were allowed to lay Sugawara in the medical room while the staff in the office contacted his guardian.

The room was cold and sterile around them and the drama student shivered, he resigned himself to accept it was his fault for wearing his training uniform; black pump shoes matched with tight sports leggings and a hot pink cropped vest donned by the words: "I am not perfect but I am LIMITED EDITION".

"Sir, please give me your jacket."

"But it's warm," the teacher whined, was he dealing with a fucking five year old or a forty five year old?

"Exactly, he needs to be kept warm." He tugged at the jacket anyway, stealing the teacher's warmth and giving it to Sugawara.

"How do you know what to do?" Bokuto piped up.

"Because Makki's a genius!" Bokuto's dad thundered.

"My boyfriend is training to be a doctor. Does that help your curiosity at all?" Hanamaki deadpanned.

Sugawara grumbled an indistinguishable word.

"What did he say?" Bokuto's dad asked.

"I dunno," Bokuto inputted, "what did you say, Suga?"

"Water..." came a hoarse whisper, Sugawara needed something to clear the disgustingly dry feeling in his mouth and throat.

A knock at the door sounded before a member of the admin team popped her head in, notifying the group that Sugawara's uncle was outside in his car.

Sugawara sat up shakily, the room was still hidden by blotches and he felt like he was gazing through a frosted window but it had stopped spinning at least. He fumbled in his satchel to find his water bottle before sipping slowly.

As he took deep breaths he felt his vision return bit by bit.

Bokuto helped Sugawara steady himself as he stood up.

"Are you okay, Suga?"

"Yeah...I'll be fine," Sugawara reassured with a weak smile, "I just wanna go home and rest now..."

"Well your uncle is outside, want me to walk you out?" Bokuto asked, linking Sugawara's arm. Sugawara responded with a nod, his mental fatigue beginning to gain ground on his waning adrenaline.

Bokuto reached for Sugawara's bag and hoisting it onto his shoulder before linking him once more.

"Ready?"

"Yeah." Sugawara mumbled, taking shaky steps with the help of his friend.

The pair made their way out of the medical room, closely followed by Bokuto's father and Hanamaki. Bokuto let Sugawara lean on him heavily for support as his father opened any doors in their way, while Hanamaki signed Sugawara out at the office before following to catch up with them.

Bokuto made it to the car parked outside and the man with hair as silver as Sugawara's and a beauty mark beside his mouth. He could definitely tell that they were related.

"You must be Sugawara's uncle," Bokuto observed, "I think he's okay, he recovered pretty quickly and he didn't fully lose consciousness."

The man walked around to the passenger side and opened the door, helping Bokuto ease Sugawara into the seat and buckle his belt.

"You'd be correct," the man spoke softly, he had a similar tone and pitch to Sugawara, the main difference being that he didn't have Sugawara's pechant for an excited and brusque edge to his words and dialect, "thank you for looking after my nephew. It's good to see him finally having friends."

Okay, scratch that, he only lacked the excitement that Sugawara expressed in his voice, his abrupt way of speaking was uncannily akin to Sugawara's.

"Oh, yeah, he's got lots here! He's super cool!"

Bokuto watched as Sugawara's uncle smiled, but it was... distant.

"Really? That's good." Sugawara's uncle responded, his voice somber before he turned to return to the driver's side of the vehicle. "Thank you for looking after Koushi."

By the time Bokuto had cleaned himself up, gotten distracted by his thoughts, and chased from the boys' bathrooms by the cleaner, he'd missed his third lesson and only had ten minutes until his fourth.

Bokuto relived the moment Sugawara's uncle had smiled as he wandered the corridors into the Mall ready for his English lesson, he couldn't make sense of it.

In English they were studying different poetry prose and style when conflict was the theme. Throughout the lesson they studied a poem that he had heard before, it was called 'Belfast Confetti' by Ciaran Carson and spoke about the socio-political issues in Northern Ireland throughout the 1970s and into the 1990s known as the 'Troubles'.

He remembered it because it had been in Akaashi's poetry book.

Bokuto wanted to impress Akaashi by being able to analyse the poem alongside him, but his thoughts had different ideas. As he highlighted points explained by the teacher his mind wasn't absorbing the information, both verbal and written.

Sugawara's uncle had made a face that Bokuto had never encountered before, it had piqued his curiosity as well as his concern.

By the time his fourth lesson had come to an end, Bokuto was moving robotically, packing away his anthology book and workbook, and sliding his pens into his inside blazer pocket. Walking to the canteen proved just as much muscle memory as tidying his desk.

"Bo!" Snapped him from his daze, whipping around to see Kuroo shimmy around groups of students to catch up to him. "Whoa, what the hell happened? You look positively dishevelled." Kuroo said with a suggestive arch of his eyebrows.

It took Bokuto a minute to full register what Kuroo was saying.

"N- No...I just--" He stopped to think. Would Sugawara appreciate an outburst about his panic attack? "Suga jumped me!" He blurted without thinking. "I- I mean, when I went to see if he was okay at break he got...spooked? I guess, and we had a scuffle!"

Bokuto watched as Kuroo digested the words.

"Suga's wild," Kuroo said matter-of-factly, "so where is he now?"

The pair walked to the tables the group had been situated at break time, happening to look up at the darkening sky as they took their seats.

"Suga had to go home." Bokuto explained.

"You wrecked him?! Fuckin' hell, bro!" Kuroo exclaimed, but he was unable to continue asking questions as more people filtered to the table.

"What do you mean Suga-chan has gone home?!" Oikawa screeched, approaching from behind the duo.

"Don't worry, Oiks," Kuroo comforted mockingly, "it's not some new sex lingo used by the kids, you're not missing out much."

"You'd know exactly how little I'm missing, wouldn't you, Kuroo-chan?"

"Cold, Oikawa, that's damn cold. I got myself frostbite from it."

As the rest of the group filtered to the tables and news of Sugawara's sudden absence began to spread, Bokuto began to grow restless, he hated lying, he hated lying to his friends.

"Suga nearly died!" He yelled a little too loudly, causing the group to look at him with mixtures of concern and confusion on their faces.

"He nearly died?" Oikawa repeated, looking up from his lunch to glance at Bokuto. "Did you fuck him up that bad?"

"N- No! When I went into the bathroom he was panicking and when he calmed down he got a nosebleed, there was blood everywhere, from both nostrils! And then when we left the bathroom he fainted. Pops and Makki had to help me get him to the medical room!"

The table quietened down as the information was shared with them.

After several long seconds Daichi spoke up.

"He was panicking? About what?"

"He didn't say," Bokuto deflated, how could he not ask for such important information?

As if displaying its handiwork the next shaft of hail and rain began to batter the glass roof of the canteen, drawing the group's attention skyward.

"Didn't it start hailing when Sugawara got up and left to use the bathroom?" Kenma spoke up, his eyes not leaving the screen in front of him as he tried to beat his previous combo attack record.

"Yeah, but it's been hailing on and off all day," Kuroo reasoned, watching Kenma over his shoulder, "do you really think he's scared of a bit of falling ice?"

"No, it makes sense," Oikawa argued, "he looked really flighty this morning when I went to his house. It looked like he was ready to crawl back in bed."

"Dude, that's everyone in the morning." Kuroo quipped back, fishing his lunch from his bag and opening the container.

"No!" Oikawa huffed, crossing his arms and shuffling on his seat to be slightly closer to Iwaizumi. "He kept looking out the window in the kitchen and he seemed distracted."

"So you guys honestly think he's afraid of the weather?" Daichi questioned, looking around the table.

"It's not entirely unreasonable," Akaashi said, flicking to the next page of his book, "Astraphobia is a very common fear that humans and animals can obtain." His eyes left the page to glance over at Kuroo. "That's a phobia of thunder and lightning, by the way."

"I know that!" Kuroo retorted.

"It could be noise," Iwaizumi spoke up, having to raise his voice slightly to be heard over the sound of the onslaught of hail, "I mean, that noise is pretty unbearable."

"Iwa-chan is so smart!"

"Not really, it reminds me of your cat," Iwaizumi grinned, "he always freaks out at the sound of wind."

"Leave NASA out of this!"

Kuroo's cackle filled the air, causing Akaashi to jump in surprise and Kenma to lose his combo streak data. Bokuto's laugh quickly followed.

"You called your cat 'NASA'?!" Kuroo wheezed, face-planting the table. "As in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 'NASA'?"

Daichi and Iwaizumi shared a look with one another, smiles quirking onto their lips.

"I was ten years old!"

"You lie, you were twelve."

"Iwa-chan!" Oikawa gasped. "You're meant to stick up for me!"

"Why? You called your cat NASA, you deserve all the roasting you get."

Oikawa's whine could barely be heard over the sound of the weather outside and renewed laughter from Kuroo and Bokuto.

Sugawara padded down the stairs shakily.

He felt awful.

The journey home was a blur, in fact, thinking everything after his conversation with Bokuto in the bathroom made his head spin.

"Koushi," his aunt spoke gently, meeting him at the final step and giving him a bone-crushing hug, "how do you feel?" She questioned, brushing his sweat greased hair from his forehead.

"Like I always do after an anxiety attack..." he mumbled, burying his face into her thick silver hair in the crook of her neck.

"Oh sweetie," she comforted, threading her fingers through his silver locks, gently running her nails on the crown of his scalp in circles in the way that never failed to comfort him, "your uncle has set up the den and has gone to get the takeout. We'll watch a movie, okay?"

"Thanks, auntie." Sugawara responded, finally pulling away from the older woman to go into the second living room.

Sure enough the room was heaven for his overworked senses. The curtains had been drawn and the coven lighting was dimmed to just enough to offer synthetic glow without hurting his eyes, his eyes swept to the couch, thick fleece blankets were situated on each end.

Lissy and Bora were in their large dog bed in front of his usual seat, the duo looking to him and batting their tails on the floor and the side of the couch, respectively.

"Hey girls," he greeted, unable to fight the small smile coming to rest on his lips.

As Sugawara settled between the two shepherds in the oversized stuffed bed the front door opened, the smell of spice and his uncle's voice filtering through the house.

"I'm home!" The older man called, bringing the food into the living room, fighting the two rowdy pups at his feet to reach the coffee table. "How are you feeling, kiddo?" He said, ruffling Sugawara's already mussed hair.

"I'll be feeling better when my insides and bum crack are burning," Sugawara joked with a smile as his uncle handed him the takeout tray.

Sugawara could practically feel the stomach destroying spice as his hands touched the plastic container. Perfect.

"Well that will definitely get your colon contracting!" His uncle laughed heartily and Sugawara couldn't help but join in.

"You boys are so vulgar!" His aunt chastised, bringing in the cutlery they'd need for their feast. "Honestly!"

"Oh Mariko-nee~" Sugawara's uncle cooed to his sister. "Don't pretend you don't have a vulgar side!" He lightly slapped her leg as she took her seat on the far end of the couch.

"Slap me again and see what happens, Mamoru!" She yelled in jest, her fluffy sleeping socks finding their way onto Mamoru's face as he sat down, smothering him in the process.

Sugawara watched on as the two siblings bickered, starting with Mamoru biting Mariko's toe and ending with Mariko sending Lissy and Bora to tackle Mamoru to the couch and cover him in sloppy kisses.

The anxiety from the day was finally fading away and Sugawara leant back onto the couch and closed his eyes.

Chapter Text

Oikawa grumbled as he made his way out of the shop front, it had started raining and the wind swirled around him.

"Stupid NASA..." He cursed as he battled with an umbrella under the shop's awning. He had found his glasses as a deformed mess on the floor beside his desk and the culprit curled up and smugly swishing his tail from his perch on the desktop.

So his morning had been going to the opticians to see if they could fix the broken arm and return the left lens to the frame rather than going to school. He was now an hour late for lessons and the weather was rapidly deteriorating.

Finally opening the umbrella in his hands Oikawa began walking down the parade of shops towards the high school.

He'd been thinking deeply about Iwaizumi and what their relationship could be classified as since the kiss. They hadn't had time to be alone and talk it through.

He hated not having an answer.

A sudden gust of wind picked up his umbrella, turning it inside out and leaving Oikawa open and exposed to the elements.

"Shittykawa!"

Surely he had to be imagining things.

No way was that Iwaizumi.

He spun around to see the other boy just metres away, wrapped up in his usual puffer jacket and holding a far sturdier umbrella than Oikawa's.

"Iwa-chan!" Oikawa sang, running to his friend and seeking refuge under the umbrella. "Why are you here?"

"I knew you'd only have a flimsy brolly," Iwaizumi gruffly stated, "so I decided to come and meet you." He held the umbrella between them, sacrificing his left shoulder to keep Oikawa drier than himself.

"Aww, Iwa-chan! I knew you always loved me!" Oikawa linked him happily, roping his arms around Iwaizumi's right bicep. "But you're awfully chivalrous, letting your shoulder get wet just to keep me a few centimetres drier."

"Shut up, Shittykawa." Iwaizumi grumbled, his cheeks and ears being tinged pink as he averted his gaze.

Oikawa wondered if Iwaizumi had always looked at him that way.

If he did, how did he not notice it before?

It must've hurt Iwaizumi to have his subtle advances not even noticed by Oikawa.

Someone who was supposed to be perceptive.

Someone who was meant to know Iwaizumi inside and out after years of close friendship.

"Hey, Iwa-chan," Oikawa started, looking at their linked arms, starting at their touching forearms and moving upwards to eventually look into Iwaizumi's eyes. Had his eyes always looked so soft?

By now they were directly outside the school gates, under the shelter of the old oak trees. In mere minutes they'd be in different rooms, in different locations across campus.

"Oikawa, you're staring--" Iwaizumi was cut short by a gentle press of warm and smooth lips to his own less-cared-for ones.

It only took him a few seconds to react, this time able to kiss Oikawa back meaningfully and hold him close.

"You're not just humouring me?" Iwaizumi questioned, almost unable to believe what was transpiring.

"No," Oikawa said, looking down with carmine cheeks, "I guess it just took some silver haired weirdo to make me realise I've always liked you."

Warm hands cupped his cheeks and thumbs swiped under his eyes.

Oh, tears.

When did he start crying?

"I- I guess I was just...scared to acknowledge my feelings..." Oikawa admitted, "When you confessed, I was really confused...but after thinking about it I realised that I felt the same..."

Warm arms enveloped Oikawa into a strong hold, gentle fingers caressing the baby hairs on the nape of his neck.

"Iwa-chan!" Oikawa screeched, pushing Iwaizumi by his shoulders.

"Jeez, what the hell? First you cling to me then--"

"No! Stop being all romantic before I've accepted your feelings, doofus!" With no response from Iwaizumi, Oikawa continued, his face turning a darker shade of red. "You're meant to go: 'oh, Oikawa-san, I'm so glad that you feel the same. Please go out with me!'"

"You got seven seconds to run." Iwaizumi ground out, barely giving Oikawa three before giving chase. The latter screaming in protest.

The rest of the day went arduously slow for Oikawa, despite Sugawara's annoying tendencies, over the time that they had spent together they had developed some semblance of friendship.

Or at least understanding.

By the end of the day the group were worried, none of them had seen or heard from Sugawara, and after the unfortunate event the day before the group couldn't help but worry.

The weather had rapidly deteriorated since the morning. Gale force winds accompanied by squall after squall of heavy, and sometimes thundery showers were on for the foreseeable future.

Oikawa found himself waiting with Iwaizumi and Daichi, sheltering from the next onslaught of rain underneath a bus shelter just outside of the school grounds. The trio looked eagerly for the rest of their developing friendship group on the orders of Oikawa.

"Yo," Kuroo greeted, appearing from behind them, making Oikawa startle.

"Bastard Rooster-Head-chan!" Oikawa screeched, turning to Kuroo and the three other creepers.

Kuroo and Bokuto quickly doubled over with laughter.

"Are we going to Sugawara-san's?" Akaashi questioned, his face buried in a new book on poetry.

"Yeah, we just gotta wait for this rain to pass." Daichi responded, the seven huddling under the bus shelter while the rain shaft passed over head.

As soon as the weather showed signs of improvement they began their swift walk to Sugawara's house.

"So how do you know where he lives?" Kenma asked Oikawa suspiciously, considering they'd only known Sugawara for a few days the brunette was very confident.

"A magician never reveals his--"

"He walked home with Suga, and then he knocked for him the next day." Iwaizumi interrupted, earning a whine from Oikawa.

The group walked down the long, narrow side street before turning left at the main road. Idle chatter about their days and how strange it was not to have Sugawara with them filled the journey.

Nobody commented on how the boy they'd all just met had already become such a large part of their lives.

It just felt natural.

Sugawara was meant to be theirs.

Eventually the walk brought them to Sugawara's street, the group letting Oikawa take the lead to the large Edwardian-styled home.

"He lives here?" Kuroo said with a whistle of awe.

The garden was like something taken straight out of a Beatrix Potter book, hedge rows of evergreen brambles, dotted with small pink flowers, thick shrubs, forest flames, and fuscia plants decorated the garden.

An immature willow tree was the centre piece of the right flank of the garden, the cut stone slabs that made a walk way to the front door were lined by lavender and curry plants. To the left was a large fence with climbing clematis of purples and deep pink.

The front door had an old wrought iron door knocker in the centre of the door at eye level, the knocker was shaped like an owl, wings spread to full span and it's sharp talons grasping the horseshoe shaped weight.

Two panes of glass stretched vertically down the door before stopping just above waist height. The glass was decorated with blue tulips in stained glass and was sheltered by an awning that was decorated with two hanging baskets, pansies and ivy trailing over the edges of the rattan baskets. The ivy had begun to latch onto the treated wooden awning supports in some places.

On either side of the front door were bay windows, the glass intricately decorated with lead finishes, the parts of the windows that could be opened were also embossed with the shape of blue flowers, the pattern undoubtedly shimmering into the rooms when the sun refracted through the glass.

Even the brick work had detailing of perfectly symmetrical patterns, a large window ledge gave the upstairs windows a perch to attach window boxes, which the owner of the house had done. Boxes of vibrant snowdrops, tulips and chrysanthemums added more colour to the matching windows.

Finally, a dorma window was centred in the roof, an attic room, the windows the same as the rest of the house, the blue flowers this time split on either side of a single white rose that adorned the middle pane of glass.

The group approached the door, raising the old wrought iron door knocker much to Bokuto's rapturous joy and waited for the occupant to answer.

"Hell-- Oh!" A woman opened the door, her eyes looking shocked to see so many boys at the door. She scanned the group before her eyes landed on Oikawa. "You're Koushi's friends?"

"Excuse us for the intrusion, ma'am, we just wanted to check on Suga-chan."

"Suga-chan? Oh, Koushi's new nickname, how cute." She smiled happily her features lighting up in much the same way as Sugawara's.

She was about to start talking again but she was cut off by the sound of hurried, muffled footsteps behind her, she seemed to know exactly who was making them because she didn't have to turn around.

The group watched in mild disbelief as Sugawara walked passed her, he appeared from the left side of the door before disappearing to the right. He paid no mind to the door being open, not even sparing it a glance.

His attire also surprised the group.

"As you can see, Koushi's a little...high strung."

"He's definitely the first half of that." Kuroo joked, earning a slap from Kenma.

As if on cue Sugawara returned from the right, turning to head up the large staircase, the blanket that was draped over his shoulders fluttering as he ran up the stairs, his oversized fluffy socks dipped low on his ankles and disrupting the traction he should've had on the expanse of laminate wooden flooring.

"You can come in, if you wish," the woman said, "although he'll most likely be doing this for the rest of the day." The smile of her face looked troubled by Sugawara's behaviour, but the group thanked her sincerely before moving into the house as the next shaft of rain bore down on them.

"My name is Sugawara Mariko, I'm Sugawara's aunt." Mariko greeted, taking the seven into the living room, the room that Sugawara had originally emerged from.

"Nice to meet you, Mariko-san," Daichi returned the greeting in kind, "I'm Sawamura Daichi." Daichi then introduced the other six as Mariko ushered them to sit down.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all! It's so nice to see that Koushi has a nice group of friends."

"Uhm, is Sugawara-san okay?" Akaashi questioned, still waiting to see the boy return from the staircase.

"Koushi has...he can get pretty anxious when it comes to the weather being bad. He'll probably be in the observatory..." Mariko spoke as if she was thinking outloud.

"You guys have an observatory?" Oikawa asked, excitement brimming in his voice and his eyes bright.

"Well, it's nothing special," Mariko explained, "my brother, Mamoru, converted the loft space into an office but then when Koushi came along he brought all of his weather stuff and asked if he could kit it out!" She laughed.

At that moment padded footsteps entered the room, a dishevelled Sugawara approaching his auntie and knocking his forehead forward onto her shoulder.

He was wearing thick fleece pajamas, a dressing gown wrapped around his body, swaddling him. Next there was a blanket draped over his shoulders which he held tightly in place, and finally he wore thick socks that hung low on his ankles, clearly three sizes too big.

He hair was a nest of grease and his eyes were dark and sallow.

His complexion was just as bad, he was pale and the blotches of rough skin on his face indicated he'd had a spot breakout, most likely from stress.

The group watched on as he remained completely unaware of their presence.

"Koushi?" Mariko called softly, rousing the boy on her shoulder. "Koushi, your friends are here."

Sugawara's head shot up, looking at the group that were watching him intently.

"Why?" He whined, dragging the word out. His knees bent and his body twisted to bury his face into his auntie's bosom and hide his creeping blush of shame.

"Soooo, Suga-chan," Oikawa cooed, "an observatory, huh?"

Sugawara looked up at the brunette and narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, Satan, an observatory." Sugawara looked at Oikawa's face, taking only seconds to cave under his stare. "Fine, c'mon."

Sugawara lead the group up the square spiral staircase, several flights later they reached an open planned office. This was the dorma window in the roof.

The group looked around in surprise, the wall directly opposite them was chock full of books on a wall to wall bookshelf. To the right there were sliding doors onto a balcony at the back of the house, beside those doors was a desk with laptop and writing books.

The group began to disperse, Kuroo walking to the desk to see weather mapping charts, lines crisscrossing one another and thoroughly confusing the sixteen year old.

Oikawa headed straight for the balcony doors, the waning light of day illuminating a telescope just outside.

Both Akaashi and Kenma began perusing the shelves as well as looking at the posters on every spare wall or low ceiling space.

Bokuto and Iwaizumi were silent as they walked around the room, taking in the details. Iwaizumi walked over to Oikawa and watched out of the window with him, his hand finding its way onto Oikawa's hip, his arm around his waist.

Iwaizumi looked out at the setting sun, positioned perfectly to the West of the house, hues of orange, as well as colours akin to a peacock's plumage spraying across the sky. Large magenta and coral whisps of cloud spreading out like a banner.

Then one of the thick turrets of cumulus reaching high into the sky caught his eye.

The cloud was dark grey as it passed over the sunset, the base of the cloud spreading further out than the rest of the cloud, the top becoming smaller and slightly distorted.

"That cloud looks like Godzilla." He stated, attracting the group's attention.

Sugawara's face lit up at the chance to further explain the cloud formation to the group. He appeared next to Oikawa on the side not occupied by Iwaizumi.

"Actually, that's called Cumulus Congest--"

Oikawa's hand clamped over Sugawara's mouth, causing his attention to shift to the other.

"I want you to stop right there and let Iwa-chan be cute, Suga-chan." Oikawa hissed.

Oikawa's next words were cut off by a slimy, warm, and wet sensation on his palm covering Sugawara's mouth. He shrieked and pulled his hand away.

"You bitch, Suga-chan! You licked me!"

"I know, you absolute ho, it's my frickin' tongue!"

The sound of rain battering against the balcony doors distracted the group, Sugawara wondered how he'd missed the shower cloud approaching.

The sky became darker and the rain became more persistent.

"It's raining men!" Bokuto and Kuroo sang in unison, clapping together and continuing the sing. "Hallelujah! It's raining men!"

"Every specimen!" Oikawa joined in, clapping in time with Bokuto and Kuroo.

"Tall, blonde, dark, and lean. Rough and tough and strong and mean~~" the trio sang.

"It's not raining men!" Sugawara interrupted. "This is precipitation of a liquid nature, men are solid!"

This earned a snort from the three.

The group had just reached the bottom of the stairs when the front door opened. Lissy and Bora both bounded in, instantly knocking Sugawara backwards against Daichi's chest.

Daichi's arms caught the silver haired boy and eased him to the ground where the dogs consumed Sugawara, both were covered in mud and their fur drenched with water.

"Ah! Lissy! Bora!" Sugawara half laughed and half protested, playing with the dogs.

"You have dogs?" Kuroo asked.

"They're so cute!!" Bokuto screeched, moving to touch the two wiggling pups.

"Why are they called Lissy and Bora?" Daichi asked, earning a scowl from Oikawa. Just as Sugawara opened his mouth to explain Oikawa cut him off.

"They're named after the Northern and Southern lights! Please don't give him the satisfaction!"

"Oi, you dickbag, I wanted to tell him!"

"Nah, fuck off you weather nerd."

"Fuck off yourself with that alien kink, you weirdo!"

"Did I come into the wrong house?" A loud, energetic voice asked with a booming laugh.

"Uncle Mamoru!" Sugawara called with a grin.

"Koushi! So I am in the right house!" Mamoru laughed. "Who're your friends?"

Sugawara then began introducing his friends to his uncle, watching his uncle patiently waiting for him to finish, his eyes flickering between Sugawara and Bokuto.

"You're the boy that helped Koushi yesterday!"

"Ah, yes sir, that's me!" Bokuto observed how much more relaxed Sugawara's uncle seemed at home than when he had seen him the day before. He could only guess that yesterday had been a front and that this was the real uncle.

Mamoru began to talk to the eight boys, grateful that they offered his nephew a welcome distraction from his fear.

"Well how about you lot get set up in the den?" Mamoru suggested, his hands coming to settle on his hips. "Me and Mariko-nee will rustle up some good food."

The group could see Sugawara's mind turning, contemplating the suggestion.

"Can we have pizza?" The ashen blonde asked, doe-eyed and with a face like butter wouldn't melt.

Kuroo, Bokuto, and Oikawa split into amazed smiles, watching his uncle almost immediately cave into his request.

"Sure, I'll nip out and buy the ingredients." Mamoru explained, reaching for his car keys from the hook and his wallet from the radiator cover. He grinned at the eight teens as he left the house, seconds later Mariko emerged from the kitchen.

"Was that Mamoru?" She took one look at the mud-covered, excitable pups, then to the mud caked entrance rug and the murk covered walls, her face dropping into a deadpan expression. "That absolute bastard. Lissy, Bora! Get in the bathroom!"

She shooed the two dogs up the stairs and onto the landing before ushering them into the bathroom.

Once she was gone Sugawara crumpled into laughter, his friends watching on in bewilderment.

"This place is like a hurricane," Akaashi commented, "it's enough to make anyone dizzy."

"That's why I love my aunt and uncle!" Sugawara replied, a cackling laugh escaping his lips.

His next sentence was cut off by the sound of wind rushing over the chimney stack and the sound rattling down into the house. Everyone watched as Sugawara's posture straightened and his eyebrows creased in distress.

"Are you okay?" Daichi asked, his hand settling on Sugawara's shoulder, making the boy face him.

"Y- Yeah, let's just...go..." Sugawara tripped over his words, unable to form a coherent sentence in his panic.

"Hey, Suga, where's the den?" Kuroo questioned, picking up on the teen and his inability to focus and directing his focus on a goal.

"It's this way." Sugawara said in a tumbled rush of words, pointing to the door on the left of the staircase.

Oikawa was next to catch on.

"Can I plug my phone in?"

"Only if you have good music." Sugawara quipped.

"Omg can we play Monopoly?" Bokuto asked, his eyes bright after seeing the board game on the shelf. "And Twister!"

Daichi walked over to the shelf, getting the games in question down.

"Your aunt and uncle have Cards?"

"Well I'm pretty sure they like playin' Pick Up," Sugawara reasoned, "I fell for that a couple times."

"No, I mean, Cards Against Humanity."

"What's that?"

A collective gasp rose from the group.

"Suga-chan, I'm offended!"

"Dude, then this ain't the game for you." Kuroo said.

A small, nimble pair of hands stole the box from Daichi, everyone turned to see Kenma already seated on the rug with Akaashi, the pair sorting out the deck into black cards and white cards.

"Suga can just team up with Daichi." Kenma stated, shuffling the white cards before sorting out seven decks of ten cards.

Daichi caught the grin that Oikawa gave him as he went to sit down the the others. He felt his cheeks and ears heat up as Sugawara and himself joined the group on the thick, red shag rug.

"Okay, so does everyone aside from Suga-chan know how to play?" Oikawa asked, a coy smile still decorating his face.

A chorus of agreements filled the air before Oikawa picked up the first black card.

"Why am I sticky?"

The room immediately got to work in selecting a card that would get the brunette to laugh. Meanwhile, a manic cackle filled the air at both the question, and some of the answers.

"That one! That one!" Sugawara begged, leaning across Daichi's arm to point at the card in question.

Daichi scoffed before handing Oikawa the card and politely asking Sugawara to pick another white one from the deck.

Once six cards had been submitted, Oikawa read them out after shuffling them in his hands.

Some made him chuckle, while others he couldn't hide his aversion.

Until one.

"Menstrual rage," this had Sugawara laughing again, "Suga-chan! Just for that I'm picking 'My Ex-wife', who was my ex-wife?"

"You'll find her in a sleazy bar on the District." Kuroo laughed, earning laughter from the rest of the group.

"That was me, Oikawa-san." Akaashi said, taking the black card from the other teen.

Akaashi stashed the card before taking a black card from the deck.

"It's a pity that kids these days are all getting involved with [blank]."

This time Daichi didn't let Sugawara choose so rashly, the pair discussed the cards in a hushed whisper while everyone else was handing in theirs.

Daichi and Sugawara finally agreed on a card, handing it forward and waiting for the response.

"It's a pity that kids these days are all getting involved with a disappointing birthday party." This earned a laugh from the group and Akaashi, he moved onto the next card. "Holy shit. Drowning the kids in the bathtub." He looked around the group and then to Sugawara.

"What? That wasn't me."

Akaashi then revealed the card to the group, all apart from the user gasping or grinning and looking at Sugawara too.

"It's a custom card, either your aunt or uncle wrote this." Oikawa said while trying to hold back a snorting laugh.

"You better watch your back Suga!" Bokuto jeered playfully.

"That doesn't surprise me at all," Sugawara said, "they're weapons! Now which card won?"

Akaashi continued to read the rest of the cards, losing his composure on the second to last card.

"It's a pity that kids these days are all getting involved with Permanent Orgasm-Face Disorder."

"What's yours like, Keiji?" Kuroo teased, barely containing his laughter.

"That's for Bokuto-san to know, and for you to never find out, Kuroo-san." Akaashi stated coolly.

"Whoa, wait, what?" Bokuto said, his eyes wider and more owlish than normal, a goofy half grin plastered on his face.

"That card wins," Akaashi said, enjoying both Kuroo and Bokuto's respective reactions, "who was it?"

"Woohooo! It was us!" Sugawara cheered, taking the card and watching Daichi take another black card.

"How am I maintaining my relationship status?"

Sugawara had never seen the cards fly forward so fast, nobody needing time to lull the answer over, everybody having seemingly the perfect card.

Daichi shuffled the cards and turned the first one over.

"Surprise sex!" Sugawara shouted before laughing.

"Powerful thighs." Daichi read out, a wistful look crossing his face.

Numerous cards varying from "lockjaw" to "opposable thumbs" were in the given selection, and Daichi resigned himself to letting Sugawara choose.

Sugawara pretended to mull the answer over, but almost everyone knew what card he'd pick.

"Powerful thighs!"

"Score." Iwaizumi hissed, taking the card from Sugawara's grasp.

"Betrayed by my own cousin."

The game continued in much the same way as the relentless weather outside.

But Sugawara's attention was fully diverted and the laughter from their antics drowned out the noises of the wind hitting the gable end of the house.

By the time the game had finished Sugawara could hear Mamoru and Mariko in the kitchen.

"You guys ready to make pizza?" He asked eagerly, climbing to his feet and rushing to the slight ajar door to the hallway.

"Yes!" Bokuto and Kuroo laughed together, climbing to their feet and following Suga. The rest of the group followed the three.

The teens entered the kitchen where Mamoru and Mariko were preparing the ingredients.

"You guys know how to make pizza, right?" Mamoru quizzed them.

"I know how to eat it." Kuroo shot back with a grin, fully expecting to be tutored on how to make the pizza.

"I'm gonna love seeing how you guys fuck up." Mamoru smirked, leaving the room with Mariko and calling for the two pups.

"Are you sure they should be leaving Kuroo-san with an oven?"

"If my first day and Oikawa's shoe has anything to show for leaving him with stuff, then no."

The radio cranked up as Bokuto fiddled with the dials, loading up the Absolute Rock 80s station.

"Here," Kenma said, directing everyone's attention to his tablet screen with a basic pizza recipe. Starting with the dough, "follow this and you should be fine."

Sugawara glanced at the recipe.

"So this recipe can serve fifteen people. Should we just team up and make four?"

"Sure, that sounds good, Suga," Iwaizumi agreed, "that way we can just do half a pizza each."

"Exactly!" Sugawara grinned.

"Keep your grubby hands off, Suga-chan, Iwa-chan's mine." Oikawa said, grappling Iwaizumi's bicep and staring the silver haired boy out.

"When did this happen?!" Sugawara screeched, leaning over the counter top island to get in Oikawa's face.

"Wouldn't you like to know~"

"This morning, Suga, when he was getting wet."

"Oooh, kinky. Did you have him against the headboard?"

"Nah, it was the shower." Iwaizumi grinned, earning a cackling laugh from Sugawara.

A loud bang and a plume of white powder filled the air in the kitchen and the group turned to see Kuroo and Bokuto coated in flour, the bag burst on the countertop.

"What the fuck?" Sugawara laughed, his laughter growing to the extent that he began to wheeze.

"We wanted to get started but the bag burst!"

"Did you cut it with scissors or just rip it open?"

"Um...the last one."

"You morons," Kenma grumbled, "I'm not teaming up with you."

"Kenmaaa!" Kuroo cried.

As the cooking session got under way, the groups began to naturally emerge, Kenma and Akaashi, Bokuto and Kuroo, Oikawa and Iwaizumi, and finally Sugawara and Daichi.

After forty strenuous and traumatic minutes the pizzas were in the oven.

The dreaded cleanup began.

Sugawara began gathering the used utensils, passing them to Daichi who placed them in the warm sink water.

Akaashi began washing the dishes, Kenma following and drying them off.

Iwaizumi was left in charge of picking up and binning the used wrappers and ingredients that couldn't be salvaged.

Oikawa grabbed the large brush stashed in the corner and he began sweeping the tile floor, by now the flour had been deposited onto even the furthest reaches of the granite floorspace.

As he brushed the floor on the far side of the kitchen island, he saw a vast amount of flour hit the floor where he'd just cleaned. He looked up to see Kuroo and Bokuto swiping the powder with utter disregard for their surroundings.

"Ey! Stop that you pieces of shit!" Oikawa scowled.

Kuroo and Bokuto had stopped listening, however. The song playing out on the radio making them smirk at one another.

The repetitive clapping and bass plucking introducing the song. Oikawa's eyes narrowed at the realisation of what song it was.

"Bastards--"

"Don't try suicide!" The pair burst into song, completely out of tune and unashamed. "Nobody's worth it!"

Kuroo stole the brush from Oikawa's hands, Bokuto getting the mop that was stored in the same place as the brush.

The pair began walking through the flour, kicking it up and dirtying the floor and cupboard.

"Don't try suicide, you're just gonna hate it!" They moved into line with one another, ear to ear grins on their faces, their footwork becoming one and the cleaning equipment becoming weapons. "Don't try suicide, nobody gives a damn~"

By now the whole group in the kitchen were watching them with faces ranging from horror to awe, and annoyance to amusement.

It was then that Mariko entered the kitchen.

"Looks like you lads are having fun." She laughed, the sound not unlike Sugawara's laugh.

"It's been great, Auntie!" Sugawara confirmed, leaning on the units.

"Well as long as you're having a good time, don't forget to check the pizzas and make sure they're not burnt." She reminded before leaving the room with a packet of biscuits in hand.

Sugawara checked the time, noticing how the pizzas should be ready.

"The pizzas should be ready now!" He called, opening the oven door to see the four golden-brown based pizzas.

The first pizza that came out was thick and spongy, he could tell instantly that this was Bokuto and Kuroo's.

They'd fucked up while trying to spin the base into a perfect circle, the dough losing elasticity with each failure and leaving the duo with a deep bread-like base, or a holy one.

Unfortunately for them the pizza now had both qualities, a sloppy hole in the centre of the base made sure that the melted, bubbling cheese was now stuck fast to the baking tray, the pepperoni looking lacklustre on the backdrop of broken pizza.

The second, in comparison, looked heavenly, although Sugawara knew that one bite would probably land him in intensive care.

This one had been done by Oikawa and Iwaizumi, the pair unable decide on a topping or on base thickness. One side of the pizza was a deep-dish base, the other a stuffed crust, and Sugawara couldn't figure out whether the cheese leaking from the crust was mouldy or the blue cheese his uncle enjoyed on crackerbread.

The toppings were equally offensive. The deep dish side was a carnivore's dream, chunks of different meats and diced tofu. The stuffed crust side, however, was adorned with pineapple, ham, and more cheese.

Akaashi and Kenma's pizza was the definition of heaven and all things blissful. The sight left the two previous pizzas in the dust. The cheese had melted just enough to start to go crispy at the edges, higher ridges of cheese taking on a brown glow and the pulled chicken and pork glazed in their own stock juice.

Sugawara and Daichi's pizza, on the other hand, was completely mediocre. They had a regular based pizza, adorned with grated cheese and the standard pepperoni and salami sliced in a less than uniform fashion.

The group sat down around the table and Sugawara began cutting the pizzas with a knife.

"Suga-chan~ Dost thou not own a pizza cutter?"

"No, you absolute mug!" Sugawara said, cutting the pizza in severely different sized pieces.

"You're a melt."

"Y'fat slag."

The sound of claws bouncing off the wooden floor stopped the name calling, Lissy and Bora bounding towards the table and rearing on their hind legs, begging for scraps.

For the most part the teens ignored the pair of rowdy pups at their feet, that was until Bokuto fed them the first chunk of pepperoni.

After that it was a free for all, the dogs staying at Bokuto's feet, pawing at his leg whenever he looked away from them.

At first nobody noticed how Akaashi had moved slightly further away from Bokuto, his posture tense. But when Kenma finally noticed it just appeared like Akaashi was scrambling for room after being squished by the dogs.

Lissy and Bora didn't let up, the duo hounding Bokuto for the food.

"Hey, Bo, catch!" Kuroo called, throwing a slice of pepperoni at the teen to catch in his mouth. Bokuto opened his mouth in response, just managing to catch the food before another piece from Oikawa collided with his chin and fell to the floor.

It wasn't until Sugawara looked up and saw Akaashi's awkward posture that his concern for his friend rose.

"You okay, Akaashi?"

Akaashi's eyes met his own, an indescribable look being wiped from his eyes as soon as they met Sugawara's.

But Sugawara didn't miss the way that Akaashi played with the sleeve of his navy school jumper, pulling it down to cover his left hand before doing the same with the other.

"I'm fine, Sugawara-san, thank you for your concern," Akaashi stood and tucked his chair under the table as best as he could, he tried to ignore the group staring at him, "excuse me, I need the bathroom."

Akaashi hurried from the room, his sleeves remaining over his hands, Akaashi's fingers fiddling with the hem of his sleeves as he went.

Sugawara dismissed himself minutes later, hoping to catch Akaashi and check that he was okay.

He walked up the stairs towards the bathroom on the first floor, he saw Akaashi sat on the top step of the landing, looking down at his crossed arms.

"You okay, Akaashi?"

The boy's head shot up, his eyes meeting Sugawara's.

"Sugawara-san, I apologise--"

"I don't get what you're apologising for," Sugawara interrupted, "but if you're afraid of Lissy and Bora then please tell me, I can put them somewhere where we're not."

"I don't wish to impose..."

"Pfft, who the hell are you imposing?"

"Who are you to believe that you are unable to talk to us, your friends, about your own fears."

Sugawara fell silent before answering.

"I've had a bad experience with telling people in the past..."

"As have I."

"Then what if we trust in one another?"

Akaashi was silent as he lifted the left sleeve of his jumper. His arm was decorated with long healed, but still deep scarring puncture wounds.

"When I was younger I was bitten by my neighbour's dog." Akaashi said, looking at the scars and running his fingers over the smooth and hairless tissue. "We found out that it had been trained to be an attack dog, but dogs that I don't know all too well make me feel incredibly unwell."

"Hmm," Sugawara hummed thoughtfully, "so you're a little flighty around Lissy and Bora because you don't know them?"

"At a basic understanding, yes."

"Okay, then I'll get you to know them!" Sugawara smiled, reaching into his pocket and pulling loose his phone. He unlocked the screen and entered his gallery. "Lissy's full name is Aurora Australis, that's the meteorological name given to the Southern Lights, while Bora's is Aurora Borealis, the Northern counterpart."

Akaashi looked at the pictures that Sugawara was showing him, pictures of Lissy and Bora when they were first born, up until a few days prior.

"They were both from the same litter; sisters, and they're pure bred Australian Shepherds! You can tell the difference between them by the fact that Lissy has a small white patch at the top of her muzzle, while Bora's is a dark brown."

Sugawara selected a picture of the two pups, showing Akaashi the differences in their faces.

"Now, I know that that information won't be enough to instantly make you feel more comfortable, but if you give me your number then I can send you photos and eventually you'll know them inside and out!"

Akaashi smiled gratefully, digging his own phone from his inside blazer pocket and accessing his phone number. He read the eleven digits out to Sugawara who entered them into his phone and sent him a text confirming his own number.

"Thank you, Sugawara-san." Akaashi said with a smile, quickly hugging his new friend.

After everyone had finished their pizza Mamoru began carting the group to their respective homes and Sugawara began getting ready for bed, excited for what tomorrow would bring.

Chapter Text

Over the course of the next month, the eight teens had all become a close nit group. Every morning Oikawa knocked for Sugawara, they then went to Iwaizumi and Daichi's street to wait for them, and then the four made their way to the bus stop to wait for the others.

It was now early October and the weather had settled. September had experienced a warm spell after the initial hiccup but now the temperatures had levelled out to the average and Daichi awoke to the sight of thick billowing fog caressing his bedroom window.

He tied his tie in the half-Windsor knot, his eyes scanning the street for Oikawa and Sugawara. But visibility was limited and he could only just see the street lights outside acting like beacons.

By 7:45AM Daichi and Iwaizumi had finished their breakfast and were ready to leave. A knock on the door alerted them to Sugawara and Oikawa.

"I'll get it!" Iwaizumi called so his father didn't need to raise from his seat, opening the front door expecting two figures.

Not one.

"Iwa-chan!"

"Where's Suga?"

"Rude! I'm the one you're dating!" Oikawa whined loudly despite the early morning. "He text me saying he'd overslept and he'd meet us there."

Daichi peered around from Iwaizumi, trying but failing to discreetly look for Sugawara.

"Morning, Oikawa--"

"Wind your neck in, Sawa-chan, your beau isn't here."

Daichi's face lit up in embarrassment as he stepped outside into the fog, Iwaizumi locking the door before following him.

Oikawa linked Iwaizumi, the trio falling into step as they headed for the bus stop to wait for their other four friends.

The bus arrived five minutes later than scheduled, and when the group merged it seemed the day was going to be very odd.

Kenma was, for once, animatedly talking.

Daichi listened in as best as he could, the fog was dense and playing chicken with rush hour traffic required extra skills, the seven raced across the road in dribs and drabs, some missing the original cue.

As they walked down the narrow side road, Kenma continued talking. He directed his body language to Kuroo mostly, but he was talking to the entire group.

"And, right, get this, today is great Silent Hill playing mood." He spoke. "The fog is so thick and dense, if Pyramid Head existed then we wouldn't be able to see him until it was too late."

"That sounds like a very, gruesome game, Kenma-san." Akaashi said, looking to the avid gamer.

It seemed he had voiced the group's concern as the others made noises of agreement.

The narrow road was one that was less travelled this early in the morning and the near-abandoned road, coupled with the poor visibility left them all more on edge than normal.

Although nobody would admit such a thing.

By the time they had reached the entrance to the school campus a shriek split the air, making the group jump and their adrenaline spike.

"What was that?" Kuroo said quietly, trying to identify the source in the thick air.

"IT'S SO DENSE--"

The group no longer could contain their fear.

Oikawa screamed and clambered on Iwaizumi's bicep, making Iwaizumi spook with the sudden movement.

Bokuto clung to Akaashi, in the process frightening the other teen.

Kuroo squealed before hiding behind Kenma, the latter becoming startled in much the same way as Iwaizumi.

Daichi felt his heart jump in his chest and he turned to face the source of the noise.

"LOOK AT MY COAT, IT'S WATERPROOF AND YOU CAN SEE THE WATER DROPLETS IN THE AIR STICKING TO IT. I'M WET!!"

"Suga-chan, you div!" Oikawa screeched, still clinging to Iwaizumi like a koala, his residual fear overriding his anger, making his voice higher and crack at the end.

"I think I'm wet for a totally different reason!" Kuroo shouted, the poor attempt at humour raising some eyebrows.

"Suga!" Bokuto called, embracing the smaller boy. "I'm so glad you're alive!"

"Suga-chan!" Oikawa repeated, his voice now firmer. "How fucking dare you scare us like that!"

"Wait, what? I scared you guys?" Sugawara said, a blank stare on his features.

The group responded with swift yeses, allowing the horror to overcome Sugawara's face.

"I'm so sorry! I was just so excited, look at how thick it is!"

The group started to calm down, letting Sugawara begin his next information deposit that had started becoming a regular occurance.

"This is called an 'anticyclonic gloom'!"

The group shared looks before glancing to Daichi, sure enough his eyes twinkled with amazement like they always did whenever Sugawara began talking about the weather.

"Suga-chan stop your flapping," Oikawa scolded, grabbing his hands and forcing him to meet his gaze, "right, I'm telling you now: scaring people is bad, do not jump at people when it's foggy!"

"Shittykawa, he's scared people, but don't talk to him like he's five."

"Maybe someone should text Sugawara-san to remind him." Akaashi proposed.

"Here, Suga, give me your number," Daichi said, "I'll text you in future."

"Sawa-chan is a smooth operator," Oikawa snickered, "but it failed, I've had Suga-chan's number for a month now."

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me."

"I have it too." Akaashi said, fully looking at Daichi.

One of the teachers walked out to greet them and the other students, ushering them into the school grounds ready for form time at half eight.

Sugawara sat with Bokuto throughout form time, becoming more enlightened as to why he had scared everyone so much.

"So Kenma was talking about some creepy game with some guy called Sphinx Head or something like that, and it's supposed to be foggy in the game, but the road was quiet and the mist--"

"Fog." Sugawara corrected.

"--was so thick. Everyone was proper freaking out although only Akaashi had the balls to say it, and then we heard your screech and everyone panicked. Hey Suga?" Suddenly Bokuto's voice changed in a way that Sugawara couldn't describe, although he sounded excited, he guessed. "I saw this game last night and I reckon it'd be a good one to play with the group!"

"What is it?" Sugawara asked, watching Bokuto's face change into joy at his reciprocation.

"Right, we gotta have two teams and a ref, but in our case we'd need two refs or a ninth person to play. And the guys on the teams have to tell a truth or a lie to the other team and the other team have to guess if it's the truth or a lie."

"Oh! I get it! But what if the people are good friends so they know everything about each other?"

"Huh, I didn't think about that."

"Then they could go on the same team?"

"Yeah!"

Form time was dismissed shortly after their conversation topic had changed, the duo heading to maths, in the previous month Sugawara had been cramming with Oikawa most mornings and he was confident that the mock exam he was about to walk in would go well.

They idly chattered outside the classroom until the teacher opened the door, a plastic crate in hand.

"Hand your phones in, we're going to do this mock properly." She curtly stated, leaving no room for argument.

Sugawara went into the room with Bokuto, placing his phone into the plastic box and taking his assigned seat.

The tables had been split in half for the test, the usual arrangement of two rectangular desks pressed together to make a square table of four seats had been compromised. The desks were arranged in an orderly linear fashion, one seat situated on the shorter side of the desk, another on the far side perpendicular to the first.

He sat down, wrote his name, and waited for the teacher, demon, to give them the go ahead.

In his assigned seat he had ended up across the room from his usual seat.

Now he was beside a huge set of windows.

He happened to glance outside, thick fog still rolling passed the window, the water droplets almost taking on a whole new form, living and breathing, outside his classroom window.

"Begin."

And the sound of thirty front pages turning filled the room.

Akaashi made his way from the history department into the lesson he disliked the most. Electronics.

It wasn't the lesson he disliked, per se, more the people in it.

A person.

Kuroo.

Well, Oikawa too, but he was at least tolerable, and after the shoe incident he held Kuroo at a definite arms length away at all times.

As he took his seat, the said annoyance entered the classroom, situating himself on the work bench beside Akaashi's.

Oikawa followed in moments later, sitting on the other side of Akaashi.

"I get what you're doing, Akaashi," Kuroo said in a hushed voice, "you're trying to stop Bokuto and me from being friends."

Akaashi ignored the statement. So what if he was?

He always became a shadow to Bokuto whenever Kuroo was involved, he hated it.

All he wanted was for the pair to include him more, especially Bokuto.

And while he wasn't actively trying to stop the two older teens from being friends, he did show hostility to the reason his own boyfriend kicked him to the curb whenever he was around said reason. Excuse.

The worst part was that he didn't want to make Bokuto choose between himself or Kuroo, because he was genuinely scared that he would pick Kuroo.

He couldn't blame Bokuto for any of it, either. Bokuto just got too swept up into the moment, every time. He was always like that, and it was one of the things that Akaashi loved most about the owlish teen. He lived for fun, he thrived on being social and loved by everyone.

Besides, it wasn't like Kuroo didn't do the same, calling him nicknames he didn't wish for that also made fun of his intellectual interests.

Honestly? All of them were being childish.

He knew that.

But he was also competitive by nature.

"We learned about Bloody Mary today, Oikawa-san." Akaashi finally stated after the practical teacher had explained what needed to be done in that lesson. "Well, we learned about her conflation with Queen Mary I, how they share the same title among other things."

Akaashi then began setting the components onto the circuit board, watching as Kuroo did the same thing.

"Bloody Mary is that figure in the mirror, right?" Kuroo asked, checking his components were in the right place before heading to the solder bench.

"Well, yes, but--"

"What if she was in a hall of mirrors or something? Would her figure be all distorted or does that not work on demons?"

Akaashi and Oikawa shared a glance.

"I wouldn't know." Akaashi said, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Really? I thought that you and Bloody Mary were rather conflated, I thought perhaps you were a demon."

"Stupid, Kuroo-chan!" Oikawa called from across Akaashi. "It would work on her but because she's in an alternate universe if it were a short and stout mirror she'd look tall and thin!"

"What if she was summoned in a car mirror?"

"Then she'd be fucking outta breath and further away than you’d think, let me tell ya." Oikawa said flippantly, earning laughter from Kuroo.

The rest of the lesson passed uneventfully, Oikawa, Akaashi, and Kuroo finished laying out their circuit boards and soldering the components to the boards.

As breaktime came along, the three made their way into the canteen, Sugawara was at the windows by the walkway, Bokuto and Daichi sat at a table consisting of two squares pulled together, they were talking together, but Daichi’s eyes were watching Sugawara.

“Sawa-chaaan~” The pair at the table looked up at the three, Sugawara didn’t seem to hear the call.

“Agaasheee!” Bokuto called in excitement, slamming his palms on the seat beside him, thoroughly claiming the seat for Akaashi and nobody else.

So to annoy him, Kuroo sat on top of his hands.

“Hey! That seat’s taken!”

“Yeah, I’m the one taking it.” Kuroo said with a grin. What he didn’t expect was the two pairs of thick arms that encased his own as he was lifted over the metal back of the chair.

“Where should we put him, Hajime?”

“The bin.”

“Gottcha.”

“H- Hey!” Kuroo called, kicking his legs in protest. “What the hell guys?”

The cousins grabbed Kuroo’s legs to stop him kicking before carrying him over to the round blue bins placed at intervals down the canteen.

A loud cackle filed the air and the group’s attention flitted over to the silver haired by previously at the window.

“Oh my God, Suga-chan, your laugh is so ugly!”

“So’s your face, cutie.” Sugawara replied, blowing a kiss in Oikawa’s direction and adding on a wink for good measure.

The cousin’s let go of Kuroo after that, the bin forgotten about now that they could see Kenma materialise through the fog outside.

Kenma’s small form entered the canteen through the Quad doors, his eyes landed on the disarray of tables, chairs, and his friends.

He shuddered as the final ribbons of cold untangled from his body before taking a seat beside Akaashi who now occupied the space that was previously taken by Kuroo.

“What did I miss?”

Akaashi only hummed in response.

When the group was gathered around the table Bokuto spoke up about the game he’d been planning with Sugawara.

“Okay, right, I got us a game to play at lunch.”

The group’s interest piqued.

“Me and Suga are gonna be the refs, so there’s three per team.” Bokuto began handing out the pieces of lined paper he’d pilfered from science. “In third and fourth lesson none of us are together so you gotta write out five truths about you, with your name on the top, fold it over, yada, yada.”

“At the beginning of the lunch time you gotta come to S5 in the science department, Sir’s letting us use his classroom.” Sugawara filled in, watching as the group took the instructions onboard, their interest well and truly on the game. “You give us the truths and we add some lies--”

“And then you’ll get one at random it could be your truth, or it could be a lie, but you gotta sell it to the other team and make them believe it’s the opposite!” Bokuto finished, his voice straining with excitement.

“This sounds like fun!” Daichi said with a smile, folding the paper into his blazer pocket ready to write it out.

“So are they truths as in truth or dare?” Akaashi questioned.

“They can be! But they can also be bizarre facts and achievement you’ve been able to accomplish, it could be something you did as a kid.” Sugawara answered with an excited grin. “Oh! Oh! Lookie!” He said suddenly, standing and running the three metre distance to the windows that overlooked the school field.

The group followed the overexcited teen as he gushed over something being beautiful.

“Ohmigawd, guys, look, it’s amazing!”

They looked outside the window, several other students watching their antics, as awestruck as the group.

“Holy… what is that?!” Kuroo asked, looking out over the field.

“A fogbow!”

“Bullshit, no way that actually exists, Suga-chan.”

“Well you’re looking right at one!” Sugawara grinned, taking his phone out and aiming the camera at the large fogbow situated across the field.

The fogbow looked like something straight out of the movies, a white arc across the field that was denser than the air around it, the top of the arc was adorned by a faint tinge of red, the inner side a blueish hue.

“A fogbow forms with the water droplets in fog rather than with rain, but the droplets are so tiny they just look white, only the extremities taking on a faded red and blue respectively.” Sugawara explained, taking another picture.

“Wow,” Akaashi admired with a smile, also taking a photograph of the phenomenon, “is it the same as a rainbow?”

“Pretty much! They’re also known as ‘white rainbows’, they have the same radius of forty-two degrees that a primary rainbow has and it forms at the anti-solar point.”

By now a small group of students were also watching the fogbow and listening to Sugawara.

“Normally we wouldn’t be able to see it, but the fog is starting to lift a little and thin out!”

“Alright, lesson time!” The call of a teacher attracted their attention away from the display of nature outside.

“Sir! Look!” Sugawara said, leaving his friends baffled, this was one of the cruellest teachers, the one who didn’t take any bad behaviour or tolerate anything that was below par. “It’s a fogbow!”

The teacher moved closer, parting the students like the Red Sea as they dispersed, leaving the eight friends with the harsh geography teacher.

“You know about fogbows, Sugawara?”

“He knows loads of stuff about the weather!” Kuroo defended, puffing up. “He’s a proper weather nerd.”

“I see,” the teacher’s eyes narrowed, a more inquisitive glance than anything else directed at Sugawara, “what are to clouds that are characteristics of Ana cold fronts?”

“Just the clouds, Sir?”

“Just the clouds.”

“Okay, well, upon the approach low level stratus and stratocumulus clouds.” Sugawara began counting off each step on his fingers. “Cumulonimbus clouds pass, before nimbostratus, altostratus, and cirrus clouds form respectively as the frontal zone moves forward. Cumulus and cumulonimbus follow shortly afterwards.”

“You really know your stuff, don’t you?”

“I’d like to think so,” Sugawara said, looking to the floor, “it’s the only thing I’m good at, really.”

“Well, I’ll let you get back to your lessons, tell your teachers that you were with me and if they have a problem with your lateness I’ll explain for them.” The teacher turned to the rest of the group. “That goes for all of you too.”

“Thank you, Sir!” They said happily, going to their respective lessons.

Third and fourth lesson saw Sugawara back in cookery with Daichi, the day was a practical lesson.

The teacher greeted them before introducing the sweet confection they’d be making that day.

Crème Caramel.

Sugawara barely suppressed his snort as he looked at Daichi who looked back in amusement.

“Kenma pudding.”

“Kenma pudding.”

“Now,” the teacher raised her voice to be heard over the class, “these puddings will need to be chilled overnight, the recipe we’ll be making serves four so find yourself four friends that you can eat them with tomorrow.”

Daichi and Sugawara smiled at one another. They’d have enough to share.

They set their pans on the hob, filling it with the required sugar content and water.

“You need to gently heat until it turns to a caramel brown, keep stirring so it doesn’t stick to the pan.”

They followed the instructions to the letter, greasing ramekins with margarine and pouring the melted sugar equally into eight ramekins.

“Now make the custard.”

Daichi began mixing his custard first, quickly followed by Sugawara, they mixed the thick mustard-coloured treat before also adding it to the ramekins.

“Now you need to put the ramekins in a baking tray filled slightly with water so you can cook the custard. Leave it for thirty minutes – I want you to begin writing up our method and what you observed so far.”

Daichi and Sugawara listened to the teacher, doing as she asked before sitting at their worktop to write out the method.

Sugawara happened to catch a glance of a second piece of paper. Daichi’s name was at the top and Sugawara immediately knew it was for the game at lunch time.

He couldn’t hide his smile as he continued writing.

He was going to learn more about Daichi, well, about them all.

The lessons passed quickly, the crème caramels chilling in the large fridge, each ramekin adorned by a removable sticker with their names on.

The pair crossed the campus, heading towards the main science block where S5 was located.

Bokuto was already inside, setting up two sides of one table, one octagon for Kuroo’s team, the other for Oikawa’s.

“Hey, Bo!”

“Suga! Daichi!” Bokuto grinned, rubbing the back of his neck before sitting at the long table between the two octagonal ones. “Have you got your truths?”

“Yeah, here they are,” Daichi said, giving Bokuto his sheet of paper, “are they okay?”

“Perfect!”

Daichi seemed pleased as he moved to sit on one of the octagonal tables, just as he took his seat Akaashi and Kenma entered next, both handing Bokuto their truths, they sat on the opposite octagon from Daichi.

Bokuto had begun writing lies next to the truths, mainly being antonymous with the truths before writing cue cards.

“We’re here!!” Oikawa called, walking into the room and smugly handing his truths over, Iwaizumi following close behind him.

“We’re here!!” Kuroo mimicked in an overly nasal voice, coming in right behind Oikawa, copying the way he handed in his truths and sitting beside Kenma.

Bokuto handed out the various cue cards, one to each of the team members with a truth or lie written from their respective lists.

“Suga, who do you want to go first?” Bokuto asked, earning a thoughtful hum from Sugawara.

“Kenma.”

Kenma looked at them both before picking up his cue card.

“Um, once I stayed up all night to repeat my friend’s game data after I accidentally deleted it.”

“What game was it?” Oikawa shot out as soon as Kenma had finished.

“Beyond: Two Souls.”

“So… what exactly did you have to get back?” Daichi asked, leaning on his section of table. “Like, was it how many hours they’d played or--”

“Isn’t that game a multi-ending? How did you do the exact same track?” Oikawa interrupted.

“I was in the room with him when he played,” Kenma shrugged nonchalantly, “so I remembered the cut scenes.”

“How long did it take you to do it right?” Iwaizumi asked.

“Ten hours.”

Oikawa’s team paused, looking at each other before Bokuto interjected.

“Have you guys made a decision?”

“Surely it’s true,” Oikawa said, “he was totally seamless.”

“I’m not sure, I think he’s lying, he’s got it all lined up to deliver.” Iwaizumi argued.

“We’ll just go with true! I’m good at reading people!” Oikawa said, a confident grin plastered to his face.

“Kenma?” Bokuto pushed.

Kenma leaned on his elbows, face resting in his hands, a rare smirk gracing his lips.

“Lie. Game data is a precious thing, I’d never make that mistake.”

“Bastard!” Oikawa slammed his fist onto the table.

“Okay, Oikawa, your turn,” Sugawara said, “please lift your cue card!”

Oikawa picked up his card, looking down.

“When I was a kid I had a crush on ET.”

The room burst into poorly suppressed laughter and snickers.

“That’s true!” Kuroo burst out, laughing louder than the rest. “I don’t even care, it’s fucking true!”

“Oikawa-san, what was your attraction to the alien ET?”

“Because ET looks like a penis!” Kuroo cackled, falling off the science stool and onto the hard, fire retardant floor.

“Gee, Aka-chan, I don’t know,” Oikawa said, ignoring Kuroo’s perverse comments, “he was just so…relatable.”

Akaashi peered at Kenma, Kenma shrugged and Akaashi said.

“We’re done.” Akaashi said.

“Truth.” Kenma followed.

Oikawa slammed his fists on the table.

“No! It’s a lie! I had a crush on the alien from Planet 51!”

“Dude…don’t admit to that.” Iwaizumi said, burying his face in his hands.

“Your turn, Kuroo~” Sugawara cooed, so Kuroo raised his cue card.

“One time I got stuck in a cupboard for four hours.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t a closet, Kuroo-chan?”

“Nah, definitely a cupboard.”

“How did you get in the cupboard in the first place?” Daichi asked.

“I wanted to prank Bo, so I hid in a cupboard.”

“Were you actually stuck?” Daichi asked again.

“Yeah, pretty stuck fast.”

“Physically?” Added Iwaizumi.

“Nope~”

“Then how?”

“Bo’s mum walked in instead of Bo. So I couldn’t get out the cupboard because I’d climbed through the front bedroom window to get in.”

“Holy fuck this is pretty illegal!” Oikawa shouted out.

“Nah, it was all cool.”

“So what do you guys think, truth or lie?” Bokuto asked to group.

“This has totally gotta be a lie!” Oikawa called.

“Kuroo?”

“Hmm, true.”

“No way! So we’re accessory to trespassing?!”

The group began laughing at the argument that followed, Sugawara watched in amusement as the game continued. Everyone from each team getting a chance to share a lie or a truth before their next lesson.

They all left together, Bokuto and Kuroo running through the corridors shoving each other into the walls as they went. Oikawa walked with Iwaizumi, their arms linked, Kenma split off first, heading into the music corridors from the mini mall.

Next it was Oikawa and Daichi, the pair having languages up the stairs just before the canteen.

Bokuto and Kuroo left almost immediately afterwards, heading down the smaller corridor to the left to go to religious education.

That just left Sugawara, Iwaizumi, and Akaashi, the trio walking through the canteen and up to geography and history, they chatted idly as they went. Iwaizumi and Akaashi entered their history class and Sugawara waited outside his geography class.

“Afternoon everyone!” The teacher called, propping her classroom door open and ushering them into the room.

Sugawara watched the fog rolling through the school grounds, casting a ghostly filter on everything it touched.

Between the weather outside, and the weather in his textbook, the lesson passed as fast as ever. Sugawara soon found himself walking through the corridors to meet the group in the mall.

“Suga! Wanna come back to mine tonight and have a videogame night?” Bokuto asked once he reached the mall.

Sugawara looked at the group already assembled, all of them looked like the same question had been jumped on them, and by the smiles on their faces they’d all said yes.

“Sure!” He excitedly agreed, rushing to catch up with them as they turned towards the main entrance.

As the group walked towards the school gates it became apparent over conversation that they wouldn’t have enough money for everyone to get the bus, and with the dark nights setting in fast leaving one or two of them to walk was out of the question.

“We could just cross Rimrose,” Akaashi suggested, “the ground will be frozen so it shouldn’t be muddy, and it’s a quicker way home.”

“Isn’t that the field where the Streakers hide out?” Oikawa asked, looking over the group to Akaashi.

“That’s the fun part!” Kuroo called back, interrupting Akaashi before he could even begin to defend his decision. “We might even get to see some stolen guns!”

“We’re gonna die.”

“If Akaashi didn’t get killed then you’ll be fine, ‘Kawa.”

Sugawara watched as time seemingly slowed down as Akaashi tackled Kuroo, knocking the unsuspecting teen to the ground and landing a hard punch to his cheek.

“Akaashi!”

“Kuroo!”

Bokuto immediately moved to separate the pair, but Kuroo took control, pinning Akaashi under his weight and wrapping his hands around Akaashi’s throat.

“Hey, stop it!” Iwaizumi growled, gripping Kuroo and preparing to lift him off of Akaashi, but the younger teen used the brief respite from Kuroo’s weight to land another punch that then hit just below Kuroo’s clavicle.

Sugawara heard the crunch of bone, but was unsure of the source until he caught sight of Akaashi’s mangled hand.

Bokuto’s arms wrapped around Akaashi as he pulled him away from Kuroo, but Kuroo quickly slipped free of Iwaizumi’s grasp and floored Akaashi again, his nose taking the force of a hit from the palm of Akaashi’s weaker left hand.

Kuroo fell backwards from the pain, groaning and clutching his tender, bloody nose as close as he could without actually touching it. The cold air made the raw injury sting and the blood flow made it throb painfully.

Akaashi was in a similar state, his knuckles burning and his entire hand already beginning to swell.

“Oh my God, we gotta get Kuroo-chan to the hospital!” Oikawa screeched, the student ducking down to help Kuroo ease the gushing red liquid from his nose. “This won’t stop bleeding unless he gets it put back in place!”

It was pure chance that earlier that day Oikawa had been covering injuries that were common in sport in his sports science lesson. One look at Kuroo’s nose was enough to know it had been broken.

Next Sugawara looked to Kenma, he’d taken his place beside Kuroo. Iwaizumi was now on the phone and Daichi was waiting alongside him, he finally looked at Bokuto, unable to decipher the expression dominating his features.

Akaashi moved, causing the group to look at him anxiously. But the teen just stood, not making eye contact with any of them he cautiously climbed over the old wooden fence before starting his journey across the darkening field, alone.

Sugawara could only watch as Bokuto’s features changed from unreadable to broken and torn as he looked between Kuroo and Akaashi, struggling decide whether to follow or to stay.

Sugawara would’ve been lying if he said he didn’t feel the same way. Who did he go with?

Akaashi wasn’t surprised that nobody followed him, so once he knew he was out of sight he stopped at the foot of an old oak tree, sliding down the bark and onto the ground, cradling his injured hand.

He’d fucked up.

Okay, he wasn’t surprised that nobody followed.

But it still hurt.

He twisted his body around and in his anger punched the tree behind him, the old wood splintering and cutting his fingers, the impact sending shockwaves through his already battered hand.

“Fuck…” He whined, deciding he was glad that nobody had followed; how would he explain his discomposed state to whoever found him?

He briefly wondered if it would be too late to transfer to that school that his parents had originally picked, the private one with high walls and no freedom to think outside the box.

He was certain that the group wouldn’t allow him back in after hurting one of the original, and more likeable, threesome.

Akaashi dug his phone from his pocket, turning it off before shoving it in his rucksack.

He was far too scared to see the rejection on the screen.

Akaashi tried to ignore the nagging pangs in his stomach, the ones that told him to check his phone, see the rejection and commit it to memory.

After half an hour of sitting and fretting he finally pressed the power button on his phone, it was hard to use with his weaker hand but he eventually unlocked his passcode to see a message from Sugawara.

His cold hand shook as he shifted his thumb to click on the icon, dreading what he would find despite knowing Sugawara wasn’t a person who was malicious.

[[Sugawara-san: If you need me I’m here ]]

Akaashi couldn’t help the smile on his lips, nor the small sniffle that escaped his chilled nose.

He stood up, mostly using the tree for balance as he tried to stand without jostling his hand too much. He then turned back on himself, slipping through a broken panel on the wooden fence and detouring down the side street to the left.

It took him fifteen minutes with a brisk walk to reach Sugawara’s house through the back streets, the broken stone path a soothing sight.

He pulled out his phone, and awkwardly text Sugawara.

[[You: I’m outside, Sugawara-san]]

It took mere seconds before there was noise on the other side of the door.

“Lissy! Bora! Ah!”

And then barking, scuffing, and shuffling noises.

“This is why you got no mates, ladies!”

Akaashi smiled at the way Sugawara treated Lissy and Bora like they were close friends and not animals. He barely had any time at all to prepare himself as the door opened and Sugawara’s body collided into his.

“Thank goodness you’re okay!” Sugawara called, hugging his friend tightly and feeling the relief wash over his body, it was then that Sugawara felt just how cold Akaashi was. “Come in and get warm! I have fluffy pajamas you can borrow!”

“You’re not angry?” Akaashi asked, following Sugawara into his house, he could hear Lissy and Bora protesting behind the closed kitchen door, scratching and shuffling, their claws clattering on the tiled floor.

“Why would I be angry?” Sugawara responded, cocking his hand to the side and leading Akaashi upstairs.

“I attacked Kuroo-san.”

“Yeah, but isn’t that what teens do? Scrap and stuff.” Sugawara reasoned, turning up the next stairwell. “I’m no expert in the etiquette of being a high schooler, but I’m pretty sure it’s normal behaviour.”

Sugawara led Akaashi into his room, offering him his warm fleece pajamas before catching sight of his hand.

“Ohmigod, Akaashi! That need hospital treatment!”

“I know, but--”

“Why haven’t you gone then?”

“I was going to…”

“Come on, I asked auntie if she could make enough dinner for you, she can do some first aid on your hand and then take us up there, okay?”

“Okay,” Akaashi agreed, “but, um, do you think I could try sitting with Lissy and Bora? Well, when they’re calm.”

“Sure!” Sugawara’s smile lit of the room. “They’ll be excited to see you at first, but if you just shush them they’ll calm down.”

Akaashi nodded shakily, following Sugawara back down the stairs and into the hallway. They stood in front of the kitchen door, the smell of hotpot filling the air and the sound of Lissy and Bora running along the floor behind the door.

“Ready?”

The dogs seemingly stopped moving as they heard Sugawara’s voice, Akaashi could only imagine them stood to attention, waiting for their owner to enter the room. So he nodded, hoping that Sugawara going in earlier would stem some excitement.

“Wait there then,” Sugawara said, opening the door just enough to slide through before shutting it on Akaashi, he heard laughter and excited whining before the door opened again. Sugawara was holding a thin, wide strip of brown meat biscuit, “tell them to sit and then give them half of this, it should help.”

Akaashi took the strange dog treat after Sugawara broke it in half, catching the distinct smell of beef.

He followed Sugawara into the room, his heart pounding as he held his injured hand close to himself.

The two dogs looked up at the pair, obviously also noticing the scent of beef emanating from Akaashi. They were quick to be at his feet, the two girls rearing onto their back legs, begging for the treats but not jumping at Akaashi to take them.

He took a deep breath.

“Sit.” Sure enough both dogs listened to his command, the pair sat obediently at each other’s side. He cautiously gave them both their treat, keeping his fingers well away from their mouths and backing his hand away a little too quickly.

He looked between them, remembering what Sugawara had said about their patterned faces being the only way to distinguish them apart.

Once they’d finished eating the treats Akaashi carefully lifted his left hand, flinching when Bora with the dark brown muzzle sniffed his hand in the air, his sleeve was lifted just enough for him to catch sight of the old bite scar before he gently rested his hand on Bora’s head.

Bora leaned into his touch, thoroughly enjoying having her ears tickled.

Sugawara called Lissy over, doing the same for her so she wasn’t left out, but it seemed that both dogs were eager for affections from Akaashi and the two teens were soon on their knees and the dogs sprawled out with them.

Akaashi was elated, he ran his fingers through their thick fur and he found himself becoming mesmerised by the two pairs of earth brown eyes looking up at him.

“You feeling okay?” Sugawara asked, teasing Lissy’s ears through his fingers and blowing her kisses.

“Amazing,” Akaashi said before continuing, “I never thought I’d ever be able to do anything like this ever again. Thank you Sugawara-san.”

“Don’t thank me!” Sugawara said, a rosy glow high on his cheeks. “I just want you to feel comfortable here; I won’t pry, but I think I can sympathise with you about your parents, so I want this to be your safe place like it is mine!”

“Thank you.” Akaashi repeated, a smile on his face.

“Are you boys ready for dinner?”

“Yeah!” Sugawara responded, jumping up before helping Akaashi stand. “We’ll wash our hands!”

“Koushi, does your friend need me to look at his hand?” Mariko asked, remembering Sugawara telling her that Akaashi could be hurt.

“Oh, yeah! Is that okay?”

“Of course, the pair of you sit down, I’ll dish up then I’ll take a look.”

Sugawara and Akaashi washed their hands before taking their seats. They ate in relative silence while Mariko looked at Akaashi’s hand.

“You’ll definitely need to get it checked at the hospital, can you see the really localised bruising?”

Akaashi looked to where Mariko was pointing, her hands hardly ghosting over his skin.

“Yes?”

“That’s usually a sign of a break or dislocation. You’ll probably need a splint, possibly a cast depending on how severe it is.”

“I see.” Akaashi looked at where Mariko had been examining, his skin was broken, angry crimson welts littering his knuckles, deep blue and purple bruises scattered sporadically across his skin, fainter blue bruises were becoming clearer as time moved on. “Thank you, Mariko-san.”

“Would you like Koushi to take you to the hospital?”

“I couldn’t ask that.”

“You’re not; we’re offering.”

“Uh huh!” Sugawara agreed.

“Then I’d like that, please.”

The journey to the Accident and Emergency department was a warm one. All of that night Akaashi had been chilled to the bone, but Mamoru’s car was warm, the seats fitted with warming pads.

Akaashi allowed himself to relax for the first time in a while, he still had worries, but he pushed them to the back of his mind.

“Are the painkillers working, Akaashi?” Sugawara asked, looking to his friend beside him.

“They’re starting to help a little, thank you Sugawara-san.” He rested his head on the headrest, closing his eyes.

By the time they’d arrived at the hospital the Accident and Emergency department was full with people waiting to be seen, and comparatively Akaashi’s injuries didn’t seem anywhere near as bad.

There was a man in the far corner with multiple electrocardiogram stickers attached to his body, rubbing absent-mindedly at the left side of his sternum.

A man sat with a younger girl, hastily placed butterfly stitching holding together a long gash on her brow.

One patient was desperately sucking on a blue Ventolin inhaler between hacking, chest rattling coughs.

Another held a cardboard bowl in one hand, the other covering their eyes.

The teens knew they were in for a long night of waiting, everywhere they looked there was someone with a more urgent issue.

Sugawara signed Akaashi in with the receptionist and the pair sat down, waiting to go into the assessment room.

“Akaashi Keiji?” The triage nurse called out into the waiting room.

“Want me to come with you?” Sugawara asked, but Akaashi dismissed him, telling him to just wait there.

He walked into the small office as the nurse directed him to sit.

“So how can I help you today?”

Akaashi looked at his hand before presenting it to the nurse.

“And what caused this?” She said, gently inspecting it in much the same way as Mariko.

“I had a fight.” Akaashi said, looking down with shame.

“Well I’d hate to see what the other one looked like,” the nurse tried to lighten the mood, “you’ve come out with slight bruising on your neck too,” she explained, lifting his chin to view the finger shaped bruises on his neck, “but aside from that you look okay.”

She moved to a cabinet, pulling out non-alcoholic disinfectant and quickly swabbed the cuts on his knuckles.

“Unfortunately, as you can see, we’re really busy tonight so you’ll be put on the minor injuries unit.”

“Thank you, nurse,” Akaashi said, “do you have any idea how long the wait will be there?”

“Well you’ll need x-rays and then whatever comes of those will need treating appropriately, I’d say six hours tops, but don’t hold me to that, minors could get busy.”

“I understand; thank you.” Akaashi stood, his body still tense with the strain of his worry over the fight.

“Oh, and Akaashi-kun?” The nurse said as he gripped the door handle. “Don’t worry,” she gave him a kind smile, “I’d be more worried if you didn’t fight at your age; so don’t beat yourself up over it, okay?”

“I’ll try, thank you.”

Akaashi made his way back into the waiting room, freezing in place when he saw who was sitting alongside Sugawara, occupying his previous seat.

He walked over, trying to remain calm, but his heart began jumping from his chest and he briefly wondered if he would be able to just run through the doors to the ambulance bay and go home.

“The nurse told me I need to go to the minor injury ward.” Akaashi announced when he’d arrived at the seats occupied by Sugawara.

“Agaasheee!!” Bokuto crowed, rushing to him.

“Hello, Bokuto-san.” Akaashi greeted, shying away from the older teen.

Sugawara stood, followed closely by Bokuto and Akaashi as they followed the hanging signs to the minor injuries unit.

The air was stifling, tense, and Akaashi felt sick.

“I’m gonna go the bathroom.” Sugawara stated once they’d arrived in the minor injury ward, hurrying around the corner to the bathrooms.

There were no other patients waiting to be x-rayed.

Akaashi felt too many things, a lot of which he didn’t even know how to react to.

He was frozen with the fear of not knowing what to do.

“I- Is Kuroo-san okay…?” He asked shakily.

“Yeah, he was treated by the paramedics when they got on scene. It’s all good.” Bokuto confirmed, twiddling his thumbs and keep his gaze trained on his hands. “I’m really glad you’re okay too. I was really scared when you weren’t at your house, I panicked and told your parents you were staying at mine and I was coming to get your stuff while you finished extra classes.” He rambled.

Akaashi felt himself relaxing, Bokuto had done all that for him?

“Kuroo also wants to apologise, he said he didn’t mean to offend you, you’d never told him it upset you so he didn’t think that it did.”

“I suppose than makes sense.”

“Are we okay?” Bokuto asked, looking at Akaashi’s hand. “Kuroo also mentioned something about you being unhappy with our friendship.”

“No!” Akaashi stopped himself before trying again. “No, I,” he took a breath, “I just wanted you to include me more. I feel like when the two of you are together you get swept up in his flow and I get left in the dirt.”

“I’m sorry, Akaash.” Bokuto looked back to his own hands. “I didn’t know.”

“I don’t want you to stop being friends with Kuroo, I just,” he sighed, “y’know?”

“I get it,” Bokuto comforted, holding Akaashi’s uninjured hand, “I’m super surprised though! Man, that punch was fucking awesome, it was pretty sexy, Akaash.”

Akaashi could feel his entire face heating up at the praise.

“Thank you.” He said with a smile, resting his head on Bokuto’s shoulder. He was able to feel Bokuto’s bound-to-be-goofy-looking grin on the crown of his head.

“Akaashi Keiji?” The doctor in charge of the minor injuries ward requested, Akaashi stood, asking Bokuto to wait for him.
 

Chapter Text

The shrill sound of an alarm clock made Kenma jolt awake. He blearily blinked around the room and then to the clock. Five AM.

Oh, he had to do that thing for Kuroo.

He forced himself out into the cold of his room, going to his desk and setting up his sewing machine. Kenma rubbed at his eyes before perching his reading glasses on his nose.

“Akaashi’s right, Kuroo is a pain in the ass.” He mumbled, yawning before going to his closet and pulling out the large sheet of glow in the dark fabric tacked and hemmed into the shape of a body-con morph suit.

He lay it on his desk and then began turning the fabric inside out. He grew annoyed when his bangs kept falling in his eyes, bobby pins did nothing, his hair was too thick, his ears were occupied with the arms of his glasses, so they were off limits too.

He fiddled with the colourful bobbin wheel in his machine, pulling loose some of the thicker thread and tying his hair into a tight pony tail before adding bobby pins to catch the stray hairs.

He hung the green morph suit on a coat hanger and returned to his work desk, bringing more of the fabric out from the desk drawer and setting it out.

“Where’s that flaming-- Ah.” Kenma moved to his bedside, the sticky post-it note attached to the worn plastic. He looked at the measurements, the allowance for the extra hair.

Kuroo had a fat head.

Kenma returned to his desk, measuring out with a ruler the distance he needed, using a compass to create the circumference of Kuroo’s head, leaving an inch and a half extra for tack stitching.

He cut the fabric, tacked it, then cut slits for eyes.

It was six-thirty AM when a gentle rapping at his window jolted him, he opened the sash window and Kuroo climbed in.

“Did you do your bit?” Kenma asked him, resting his hand on his hip.

“Yeah,” Kuroo said, handing him a painted black hollow ball from the kiddie pool at the local McDonalds, “you’re so kind making Oikawa his costume~”

Kenma took the ball, making a small incision and cutting it in half.

“I can’t be all that nice if I’m making you something that takes the piss outta it.”

Kuroo snorted, sitting on the bed and watching as Kenma used round patches of fabric to create pouches, slipping each half of the balls into the pouches so they protruded from the slits he’d made earlier.

He stitched the pouches a lot more carefully than he did the tacking stitch, he could always go over the tack stitch with his machine, he couldn’t with this.

“I love your hair.” Kuroo joked about Kenma’s pony tail.

“Thanks, I love your fat head.” Kenma said, finishing the manual stitch and taking the green fabric to his machine. He sat down and started working the pedal, the bobbin reel spinning as he pushed the fabric through the needle bed.

Once it was finished he turned off his machine, breaking the left over thread with his teeth and turning it inside out, much to Kuroo’s amusement.

“Holy shit, this is gonna be awesome.”

Kenma could hardly fight the smile on his face as Kuroo took the now finished mask from Kenma’s hand and worked his head into it.

“Let me probe you, pudding child.” He crooned in an odd voice, making Kenma laugh.

Kenma watched Kuroo wandering around his room, his head buried in the mask and wondering how the day was going to pan out.

Although all he could think of was a shit storm.

He took his eyes from Kuroo, going to his wardrobe to take out his uniform before his eyes found Kuroo again.

Lately something wasn’t right.

Kenma didn’t feel… right.

But he couldn’t put his finger on it.

He wanted to talk to his mother about it, but he was certain she’d just dismiss it as his hormones.

It definitely wasn’t that.

But it didn’t feel right to talk to Kuroo about it either.

Kenma began taking off his pajamas and getting ready for the school day.

All too aware of the other boy in the room.

Maybe he was just on edge, by now he should be dating, nearly everyone in his year group was dating or had at some point dated.

Even Akaashi.

Akaashi Keiji, with the strictest parents Kenma had ever had the displeasure of meeting was dating the human tornado called Bokuto Koutarou.

If it weren’t Akaashi who told him he would’ve laughed in the gossiper’s face.

They were so different.

Kenma pursed his lips, buttoning his pale blue polo shirt.

“What’s with that face?”

Kenma looked up at Kuroo who was now lying on his bed, looking at Kenma with a craned neck and upside down concern on his face.

“This is my normal face.”

“Is something bothering you?”

“School.” Kenma said without hesitation, it was always his go-to excuse when he didn’t want people to know the truth.

“Is there anything I can help with?” Kenma knew that to an outsider it sounded like Kuroo was asking about schoolwork, but whether he was doing it consciously or not, Kenma knew it wasn’t an offer that was exclusive to that.

“No, I’ll be okay.”

“Offer still stands.”

“I know.” A small half smile ticked the corner of Kenma’s lips upward and he finished getting dressed, messily tucking his shirt into his trousers before reaching for his tie.

He tied it loosely, leaving the neck far too big and the tie far too short for school regulations. He watched Kuroo roll his eyes and stand to fix it.

“You gotta look presentable or your form tutor’ll have a fit.”

Kenma simply shrugged, before lifting his chin so Kuroo could fix the tie around his neck.

“Says the one going in in an alien morph suit.”

“Says the one who made it.” Kuroo said, moving away and beginning to undress. “Besides, the teachers won’t be the ones seeing it.”

Kenma felt obligated to look away, avert his gaze while Kuroo changed. But they’d been friends for so long, changed in front of each other so many times, been naked when they would bathe together more times than he could count.

He didn’t want to be obvious that something was bugging him, but that was made difficult now by how much eye contact was too much.

If he stared without shame then that might appear odd, if he averted his eyes the entire time then that would also appear odd.

How much staring was too much?

How did he use to look at Kuroo?

He couldn’t remember.

So he busied himself, packing his schoolbag and neatening his room, but then, that wasn’t like him either.

“I’m pretty sure you should be the one wearing this,” Kuroo said, fixing the morph suit so it sat perfectly on his body before putting his uniform on over it, “you’re acting really strange.”

“I’m fine, honestly.”

“See, Kenma, I know when you’re not okay, something is bugging you and I’ll be damned if it’s just schoolwork.”

“I’ll tell you more about it when I have it figured out myself, Kuro.” Kenma snapped, conceding slightly but standing firm elsewhere.

“Okay.”

They both finished getting ready for school before making their wat to the bus stop at the end of their road where they’d meet Bokuto and Akaashi, the quartet boarded the bus when it arrived.

While on the bus Bokuto made them aware that they weren’t meeting with the other group before school that day, and that it had something to do with Oikawa.

Kenma and Kuroo already knew what it was.

Aside from that the ride was quiet, almost strained after Kenma’s brief snap towards Kuroo, and as they exited the bus Kenma was glad when Bokuto distracted Kuroo from the tension, he fell into step with Akaashi.

“How’s your morning been, Kenma-san?”

“I’m feeling indifferent about how my day is probably going to pan out.”

“Ah, one of those days.”

“Yeah.”

The pair fell into comfortable silence, watching as Kuroo and Bokuto walked slightly ahead, bantering with one another.

“W- Watch out…!” A female voice called. Kenma and Akaashi both looked up just in time to see a girl wearing their uniform plough into them.

“Kenma?”

“Akaash?”

The pair in front of them looked back to see a tangle of limbs, both Akaashi and Kenma pinned under a skateboard and a girl with the year nine tie pattern respectively.

Kuroo picked the skateboard up easily from Akaashi’s fumbling hands, Bokuto helping Akaashi stand while the young girl scrambled to her feet, freckled face burning red with embarrassment.

“I- I’m so sorry!” She cried, offering Kenma a hand to stand up, he took it albeit loosely.

“It’s quite alright,” Akaashi comforted her, now on his feet, “accidents happen.”

“I’m okay,” Kenma said, happening to stare at her legs and the graze on her knee, “are you, though?”

She lifted her skirt just enough for her to see he injured knee, even thought the skirt was knee length from her line of sight the graze was completely hidden by fabric.

“Oh, yeah, this happens all the time.” She said it almost like a question, her voice lifting in pitch at the end of the statement-turned-question. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Kenma just shrugged at her.

“It’s a little icy, it’s bound to happen.” He reasoned as Kuroo returned the skateboard to the girl’s arms.

“Ah-! I’m Sierria! I’m in year nine.”

“Kenma, year ten.” Kenma responded. He looked at the battered longboard in her arms. “So do you always use that?”

“Yeah,” she said with a smile, “my favourite mode of transport is feeling the wind through my hair.”

Kuroo cackled at her answer.

“You can get that on the bus too, y’know, you just gotta open the windows.”

“I’m sure I could also get that by sticking my face by your arse, doesn’t mean I’m gonna do it though.” Sierria quipped back, choking Bokuto with laughter.

“Oh, ho, ho, nice!” Kuroo laughed as well.

Kenma couldn’t fight his smile and it seemed that neither could Akaashi and the five ended up walking the remainder of the way to the school gates together, Sierria’s board under her arm as they walked.

There was also a refreshing zest to the usually drab and routine walk, for every single one of Kuroo’s jibes and banter, the girl two years younger than him was always on his heels with a comeback.

When they reached the school gates the group split off, to go their respective form times, Kenma said goodbye to Kuroo and Bokuto as he, Sierria, and Akaashi made their way to their form rooms.

“So Kuroo-san has also got a costume?”

“Yeah, I made it for him, and Oikawa’s-- Wait Bokuto is dressing up too?”

Akaashi hummed softly, looking at Sierria as she walked beside the pair.

“Do you have any plans for Halloween, Sierria-san?”

“Oh, no, my family don’t really do much for it.”

“Wanna hang out with us later?” Kenma asked, peering around Akaashi to talk to the younger girl.

Akaashi looked on in surprise, Kenma was reaching out to someone?

“Omg, really? You mean it?” Sierria asked, excitement brimming in her voice. “I’d love to!”

Akaashi watched as Kenma smiled slightly, continuing to discuss the plans for the day with Sierria.

Kenma was in first lesson when he saw first-hand Kuroo’s plan come into fruition. Physics had been dreary, learning about the visible light spectrum, eyeballs ready for dissection on the paper towels around the classroom, that was until two green masked faces looked through the narrow glass panel of the classroom door.

He buried his smirk into his hand as he came to rest his chin on his palm, several other students began to snicker and giggle, prompting the teacher to pull his attention away from the whiteboard.

His eyes met the two figures disrupting his class.

“Oi!” He called, crossing the distance between the board and the door in four long strides, the faces disappeared as the teacher drew nearer, the bodies undoubtedly bolting down the hall and out of sight.

Kenma looked down at the eyeball that was staring up at him with an unnerving lack of a blinking mechanism. Soon, his mind was formulating a plan, letting it brew until the urge to resist was so little and the urge to follow through was too high.

He silently opened his rucksack, pulling out his plastic press-lock lunch box, easing each clasp open and lifting the lid.

Next he removed the zip-lock bag that contained his sandwiches for lunch time, quietly unzipping and extracting the thankfully scentless food from the bag and stuffing it into his blazer pocket, never more grateful that his parents insisted on a clingfilm wrap around the sandwiches as well as a zip-lock bag.

Finally, he carefully picked up the bulbous eyeball between his forefinger and thumb, dropping it into the plastic bag and zipping the lock.

Mission accomplished.

He just hoped it wasn’t diseased.

The rest of the lesson passed uneventfully, he no longer had an eye to dissect, so he passed his time with videogames.

Kenma went to his PE class next, while physical education wasn’t exactly his favourite, he wasn’t opposed to it either.

It was more the people he hated.

He placed his rucksack on the wooden bench, shucking off his blazer and hanging it on the clothing hook. He loosened his tie, not totally letting the knot fall apart, and also put it over the hook.

“Hey, Kenma-kun.” A deep voice rumbled, several snickers following the greeting.

“What do you want, Saito?” Kenma asked, clipped and curt, he began unbuttoning his shirt.

“Y’always have those real expensive consoles. Bet those cost a pretty penny, eh?” Saito asked, leaning on the wooden bar that the hooks were attached to.

“What’s it to you?” Kenma let his hair fall over his face, enough to shield him from their view, but giving him a thin curtain to watch them through. He folded his shirt, resting it on the bench as he rummaged for his PE shirt.

“How ‘bout we have a wager?” Saito asked, his eyes narrowing and his group of cronies moving closer. “After school. Winner has the games.” He left no room for an answer.

But Kenma gave him one anyway.

“Gee, if you wanted a fight all that bad,” he turned round, “why wait?” His right fist clipped Saito’s lip, despite the height difference.

Saito staggered back, a welt on his lip beginning to leak blood. Meanwhile Kenma turned around, continuing to get changed.

“You fucking--"

“Saito!” The teacher called as they entered the room from the back door. “Why aren’t you ready yet?”

Saito grumbled in anger, looking at the smaller male.

“You’ll pay for this.” He hissed, retreating to the other side of the changing room.

Once he was out of sight, and the teacher had exited once again to continue setting up, Kenma reached for his phone and checked the time.

Only fifty minutes of hell left, surely nothing could go too wrong in that time.

The lesson progressed without incident, the biggest thing not going according to plan was seeing three luminous aliens running passed the gym doors in the English corridor.

As Kenma made his way back into the changing room he noticed the pile of clothes he’d left beside his bag was now smaller in height, the charcoal black trouser pants missing from the top of the pile.

He knew exactly who’d done it.

He moved between bustling bodies, approaching the corner of the changing room that always reeked of both sweat and copious amounts of body spray and deodorant.

Today was no different and the overpowering smells caught his throat, making it sting and he struggled to refrain from coughing.

“Saito, where are my pants?” He questioned, a glare on every feature of his face and he crossed his arms for good measure, meeting Saito’s eyes dead on.

Saito shrugged, his lip now an angry purple.

“I dunno.”

“Y’do know. I’m not daft.”

“Oh, y’are daft, messing with me, you little turd.”

“Funny, coming from someone who always smells like he rolled through manure to get to school.”

By now the other students were almost done changing, the room clearing out in their excitement to get to break time.

Kenma realised the situation he’d became trapped in.

The teacher was now off duty, the changing rooms left unlocked during break time, and now the rest of his peers were quickly dispersing.

It was then that he saw the deep grey pants hanging from the neck of one of the shower heads.

Saito hadn’t made a sound, but he was observing Kenma with a predatory gaze, for once Kenma felt vulnerable against his own way of sussing people out.

But Kenma didn’t shy away from the challenge, entering the separate shower area, the sole shower cubicle and reaching to grip the leg of his pants.

He pulled the fabric down, instantly noticing the awful rips and tears along the legs.

“Sai--"

The cold water was a surprise to Kenma. The showers were old, disused, whatever water was left in the tank had probably not felt the warmth of a boiler in years.

Kenma tried to escape the cubicle but Saito stood in the way of the exit, one of his friends leaning over the cubicle wall to his left, and another to his right.

He began to shiver as the freezing water soaked through his kit and onto his skin.

“Have you ever had a haircut, Kenma-kun?”

It took Kenma less than a second to realise what he meant, and it took a second longer for Kenma to react.

He pushed past Saito, shoving at his side to escape.

But Saito’s two friends cut off his escape, grabbing his arm.

“You’ve really done it now, Kenma-kun.” Saito growled, grabbing at Kenma’s damp and mussed hair.

Kenma didn’t respond, not wanting to give Saito the satisfaction of the bite, he pulled against Saito’s friends, but their grip only tightened.

“Bokuto won’t be very happy knowing his teammates are bullying his best friend’s friend.” Kenma ground out, trying to intimidate them into stopping.

Saito laughed, tugging Kenma’s hair tighter.

“I ain’t afraid of a pussy-ass faggot.”

“Well you should be.” Kenma returned, swinging his leg forward to kick Saito, the ball of his foot impacting Saito’s stomach and sending him backwards, winded and keeled over himself.

“You son of a bitch.” Saito spat venomously, closing in on Kenma once again. His friends let the smaller boy go and Saito shoved Kenma back into the cubicle with the ice water. “Just for that it won’t only be your hair getting cut.”

Kenma’s whole body hurt, the collision with the stall wall grazing the notches of his spine and his lower back.

Suddenly, the changing room doors burst open, laughter ringing throughout the room.

“Man this is great!”

Kenma instantly recognised the voice, it seemed that Saito and his friends did as well because a hand quickly snaked across Kenma’s mouth, holding him to the wall by his face.

The tiles dug into the back of his head and he grappled with Saito’s wrist, digging his trimmed nails into his skin.

“Hey,” one of the voices said, “isn’t this Kenma-chan’s?”

They must’ve seen his folded clothes and bag left on the wooden bench by the door.

“Yeah,” Kuroo’s voice was next, “where is he?”

Kenma bit Saito’s hand, the latter barely containing a muffled groan before kicking Kenma in retaliation.

It seemed the muffled noise was all Kenma’s friends needed to make them look over.

“Oh, sorry guys, were we interrupting youse?”

No.

They couldn’t see him.

Whatever they were seeing it wasn’t him.

Kenma saw Saito draw the scissors from his blazer pocket. Who the hell had scissors in their pocket?

Saito pulled Kenma’s hair back, making Kenma grunt in pain. A poor and uneven ponytail was now in Saito’s hand and he brought the scissors to the bunched up blonde hair.

“Nah, you’re not interrupting much.” One of Saito’s friends said masking Kenma’s noise of protest.

“You haven’t seen Kenma have you?” Kuroo directed the question to the friends.

“Can’t say we have--”

A loud bang echoed through the shower rooms and into the main changing room, startling both groups of friends.

Kenma, unable to break free, had slammed his fist into the cubicle wall beside him.

It was then that he saw a tiny fleck of black from Kuroo’s hair, good, that mask was awful.

“Kenma!”

Their eyes met and Kenma watched Kuroo’s face drop, did he really look that bad?

It was then that Kenma’s eyes were drawn to the odd golden-coloured hand in his peripheral vision, the clump of hair in Saito’s hands.

He opened his mouth but couldn’t say a thing, reaching behind him to feel at the choppy jaw length hair.

Saito was pulled from his body, his hand letting the hair go and it fell to the floor gracelessly, wet and tangled.

Angry words faded into white noise as Kenma could only stare at his hair in front of him.

The noise grew louder, the sound of six people becoming eleven.

Black curls came into Kenma’s focus, closely followed by silver, and then even auburn.

Sierria?

“Kenma!” Sugawara yelled, pulling him out from the stream of water with Akaashi’s help.

Once he was out of the water and resting against a nearby wall tanned, freckled skin and bright blue eyes entered his vision as Sierria knelt in front of him.

“Kenma-kun, are you okay?” She asked, doing the only thing that felt right she removed her own blazer and wrapped it around Kenma’s shoulders and torso, hoping her body heat would help keep him warm.

“Those bastards.” Sugawara now had Kenma’s wet and ripped pants in his hands. “I’m gonna go show the admin guys, this is disgusting.”

Sugawara left with the tattered cloth, the main changing rooms became louder and Akaashi peered around the entry way to the heated exchange of words.

Kenma moved along the floor and also rounded the threshold to see what was going on.

He saw Bokuto, Kuroo, Iwaizumi, Daichi, and Oikawa, they’d all rounded on Saito and his group of friends. Even though three of his friends were dressed as aliens, the five of them towered over Saito.

He also noticed just how scared Saito looked as Bokuto leaned into his personal space, toe-to-toe and nose-to-nose.

Even though he wasn’t exercising his power as captain, nor his physical strength, the tone of voice, his posture, and his size were enough to have Saito cowering.

“I’m gonna have you guys removed from the team for what you’ve done!” Bokuto roared, finally using his captain status to lay into the bullies.

But Saito dared to bite back.

“Showing favouritism won’t get you what you want.”

“It’s got nothing to do with whether you hurt my friends or not, Saito!” Bokuto looked like it was taking every inch of his strength not to hit the boy in front of him.

Instead he slammed his fist into one of the small, wall mounted blue lockers, denting the metal door and chipping the paintwork. The sound reverberated through the air, making everyone nearby wince.

Kenma had never seen Bokuto so angry.

“Anyone on my team who reckons it’s cool to hurt other people doesn’t deserve to be on my team!” His shout echoed through the changing rooms and undoubtedly through the vents into the mini mall.

“What is going on in here?!” The sound of a teacher bellowing into the changing room, the heavy black door was thrust open as the coach of the rugby team stormed in.

“Sir!” Bokuto shouted, heading straight over to the teacher. “I want these off the team, I’ve just--”

“Captain, hang on a moment.” The coach interrupted. Looking at Saito and his two friends, then to Kenma surrounded by Akaashi and Sierria, Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Daichi, Kuroo, and finally back at Bokuto. “Alright, first, I can’t just get rid of them, especially because we have an important game tomorrow. Secondly, I want all of you to come with me.”

“We’re here!!” Sugawara called, entering the room along with an admin officer.

The coach looked exasperated as he caught sight of Sugawara, he turned to Bokuto.

“Are there anymore people involved?”

“Nope!”

“Okay,” he turned to the small woman from the reception, “can you do me a favour, Miss? Can you take Kozume-kun to the medical room to wait for someone to bring him a fresh change of clothes.”

Kenma looked up, the clump of hair still tightly in his grasp.

“Of course,” she responded, walking over to Kenma and offering him her hands to stand up, “let’s go, Kozume-kun. We’ll take you through the admin corridor away from other students.”

Kenma stood up without her help, still clutching his chopped hair.

“Can I come too?” Kuroo pressed.

“You can go later, Kuroo-kun, I need a statement on what happened from all of you.” The coach responded as Kenma and the admin officer left the changing rooms by the door at the back.

Sugawara didn’t understand why he’d been asked to fill out a statement; he’d not been there for all that long, he’d missed most of the action. But he had seen what had been done to Kenma first hand.

He looked around the meeting room, the coach at the head of the room, everyone separated by two seats as they were all made to sit in silence and write out statements on what happened.

He noticed Saito’s eyes boring a hole into Oikawa’s, an unusual expression oozing from Oikawa’s face.

Suddenly the coach stood.

“I’ll be back shortly, I just need to nip next door to ask Kozume-kun to write a statement as well.” He exited the room and no sooner had the door latched shut did Saito challenge Oikawa.

“What the fuck are you looking at? Get shafted, y’fag.”

To which Oikawa only chuckled.

“Perhaps later, Saito-chan.” He said, eyes lidded and a clear mocking tone in his voice. “Would you like to shaft me?”

Sugawara burst out laughing.

“Are you kidding, Oikawa?” Kuroo spoke up, venom lacing his speech. “You don’t know what you’d catch.”

“Homophobitis!” Sugawara laughed. “Inflamed homophobes are dangerous y’know?”

“Whatever, pussy-ass faggot.” Saito growled.

“Hey, Saito,” Sierria spoke softly, “these guys are anything but those foul words. They’re open about who they are, just like you, they’re brave for doing that because of people like you, those people include parents, siblings, friends. You can say what you want but you only make yourself look like a horrible person.”

“I suppose you’re the girl who all the straight ones shaft?”

“And what if I am?” Sierria shot back, maintaining a cool and nonchalant tone, leaning back in her chair and swinging her legs onto the desk and crossing them at the ankle, regardless of the fact she was wearing a skirt. “Are you jealous?” She smirked, crossing her arms across her chest.

The door handle jerked and the door opened as the coach re-entered the room, he took his seat again.

“Kozume is currently filling his statement out, then he’ll be going home. I don’t want to, but due to protocol I have to send you all home.”

Sugawara’s fear spiked, expulsion?

“Do you mean, like, expelled?” He asked, barely keeping his voice level.

“More like isolation, until we’ve had a look at your statements and decide further action.”

“Iso?!” Oikawa screeched. “But iso is for kids who are actually, like, criminal, we didn’t do a thing!”

“That’s enough!” The coach yelled, standing up. “Saito, Yamazaki, Kamiro, I want you all to leave the premises right now, go home.” The coach waited for the three to leave the room. “As for you lot, I hope you understand how bound my hands are, they’ve caused actual bodily harm to Kozume-kun, the school won’t be taking this lightly, but I have to punish all involved accordingly.”

“We understand, Sir,” Bokuto said, “rules are rules,” he shrugged, “a group of five surrounding a group of three don’t look great in anyone’s eyes.”

“I’m glad you understand, Bokuto, I’ve got a meeting with the head, the vice, myself, and admin tonight, so we’ll discuss everything and tomorrow morning come in bright and sunny! I wanna see you, Sawamura, and Iwaizumi on your best game tomorrow!”

The group were allowed to stay seated in the room while Kenma finished his statement, then they all left the school grounds together.

Kenma was quiet on the way home.

The mood was dour and Oikawa, Kuroo, and Bokuto had all changed from their Halloween costumes.

“Does anyone wanna come to mine?” Sugawara asked, not knowing how else he could help lift the air around them. “We could, like, just…watch movies and stuff.”

The group remained quiet, leading Sugawara to feel like he’d messed up with the offer.

“That might be what we need, Suga-chan.” Oikawa said first.

“I actually have to go to work.” Daichi said apologetically.

“And I gotta help out at home.” Iwaizumi added on.

“Not tonight, Suga.” Kenma said, getting ready to cross the road. Kuroo looked at Sugawara before chasing after Kenma.

“I gotta go and get ready for the match tomorrow, but I’ll come over at the weekend if you want!” Bokuto said with a grin, him and Akaashi following after Kuroo and Kenma.

“And this is where I live.” Sierria said, pointing to the corner house. “I guess I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

“See you later, Sierria.” Sugawara waved her off. Walking the rest of the usual route with Daichi, Iwaizumi, and Oikawa.

Soon, the cousins split off to go home, leaving him alone with Oikawa.

“I’ll come over for a bit if you’ll have me.”

“Sure, if you want to!” Sugawara said with a smile, walking beside Oikawa as they began chatting about their day.

“I got chased out the toilets by one of the cleaning ladies!” Oikawa laughed as he recounted the story of when he first changed into his alien costume.

“Ohmigawd, did you scare them?” Sugawara cackled, his usually dirty laugh belting out down the street.

“Yeah! She really freaked out!”

“I wish I’d been there,” Sugawara grinned, heading up the front path to the heavy front door, “I really wanted to dress as something today!” He fiddled with the lock of the front door before turning to Oikawa. “Where do you wanna go?”

They walked in through the front door, and immediately bombarded by Lissy and Bora.

“Observatory?”

“Stupid question, really.” Sugawara smirked. “Let me just go tell auntie you’re here.”

Sugawara went into the living room with a smile, telling Mariko that Oikawa was staying for tea, he came back out to see Oikawa doting on Lissy and Bora.

“NASA always gets moody when I come home stinking of dog.” Oikawa said, following Sugawara up the stairs.

“Ey! My dogs don’t stink!” Sugawara grumbled, going into the observatory with Oikawa.

They sat underneath the front Dorma window on the window box, looking out the window at the world passing by.

“I didn’t know Daichi had a job.” Sugawara commented, trying not to reveal that he was bothered by the fact.

“It’s seasonal, he and Iwa-chan take it in turns.” Oikawa filled in, looking up to see the confused look on Sugawara’s face.

“But no one else has to work.”

“As far as I’m aware no one else lives like they do.”

“What do you mean?” Sugawara asked, turning himself on the seat to look at Oikawa head on.

Oikawa sighed, looking wistfully up at the ceiling.

“Listen, I don’t think you’re meant to know, but they haven’t said that you can’t either.” Oikawa said, meeting Sugawara’s eyes. “I’ve been friends with them since we were kids, okay? Ever wondered why they live together despite only being cousins?”

Sugawara thought in silence, he could think up multiple answers easily.

“Yeah, I have thought about it a few times…as well as why…”

“When Sawa-chan was nine his parents died in a car crash. He has two younger siblings; twins.” Oikawa explained, his voice sombre and his posture subdued. “Iwa-chan’s parents took the three of them in.” Oikawa tucked his knees under his chin, curling up on himself.

Sugawara listened, he didn’t know what he could say. So instead he rested his arm over Oikawa’s hunched shoulders.

“About four years ago Iwa-chan’s dad had an accident, he hasn’t been able to work since. Iwa-chan’s mum is the sole breadwinner and with six mouths to feed including her own? It can get pretty close sometimes.” He spoke quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. “They wouldn’t accept my help, my family are really well off so a little money for them wouldn’t be a huge deal.”

“But they’re proud.” Sugawara said, finishing Oikawa’s sentence.

“Very proud. When they turned fourteen they began taking it in turns to get seasonal jobs. I’m not sure just how much they keep, I know they work ridiculous hours. Sawa-chan works at a high end hotel, but to save money he rides his bike, an hour there, an hour back, all to save a couple quid a day. Iwa-chan’s the same, he teaches sport in the summer, usually in the winter, but Sawa-chan switched with him so he could be with me this winter, but they share the bike.”

“But talking to them, you’d never know.” Sugawara whispered.

“They’ve had years to learn how to hide their struggles, they’ve had years of practice…they grew up too fast.”

“They’re amazing,” Sugawara smiled, “but I bet it scared them when Bokuto had the car crash.”

“They were a wreck.” Oikawa confirmed. “But that was also when it became harder to read them.”

The pair sat in silence for an indistinguishable amount of time, Sugawara could tell that Oikawa wanted to ask him a question.

“Something on your mind?”

Oikawa startled, looking at Sugawara in mild disbelief.

“I hate how perceptive you are.” He commented, mock offence in his tone. “Well, I don’t know how to ask it without it coming across as intrusive.”

“Hit me with it then.”

“What about you?” Oikawa asked bluntly. “Why are you here with your aunt and uncle? Why did you transfer here in Year 11? Where are your parents? Why did you move here?”

“That’s a whole load of questions!” Sugawara laughed, his body relaxing as he leant back on his hands, stretching his legs out. “Where do I start?”

Oikawa watched Sugawara dance around the topic, watching as he formulated his story in his mind and articulated it.

“Well, I guess that you can see just how…different I am. I have funky obsessions with the weather while it simultaneously scares the shit outta me.” Sugawara explained, finally admitting to both his love and fear of the world around him. “It’s the noisy weather that does it, wind, hail, rain, the stuff that gets the world shaking.”

“I see, so Iwa-chan was right.”

“Huh?”

“He compared you to my cat after you went home from school because of the hail, y’know? When you first started. NASA hates the sound of wind.”

Sugawara laughed.

“I guess that’s pretty accurate. I don’t actually know what it is that makes me scared, but the noise fills me with dread and it makes me jumpy.” Sugawara finished before moving to the next question. “My parents didn’t try to understand me.”

“Oh…I’m sorry.”

“Nah, it’s all good, I was a handful. I never focused on school work, I’d lash out when I got really stressed. My parents and teachers told me to get my head out of the clouds; both literally and metaphorically.” Sugawara scoffed, looking to the window at the fading daylight.

“I tried, God, I tried so hard. But why does the weather affect me? Why am I so fascinated by clouds? How does the weather work? If I had the answers then I don’t think I’d be scared. For a while I saw it as an incurable disease, something to be ashamed of. The weather…it’s not normal to be afraid of something that gives life.”

Oikawa snorted, interrupting Sugawara.

“Suga, vaginas give life.”

“So?”

“You’re gay.”

“Yeah, but I’m not scared of…” he trailed off. “Okay, you got me.”

The pair burst into laughter before Oikawa let Sugawara carry on with his story, offering him a shoulder to lean on.

“My parents were struggling a lot, so my dad sent me to live with his brother and sister, Mamoru and Mariko. I also got to take Lissy and Bora with me. I guess that answers all your questions.”

“Hm, I guess so, a domino effect.”

“Exactly.”

“And that’s why you didn’t want us to know about the weather or your anxiety, you trusted a guy you hardly knew with your deepest secret in hopes that he’d trust you.”

“I did…”

“Well congrats, Suga, you’ve earned it.” Oikawa smiled, warm and genuine. “You’ve earned it from a lot of people, y’know? You’ve got loads of friends who’d do anything for you.”

“Really?”

Oikawa hummed, meeting Sugawara’s gaze, the latter breaking eye contact.

“All of us agree, you’re that gooey stuff that stuck us all together; even as early as four days into knowing you, we just…you were ours. Get it?”

Sugawara’s eyes brimmed with tears and he furiously blinked them away.

“You mean it?” He asked, almost begged. “You’re not just saying that to drop me down the line, are you?”

“No, don’t insult us. We all love you, Suga. I know one off us likes you in a different way, but, oops, I shouldn’t have said that.” Oikawa said with a sly grin.

“Omg who is it?”

“My lips are sealed.”

“You’re a gobshite.”

“And you’re a cockwomble.”

“Oh, fuck off!” Sugawara laughed. “You’re a massive yeast infection, you know that?”

“Is that ‘cause I’m a…fun-guy?”

Sugawara grabbed a pillow and screamed into it, barely containing his tears of laughter.

“I hate you!”
 

Chapter Text

After his talk with Oikawa, Sugawara began to relax more around his friends. Today was no different.

The first Autumnal storm had been named and was scheduled to make landfall at midday with winds in excess of sixty miles per hour.

“Fuck me.” Sugawara mumbled over breakfast, his spoon shaking in his hand and most of his cereal ended up back in the bowl.

“Koushi, please,” Mariko chastised, “I don’t mind if you swear with your friends so long as you’re careful about your surroundings. But please, you’re my little sugar lump, I don’t want to hear the nephew I still see as a seven year old hunting rainbows swearing like he was raised by sailors.”

“Sorry auntie,” Sugawara said shamefully, “I’m just nervous.”

“I know you are sweetie, that’s normal for you, but look at you, you’re still going to school despite that.” She said, tickling his cheek with her index finger. “You make us so proud!”

Sugawara blushed slightly at the praise, it was so unusual, he wasn’t use to being told that people were proud of him. He didn’t know what to say in response.

The door bell rang and Sugawara jumped up to answer it, battling Lissy and Bora who’d been resting in their dog beds.

He flung the door open wide, seeing the entire group stood on his front step.

“Hey-o!” Kuroo called with a grin.

“Morning Suga!” Bokuto cheered.

“What the hell? Why are you all here?” Sugawara asked in amazement, seeing them all snugged down in thick waterproof coats and hats.

“You were ranting in the group chat about the storm, remember?” Daichi said with a tired looking smile.

“You were bugging us to wrap up warm and dry, Oikawa said we should all meet you today to help you get into school.” Iwaizumi explained from behind a thick scarf.

Sugawara looked at them all, from Akaashi in a simple fleece jacket, to Kenma and Sierria wearing thick puffer coats, hoods up and shivering in the material. He rushed to hug Kenma.

“How are you feeling today?”

“I’m okay, Suga, honestly.” Kenma smiled a small smile, it had been a few days since the incident with Saito. “I think I’m ready to get it evened out tonight.”

“I’ll do it!” Oikawa said with a smile, hugging Kenma as well.

“Right! I’ll just go and get my stuff!” Sugawara said, rushing back inside to get his coat.

A few moments late he was stood with them, zipping up his orange puffer jacket and following the group down the front path onto the street.

Sugawara kept chancing glances at the sky, monitoring the cloud cover.

Stratocumulus clouds and cirrus.

He felt the wind had changed direction from earlier when he’d let Lissy and Bora outside, it’d moved anti-clockwise. He knew that once the wind had backed, as soon as it veered clockwise then the front would be here.

That’s when all hell would break loose with violent winds, heavy precipitation and the possibility of thunder.

After that it would signal the start of the cyclonic depression’s onslaught.

“Suga-chaan~ Stop overthinking~” Oikawa singsonged.

“I’m not, I’m just wondering if you’d get hit by lightning or not.”

“Mean!”

As they reached the top of the school road Sugawara began feeling spits and spots of rain, the cloud cover thicker and making him feel the first tendrils of fear licking at his body.

He felt a warm hand on his shoulder as he began to trail behind the group.

“You okay?”

He looked up at Daichi, nodding after some hesitation.

“I’m just really nervous.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

Sugawara thought for a moment, wondering what he could do.

“I don’t know.” He said with a sigh.

Sugawara looked on at Daichi as he untangled his headphones and plugging them into the headphone jack, offering a bud to Sugawara.

He took it, sitting it in his ear and Daichi started his playlist on shuffle.

“Who’s this?” Sugawara asked, recognising the overdriven guitar and drums for the introduction, before an electric bass guitar filtered over them in time for the singer to begin singing.

“Red Hot Chili Peppers.”

“Sounds spicy.”

“In their youth, they were.” Daichi laughed.

The pair continued walking down the route, several songs passing through the headphones.

Daichi’s stomach dropped as the next song began to play.

“Ah, here, let me switch this.” Daichi said, hurrying to pull his phone from his pocket, unlock it, and change the song.

“Nah, it’s okay, this intro is kinda catchy.” Sugawara said, pushing Daichi’s arm back down.

“No, I mean--"

“Honestly, it’s okay,” the intro soon turned into singing, Sugawara instantly picking up on the words wind and snow, “ooh, weather.”

The first chorus passed without incident, but the song quickly became profane.

It was during the first real verse that Sugawara realised why Daichi was so adamant to change the song.

“He has a bleeding erection?!” He squawked loudly, the song becoming worse as he continued. “Daichi! He’s singing about having a devil in his penis!” Sugawara paled. “And a demon in his semen!”

Daichi swiped the earbud in Sugawara’s ear, face blazing and ears burning from embarrassment as they attracted the rest of the group’s attention.

“Ohoho?” Bokuto smirked, looking at Daichi with a wide grin.

“Ohohoho?” Kuroo added, also turning to peer at Daichi.

“Oh? Sawa-chan, how forward~” Oikawa teased.

“That’s one extreme porn video.” Sierria said, a knowing smile on her face.

The group walked through the school gates, mercilessly teasing both Daichi and Sugawara.

By the time they’d reached the main entrance Sugawara had almost completely forgotten why he was anxious in the first place.

“You guys ready?” Oikawa asked.

Sugawara was about to question what his friend meant; ready for school?

It seemed he didn’t need an answer, Oikawa opening his rucksack, Bokuto lowering his from his shoulders, and Kuroo removing a red Segway hoverboard from his own.

Oikawa’s was blue, and Bokuto’s was yellow. All three turned their boards on and placed them on the ground.

“Ready.” Kuroo confirmed, pulling out sunglasses from his inside blazer pocket and putting them on.

“Ready.” Bokuto grinned, doing the same.

“Charge!” Oikawa shouted, following their lead and the three moved their balances forward, the Segway hoverboards pushing through the school threshold and turning left into the mall.

Sugawara looked between the remaining group.

“What the fuck?”

“Don’t ask.” Iwaizumi sighed, leading the rest into the school just in time to catch the other three disappear into the science corridor, swathes of students scurrying out of their way. “Something about aliens.”

“How long do you think it’ll take them to get caught?” Sierria asked, looking at Kenma.

“Honestly?” Kenma answered with his own rhetorical question. “Only a divine being will know the answer.”

“Ah, so should I ask the religion teacher? She always says she talks to God.”

“I think this is far beyond God’s light.”

Sugawara watched the pair closely, brow furrowed in confusion.

Had they always stood in such close proximity?

Sugawara had only ever seen Kenma so naturally close to Kuroo.

The cinematic screen positioned on the wall in the mall read almost half past eight. Sugawara turned and waved his goodbyes to the remaining group before heading to the technology labs and to his form room.

Sugawara found his first two lessons lonely. He had physics as his first lesson, learning about Red Shift and The Doppler Effect. As engaging as they were, being without his friends was his what he hated the most.

Sugawara drew a diagram in his book, an ambulance, with the sound waves closely packed at the front, and separated towards the back. With the word pitch at the bottom with two arrows pointing outward.

The next diagram was two almost identical visible light spectrums, red through to purples. Sugawara used his ballpoint pen to draw lines in yellow, blue, and purple on the top spectrum, and on the bottom he shifted it to the right with orange, green, and blue.

His anxiety spiked as the plastic blinds knocked into one another, drawing his attention to the slightly open window.

The wind hadn’t been that strong before.

The blinds swung against one another, clacking and filling Sugawara with tumbling nerves and he felt the familiar feeling in his lower stomach, his hands grew sweaty and his mind began to tunnel.

“Sugawara-kun?”

Sugawara’s eyes shot up to the teacher, realising the class had already left.

“Y- Yes, sir?” He steeled himself, but instead the teacher sat down on the stool beside him.

“Your diagrams are very good,” the teacher said, pointing to the pictures in Sugawara’s physics book, “but your attention wavered towards the end, is everything okay?”

“Oh, I, um, I just…” Sugawara felt his words getting stuck in his throat under the gaze of the teacher.

“Anxious?” The latter asked, his voice soft and understanding. “This time of year can be especially hard for students, even more so for you because you’ve recently transferred.”

Sugawara nodded, but that was only one of the reasons he felt more anxious and on edge.

“But just so you know, my door is always open for you if you need to chat. And it’s Saturday tomorrow so you can let your hair down a bit.”

“Thank you, sir.” Sugawara said gratefully, packing away his workbook and pencil case in his bag.

Sugawara left the classroom, hurrying through the corridors. His anxiety gave him no respite, the mini mall’s corrugated iron roof amplifying the sound of the steady rainfall.

As he made his way through the canteen, the noise was quieter, but he could see the rolling cumulonimbus clouds coming in overhead.

He’d been prepared for the bad weather to start at noon. Not now, it was too early. He whined quietly at the back of his throat and rushed through the canteen to the art classrooms.

He pushed through double doors and into the art rooms, seeing the lesson already underway.

“I- I’m sorry I’m--”

“Get out!” A shrill cry demanded, making Sugawara startle. He looked at the class and then to the teacher. “Go on, shoo!” She chased him. “How dare you show up late to my lessons, Sugawara, get out my classroom this instant!”

Sugawara did as he was told, although it didn’t feel like he was moving fast enough.

What was her problem? It wasn’t like he was late on purpose.

As he walked back through the canteen he heard a deep voice from the seat area, looking over to the source.

“Get kicked out of her class didja?” The curly haired sixth former asked.

Had he been there before?

“What did you do? Go the bathroom? A smoke?”

“My physics teacher kept me behind to talk to me.” Sugawara said, standing in the gangway awkwardly.

“Well if you wanna take a seat, get some toast or something.” He said, lazily patting the seat beside him.

“Thank you, um, I’ll pass on the toast, though, I think.” Sugawara said as he went to sit down.

“Boo.”

“Issei~~”

Sugawara turned to see the pinkette skipping to the table, a small cardboard cup in one hand and a napkin with bubbling cheesy toast in the other. The pinkette’s gaze met Sugawara’s and he stopped in his tracks.

“You’re that kid that fainted!”

Sugawara looked up at him, vaguely recognising him.

“Holy shit, you’re the guy who helped me.”

The curly haired man looked between them, a scandalised, yet mildly amused look on his face.

“Hanamaki Takahiro, but you can call me…anytime.” He said, putting his food on the table and giving Sugawara finger guns.

“Wow, rude.”

“And this is Matsukawa.” Hanamaki introduced, sitting down and taking a bite out of his cheese-covered toast.

“Matsukawa Issei.” Matsukawa finished properly.

“I’m Sugawara Koushi.”

Before either could respond to Sugawara’s introduction, Matsukawa’s eyes locked onto the food Hanamaki was eating.

“Makki,” Matsukawa said with a sudden sternness, his brow creased and lips tight, “no.”

“Makki yes.” Hanamaki responded, taking another bite from the cheese laden toast.

Sugawara watched between the two, pouting in confusion.

“Makki, you can’t keep making yourself sick to get out of class.”

“I can and I will.”

Matsukawa’s large, bear-like hand slapped the table he was leaning on, his face now deadpan. His eyes landed on Sugawara’s confusion and his expression changed.

“Makki’s lactose intolerant, but the fucker eats dairy to get out of classes he doesn’t like.”

Makki gave the table a thumbs up, continuing to wolf down the melted cheese.

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“It’s bound to cause some damage eventually.” Matsukawa shrugged, stealing the cardboard cup of yoghurt before Hanamaki could start on that as well. He tipped the cup towards Sugawara, offering him some of the cool treat.

“I’m okay, thanks--"

“Excuse you, give me back my yoghurt!”

“You don’t even like it,” Matsukawa snorted, “you just want to get out of maths.”

“How could you accuse me of such, Mattsun, my love~” Hanamaki gasped with scandal.

“Because it’s all over that turd eating grin.”

“How do you know I just want to eat healthy?”

Matsukawa looked at Hanamaki, one eyebrow cocked.

“Yeah, okay,” Hanamaki conceded, “we both know that’s a load of bullshit.”

Sugawara continued to watch the couple banter back and forth, quickly losing track of time until the first spots of slanting rain became visible on the window, an indication of strengthening winds.

“You okay?” Matsukawa asked, briefly stopping his half-hearted scolding to look at Sugawara.

“Uh, yeah,” Sugawara said, although he didn’t feel too sure, “I just…weather.”

The older teens both looked at each other, questioning glances passing back and forth.

“Weather?”

“Clouds, precipitation, pressure, fronts--”

“We know what the weather is, just not what it has to do with you.”

“Suga-san!”

The three around the table looked up towards the Quad doors, an icy chill forcing it’s way in behind the petite girl.

Sierria excitedly gained ground on the table, stopping just short of Sugawara.

“Hey, Sierria, everything okay?”

“We were learning about wind today in geography!”

Sugawara looked up at the girl, realising once again what he’d missed out on at his old school, on the old exam syllabus.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah!” Sierria plopped gracelessly onto the chair beside him, digging out her geography text book and opening it to the pages she had been allocated in her lesson. “See?”

Sugawara began reading the information in the book, taking in the words and making noises of awe and joy as he read.

“Ugh,” Hanamaki mumbled, “I gotta go, it’s home time for mee~” Sugawara briefly looked up to see Hanamaki rush towards the bathrooms, Matsukawa close on his heels.

Sugawara buried his head back into the book, feeling disappointment when he reached the end of the second page.

“Is there anymore?”

“No, sorry,” Sierria said apologetically, taking the book back from under Sugawara’s nose and stuffing it back into her rucksack, “the library might have some?”

“I doubt it.”

“Yeah…”

The pair fell into silence, watching the canteen filling up with more students from all age groups. Sugawara found his eyes wandering to the sheets of slanted rain as it pummelled the roof of the canteen.

He felt his nerves rising at the noise and he bit his lip.

“Want to go and sit somewhere else, Suga-san?” Sierria asked, looking at him.

“Yeah,” Sugawara said, “I’ll just text the others.” He removed his phone from his blazer pocket, noticing a text from Kenma. “Kenma said the rugby team are holding open training session on the field at lunchtime, weather permitting.”

“That would be so cool!” Sierria grinned excitedly, gathering her things while Sugawara sent Kenma a reply saying they were going elsewhere. “So, we can go watch and stuff?”

“That would be really fun!” Sugawara agreed, walking with Sierria and agreeing to meet everyone else at lunch time under the bike shelters. “We missed the last match.”

Sierria and Sugawara walked into the science corridors, noticing a small cap on the floor bubbling.

They shared glances before going in for a closer look.

“It’s a water hydrant access point.” Sierria said, hands braced on her knees as she looked at the steady puddle of water forming on the ground. “Maybe a mains burst or something?”

“Yooo!”

Sugawara looked up from where the new voice had come from, seeing Kuroo approaching, flanked by Bokuto.

“Kuroo! Bokuto!” Sugawara called, beckoning them over to see the leaking hydrant.

“Call me cautious,” a new voice began, startling Sugawara and making him turn around to see Daichi, “but doesn’t bubbles mean pressure?”

Sugawara gasped, looking between the group.

“Yes! Bubbles mean pressure and pressure means this thing could explode!”

“Well holy fucking shit.” Kuroo swore, looking at the hydrant. Despite the fact water was now seeping in earnest onto the linoleum flooring, bubbles were frequent.

“What are you all so interested in?” Akaashi asked, Bokuto immediately enveloping him in a bone crushing hug.

“Akaash! The floor is bubbling!”

By now the water had pooled around the hydrant, spreading towards the walls and almost separating the group.

“Get away from it!” Sugawara heard the louder, more desperate than usual voice of Kenma as the teen rounded the corner. “The canteen roof just caved in!”

Sugawara watched the scene unfolding quickly, Kenma approaching the group as a speed he’d never seen the usually sluggish boy reach before. Kenma’s left arm then outstretched, gripping Sierria’s wrist and tugging her back from her crouching position as the hydrant seal broke, sending the black metal grid upwards and embedding it into the ceiling.

Sierria clambered to her feet, taking a few steps back as they all looked at the broken ceiling board and the water now gushing freely.

“I reckon the school day’s over now.”

“This is the storm’s fault, it’s moving to the South of us so we’re in the largest rain band.” Sugawara cursed. “How are we gonna get across the water if the canteen is also flooded?”

“Aha!” Sierria laughed, puling her skateboard from her bag. “Suga-san! You first!”

Sugawara took the board nervously, he’d never skateboarded before. He placed it on the ground and rested his left foot on the wooden board, pushing off with his right foot and kicking across the water.

“That was great!!”

Sugawara passed the board back over to Sierria, who offered the item to Kenma.

“You go first.” Kenma insisted, leaving no room for argument.

Sierria crossed the water next, creating a wave of water from each side of her board.

As she was about to pass Kenma the board she was met by thin air.

“Kenma?”

Kenma had backed up, Sugawara found his eyes drawn to Kuroo, noticing the slight tilt in his lip and the gleam in his eyes as he gazed at Kenma.

“You guys are going to want to make some room.” Kuroo said, shifting to the left of the corridor, the rest of the group followed him, leaving the right side clear as Kenma began running forward.

He gripped the display case on the wall, the thin plastic frame only large enough for him to curl his fingernails into it.

His right foot planted square against the wall, his left quickly moving in front of his right to cover the next step. Kenma’s hand let go of the display, his right foot pounding against the wall one more time before he pushed off, leaping clear of the water and his friends.

Sugawara watched, awestruck.

“Holy shit, Kenma!”

The boy looked back, completely unruffled.

“That was amazing, Kenma!” Bokuto cheered, clapping him on the back.

“That was nothing.” Kuroo grinned proudly.

“Why didn’t you ever mention doing parkour, Kenma-san?”

Kenma shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“I didn’t really see a need to.”

Sugawara moved quickly, grappling Kenma’s shoulders.

“You gotta show us more sometime!!”

“I’ll think about it.”

The group began making their way into the mall, chattering about Kenma’s hidden talent. As they began merging with more students they heard the headmaster telling teachers to send students home so the school could be repaired.

“Did anyone remember to bring an umbrella?” Sierria asked, turning to the group.

“Nope.”

“We’re going home anyway!” Sugawara argued, turning on his heels to face the group, his hands in his pockets. “So what if we get soaked? It’s Friday!”

Kuroo shrugged, walking backwards with Sugawara.

“He has a point.”

“Time to get wet!”

“Hey, has anyone seen Oikawa and Iwaizumi?” Daichi finally spoke up, the seven stopping in their tracks as they realised two members were missing.

“Probably taking Saito’s advice and getting shafted.” Sugawara shrugged. “Let’s check the bathrooms.”

“I do not want to think about my cousin like that.”

“Dude, let’s cockblock them.” Kuroo laughed, rushing to the boys’ toilets with Bokuto hot on his heels.

“Small things,” Sierria chuckled, looking at Kenma’s perplexed expression, “what?”

“Small things?”

“Oh! It’s a saying I learned on my travels; small things amuse small minds.”

Kenma snorted, standing with her by the staircase while the others searched for Iwaizumi and Oikawa.

“So do you travel a lot?”

“Kinda…my parents never really settled, but hopefully we won’t be moving for a while now…” Sierria trailed off, breathing before continuing, “maybe I can finally have a normal teenage life.”

“I could tell you weren’t native; your accent was hard to place, though.”

“Yeah…that’s not the only part of me that doesn’t fit in.” Sierria looked down, carefully scrutinising the floor. “I’ve never had a home, since I was born my parents have travelled...I’m apparently Spanish by blood, but the place I’ve lived the most is England.”

“Hmm, I can see how that can be confusing…”

“Boston, Cambridge, London, Glasgow, Madrid, Dusseldorf, I’ve been to Hong Kong, Seoul, France, in fourteen years I’ve never gained an identity, I feel like a slab of stone, just waiting for someone to carve me out.”

“I’ve lived here my whole life and I still don’t know my true identity.” Kenma reasoned, leaning against the steel beams of the stair case and looking at the younger teen. “Besides, we’re only young, who wants to saddle themselves with something they may not be in five years time?”

Sierria looked out at him, her wisteria blue eyes glossy with unshed, confused tears.

“You’re surprisingly deep for someone who seems so apathetic.” Sierria said.

“I don’t use my heart to make decisions, I use logic.”

“Maybe I should do the same.”

“You should do what you want to do, you’ll make something out of your marble block.”

“Why marble?”

“They use marble to create the most beautiful statues all across the world.”

Sierria had no idea how to respond to the statement, but it seemed she didn’t have to.

“Kenma!” Kuroo laughed. “We fucking found them in the disabled bog!”

“Wonderful, Kuro.” Kenma sighed, trying to gain control of his heart rate after being spooked.

“Hey, you two okay?” Kuroo asked, looking between the two younger teens.

“We’re fine, Kuro, c’mon, where’s the happy couple?”

The three walked towards the disabled bathroom, Kenma and Sierria peering around the rest of the group, not expecting what they saw.

“I expected something far more…scandalous.” Sierria passed comment.

“Me too…”

Inside was Oikawa, he was in front of the mirror above the sink, smudging foundation into his cheek. Iwaizumi was sat on the closed toilet seat, watching Oikawa while talking to Sugawara.

Kenma heard Sugawara grind out an insult before his arms crossed over his chest.

“What happened?”

“Someone made a comment on his makeup and he freaked out.” Sugawara explained.

“The way you did on your first day?”

“Uh, sshhh, Kenma.” Sugawara hushed.

“No!” Oikawa crowed, furiously wiping at his temple. “I tried being bolder and people noticed!”

“Isn’t that what being bolder means?”

“Not when people pass horrible comments it’s not!” Oikawa dug his fingers into his hair, pulling in frustration. “Plus my parents don’t know about me and Iwa-chan, I was gonna tell them today but I’m nervous!”

“Oikawa, I’m sure everything will be fine.” Kuroo finally spoke, moving inside the bathroom with Oikawa and Iwaizumi. “They know you wear makeup.”

“No…they don’t.”

“They’ve never came across one of those invoices for almost one-hundred?” Iwaizumi asked, aghast.

“No! I burned them!”

“Goddammit…” Iwaizumi scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. “You gotta be shitting me.”

“No, I’m not shitting you.” Oikawa hissed.

“What do you plan on saying?” Kenma asked, bringing the conversation back to its original topic.

“Fuck if I know…”

“It’s best not to sugar coat it.” Kenma said, meeting Oikawa’s gaze. “Don’t sit there asking to talk to them, don’t waste time telling them you think you like men. It’ll make them anxious if they see you dodging a conversation; that you’re unsure of yourself.”

“Be confident.” Oikawa simplified.

Kenma nodded.

That was when the conversation ended, a teacher telling them to start making their way home. As the large group exited the single toilet block they noticed the mall filled with buckets catching the leaks from the open skylights.

“This place makes me feel so safe.” Akaashi drawled sarcastically.

“So structurally sound.” Kuroo added.

As the group headed out towards the exit they noticed the rain hadn’t let up.

“You guys ready to get as wet as an aroused vagina?” Kuroo asked, earning a snort from Kenma, a loud cackle from both Sugawara and Sierria, and noises of disgust from other members of the group.

“That’s disgusting,” Sugawara laughed, “you’re fucking nasty.”

Kuroo lifted his hood up over his head, pulling tongues toward Sugawara before stepping out into the deluge. The rest of the group followed eagerly, all but Sugawara covering up in their coats, hats and scarves.

“Some never learn.” Akaashi said to Bokuto.

“Oikawa,” Kenma called, skipping a few steps to catch up with the taller teen, “don’t worry about my hair for now, we can sort it out tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, speak with your parents and don’t worry, okay?”

“Thanks, Ken-chan.”

Kenma just smiled.

Soon it was time for Kenma, Kuroo, Akaashi, and Bokuto to part ways, the four crossing the road just in time to catch the earlier bus.

Sierria left too, her house on the corner showing no signs of habitation.

Sugawara fell into step with Daichi, allowing Oikawa to be soothed by Iwaizumi before he faced his parents, the pair quietly mumbling to one another.

“So what are Oikawa’s parents like?” Sugawara quietly asked, the sound of the rain and traffic drowning out his question.

“Aloof,” Daichi said simply, “they’re rich, minted, like, holy shit they could use money as fire tinder. But they care about their social upstanding.”

“Oh…”

“They’ll give Oikawa mountains of money so he doesn’t bother them, but if he does something they see as career damaging then it’ll be completely removed.”

“That sounds horrible…”

“I definitely wouldn’t want that life.”

“Me neither…”

They fell into silence as they continued to walk to Iwaizumi and Daichi’s house, Sugawara waved the cousins off with Oikawa before continuing home. By now the rain had begun to ease off but a bitter wind had taken its place, leaving the pair battling to stand upright on some strong gusts.

“You’re a weather nerd, tell this wind to fuck right off.”

“The keyword there is nerd, Oikawa, not God.”

“I--” Oikawa’s sentence was cut off by a soggy piece of newspaper colliding with his face, dust and dirt getting stuck in his tear ducts. “Ugh!”

“Are you okay?” Sugawara asked, moving to look at Oikawa better, fishing the paper from his face.

“I’m shitting myself.”

“Yeah… but you’ll be okay, you know that, right?”

“I don’t know that.”

“I--”

“Suga-chan, you don’t know my parents…” Oikawa almost whimpered, gripping his biceps tightly and hugging his arms around himself.

“You’re right, but if you need an escape my house is always there,” Sugawara stopped at the top of his road, pausing before going into his home, “please, just give me a text and let me know how it goes.”

“I will, Suga-chan.” Oikawa began walking home, Sugawara waiting to watch him disappear out of sight, an ill feeling settling into his stomach.

Oikawa slowed down to barely walking pace, wanting to drag out the few moments of freedom he had left.

He walked along the main road, his hair plastered to his face from the earlier rainstorm, his makeup wrecked, and his confidence waning faster than the waning lunar cycle.

He looked up at the house he usually called home, the beige Victorian rendering true to its original raw exposed beam and red brick exterior, painstakingly maintained by master craftsmen. But now it felt daunting, gripping him in a bone chilling, mind numbing fear.

How would his parents react?

He didn’t want to know.

But he didn’t want to hide either.

Why should he hide who he is?

He walked down the front path with renewed vigour.

He wasn’t just doing this for himself, not by a long shot. Iwaizumi too…

Iwaizumi had told his parents long before they’d even got together, that he was gay and had a crush on his childhood friend, Oikawa had only learned that recently and that was what had sparked his own plight to be true to himself.

He gripped the door handle and pulled it down, entering the property with sodden feet.

“Mother? Father?” He said all too quietly, he quietly trudged into the living room, not a thing out of place. He moved into the dining room positioned towards the back of the house, again, no sign of life in the well-lit, elegantly decorated room.

He heard footsteps upstairs, his fear spiking.

What if someone had broken in?

He went into the kitchen and took a carving knife from the wooden rack, immediately dialling Iwaizumi’s number as he made his way back to the hall.

“Hullo?” Oikawa heard his voice, the sound of the Sawamura twins in the background as well as what he guessed was the stove.

“Iwa-chan…” He whispered, noticing his father’s black leather shoes, a pair of smaller, dainty shiny black heels beside them.

They weren’t his mother’s shoes, she couldn’t wear heels after an accident on a family holiday.

“Someone’s in the house.” He said quietly, climbing the stairs in case the shoes were actually an assassin and he was about to save his father’s life.

“What!?”

“There’s high heels in the hallway…”

“Oikawa get outta there.”

“No--" Oikawa cut short at the sound of a delicate giggle, the further up the stairs he went the more and more the assassin story began losing substance.

At this point he was praying for anything but what he knew he’d find.

He could faintly hear Iwaizumi on the other end of the receiver calling his name, but he was quickly beginning to feel numb.

A young woman with long auburn hair suddenly dashed from one side of the landing to the other, scantily clad in lingerie he never knew existed, the fabric was so sheer and scarce. What was worse, she was closely followed by his father.

Oikawa met his father’s eyes as his phone slipped from his hand, clattering onto the staircase and down into the hallway below.

He watched his father’s face turn from amused to panic-stricken at Oikawa’s presence.

“Shit…”

“You’re disgusting!” Oikawa roared, glancing at the young woman before back to his father.

“Tooru--"

“Don’t even talk to me!” Oikawa rushed down the stairs, picking up his phone as he went and bearing with the glass splinters digging into his fingers to take a photo of the offending pair. “Here I was panicking about telling you I’m in love with a man, but it seem you have no trouble sleeping with another woman!”

He turned towards the front door, grabbing the woman’s heels and his father’s car keys, barely giving his father the chance to follow him halfway down the stair case before he bolted to the car, locking himself inside.

He threw the shoes onto the passenger seat and out the key into the ignition, hoping he remembered how to start up the car from the few brief lessons his father had given him.

His father’s hands slapped against the drivers window, startling Oikawa as he called his mother’s number from his broken phone screen, his fingers beginning to bleed from the scratch of the glass on his skin.

She answered on the third ring and her concern was evident in her voice.

“Mother, please, come home.” Oikawa pleaded, shielding himself from his father’s fists banging on the glass of the door window, his angry voice audible on the phone call with Oikawa’s mother.

“Tooru? Where are you? What’s that noise?”

Realisation dawned on his father's face, a realisation of who Oikawa was talking to.

"Katsumi, ignore him!" Came a muffled cry, accompanies by further pounding of his fists on the car window.

He changed into reverse, watching his father slip into a muddy puddle and he pushed down on the pedal, reversing haphazardly down the drive.

“I’m…I’m in the car, I don’t know what to do!”

“What do you mean you’re in the car?! What don’t you know what to do!?”

He could hear the panic in his mother’s voice and it felt like someone had drove ice deep into his heart.

“I- I found father with another woman!”

The other end of the phone line went silent and Oikawa’s panic spiked.

“Mother?”

Suddenly there was a deafening crunch on metal and Oikawa jerked forward over the steering wheel. He turned his head and realised he’d crashed into the wall post and ruined the brickwork.

“Tooru, what was that noise?”

“Uh, I crashed the car…”

“That’s it, I’ll be home in ten minutes. Don’t move; stay where you are.”

“That won’t be hard. I’m pretty sure if I get out this car he’s gonna beat me.”

“Oh, trust me, if he lays a finger on you I’ll fucking put him in the ground with his little secret, the man-slag.”

She hung up after that, Oikawa letting out a scoff at her words.

His phone screen lit up with a call from Iwaizumi, it was only then Oikawa realised he’d had several missed calls off the teen.

“Hello?” He answered.

“What happened?!”

“I- I found my father cheating on my mother…”
 

Chapter Text

Oikawa was no weather expert, even after listening to Sugawara’s rants and raves, so when he looked out of his bedroom window all he saw was an overcast sky that almost perfectly reflected his mood.

After his mother had returned home she’d kicked his father out, only allowing him to take a suitcase of clothes and telling him he could get the rest of his things in court before slamming the door to both her home and her heart. But Oikawa worried, what if he came back and caused trouble? Tried to claim the house in court?

He didn’t understand how these things worked.

He got changed in a daze, every movement clumsy and purely muscle memory. He looked at his shoes begrudgingly, the leather hush puppies now dry after a night on the radiator. He put them back before digging out his trainers.

He’d slob it today.

It’s not like he had anything to do anyway.

He slipped into his shoes and picked up his makeup bag from under his bed before listlessly descending the stairs. If he was going to be a better man than his father then he needed to be honest.

“Tooru?” His mother walked from the kitchen and into the hallway to greet him. “You look awful, are you okay?” She asked, her voice soft, caring.

Oikawa realised that this was the first time his mother had seen him without makeup in at least two years, his acne spots along his jaw and temples, and mottled skin on his cheeks and nose, even the old scar from his childhood which decorated his chin.

Never had he felt more vulnerable.

“I’m fine, mother, I just have something I wish to talk to you about.”

“Okay.” Katsumi looked her son up and down, noticing the bag in his hand.

The pair settled in the kitchen and Oikawa took his seat at the breakfast nook while his mother began making breakfast.

“What is it you want to talk to me about, Tooru?”

Oikawa opened the bag, setting up his portable mirror on the table and uncapping the tube of foundation, squirting some onto the back of his hand before picking up his makeup brush.

He could feel his mother’s eyes on his form as he spread a fine layer of foundation on his left cheek, blending each brush stroke and swirl.

“Oh.” She realised as the face she always saw coming down the stairs each morning slipped onto Oikawa’s.

And that was when the first droplet fell from the teen’s eyes.

“Tooru…” She sighed, going over to her son and hugging him from behind, feeling the suppressed shudders that racked his body.

“I’ve been w- wearing…makeup for two years now…” Oikawa admitted with hiccupping sobs.

His mother let go of him, taking a seat at the table.

“That’s fine, honey,” she said soothingly, resting her hand over his hand not smudged with foundation, her spare hand carding through his hair, “that’s totally okay.”

“I’m also gay…”

“But,” she pondered, “haven’t you always had girlfriends?”

“I thought I liked girls…”Okawa said, resting his head on his forearms. “But now I just like Iwa-chan…”

“Hajime?”

“Yeah…” Oikawa sniffled.

“That’s okay too, are you happy?” She asked, rubbing circles against his back.

“Yeah…” Oikawa admitted, looking up at his mother. “It’s all a little confusing, but I feel like I’ve discovered a little something about myself.”

“As long as you’re happy, sweetie, then that’s fine by me.” His mother said, hugging him close to her chest and kissing his hair.

There was a comfortable silence between the pair before Oikawa eased away from her.

“What happens now…?”

“What do you mean?”

“With father.”

“You let me handle that, Tooru,” Katsumi said, standing at her full height in much the same way she did when trying to intimidate her business partners, “the prenup will be my best friend.”

“Prenup?”

“When me and your father got married we signed a prenuptial agreement; if we were to divorce my assets remain mine, and his remain his. The house is my childhood home and left to me by my parents, and my business is mine. We’ll be fine, Tooru.” She said with a smile, ruffling his hair and teasing the strands with her fingers. “Now are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, I’m ready, but what about breakfast?” Oikawa asked, fixing his tear streaked makeup.

“Let’s go get a McDonald’s breakfast, hey?” She asked, slipping into her flat business shoes and made her way to the front door.

Oikawa couldn’t remember the last time they’d done anything as mother and son and jumped at the opportunity, grabbing his satchel bag and broken phone, running to the car to catch up with her, a wide grin on his face.

Bokuto rubbed at the back of his neck, the vertebrae stinging with the cold weather, a brisk wind of thirty miles an hour was still licking at the world outside, although it was set to calm down by that evening.

“Bokuto-san, don’t you have a scarf?” Akaashi asked the older teen as they stood together on the crowded public bus.

“Huh?” Bokuto hummed, looking at Akaashi. “Oh, nah, don’t have anything like that.”

“As if he’d wear one.” Kuroo snickered, holding onto the bar that the hanging grips were attached to and leaned over the couple.

“I would to!” Bokuto argued, glaring at Kuroo.

“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi chastised, removing the scarf from around his neck, “here.”

He carefully wrapped the warm fabric around Bokuto’s neck, letting go of the grip above his head in the process.

The bus jerked forward suddenly, Bokuto who already wasn’t holding onto anything toppled onto Akaashi.

As Akaashi lost his balance he gripped one of the metal support poles, stopping himself only to find Bokuto mere centimetres away, the larger teen hovering in Akaashi’s personal space, both arms keeping him from crushing Akaashi by leaning on the window behind the younger’s head.

They met each other’s eyes Bokuto’s face glowing with embarrassment and Akaashi’s a similar shade of red on his slightly more tanned skin.

“Aaaand kiss.” Kuroo sniggered, pushing the back of Bokuto’s head just enough to get their noses to squish awkwardly.

Akaashi huffed affectionately, closing his eyes and allowing himself to close the gap between his and Bokuto’s lips.

The bell above their heads dinged twice as Akaashi’s hand slipped, knocking the button.

“Wow,” Kuroo laughed, “you actually got the right stop.”

Kenma took the lead, sneaking around the bodies and going to the front of the bus, Kuroo following with a flustered Akaashi and Bokuto.

“So, who’s excited for going to visit Oikawa?” Kuroo asked.

“Me!” Bokuto shouted as they crossed the road. “I hope he’s okay…”

“Me too.” Akaashi said sombrely, startling Kuroo with the answer.

Bokuto noticed the pain in his neck had almost completely lifted since the warm addition of Akaashi’s scarf.

“Guys!!” An excited female voice cried, they turned to Sierria’s house, seeing the girl rushing to join them down the front path to her home.

“Morning Sierria!” Kuroo greeted with a wide grin.

“Morning! You’re looking awful bedheadish today!”

“Thanks,” Kuroo said, running his fingers through his hair, “I really didn’t try this early on a Saturday.”

“As if this is early, goof!” Sierria laughed. “It’s almost midday!”

The five began walking down the usual direction that their friends took every night on their way home.

“Hey, Kenma,” Sierria said, jumping into step with the boy, “reckon you could show me some parkour?”

She leapt over a large puddle while Kenma walked through the shallow pool of water, looking at Sierria.

“I guess, if you want.”

“Yess!”

Bokuto caught sight of the pair before looking at Kuroo.

“Are they a couple or somethin’?” He whispered to his friend.

Kuroo’s head twisted violently towards Bokuto, an indescribable look on his face.

“That’s ridiculous,” Kuroo responded, although his voice and hesitation betrayed his true thoughts, “I mean, maybe?”

“I’ve never seen Kenma get so close to someone other than you.” Bokuto affirmed. “Maybe there is some romance going on!”

Kuroo’s eyes landed on the pair walking just ahead of them, Kenma with his messy hair, roots just starting to come through from when he dyed it not too long ago, and then Sierria. She was slightly smaller than Kenma, her hair shorter and her roots almost completely grown out.

From an outsider’s perspective they could pass as a couple.

As they approached Daichi and Iwaizumi’s home the duo met them at the top of the street, the conversation changing topics once again as Iwaizumi filled them in on the details he knew from the night before.

Within five minutes they were joined by Sugawara, who’d been too eager and had been waiting for them for some time.

“How long have you actually been there?” Kuroo asked, walking with him and Daichi.

“Uh, do you want the truth or an exaggerated lie?”

“Why not both.”

“Okay, I haven’t been there long, comparative to a lifetime.” Sugawara edged.

“Please tell me you haven’t been waiting there longer than half an hour.”

“Twenty minutes…” Sugawara admitted shamefully.

“Fuck off!” Kuroo shouted in disbelief. “We were still on the bus twenty minutes ago!”

“Oops?”

The group continued to walk towards Oikawa’s house, noticing the damaged and dented silver car parked on the drive and the battered gate post now tilting to the road.

“Oikawa did that.” Iwaizumi said, pointing to the car before continuing up the pathway and knocking on the door.

“Holy shit…” Sugawara whispered, following Iwaizumi with the rest of the group, other mumbled noises of disbelief.

The group waited for five minutes with no answer from the house.

“Is he in?” Sierria asked.

“Someone should be in.”

“Maybe he’s in the shower?” Akaashi supplied.

“Maybe…” Iwaizumi muttered, pulling out his phone and beginning to check through apps to see whether Oikawa was online or active. After seeing he was Iwaizumi dialled his number.

The dialling tone quickly turned into voicemail and Iwaizumi scowled.

“He’s not answering. Should I try Katsumi-san?”

“Wanna just wait for a bit and see if anything happens?” Kuroo suggested, sitting on the concrete step outside the front door.

“May as well, we came all this way.” Kenma said, sitting beside him.

The group sat down on the floor, some on the step and others on the pebbled driveway.

It was around half an hour later when Katsumi pulled into the driveway, Oikawa seated beside her in the sleek grey Audi desperately trying to set up his new phone to call Iwaizumi back.

“Tooru, why is there a gang of kids at our door?”

Oikawa looked up from his phone, frustration in his features ebbing away, a gentle smile taking over his lips.

“They’re my friends…” Oikawa caught his mother smiling as she parked the car and climbed out, Oikawa scooping his new phone, old phone and the box into both his hands before getting out and slamming the door with his elbow.

“Oikawa!” Suga grinned, standing up and going over to the taller teen, clinging onto him like a koala. “You’re okay!”

“Shittykawa! Why did you ignore my call?” Iwaizumi growled, going over to him with more relief than anger in his features.

Sugawara let go of Oikawa’s form and backed away as Iwaizumi stalked closer. Oikawa prepared himself for a scolding, being pleasantly surprised when Iwaizumi’s arms locked around his body and held him tightly.

“Sorry, Iwa-chan, my phone screen hurt too much to type, my fingers are cut to ribbons as is, so mother took me to buy a new one.”

“If I weren’t so relieved I’d definitely be socking you in the gob right now, you idiot.” It was at that moment Iwaizumi realised that he was openly hugging Oikawa in front of his mother, unaware of whether she’d been told or not.

Oikawa seemed to notice his stiffening posture and he ruffled his hair roughly.

“She knows.”

“Good.” Iwaizumi said quickly, gripping Oikawa’s cheeks and pulling him down into a firm yet chaste kiss. “I’m glad I can do that unashamedly.”

“Pub~lic~ dis~plaaaay~~” Kuroo and Bokuto called, cupping their hands around their mouths and watching as Oikawa and Iwaizumi both turned shades of purple and red respectively before Oikawa buried his face into his hands.

“Lets get you lot inside.” Oikawa’s mother reasoned, unlocking the worn-effect oak front door to the Victorian house.

The nine teens piled inside, the warm, neutral, and natural interior design leaving them in awe.

The hallway was wide and open, leading into a kitchen directly opposite the front door. A staircase was to the right of the room, each spindle was crafted so finely, the bannister equally decorated with intricate sailboats on high waves.

“Holy wow…” Sierria gasped, looking around in wonder.

It seemed the rest of the group was in a similar state of awe aside from Iwaizumi and Daichi, and Oikawa puffed with pride at their responses. Oikawa’s mother removed her shoes at the door and rested them in one of the holes of the shoe rack, heading to the parlour room to the left.

“Where do you guys want to go to? My room or the basement?”

“Jeez, Oikawa, don’t just proposition us like this.” Kuroo smirked.

“What’s in the basement?” Sugawara asked, looking around for a possible entry point to the basement.

“My sex chamber.”

“Tooru! Don’t make me make you leave that door open!”

“Sorry, mother!” Oikawa said almost bashfully, turning back to his friends. “It’s a game room that doubles up as a cinema.”

“Fuck yeah, we’re well going to the basement!” Kuroo cheered.

Oikawa smiled, taking the group into the kitchen and opening a small wooden door under the stairs that inconspicuously looked like an electricity cupboard.

The group descended the stairs into the basement and were amazed by the spacious layout, a flat screen television mounted on the wall, surround sound speakers, a cabinet full of consoles, and shelves upon shelves of videogames and DVD disks.

The television area was separated from the rest of the room by a large U shaped, grey fabric and faux leather sofa, easily capable of fitting at least eight people with plenty of space left over. In the corner was a pool table, set up and ready to go.

Finally, directly behind the stairs was a small kitchenette.

“So, uh,” Oikawa stammered, watching his friends and their reactions, “what do you guys wanna do first?”

Sierria watched the group argue and debate what they should do, although it was obvious they’d get plenty of time to do everything. Eventually they decided on videogames first.

Bokuto and Kuroo jumped onto the sofa, only to be shooed by Oikawa moments later.

“Watch and learn, boys!” He shouted, pulling the back cushions away from the couch and lifting them, the couch folding out into a huge sofa bed, stretching out to fill the entire floor space up to the television.

“Holy fuck, what do you even plan on doing on this thing?” Kuroo asked, a disbelieving smirk on his face.

“Iwa-chan—Ow!” Oikawa cried as Iwaizumi pinched the tender skin under his arm. Sierria noticed the other teen’s face grew redder at Oikawa’s comment and she laughed softly as they group piled onto the sofa bed. “What do you guys wanna do first?”

“Set up a good console!” Kuroo shouted, wrestling for the corner seat with Bokuto. “Kenma!” Bokuto grabbed Kuroo around the waist and tugged him back. “You know games, pick a good one!”

Sierria watched as Kenma examined the shelves with the videogames on, her eyes following his and catching sight of the game that had caught his eye just moments after he’d spotted it himself.

“Smash Bros.” Kenma said, reaching for the Nintendo game and handing it to Oikawa.

Oikawa set up the Wii and inserted the game, fishing out the controllers.

“We’re gonna have to team up for this game.” He explained. “Pick your teams.”

“Me and Kuroo!” Bokuto shouted with a grin, quickly getting Kuroo’s approval and taking a remote from Oikawa.

“I’ll go with Kenma and Sierria.” Akaashi said with a smile, shifting to sit closer to the two.

“And I’ll go with Iwa-chan!” Oikawa cheerily decided, handing a controller to Akaashi’s group, and then to the remaining group; Daichi and Sugawara. He sat beside Iwaizumi and linked his arm.

As the game started up Oikawa quickly grew frustrated.

“Okay, who pressed the power button on their remote before I did?” He huffed, looking at the group but suspecting one person in particular.

However, it wasn’t the dirty cackle form the silver haired friend that the group heard, instead it was Kuroo’s booming laugh that filled the air, making Sierria jump slightly from the sound.

“Well done, you cretin!” Oikawa screeched, reaching across for their remote. “Gimme—!”

Kuroo leaned back until the brunette was almost completely on top of him before he passed the remote to Iwaizumi, Oikawa hitting his chest before sitting on the other remote.

“Oh ho ho, as if your ass is gonna stop me stealing the remote!” Kuroo said, lunging straight in to grip the controller and pull it out from underneath Oikawa.

Sierria found herself side tracked by the group, it felt strange; surreal. She was the only girl, but she was treated no different from the others.

All her life she’d grown all over the world, enduring various perceptions of who, as a woman, she should be. But this was her favourite.

Free.

“Sierria,” Kenma spoke softly, breaking her from her distracting thoughts, “what character do you want to be?”

Sierria looked to the screen, Bokuto and Kuroo had chosen Donkey Kong, Oikawa and Iwaizumi had chosen Captain Falcon, and Sugawara and Daichi had picked Pit. Kenma passed her the controller and let her float through the remaining characters, but it didn’t take long for her to find who she wanted, selecting Samus.

“Her attacks are pretty awesome if you know how to use them.” She said with a confident grin.

“I’m not going to argue there.” Kenma agreed with a smile.

As Sierria passed the remote back to the two boys she was met by resistance.

“Destroy them, Sierria-san.” Akaashi said, relinquishing the controls to her.

“Wait, you seriously don’t think Samus is a girl, right?” Kuroo asked, leaning around Bokuto. “Look at the armour! Videogame gals don’t wear stuff like that.”

“Kuro, Samus is a girl.” Kenma argued. “She’s from Metroid.”

“That’s not a girl!” Oikawa threw in his two-pence worth before clicking start, selecting the random stage selection and ignoring Sugawara’s loud requests of a custom stage. “Maybe later, Suga-chan!”

Sierria shared a glance with Kenma, and then with Akaashi, they both wore knowing smiles, mischievous glints to their eyes.

The voiceover began the game, Samus immediately taking to the sky and landing three consecutive attacks on Donkey Kong and sending him further towards the edge of the stage with each attack. Samus landed onto the stage and fired one of her projectiles at the other character, knocking him over the edge.

“Fuck.” Bokuto laughed in a daze, looking to Kuroo as Donkey Kong fell from the top of the screen with one less life than before.

Next, Samus was taken on by Captain Falcon, the latter not letting up on close attacks and forcing Samus into the air to protect herself.

The game continued much the same way, one by one each character’s lives disappearing and being replaced by higher and higher percentages of damage.

“If you reckon you can do my head in with Captain Falcon, then you’re right,” Kuroo ground out dramatically, “but if you keep doing my nut in I’ll Falcon punch you in the balls, Oikawa.”

“Eh?! Why me and not Iwa-chan?”

“Because Iwaizumi makes me fear for my life, you make me fear for my dusty, cobweb filled wallet.”

Donkey Kong was the first to succumb, the ape unable to withstand the aerial attacks from the other three. After Donkey Kong was Captain Falcon, Oikawa protesting the defeat after Iwaizumi apparently groped his ass and distracted him.

“Hey Kuroo, Oikawa, what did you say about Samus?” Sierria asked smugly, pressing the minus button on the controller and activating Samus’ Zero-Suit mode within inches of Pit.

“I told you so,” Kenma gloated as Kuroo and Oikawa watched Samus’ Plasma Whip attack the angel in consecutive attacks until a blunder by Sugawara meant that Pit fell from the stage, his last life being taken, “Sierria whipped your asses with the only female player on the stage.”

“Okay, we stand corrected!” Oikawa puffed up, much to Iwaizumi’s amusement.

“Custom stage!” Sugawara crowed, earning a scowl from Oikawa. “C’mon~~” He cooed again.

“Fine.”

So Oikawa set up the stage maker, handing the lead controller to Sugawara so he could make the stage he wanted. Even though Oikawa knew he’d probably end up regretting it.

Sugawara let up a triumphant laugh, getting to work with creating what he undoubtedly saw as a masterpiece.

Sierria watched as Sugawara created a box-like stage, only one available entrance at the top.

“Yo, Suga, that defeats the point of the game.” Kuroo reminded.

“No, it makes things interesting.” Sugawara argued, making the first real terrain for aerial battles to commence on.

“I’m gonna go make some popcorn!” Oikawa called, moving behind the staircase and into the small kitchenette.

Iwaizumi quickly followed after him, and the rest of the group watched as Sugawara continued to create his work of art.

“Oh my God.” Sierria laughed as she quickly realised the shape that the stage was taking. “Suga-san, nooo.”

She watched as Sugawara’s cheeks swelled, even being behind him she could see he was wearing his usual cheeky grin.

“Suga’s fucking wild.” Bokuto laughed, looking at Akaashi with a wide grin on his face.

“Yes, Bokuto-san, drawing a large penis is very wild.”

“Hey, Suga, is that Daichi’s?”

But Sugawara simply shrugged, continuing to draw out the large genitalia.

“Done!”

A foul smell began to emanate from the kitchenette, Sierria holding her nose.

“What the hell is that?” Kenma asked, burying his face into his sleeve.

Iwaizumi wandered from the small kitchen moments later, red faced and he quickly bounded up the stairs.

Oikawa emerged from the kitchen moments later, his face equally red but holding a bowl, steam radiating from the bowl.

Sugawara watched the interaction curiously before catching the smell from the bowl.

“How the fuck do you burn popcorn in a microwave?” Sugawara asked, scandalised as Kuroo and Bokuto shot up to open the small windows and air out the confined basement.

“Iwa-chan is a good kisser, okay?”

“But—”

Sugawara felt a soft hand on his shoulder and turned to look at Daichi who simply shook his head with a grin; Sugawara knew he was right, presenting Oikawa with more facts he couldn’t dispute would only end in disaster.

“—A microwave only has a set time.”

“Shush, Suga-chan!” Oikawa must’ve caught sight at the giant penis in a box on his television screen because he suddenly went quiet before shooting Sugawara an accusing look. “I hate you.”

“You lie~”

“Fucking test me.” Oikawa said, grabbing a handful of popcorn and throwing the offending item at the silver haired boy.

“Ay! Unarmed!” Sugawara said, shuffling behind Daichi to hide behind him.

“I don’t fucking care!” Oikawa yelled, high pitched, throwing another handful of popcorn at Sugawara.

“Jeez, I leave you guys alone for five minutes and this is what I come back to?” Iwaizumi asked, looking between the screen and his boyfriend mid-throw of popcorn.

“Hey, he’s back!” Sierria shouted excitedly. “Let’s play on the dick!”

“Dude, nice hickey.” Kuroo snickered, watching Iwaizumi’s face turn brilliantly red, his hand slapping over his neck and Oikawa’s head turning so fast he could’ve got whiplash.

“Did I leave a hickey?” He asked, face burning.

“Can we just, y’know? Play the game?” Akaashi asked, watching the couple fumble over the very visible mark.

Sugawara laughed, most of the room making noises and comments of approval towards Akaashi’s suggestion.

“Akaashi’s savage.” Kuroo grinned at Bokuto, elbowing him in the ribs.

“Don’t I know it?” Bokuto laughed.

Oikawa sat down with Iwaizumi, finalising the custom stage with distain.

“Choose your characters!”

The groups began talking amongst themselves, but Sugawara was, once again, the person who took all seriousness from the game.

“Ness!”

“No!” Oikawa cried.

“Oh ho ho, if you’re doing Ness we’re doing Lucas!” Kuroo jeered, selecting the character.

“We’re doing annoying characters?” Sierria looked to Akaashi and Kenma. “Jiggly.”

“Jiggly.” Kenma confirmed with a nod.

“Why not a second Ness?” Akaashi provoked.

“Or that.”

“Second Ness it is!” Sierria cheered, selecting Ness like Sugawara, but this time in a different colour.

“Fuck’s sake!” Oikawa threw the remote onto the bed beside him in protest, Iwaizumi picking it up and also selecting Ness.

“Aw man, no way are we being the only Lucas,” Kuroo complained, selecting Ness as well, “ready?”

“Ready.” Iwaizumi said, pressing play on Oikawa’s behalf.

Four pudgy stomached figures dropped onto the top of the box, one by one sliding through the small gap and down into the box.

A red Ness, Sugawara’s, attacked the Ness coloured blue, Kuroo’s, immediately before they could enter the box, the first PK THUNDA echoing from the television screen, knocking him off the stage.

“Jeez, fuck you.” Kuroo hissed, his Ness joining the game again after the other Ness’ had entered the box.

The blue Ness gave chase of the red one, a stream of PK THUNDAs following.

This had Sierria laughing, her green Ness joining the fray with another battle cry of PK THUNDA.

Iwaizumi watched as Oikawa struggled with the constant assault on his eardrums, grinning as his yellow Ness also began spamming the move.

PK THUNDA, PK THUNDA, PK THUNDA, PK THUNDA.

Oikawa hmphed and buried his face into a pillow, screaming into the fabric cover.

PK THUNDA, PK THUNDA, PK THUNDA, PK THUNDA.

The four Ness’ damage continued to travel into the hundreds, into the red, nobody falling from the stage.

PK THUNDA, PK THUNDA, PK THUNDA, PK THUNDA.

Nobody noticed Oikawa’s stray hand reaching for the electrical socket, nor him furiously removing the plug.

“No more PK-fucking-THUNDA!”

The screen went black at his declaration, the group falling quiet aside from the odd snicker.

“Let’s play something else.” Oikawa suggested, but left no room for argument.

“What you got?” Kuroo asked.

“Um…” Oikawa debated what to say next that wouldn’t resort in them intentionally annoying him.

“What about some pool?” Iwaizumi asked, tugging Oikawa to his chest and leaning his chin into the crook of his neck.

“Good idea Iwa-chan! Let’s just let Kuroo-chan, Bokuto-chan, and Suga-chan loose with some balls!” Oikawa ranted sarcastically, only settling when Iwaizumi kissed his shoulder.

“Excuse you, I think you guys are the ones that need to get let loose with some balls, to be perfectly honest.” Kuroo hissed with scandal.

“Yeah!” Sugawara piped up, leaning on Daichi heavily. “The sexual tension between you guys is like a storm brewing and it’s making my ass crack sweaty and just like with a storm I’d rather be at home watching the disaster from the distance.”

“Go suck an egg, Suga-chan.”

“Shut up, you screff.”

“Are they always like this?” Sierria asked, turning to Kenma.

“Pretty much.” Kenma confirmed, watching the two bicker and banter with one another.

The day passed on into the evening, the sky dark by the time it was half six.

“Tooru! Do you and your friends want anything to eat?”

Oikawa looked at his friends and watched their reactions say it all.

“Yes please!”

“Anything in particular?”

Oikawa thought for a moment, then looked at his friends.

“KFC?”

The group voiced their approval and thanks before Oikawa shouted back up to his mother with the request.

“I’ll be back soon, then!” She called back, the sound of her picking the car keys from the table near the front door and then the door shutting alerting the group to the woman’s departure.

Oikawa shuddered as he moved to close the basement windows that Kuroo had opened earlier that day, the smell of burnt popcorn finally beginning to filter out.

“Oh, it’s foggy outside.”

“Is it really foggy?” Sugawara asked with scepticism, furrowing his brow. “Or is it mist?”

“Foggy mist.”

“Fuck off, you tool.”

“Excuse you?”

Oikawa was surprised by Sugawara’s lack of response after that, the silver haired teen looking outside through the small windows.

“What’re you planning you little shit?”

“Can’t a guy just look out the windows?”

“You’re not capable of just looking out the windows, Suga-chan.”

And for once Sugawara didn’t respond to his jibe, instead changing the topic of conversation.

“Can we go outside and feel the fog?”

“What are you scheming, you turd?”

“Nothing! I’m a weather nerd, look at it!” Sugawara retaliated, restlessly moving his fingers and hands, clenching and unclenching them at his sides.

“Fine, let’s go.”

The group began following Sugawara as he bolted up the stairs, and outside into the back garden.

“What’s got him so excited?” Daichi asked, receiving multiple shrugs as they followed Sugawara.

“Just don’t trust it.” Oikawa hissed.

They all went onto the stone deck at the rear of the house, Oikawa turning on the security light as he went.

The group let out various noises of surprise and slight fear, causing Oikawa to look up and see Sugawara.

He made a noise of surprise.

“Dammit that wasn’t meant to happen yet!!” Sugawara cried in frustration.

“What the fuck is that?” Kuroo asked, eyes wide.

Sugawara looked back to them and grinned widely, the fog was illuminated by the lights. Sugawara’s shadow was projected onto the thickly suspended water droplets and a halo of colours surrounding Sugawara’s shadow, like a perfectly round rainbow, the colours metallic and not unlike petrol in water.

“This is Brocken Spectre!”

“That’s insane…” Sierria mumbled before running forward to stand beside Sugawara, her shadow joining his on the fog. “We could do a puppet show like this!” She moved her arms facing Sugawara in a fighting stance, Sugawara quickly catching on and doing the same with a wide grin.

Oikawa watched as the two shadow giants copied their owners’ stances.

The fourteen year old girl then began to wrestle with Sugawara, the pair playfully pretending to fight, the two shadows locked together in a fight that seemed much more serious that it was.

“Kenma you gotta try it out!” Sierria called between fits of laughter. “Imagine how cool the parkour would be!”

“A shadow giant jumping off the walls.” Kenma mused, picking at his bottom lip with his finger and thumb. “Let’s do it.”

The group continued to joke around in the garden, making the large shadows re-enact scenes from movies including Godzilla and Jurassic Park.

It wasn’t until a large shadow overtook theirs and threw the garden into darkness. They froze and looked around at the light, the white security light illuminating strands of loose liver red-brown fluff and Sugawara let out a sound not unlike a squeal.

“NASA!” He began cooing at the brown cat, trying to coax him from his high perch.

The sound of a car door slamming attracted the cat’s attention, it jumped down and walked inside, clearly able to smell the spicy chicken before all the rest of them.

“Tooru!” His mother called, making Oikawa look at his friends, covered in various grass stains and wet patches from the dew and thick fog.

“I’ll be right back,” he told his friends, heading inside to greet his mother, “is everything alright?”

What Oikawa didn’t expect was for his mother to leave the brown paper bags upon the radiator cover in the hallway, nor did he expect the bone crushing embrace she then held him in.

The stood there like that, the son eventually realising the events that were transpiring and returning the gesture whole-heartedly.

No words passed between them, an entire understanding being created by the lack of verbal communication.

Oikawa felt strange.

Had something happened?

He’d never known his mother to be so outwardly affectionate.

But he didn’t hate it.

A hug was better than a wad of cash any day.

“Are you okay?” He finally asked, his voice feeling far too small, quiet; too childlike, a crack at the end of his words indicating just how overwhelmed he felt.

“Yes,” Katsumi responded, her tone not unlike his, watery and not her usual no nonsense attitude, “I am now.” She moved to pull away.

It then dawned on Oikawa, she’d lost her husband, his father.

In the most despicable way, she’d had her family torn apart.

And right now he had to be the one to support her in his father’s place.

He now stood taller than her, he couldn’t remember when it had happened, who does? But he didn’t dawdle on minor details, instead he pulled her back to his chest and held her tightly.

“We’ll be okay.”

“When did you grow up, Tooru?” A watery scoff.

“I don’t think I’ll ever totally grow up, but I know where my loyalty lies.”

“Well, you stay true to that loyalty,” she smiled, breaking away from the hug and dabbing away the salty water on her cheeks with just as much pride as everything she did, “you’ll grow up to be a fine young man. And with what you told me this morning, if I had to choose you dating a strange woman, or dating Hajime, it’s not even a choice.”

She cupped his face in her hands, Oikawa using his bangs to shield his teary eyes.

“I just feel bad I told father first…”

“You did?”

“When I caught him with the woman; I told him basically that I was scared to tell him I was in love with a man, but it seemed like he had no issue cheating on his wife.”

“Tooru…” She smiled, before she furrowed her brow and looked back to her son. “I have a question.”

Oikawa looked up and she wiped at the stray tear on his cheek, he hummed softly, brokenly.

“Think you can give me some tips?”

“Tips?”

“I thought you’d had flawless skin for two years! That you were blessed and not going through an acne stage, I never once though it was makeup!”

“Oh, makeup tips!” Oikawa laughed. “Of course!”

“Satan! Can we come in now, it’s fucking freezing!” Sugawara’s voice called out, making Oikawa whip around to see his friends, and a hungry cat, eying the paper bags with a gluttonous lust.

“I suppose so!” Oikawa responded, quickly kissing his mother’s cheek before helping her carry the food into the kitchen, watching the group of teenagers he’d begun to call his friends.

His mother set the bags she was carrying onto the kitchen island, Oikawa following her lead as his friends crowded around.

“Right, I’ll leave you all to it—”

“Mother, have you eaten today?”

“I had breakfast with you.”

“Okay, so, what, ten hours ago?” Oikawa quizzed, patting the free stool beside him. “Sit down, how can you work on the blueprints on an empty stomach?”

“That explains how well you’ve restored and maintained the house, Oikawa-san,” Akaashi praised, “an architect’s eye can really be amazing.”

“Oh, dear, call me Katsumi-san,” she said with a smile, sitting with them, briefly glancing towards Iwaizumi before looking back to Akaashi and carrying on their conversation.

The deep crimson bruise on Iwaizumi’s neck didn’t escape her notice.

The meal passed quickly, the conversation light and airy. Oikawa made sure to engage both his friends and his mother, but it became clear that during clean-up Katsumi had ways of torturing him as much as his friends did.

“Tooru, why don’t you get out the karaoke machine?”

The room went silent, his friends turning to look at him in much the same way they’d eyed up the food earlier. But this time there was a question in everyone’s minds and on everyone’s lips.

Oikawa knew which one would ask it though.

“You have a karaoke machine?” Sugawara asked with a smug, mischievous grin.

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t.”

“Get it out.”

“Whoa there, Suga-chan, at least take me on a date first.”

“Doesn’t this count?”

“Not really, my boyfriend is here.” Oikawa said, the word rolling off his tongue before he could stop it but the way Iwaizumi’s skin lit up red meant he didn’t regret it.

“And so’s you’re mother.” Oikawa’s mother spoke with amusement, leaning on the kitchen island. “Go on, shoo, go and have fun.”

Oikawa nodded with a smile, taking his friends back into the basement and the group changing out of their dirty, muddied day clothes and into more comfortable pajamas.

“You know we’re not letting karaoke go, you know that right?” Kuroo pestered.

“I know…” Oikawa sighed, rooting in the storage unit under the stairs. “Here.” He said, hauling out what looked more like a jukebox than a karaoke machine.

Iwaizumi helped him carry it over to the television, Oikawa letting Iwaizumi plug it in while he connected it to the WiFi.

“There.” Oikawa conceded, moving away from the machine.

“That’s so fucking cool,” Sugawara gasped, rushing over to try it out, typing in a song and watching the small screen, selecting the first video as a fake record moved onto the reel, a fake needle taking position, and the lyric video beginning to play on the television, “holy shit…”

“What the hell, this is so cool!” Kuroo gaped, rushing over to Sugawara and quickly found four microphones tucked away on the side.

There was a quiet curse from Oikawa as the song became clear, and the fact it was a cover, a rock cover, quickly became clear.

Kuroo took one of the microphones and then took another, passing it to Sugawara.

Just as the song reached the first verse, the pair began singing.

“If you want my future, forget my past, if you wanna get with me better make it fast!”

Sugawara heard quiet laughter from the group behind him and grew bolder as the song continued, jumping onto a foot stool and singing from his perch, his head skimming the ceiling.

“Yo, I’ll tell ya what I want, what I really, really want!”

“So tell me what you want what you really, really, want!”

Sugawara jumped onto Kuroo’s back, wrapping his legs around him and one arm around his neck, holding the microphone in his free hand as they both began singing between laughter.

“If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends, make it last forever, friendship never ends!” Sugawara jumped from Kuroo, dancing with him as they continued to sing.

He briefly caught sight of a small white light and a phone, someone was recording them. He laughed before leaving Kuroo in the dust with the lyrics, the cover varying from the original.

“Here’s a little story from Z to D, if ya wanna get with me better listen carefully!”

And then a feminine voice joined in.

“We got toof in the house who’s hung like a mouse, O.G. wannabes that try hang with me, But G don’t play for free, he plays for the sensi—”

Sugawara relented, letting Sierria have the last line.

“—And to the critics…eat me!”

What Sugawara didn’t notice was how Daichi observed him, and how Oikawa kept nudging at Daichi throughout the song with a smug grin on his face.

Oikawa quickly began to realise bringing the karaoke machine out was possibly the biggest mistake of his life.

Especially as song after song became more meme-like, and the singing gradually got worse.

If he couldn’t beat them; he’d join them.

So when his turn came around he decided that he’d get Sugawara back for the torture.

He typed quickly, making sure to cover the small screen with his body.

Once again Oikawa found himself gobsmacked with how Sugawara guessed from the first two seconds, a whole thirteen seconds before any of the others.

“You’re a tool,” Sugawara scowled, “it can’t rain men!”

And just like in Sugawara’s observatory over a month prior Bokuto and Kuroo were quick to join in.

“Humidity’s rising, barometer’s getting’ low,” Oikawa sang, “according to all sources the street’s the place to go!”

“For the first time in history, just about half past ten.”

“For the first time, in history, it’s gonna start raining men!”

“It’s raining men!” The three sang, being joined by Sierria in the chorus and by the time the second verse was over everyone besides Sugawara was singing along.

“No!!” It’s not raining men!” Sugawara argued, his brows furrowed in annoyance. “It can’t rain men! Precipitation is characterised by droplet size! Anything under half a millimetre is drizzle, anything above is rain!”

Sugawara’s jaw tensed and released repeatedly.

“So, if, hypothetically, men did start falling from the sky, they’d be classed as rain?” Kuroo laughed, amused by the prospect. “Awesome!”

“If men started falling from the sky it would more likely that—”

“Tooru, want to do my hair now?” Kenma questioned, changing the topic of conversation quickly.

“Sure, Ken-chan!” Oikawa beamed, turning off the karaoke machine. “Come with me, Iwa-chan just put a movie on for this lot.”

“Sure, sure.” Iwaizumi responded, setting up the television back onto its usual function.

Oikawa took Kenma upstairs towards the main family bathroom.

“I gotta cut it while it’s wet, that okay with you?”

“That’s fine,” Kenma responded, following him, “sorry I changed the subject.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Oikawa smiled, turning on the shower head and motioning for Kenma to lean over the side of the bath, “Suga-chan was getting stressed, hm?”

“You could see it too?”

“With him it’s tricky to see, but he starts getting restless when he gets stressed.” Oikawa replied, bringing the shower head over Kenma’s mop of hair. “Too hot?”

“Nope, that’s fine.” Kenma kept his head over the bath as he felt the warm water on his scalp. “I saw him grinding his teeth.”

“It’s often very subtle,” Oikawa agreed, “hand movements and grinding his teeth mostly.” He ran his fingers through Kenma’s hair, making sure the underneath was also wet. “But it’s there.”

Oikawa began massaging the shampoo into Kenma’s hair, careful not to get it in his eyes or the suds in his ears.

“And what about you?” He asked, halfway through the rinse.

“What about me?”

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed, Ken-chan, give me more credit.”

“Fine,” Kenma conceded as Oikawa began doing the second lather on his hair, “I’m…confused.”

“About what?”

“I don’t know…” Kenma’s voice hushed, almost like he was afraid of being overheard. “I feel strange.”

“About Sierria?”

“I think so.”

“Do you like her?”

“I don’t know…”

Oikawa finished the second rinse and turned off the shower, he draped a towel over Kenma’s head.

“Stand up.” He prompted, moving in front of Kenma and towelling his hair. “What makes you unsure?”

“I think…” Kenma paused, trying to phrase his next words neutrally. “I don’t know if I like Kuro in the same way.”

Oikawa struggle to mask his surprise, trying to keep his expression neutral as he lead Kenma into his bedroom.

“I’m just really confused,” Kenma elaborated, easily able to register what Oikawa was thinking, “I started feeling funny around Kuro, and I don’t understand it, but then I feel funny around Sierria too.”

“What kind of funny?” Oikawa asked, finding Kenma’s part and brushing his hair out.

“Like, I don’t think it’s love, I dunno, it might be, but I don’t think doing the sorta stuff you and Hajime do…” Kenma trailed off, “I, kinda, don’t, dislike the idea of that with them?”

Oikawa was perplexed, wondering what Kenma was hinting at.

Did he want both?

Probably not, Oikawa reasoned.

Was it just strong platonic feelings? He had clicked well with Sierria, and Kuroo had been his best friend all their lives.

Then Oikawa realised, it was the same as Iwaizumi and himself.

Kenma was probably struggling with the blurred lines between friendship and romantic interest.

He felt sympathy for the fifteen year old.

“If you ever need someone to talk to, you have my number.”

“Thanks, Tooru.”

Sugawara could feel his eyes growing heavy as the movie progressed, he stifled a yawn as he settled into one corner of the sofa bed, Daichi sitting beside him.

The clock in the kitchenette had read almost midnight, and as someone who always settled at eleven it was beginning to take its toll on Sugawara.

“You okay?” Daichi asked, rousing Sugawara slightly.

“Yeah…” He spoke around a yawn, moving to take off his shoes and hearing a snort from Daichi.

“You have cloud socks?”

Sugawara looked down blearily, on his left foot he was wearing a black sock with different neon-coloured lightning bolts on, a hole where his big toe was protruding slightly, on his right was a blue sock with fluffy white clouds in no particular pattern.

“Ahah…yeah…”

Dammit.

How uncool.

He pouted at his feet.

“Suga-chan, what is that?” Oikawa scowled at the toe as if its very presence had offended his family.

“A toe.”

“I know that! Why wear a sock with a hole in?”

“Because it’s still wearable!”

“Tooru, please get on with it.” Kenma’s nervous voice came from the top of the basement stairs, making every look up expectantly.

“Okay, okay, I finished Ken-chan’s hair!” That was when Sugawara noticed the small plasters adorning Oikawa's fingers decorated with space themed patterns. “Come on in Ken-chan!”

The stairs creaked slightly as Kenma shuffled down them, he reached the small landing before the stairs turned and Sugawara finally caught a glimpse of his new hairstyle.

He watched everyone’s reactions, mouths gaping in awe and surprise.

Kenma reached the bottom of the stairs, and despite only having been alone with Oikawa for two hours, he took the same stance as the taller male, his arms crossed over his chest and his hip cocked as he leant heavily on his left leg.

“What do you guys think?” He asked with practiced nonchalance, Sugawara guessed the silence from the group was grating on his nerves.

“Holy fuck, Kenma!” Sugawara cried, rushing over to closely inspect the style. “That is so fucking cool!!”

Sugawara run his fingers through the long bangs still parted in the middle, and how the disappeared into shorter hair by the time it reached the nape of Kenma’s neck.

“Ack, Suga-chan! Get your grubby mits off!”

“I didn’t know you were able to do such a good job cutting hair, Oikawa-san.” Akaashi commented.

“YouTube tutorials.” Kenma and Oikawa both responded.

“Still, damn!” Sugawara argued, playing with the longer strands on the top of Kenma’s head, finding the feeling of the different lengths oddly soothing.

“It looks great, Kenma!” Daichi said next, similar words escaping Iwaizumi’s lips as well as praise towards his partner.

Bokuto almost exploded with comments on how amazing it looked, Sierria joining in to rant with the excitable teens.

The only person to remain quiet was Kuroo, something that didn’t escape Sugawara’s notice.

“Do you like it, Kenma?” Akaashi asked with a smile.

Kenma fiddled with the shorter hair on the back of his head, sighing wistfully at the realisation that his long hair was gone.

“It’s going to take some getting use to; but yeah, I love it.” He ran his hand through the longer top and looked at the floor before reaffirming himself and looking at the group again, his gaze lingering on Sierria before smiling.

He was quickly consumed into a large hug, starting with Sierria, followed by Sugawara, and finished by Bokuto almost lifting the three into the air as he held them tightly.

“Oikawa, where’s the bathroom?” Kuroo asked, his face pale and his face sporting a thin sheen of sweat,

Sugawara’s fear spiked momentarily, he’d eaten the same as them.

If it was food poisoning that meant it was likely they’d all get sick.

He didn’t want to get sick.

“If you go into the kitchen and then up the stairs it’s right in front of you.” Oikawa directed.

“Thanks…” Kuroo left quickly and Sugawara was compelled to follow him and make sure he was okay, but his fear of becoming ill stopped him from doing so.

“I’ll go check on him.” Bokuto put the three down, rushing after his friend.

Sugawara saw the look on Kenma’s face, it wasn’t unlike the way Akaashi would sometimes look at Kuroo and Bokuto.

He could see Kenma wanted to go after Kuroo, but a growing unease made him doubt that Kuroo would want him there.

The rest of the group settled on the sofa bed, each occupying a cushion for their heads and their bodies sprawled under numerous blankets.

“Bagsy next to Iwa-chan!”

“No way, I don’t wanna hear fapping noises while I’m trying to sleep!” Sierria cackled.

“How vulgar, Sie-chan!”

“I mean, she’s not wrong, you guys literally made out in the kitchen and burnt the popcorn.” Daichi defended.

Sugawara found himself sandwiched between the cousins, Iwaizumi to his right, Daichi to his left, then Oikawa to Daichi’s left.

Directly opposite him was Sierria, her dainty feet kicking at his as they ended up playing footsie under the blankets. Sugawara hated to admit it but the way her toes purposefully tickled his feet made him flinch and squirm before competitively kicking back.

To Sierria’s left was Kenma, to her right was Akaashi. The group talked amongst themselves, but it didn’t escape Sugawara’s notice how quiet Kenma had become until Kuroo and Bokuto came back, Kuroo looking must better, albeit still slightly peaky.

“Are you okay, Kuro?” Kenma asked, leaning over the group to see him.

Bokuto lay down beside Akaashi, giving him a chaste kiss to the sound of Oikawa complaining why do they get to sleep side by side but me and Iwa-chan don’t?!

Kuroo settled beside Bokuto, giving Kenma a simple reassurance that to anyone else would sound fine, but Sugawara’s perception, as well as the brief look of hurt on Kenma’s features indicated that it was more frosty than what Kenma was use to.

The group drifted off one by one, Sugawara listening to the sound of gentle snoring and the sounds of bodies tossing and turning as they settled.

He looked to his left, Daichi already fast asleep and he felt his neck upwards grow hot. He observed Daichi’s sleeping features, the boyish smile no longer occupying his lips and instead a more mature, cut jaw greeting Sugawara. The darker skin under his eyes didn’t go unnoticed, the slightly bruised colour indicating his exhaustion.

It made Sugawara wonder how it was so easy not to notice it of a daytime, yet in the darkness of the basement, the only light being the filtered moonlight through windows barely big enough for him to climb through, he could see it so easily.

Just what kind of work did he do in that high-end hotel Oikawa had mentioned?

How much did he work?

Was it healthy to do work as well as school and sports at such a valuable time in their lives?

He continued to let his mind wander until it succumb to the need to sleep some time later, remaining on his side facing Daichi after realising he didn’t mind if Daichi’s face was the last thing he saw before falling into a dreamless sleep.
 

Chapter Text

The sound that roused Sugawara wasn’t a sound he usually woke up to. He listened in a state of semi-lucidity, a muffled and hushed giggling reaching his ears.

He turned over, trying to feign sleep as he cautiously opened one eye.

He saw Kenma and Sierria, Kenma propped up in the corner of the couch and Sierria tucked into his side.

Sierria had her phone in hand and appeared to be taking a selfie with Kenma, their faces pressed close together to fit into the viewfinder.

Kenma’s arm was behind Sierria, over her shoulders and as the phone shifted Sugawara could see his wide smile.

As Sugawara began to fully wake up, he absent-mindedly rubbed at his face as he yawned, distracting the couple.

“Morning Sugawara-san…” Sierria whispered, lowering the phone fully.

As Sugawara sat up he noticed what probably caused the giggling fit from the two.

“Oh my God, your hair is amazing.” He guffawed, trying to stay quiet.

Kenma was the one who laughed loudest, covering his mouth with his hands to hide the noise.

“Should we go upstairs so we don’t wake the others up?” Sierria whispered.

“Good idea.” Kenma agreed and the three slowly shifted to climb over the backs of the couch and make their way up the stairs.

The three headed upstairs and found themselves drifting through the kitchen, talking softly to themselves before heading out into the garden.

Sugawara shivered at the cold, early morning air, a soft mist still rolling around the crisp, dew covered grass.

“I can see why you find the weather so fascinating, Sugawara-san…” Sierria commented, feeling the sunlight warming her skin with no bitter wind like the days before.

“Yeah, it’s weird…” Sugawara said, sitting on the patio step that overlooked the vast expanse of the garden. “I use to get really scared by it.”

“Nothing’s changed there.” Sierria snickered good naturedly.

“No! I use to be really bad!” Sugawara explained, looking up at the clearing sky. “I use to close all the curtains in the house, but then I’d be so anxious I’d pace and gaze out of every window anyway. It use to really grate on my parent’s nerves.”

“What makes you so anxious about it?” Kenma asked, to which Sugawara shrugged.

“I wish I knew.”

“Well, you don’t have to know the answer.” Sierria reassured.

“I know…” Sugawara smiled. “Since I met you guys, I know—Heiligenschein!”

“Heili—what?”

The younger teens looked to where Sugawara was pointing. Sure enough, the dew drenched grass and almost dissipated mist now illuminated by sunlight heralded a white disk around their shadows’ heads.

“It translates to ‘Holy Light’, like y’know when you see Saints with the halos? Heiligenschein!” Sugawara grinned, moving his head and watching his shadow respond, the white halo moving with him. “Oh, oh! If there’s Heiligenschein look for spider webs!”

Sierria and Kenma shared a glance, the pair confused by the statement, but nonetheless they began looking for the crystalline webs.

“Found one—whoa!” Sierria gasped in awe, the two boys rushing over, Sugawara with a wide, knowing grin.

The three marvelled at the illuminated web, dewdrops refracting the mid-morning sunlight and decorating the fine silk in a myriad of different colours.

“What are you three doing?” Oikawa asked, his hair a mess.

“Oikawa look!” Sugawara beckoned, calling the taller teen over to show him the phenomenon.

“Omg, ew. There better not be a spider on that web.”

“What? You can’t see the rainbow?” Sierria asked.

“What rainbow?”

“Firstly, it’s a dewbow! Secondly, come here!” Sugawara changed where Oikawa was standing, making him crouch down.

“Oh, that rainbow…” Oikawa mumbled in awe.

“Dewbow!”

The four were disturbed by a noise behind them, turning to see four of the other five friends emerging into the chilly morning air.

“Morning guys!” Sugawara called with a wave.

“Mornin’!” Bokuto yawned, blonding blearily before perking up at the group crowding the bush. “What’s going on?” He asked with an excited grin.

Sugawara began explaining the dewbow to the four newcomers before Oikawa began to usher them inside and away from the cold on their bare, or only socked, feet.

They began to head down to the basement, the promise of food after the one remaining sleeper had woken up.

As Sugawara reached the bottom of the stairs he noticed the still sleeping form under the blanket, his arms secured tightly around a pillow.

“He’s still sleeping?” Sugawara whispered to Bokuto.

“Yeah,” Bokuto whispered back, albeit louder, “he’s…worn out.”

Sugawara continued to look at him, sighing softly and remembering what Oikawa had said.

Daichi worked to the bone every day.

“I’m gonna have to wake him up soon though,” Bokuto sighed, “ we have practice at twelve.”

“Wanna make a game out of waking him up?” Kuroo snickered, making Sugawara feel relief that he was back to normal after the night before.

“Like what?”

“That’s your pillow, isn’t it, Suga?” Kuroo pointed out. Sure enough the pillow he’d slept on that night was the one encased in Daichi’s arms.

“Yeah, what’s your point?”

“I’m wondering, an experiment; if you will, whether he’d wake up if we were to replace the pillow with you.”

The group expressed their interest, snickers and murmurs being drowned out by Sugawara’s mind as he weighed out the likelihood of the success of failure of the experiment.

It had a high probability of working; the pillow smelled like him after he’d slept on it all night, and if they were careful and quick, surely he could pull it off.

It might also be fun.

“Let’s do it.”

Sugawara heard noises of approval from the group before they gathered around the sleeping body.

He watched as Oikawa lightly tugged on Daichi’s wrists and Kuroo eased the pillow out, barely getting more than a mumble from the sleeping teen. There were quiet snickers from the ones not taking part, Kenma and Sierria’s being the most noticeable but Akaashi’s not completely drowned out.

He squeaked softly when he felt himself being lifted over the plush side of the sofa bed, Bokuto hoisting him over and placing him on the bedding with a gentle grace a man his size shouldn’t possess.

Oikawa continued to hold Daichi’s arms open, and Sugawara wondered how was best to crawl into them.

He eventually decided from the bottom, easing around Oikawa’s crouching form to shimmy his way up and into Daichi’s arms.

He cursed silently when he shoulders got stuck on Daichi’s forearms and looked at Oikawa in a silent plea, to which he got a smirk in response. He felt the arms move as Daichi stirred slightly, Oikawa letting go of his wrists and Daichi’s arms naturally wrapping around his torso.

Oikawa backed away and the group’s amusement grew slightly louder, but now Sugawara was trapped. All too aware of the arm beneath him and that hand on his stomach, the other arm draped over his body almost possessively. His back felt too warm against Daichi’s chest and his face began to burn.

He tried to shift slightly, the feeling of closeness while not unwelcome felt strange but he quickly froze after feeling something he didn’t think could, or ever would, happen.

Especially in the situation they were in; the friends they were with.

He definitely couldn’t tell anyone, if they didn’t notice it first.

His heart began to pound so fast he thought the sound alone would wake the other boy behind him, his face feeling so hot as his blood pressure grew higher with the embarrassment.

How would Daichi feel? Waking up like this with everyone watching?

He knew he’d be embarrassed in Daichi’s place.

A quiet huff shook him from his thoughts, a puff of warm air on his ear.

“He really isn’t waking up,” Kuroo mused, “interesting.”

So they hadn’t noticed.

Good.

Sugawara felt a sudden itch with every breath through his nose, barely having time to begin breathing through his mouth before he sneezed loudly, jolting in Daichi’s arms, the back of his head colliding with Daichi’s face and the teen finally getting disturbed enough to wake up.

“What was that?” He asked, his voice thick with sleep and clearly disorientated. It took him seconds longer to see the head of silver hair directly in his line of sight. “Suga?”

“Uh, hi Daichi.” His embarrassment finally winning out against his willingness to be used as the butt of the joke.

“Why are you…?”

“Don’t you know? You grabbed him in your sleep Sawa-chan!” Oikawa said quickly, not giving Sugawara the chance to arrange his words before he said them.

“Yup, yup~” Kuroo agreed, a grin quickly forming on his face. “Suga’s been dying for a piss!”

“Have not!” Sugawara argued, turning onto his stomach as Daichi let go of him and sat up.

“Fuck, what time is it?” Daichi asked, looking at the group.

“It’s almost ten thirty, we wanted to let you get some sleep.” Iwaizumi said, sitting on the back of the sofa. “Also, don’t listen to those two, Kuroo planned what he called an experiment to see what would wake you up.”

“And apparently it takes a sneeze to make you wake up and to make your nose bleed!” Kuroo laughed.

Sugawara looked behind him and sure enough Daichi’s nose was now dripping.

“Ohmigawd I just broke your nose!” Sugawara gasped in horror as Kenma handed Daichi some tissue.

“Not cool, Suga.” Kuroo said light-heartedly, his fingers absent mindedly running over the bridge of his own, still tender nose.

“It’s fine,” Daichi dismissed, using the tissue to stem the blood flow and holding the bridge of his nose, “you didn’t do it on purpose.” Daichi said, giving Akaashi a knowing glance.

Akaashi merely shrugged.

“At the time I was hoping for such an outcome, I never thought it would happen.”

“I got a battle scar to show the ladies.” Kuroo reasoned.

“No, you got a crooked nose.” Kenma quipped back.

Sugawara didn’t know why, but their banter didn’t seem as jovial anymore, Kenma’s voice had been laced with a hint of venom, Kuroo’s was disguising what Sugawara could only guess was anger and annoyance.

But if Sugawara had a better understanding of intonation and how it worked then he would’ve noticed that it was more betrayal and bitterness in his words.

Breakfast went off without a hitch and before he knew it Sugawara was ready to go and watch the rugby training.

“Are you coming too, Oikawa?” Sugawara asked, turning to his friend as they were all approaching the front door.

“I think I’m gonna stay at home and spend time with mother.” Oikawa said, stopping at the door to watch the group leaving.

“Let me know how your day goes.” Iwaizumi spoke softly, one hand catching Oikawa’s waist and pulling him closer, planting a quick kiss on his lips before stepping back.

“I should be saying the same to you, Iwa-chan.”

“I’ll call you when I finish training.”

Oikawa hummed softly and Sugawara waved to him as they headed down the driveway.

The group walked down the road, talking to one another and Sugawara found his mind wandering back to earlier that morning.

First to Kenma and Sierria, he found himself mulling over the information he’d been presented with. It was beginning to look like they were a couple, or at least had romantic feelings for one another.

His mind then changed topics and his thoughts turned to Daichi and the incident that morning. He would never tell the other teen what happened.

It’d be too embarrassing.

“Where are you going?” Snapped Sugawara from his thoughts, he looked to Kuroo thinking the taller boy had been talking to him.

Sugawara was surprised to see he was talking to Kenma.

“I just told you, me and Sierria are going to look for fabrics to make our costumes for con.” Kenma replied, voice terse. “Fabakhan’s has a sale on kilo bulk buys.”

Kenma stopped at a bus shelter, Sierria following suit and looking more than a little uncomfortable with the exchange of words.

Sugawara felt increasingly uncomfortable, chewing on his thumbnail, if he was Oikawa he’d know what to do.

“That sounds very interesting Kenma-san, have a good day.” Akaashi interrupted.

“Yeah!” Sugawara quickly jumped in, riding on Akaashi’s words. “Who are you going to cosplay as?”

“We’re not sure yet, we’re going to look for fabrics we can use and decide while we’re there.”

“Nice! I hope you guys find something fun!” Sugawara said with a grin.

“We’ll try our best Sugawara-san!” Sierria smiled back and Sugawara was grateful she had responded to him and Akaashi trying to lighten the mood.

“Guys, we’re gonna go on ahead!” Bokuto shouted, motioning to himself, Daichi, and Iwaizumi. “Practice is starting soon.”

“Bo, wait up!” Kuroo called, jogging to catch up with them.

Sugawara and Akaashi waved the group off, waiting for the bus alongside their other friends.

“He’s rubbing me up the wrong way a lot lately…” Kenma muttered under his breath. “I don’t get why he’s acting all weird.”

“He’s been your only friend since you were kids, right? Maybe he’s getting insecure because you’ve clicked really well with Sierria.” Sugawara suggested. “Not that it’s either of your fault! You can have more than one friend!”

Kenma sighed and leaned on the bus shelter, looking at his scuffed shoes.

“I doubt it, he’s not all that…possessive.”

“Do you think he dislikes me?” Sierria wondered aloud, looking at the other three.

“Um, no way?” Sugawara responded, his voice scandalised. “You’re fucking awesome!”

“If he dislikes you then I don’t think we can be friends; you’re a great person, Sierria, and if he does dislike you then that’s his problem and I’d stand by you one-hundred percent.”

“Thanks Kenma…”

“Is this your bus?” Akaashi asked, nodding to the teal coloured double-decker bus coming round the corner.

“That’s us.” Kenma confirmed, flagging it down with an extended arm. “See you guys tomorrow?”

“You will!” Sugawara grinned, Akaashi and himself waving the two other teens off as they boarded the bus. “Reckon it’s worth trying to catch up with the others?”

“Nah, let’s just walk at our own pace.” Akaashi said.

Sugawara and Akaashi began walking to the school, discussing the events that had transpired over the course of twenty-four hours.

Something wasn’t right.

“I saw Kenma and Sierria taking photos together this morning.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I woke up and there they were, Sierria was taking selfies with him, bedhead selfies.”

Akaashi looked forward, furrowing his brow.

“Think that’s what got Kuroo-san’s back up?”

“Why though?” Sugawara asked as they turned onto the side street that lead to the school.

“Well, it’s just a hunch, but what if Kenma-san and Sierria-san are actually…more than platonic?”

“You mean they fancy each other?”

“Possibly. Bokuto-san said that Kuroo-san was distressed last night, but he wouldn’t explain why.”

“But…why?” Sugawara asked, struggling to make the connection until it practically hit him in the face. “Kuroo likes Kenma!”

Akaashi looked at him, nodding once and Sugawara gasped.

“When did being a teenager become such a mess?”

“It’s always been a mess,” Akaashi chuckled wryly, his face twisting bitterly, “but it is admittedly harder as of late.”

“Then let’s make it easier!” Sugawara grinned. “We’ll never grow up!”

Akaashi watched him affectionately, finding amusement in his apparent naivety. Although he would admit that never growing up sounded pretty decent in that moment of time.

They entered the school grounds, making their way to the back of the school and to the rugby pitch surrounded by the running track.

They could see Kuroo observing quietly from the grassy verge at the edge of the field, Bokuto leading a warmup exercise.

“Did we miss much?” Sugawara asked Kuroo, sitting down beside the bedheaded teen.

“Not really, well, Akaashi missed a nip slip from Bokuto.”

Sugawara looked up to where Akaashi was still standing, and then he followed his gaze to the rugby captain, the vest he was wearing would definitely cause a few more of those.

“There’ll be plenty more.” Akaashi replied with a smirk.

Sugawara agreed.

He knew players got hot during training, but a vest? In November?

“Keep it in your pants, bro.”

“For now.” Akaashi teased.

“Hey, Kuroo,” Sugawara addressed, not fully realising what he’d done until it was too late, “what was up last night?”

Kuroo looked between the pair with pursed and bitten lips.

“I had a sore stomach.”

“Really?” Sugawara pushed, leaning his cheek on his forearms as his knees were tucked up against his chest. “I can’t really smell very well, but when someone’s not feeling good I can usually smell this smell and you didn’t smell like that.”

“What are you? A dog?”

“A curious and concerned friend.”

Kuroo sighed, running his hands through his hair.

“I…I don’t— I had a panic attack, that’s it.”

“Why?”

Akaashi watched the interaction, how the entire mood shifted with the tone Sugawara used.

He’d gone from concerned to more robotic, just like he was collecting a set of data for analysis.

“I—I dunno, I just…” Kuroo paused, his face scrunching up before he looked Sugawara dead in the eyes. “The thought of Kenma dating Sierria makes me feel sick.”

Akaashi and Sugawara shared glances.

“It makes me feel sick to my stomach at the thought of being replaced as his go-to person, okay?”

Oikawa was just folding the sofa bed back in on itself when his mother walked down into the basement.

“Tooru, would you like something to eat? I’m going to make sandwiches, Junko and Sumire are coming, Sumire is bringing Kosuke and Takeru.”

“Sure, if you wait five minutes I’ll come and help you!” Oikawa smiled, fixing the couch cushions.

He finished the general tidy up, fixing the DVD and games shelves before heading up into the kitchen where his mother was gathering ingredients.

He stopped to look at her, the messy bun that had fallen from the back of her head to the side of her neck and somehow fell neatly under her ear, her natural skin tone not masked by a flawless foundation with a healthy glow.

He could see that it was her he’d received most of his facial features from.

Well, him and his two sisters actually.

Their father never had a look in when it came to their traits.

He was grateful. 

“Tooru? Are you okay?” His mother asked and he looked to her.

“Y—Yeah, sorry, I got distracted.” Oikawa responded, going to join his mother in preparing the food. “So Sumire and Junko are coming home?”

His mother hummed in confirmation.

“They should be here soon.”

“Do they know about father?”

A pause.

“Yes,” his mother replied, “I told them last night.”

Oikawa began laying cut meat on the bread his mother had previously buttered, quickly catching up and matching her pace.

“So, Tooru, I happened to notice Hajime’s neck yesterday.”

“Shit, uh, you saw that…?”

“I did…” Katsumi confirmed. “And, how do I, um, you’re not straight, so how do I give you the talk?”

Oikawa froze up, feeling his face grow warm and red.

“Uh, um,” he stammered, unsure how to respond, “I, well, the stuff for gay sex isn’t as,” he was definitely blushing, his face burning, “it’s not as out there information wise…I’ve already done my own research because I was scared.”

He watched his mother’s expression, quickly noticing the look that meant she needed more reassurance.

“B—Besides…me and Iwa-chan haven’t really, we’re not ready for that sorta stuff!”

Now he braced himself for the onslaught of questions, while it was true they hadn’t taken that last step before, they had done some things building up to it.

He was a man after his mother’s own heart, he knew what she was like when she grew curious about discrepancies.

“But what about his neck? And with your friends there? Tooru…” Her tone turned to one she used to warn him as a child that he was toeing a fine line.

“That one was an accident!” Oikawa defended, which was a half lie.

While he did make out with Iwaizumi, he didn’t intend to leave a mark.

“Okay, but Tooru?” Katsumi addressed, continuing to make the sandwiches and Oikawa quickly following her lead. “Just stay safe, okay?”

“I will, mother—”

A knock on the door cut their conversation short, Oikawa moving to the front of the dining room to peer out the bay window and onto the porch.

“It’s Sumire!” Oikawa called, his mother already making her way to the front door.

He heard his family exchanging greetings and niceties laced with concern, heading out into the hallway behind his mother to join the throng of his family.

“Uncle Tooru!” Came an excited shout, Oikawa hardly having time to brace himself before being tackled by his nephew who was getting far too big, far too fast.

“Takeru!” Oikawa grinned, lifting his nephew easily and spinning him round once before depositing him back on the floor. “How have you—”

“Where’s NASA?!”

“Uh,” Oikawa pondered, he hadn’t seen the cat since the day before when he’d ruthlessly begged for fried chicken, “he’s out on an adventure!”

“Tooru! You better not disappear on us before you give me a hug!” Sumire then tackled him much like her son did.

“I wasn’t going anywhere, Sumire!” Oikawa hugged her back, accepting a hug from his other sister, Junko, before shaking Kosuke’s hand firmly, not letting the other man forget that he would hurt him if he ever hurt Sumire. “Iwa-chan will be coming over later.” He threw in for good measure.

Nobody in their right mind would try to fight Iwaizumi. 

“Oh, Hajime! It’s been sooo long since I’ve seen him,” Sumire cooed, “how is he? I bet he’s got all the girls after him.”

Oikawa hummed as his mother gave him an amused look; if only they knew it said.

“They’re wasting their time, in all honesty.” He said bravely, feeling more courage after his first successful coming out.

Junko made an excited noise, one that Oikawa recognised from when he’d over hear her gossiping with her friends, she looked at Oikawa.

“He’s taken?”

“As a matter of fact he is.” Oikawa smirked.

“You sound awfully proud of him,” Sumire laughed with a teasing, but not malicious tone, “was it that much of a surprise?”

Oikawa hummed again, pursing his lips to stop himself from bursting into a grin.

“Spill it, Tooru! It’s not like you to hide information!”

“He’s coming later, you can ask him yourself!”

“Two can play at that game, Oikawa Tooru!”

“Right, right, stop your bickering, you two, honestly!” Katsumi laughed, ushering everyone to sit down, carrying a tray of sandwiches.

Oikawa pulled out his phone, sending a quick text to Iwaizumi.

Come over later.

Kenma left the restaurant beside Sierria, feeling full and he sighed. As soon as they’d reached the city centre the duo went for something to eat and the only thing her regretted was letting Sierria order so much.

“Okay, so where’s the fabric shop, Kenma?” Sierria asked, unfazed by the amount she’d just eaten.

“It’s at the back of the precinct,” Kenma said, taking the lead as they began walking through the shopping centre, weaving through the people on their Sunday shop to move to the rear of the centre.

“This is my first time in town!” Sierria said with a smile, following Kenma with child-like excitement.

The crowd grew denser as they moved past more food halls, Kenma turned around to see a man push Sierria out the way and he lost sight of her in the crowd.

He turned around and waited for her ginger hair to become visible again before grabbing her hand.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, thanks Kenma…” Sierria said, holding his hand as they continued to walk through the precinct, emerging from the building moments later.

But neither of them moved to let go of the other.

Kenma continued to lead Sierria, slowing his pace enough to walk beside her in companionable silence.

They turned onto a side street and Kenma felt Sierria’s grip tighten when she looked up to see the large textiles warehouse.

“Holy hell…”

“Like it?”

“Yes!” Sierria shouted giddily. “I’ll like it even more when I get inside!” She grabbed his hand again and ran up the concrete steps, tugging on the door and going inside, being greeted with stairs going up and a set going down.

“Come on!” Kenma egged, pulling her down into the basement and in through a second set of doors.

Sierria stopped in her tracks, looking around at the massive space filled with baskets and baskets of fabrics and fine silks hanging from large hooks, an area dedicated to rows upon rows of colourful woollen bundles.

“Holy crap…”

Kenma watched her, grinning to himself.

“This is where I get materials for things like pillows, blankets, scarves, and linings. Upstairs is where I get the materials for the cosplays and accessories, I also wanna look at wool, is that okay?”

“Of course!”

They went to the store of wool, Kenma sifting through the bundles of the spun textile picking out several different colours from deep, rich browns and crimsons to delightfully playful yellows and an orange the colour of burnt ochre.

Sierria watched as he climbed up a wooden ladder to reach the top shelves of the storage, he suddenly stopped what he was doing, rummaging in the back.

“Perfect!” He grinned, pulling a wad of coarser wool that was weaved with sparkling foil.

“What’s all the wool for?” Sierria asked curiously, reaching up to offer Kenma a cushion if he fell from the ladder while climbing down.

“I have an idea for a Christmas present for Bokuto, he’s been getting bad neck pain lately so we could knit a patch of scarf each and that’ll keep him warm.”

“That’s so kind!”

They continued to talk as Kenma dug around for lining fabric for their cosplays before going to pay, his haul of items costing almost nothing compared to larger chain stores.

“Upstairs?”

“Yes!” Sierria grinned, excited to see what the next level had in store for them.

It was almost four in the afternoon by the time the training was finished and Iwaizumi was exhausted.

The six friends began walking home, down the side street and falling into steps that were alien without Oikawa, Sierria, and Kenma’s presence.

Iwaizumi wasn’t sure what had happened during the training session, but he’d seen Sugawara talking closely and quietly with Kuroo, Akaashi visibly trying to listen too but clearly distracted by their captain.

“See you guys tomorrow!” Bokuto called with a smile, crossing the road with Kuroo and Akaashi just making it to the bus stop before their bus came around the corner.

“Bye!” Sugawara sang, Daichi and Iwaizumi following suit.

Iwaizumi pulled his phone from his pocket and activated the screen, noticing the message from Oikawa.

Come over later.

It didn’t sound urgent, he’d have time to nip home and have a quick shower first, right?

He shot a reply to Oikawa before continuing to walk home with Sugawara and Daichi.

“I hate to be a pain but reckon I can run into yours and use the bathroom?” Sugawara whined. “Being in the cold for so long I need a piss, sorry to be inconvenient!”

“That’s fine Suga, it’s no inconvenience for us.” Iwaizumi reassured.

The three walked into the cousins’ street, and then into their house.

“We’re home!” Daichi called.

“Toilet’s this way, Suga.” Iwaizumi said, leading him upstairs; he could get a fresh pair of clothes while he waited for Sugawara to finish.

“Thanks Iwaizumi!” Came the call after only a couple minutes, followed by the sound of footsteps going down the stairs.

Iwaizumi headed into the bathroom and locked the door, striping from his damp training uniform.

When Sugawara reached the bottom of the stairs he was stuck with what to do.

He was here.

In Daichi’s house.

He couldn’t just leave without saying goodbye.

But he could hear hushed voices, one of which belonged to Daichi, he didn’t want to intrude on a conversation.

He began to take in his surroundings, the worn walls and dusty floors. It wasn’t derelict or decrepit, it just needed freshening up; it was well lived in.

Sugawara startled when he saw two small, round faces with brilliantly deep brown eyes he felt he knew all too well staring back at him.

“Daichi!” One of the children called, turning to the room they were peeking out from.

That’s where he recognised their eyes.

Daichi emerged from the room moments later, smiling at Sugawara.

“Better?” The question was so small, insignificant, but it also left him blushing at the ridiculous notion that Daichi had known he was only here to pee.

“Y—Yeah…”

“Daichi, who’s that?” Came a call from the room, Daichi turning his body, still leaning on the door frame as he spoke to whoever was inside.

“It’s my friend from school; Suga.”

“Does he want to stay for food?”

“I—I’ll ask.” Daichi turned back to face Sugawara. “Do you want to stay for dinner?”

“Um, is that okay?” He asked quietly, taking a cautious step closer to the room.

“He wouldn’t have offered if it wasn’t.” Daichi said with a smile.

“Then I’d love to.”

Daichi beckoned him over, Sugawara catching colourful patterns transferring to the wall directly opposite the open door.

He walked into the room behind Daichi, his view momentarily limited by Daichi’s form before a world full of colour replaced the drab hallway.

The room was as big as the house was long, taking up what appeared to be half of the lower floor space, maybe more. The walls were coloured brightly, furniture mismatch and completely unique.

And the art!

Hanging from the ceiling were mobiles, shards of colourful plastic dangling down and filtering the light into all the corners of the room and a sliver into the hallway.

“Wow…”

In one corner was a pile of what must’ve been a hundred small woollen pompoms in various sizes.

“Gotta do something to keep me busy.” Came a wheezing laugh, weak yet also full of life.

Sugawara followed the voice to a man leaning heavily on a work top at the end of the room where it must’ve met the kitchen.

“That’s what life is all about, isn’t it?” Sugawara asked. “Finding something to pass the time.”

“And how do you pass the time?” The man asked, moving so Sugawara could see his uncomfortable posture and awkward gait.

“Clouds.”

“Wonderful.” He beamed. “Such a wonderful pastime, which is your favourite?”

Sugawara thought for a moment.

“All of them, there’s no way I could pick.”

“Cirrus clouds are my favourite.”

“I can see why, sir,” Sugawara made an appreciative noise, glancing around the room one last time before realising, “the mobiles look like—” He turned to the man, absorbed in wonderment.

Another laugh.

“You’re a sharp one, you.” He caressed the broken plastic above his head. “Cirrus is my favourite for the optical phenomena, the spectrum of visible light being refracted and going so often unnoticed.”

“I agree! It’s beautiful! I love circumzenithal arcs, I got a picture the summer just gone.” Sugawara pulled his phone from his pocket, finding the picture that was currently his background and handing it to the older man.

“Fabulous, so rare and beautiful.”

“Dad, I gotta go.” Iwaizumi said in a rush, popping his head around the doorframe. “Oikawa needs me to go over or something.”

“Have fun!”

Sugawara and Daichi glanced at each other with a smirk.

Iwaizumi headed out down the street, his hair still damp from his shower and the chilly breeze that had picked up during the latter part of the morning made him shiver.

He made his way to Oikawa’s, down the main road and across the small side streets. He tried not to look too eager but it was fruitless, his mind was running with all the possible scenarios that could greet him and he found it hard not to start running.

Iwaizumi found himself at Oikawa’s door ten minutes later, bringing the old door knock down onto the faux wood.

He heard commotion behind the door and it was quickly flung open.

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa gasped, dragging him in by the bicep.

“What’s going on?” Iwaizumi asked, taking in the three Oikawa siblings crowding his space.

“We’ve been waiting for you!” Sumire cheered.

Come on and sit down!” Junko crowded, the pair linking him and tugging him into the living room.

“Hajime!”

“H—Hey Takeru!” Iwaizumi said with slight shock. What was going on?

He acknowledged Kosuke, shaking his hand firmly and sitting down on what appeared to be the only free seat in the plush room.

They all sat together, Oikawa gracelessly falling onto the seat beside Iwaizumi, squeezing into a place that shouldn’t have fit two teens as large as themselves.

Iwaizumi was sure he was learning from NASA.

Before anyone could speak Takeru jumped from his perch and sat in Iwaizumi’s lap, facing the room.

“How come you sit with Iwa-chan and not me?” Oikawa whined.

“He’s comfy.”

“What does that even mean?” Oikawa asked, hugging Iwaizumi’s arm to his chest as he battled with his nephew. “Well what if I wanted to sit on Iwa-chan’s knee?” He suddenly asked.

Iwaizumi felt his face burning, hiding his face in his hand only to have the sisters spot the unfortunate mark that Oikawa had left.

“What’s that on your neck Hajime? A bite?” Sumire asked, expertly disguising the question as something that could be taken as innocently as an insect bite.

“Uh, kinda? I—"

“That’s from Iwa-chan’s lover!” Oikawa shouted at Sumire.

Iwaizumi dug his elbow into the body beside him.

“I’m going to make tea.” Katsumi spoke softly, passing Iwaizumi a glance that seemed to travel right through him. “Takeru could you come help?”

To Oikawa.

Iwaizumi watched as Takeru and Katsumi left the room, the door closing softly.

“I was saying to Tooru earlier, I bet you have all the ladies after you now, don’t you Hajime? You’re growing into such a fine young man!”

“Better than your brother, anyway.” Iwaizumi laughed, the sisters joining in.

“Hey!”

Iwaizumi watched Kosuke’s lips tick with amusement, but he otherwise remained quiet.

“What did Oikawa tell you after you said that?” Iwaizumi asked.

“Hm, that you were taken.” Junko said, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear and teasing the strand around her index finger.

“Well, that is true.”

“Who’s the lucky girl?” Sumire questioned. “She must be pretty brave to leave a hickey like that on your neck!”

Iwaizumi hummed softly.

“They’re more brazen than brave,” Iwaizumi said his voice soft and he couldn’t hide his affections, but he still heard Oikawa gasp in offence from beside him, “they’re also annoying, arrogant and so prideful it’s stupid, unhealthy, and it'll probably be their downfall one day.”

He observed Junko and Sumire, briefly glancing at Kosuke and finding him smiling, then he remembered what Sumire had said he’d studied.

English Language and Etymology.

He knew Iwaizumi wasn’t talking about a woman, he’d picked up on his words.

“But they’re also beautiful, smart, caring, and they act like everything is a task, but they’re selfless and will do anything for anyone. Oh, and they have a wit and silver tongue to be afraid of.” Iwaizumi could feel his face burning, why was he still talking? Ranting, letting Oikawa’s ego get bigger.

“Spill it and tell us already!”

Iwaizumi turned to Oikawa for a minute, noticing his teary eyes at the same time his sisters did.

“Tooru—?”

“You’re a big brute, you know that?” Oikawa whined, watery. “How dare you say such cute things.” He sniffled.

“They’re also an ugly crier.”

“Iwa-chan!”

It was at this moment that the penny dropped.

And the sisters exploded at the realisation, a litany of oh my gods and it’s our brother escaping the pair.

Oikawa laughed and Iwaizumi couldn’t help but grin at the noise, the grin disappearing as Oikawa kissed him.

“Our baby brother is all grown up!”

No sooner had Junko finished her sentence Katsumi re-entered with Takeru, mugs of tea perched on a tray.

Takeru’s eyes lit up when he saw the way Oikawa was linked to Iwaizumi’s arm.

“It’s true!” Takeru grinned, looking up at Katsumi with wonder before bounding to his uncle. “Hajime is my uncle too now!”

Katsumi passed the drinks around, Oikawa notices her soft smile and smiled back in a silent thank you.

“I told you two could play at this game, Tooru, but now mother is back I have some news I want to share!” Sumire cheered, Iwaizumi watched as Kosuke’s posture straightened slightly, almost like he was preparing to defend himself in a fight.

“What is it, sweetie?” Katsumi asked as everyone else’s attention drifted to Sumire.

“I’m pregnant!”

It was a little after six when Sugawara finished his meal, watching as Daichi collected dishes and deposited them into the kitchen.

He seemed in a rush, clearing the plates quickly and making small spillages as food missed the bin.

“Here, let me help.” Sugawara offered, kneeling in front of Daichi to tidy the mess before he could oppose.

“Suga it’s—”

“A problem shared is a problem halved, right?” Sugawara interrupted, mopping the stained floor and drying it with kitchen paper towels. “You can wash and I’ll dry.”

Daichi looked to the other boy, knowing by now that he wouldn’t be able to argue with him.

“Okay.”

He turned to the sink, filling the bowl with hot sudsy water and putting the dishes onto the worktop. First was the cutlery, finding that as he left the stainless steel knives and forks on the draining board there was a set of hands that weren’t his cousin’s.

It was odd, but not unwelcome.

Plate by plate, utensils, trays, and pans, Sugawara was there as soon as he’d finished washing them, waiting patiently with a towel in his hands.

“I have to—”

“Go get ready for work?” Sugawara asked.

“Yeah,” Daichi mumbled, “how did you know?”

“Oikawa told me you work at a big hotel, and that you took Iwaizumi’s season so he could spend time with Oikawa.”

“Ah…yeah.”

“You’re so kind, want me to get going?”

“N—No! That’s okay, Suga,” Daichi spoke fast, “um, I could give you a lift? It’s getting dark…”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, just, uh, give me five minutes!” Daichi insisted, running up the stairs two at a time, leaving Sugawara to observe his surroundings once more.

So this was where Daichi lived.

It wasn’t like his aunt and uncle’s house; his home, and it wasn’t like Oikawa’s either, it was small with an unusual layout, the kitchen long and narrow and he wondered how Iwaizumi and Daichi could both fit in the confined space.

And Daichi’s uncle, with his awkward gait and posture, he knew he’d been in a bad accident, but to leave him so frail, it made Sugawara curious as to what exactly happened.

He heard the front door open and a woman’s voice calling that she was home, he walked back into the colourfully decorated room, watching Iwaizumi’s dad struggle from his seat with the help of the two young children and greet a tired looking woman with tanned skin, hazel-green eyes and thick, dark brown hair secured in a tight plait at the back of her head.

Their eyes met and Sugawara felt a strange sensation overcome him, first hostility, then surprise as his hand lifted in a shy greeting to the woman.

“I’m Sugawara Koushi, Daichi and Iwaizumi’s—”

“Suga, you ready?” Daichi asked breathlessly, appearing in the doorway behind the woman. “Hi auntie, how was work?” He greeted the woman with a quick kiss to her cheek.

“Hello, Daichi.” She returned the gesture. “Busy, I have to be in for four tomorrow.”

“We left a meal on low in the oven and Suga helped me do the dishes so get something to eat and get yourself to bed.” Daichi fussed before moving around the woman and kissing his two younger siblings goodbye, mumbling at them to be good, finally giving his uncle the same affection and beckoning for Sugawara again.

“Coming!” Sugawara called, skirting past the woman and following Daichi out the house into the front garden. He stopped when he saw the lift that Daichi was talking about, that’s right, he remembered now, it was a pedal bike.

Daichi climbed onto the bike.

“Are you okay on the pegs?”

Sugawara looked to the back wheels, the two metal protrusions before giving his confirmation.

He’d never used pegs before, but he hadn’t skateboarded either and that went fine, right?

He put his left foot on the metal bar, then his right, holding onto Daichi’s shoulders as the other teen pushed off and began pedalling.

Sugawara hadn’t expected the push and found his balance compromised, wrapping his arms tightly around Daichi’s neck and leaning heavily on Daichi’s back just to regain the fleeting feeling of being upright.

“You okay?”

“Yeah!” Sugawara called over the wind, unable to fight the grin on his face as his hair whipped around his cheeks and the wind fluttered down his shirt.

He grew bolder as he grew use to the feeling, daring to stand properly with just his hands braced on Daichi’s shoulders rather than his whole body.

He felt the traffic to his right, nerves on edge as Daichi remained close to the pavement but crossing across the wide mouths of side streets and being passed by the industrial vehicles headed to the docks.

A bus passed on the opposite side of the road, making Sugawara turn round to look at it.

“There was Sierria and Kenma!”

“Where?”

“On the bus!”

Daichi briefly turned around to the see the double decker stopping at a set of lights before turning to face the road in front of him, he turned into Sugawara’s street, stopping in front of his house so Sugawara could climb down.

“Feeling okay?”

“Yeah!” Sugawara grinned, his hair windswept and his face flushed from windburn. “Thanks for the lift!”

Daichi smiled in return.

“Don’t mention it! See you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow!”

Sugawara waited at the curb side and waved as Daichi disappeared down the road before heading inside.

Kenma jostled off the bus with his arms full, Sierria in a similar state, walking her to her house.

Once again the building looked cold, uninhabited.

“Is this place always empty?”

Sierria looked to the ground shamefully, unlocking the door.

“Yeah…there’s still stuff all over the house and it still needs decorating.”

“Aren’t you lonely?”

“Sometimes…” Sierria said, showing Kenma into the hallway. “I try to keep busy by peeling the wallpaper and stuff…”

“Then do you want to stay over at mine?”

“Huh?”

“Like, get your uniform and come to my house. Stay over.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I am.” Kenma smiled.

“Let me get my things!”

Chapter Text

“You were brilliant today!” The booming voice he knew all too well cheered.

This was a scene he recognised all too well.

It would sometimes rear its ugly head, when he was stressed, when he was upset, angry too.

“Thanks dad!”

But no matter how many times he relived this moment it never got easier, he could never change it.

All he could do was watch, listen, feel, smell, and taste the day he almost lost his life.

That fateful day when he was barely a teenager.

His first win as team captain; his first game as team captain.

“When we’re off the coastal road we’ll go get something to celebrate!”

Bokuto remembers making a sound that sounded like a cheer and ended like a hiss.

Dream—Nightmare Bokuto was no different.

“Yesss!”

The father and son continued to talk, converse about their days, eventually wandering onto the topic of Bokuto’s future.

“I want to be on the National team and play in the World Cup!”

His father laughed heartily; with confidence.

“And I know you can! I didn’t raise a quitter!!”

The car continued down the road, away from the school and towards the coast, thick sea fog billowing inland on the still evening air. The sky was dark, fog illuminated by the headlights of oncoming traffic, red breaking in front of them to signal the other cars coming to a stop.

Sea fog was always dangerous, even more so at night when the sky was dark, the road was damp, and temperatures low enough to reduce moisture to near freezing.

Bokuto watched the nightmare through his own eyes, knowing full well what was about to happen, five minutes from now and just around the corner. But his body wouldn’t react.

He’d thought over his actions for the last three years, would he have warned his dad if he’d known? Or would he let his father go blissfully unaware and just lie about needing to use the bathroom?

After carefully thinking through and analysing every second of the memory he’d always came to the same conclusion.

He wished to open his mouth, to ask if they could stop off at the next service station, delaying him by just five minutes.

But instead his mouth spoke:

“Did you see when I tackled that guy in the scrum?” He felt his lips spread wide. “I was great!”

They drove past the service station.

No going back now.

A collection of single lights rushed past them, engines roaring past so loud that Bokuto still almost felt the need to cover his ears with his hands.

Motorcycle groups loved the coastal road.

A long, flat tarmacked road they could abuse with their two wheels.

They approached the end of the coastal road, still in almost a crawl with the rush hour traffic. Bokuto pulled out his phone, feeling the device vibrate in his pocket, a text from Kuroo.

His fingers never did get to type out a reply.

They reached the traffic lights, first in line to the junction.

Bokuto looked up to his dad to inquire.

He never did get to ask his question.

A bright light illuminated his father’s face, distracting Bokuto as he looked to the front to see a single light.

Another motorbike.

Only this light grew closer, closer still, until all Bokuto could see was the dark body of a 4x4, only its far headlight functioning.

And then there was pain.

“Shit!” Bokuto cried, jolting awake with a strangled gasp, looking around his pre-dawn twilight coated room.

It was cold.

Really, really cold.

His skin became gooseflesh, tender and sore, sweat slicked and he let out a shuddering breath.

That same stupid dream.

He brought his legs up to his chest, folding one further than the other and resting his forehead on his knee, chest stinging with his overzealous heart rate.

His hands cupped the back of his neck, willing the pain to leave him.

A sob shook his body as he tried to ground himself, to do the techniques his therapist had taught him.

His tears felt cold compared to his flushed cheeks, while at the same time carving trails of fire into his aching skin.

“Fuck…” He cursed again.

Today was going to be a bad day.

Kuroo trudged through the light dusting of snow, his toes frozen in his shoes. He looked up to Kenma’s bedroom window, the curtains still partially drawn; he must’ve had a shower.

Either that or he hated the look of the snow.

Kuroo looked at the black drainpipe that had been his main entry to Kenma’s house since they were kids, the metal was cold in his hands and he was glad he’d worn gloves.

He hooked his foot onto the wall bracket, hoisting himself up and paying no mind to those walking by.

Like hell they ever paid him any attention; he’d been doing this for so long people no longer tried to stop him, tried to warn Kenma’s family, or even question it anymore.

The pipe was slippery, a thin coating of ice adorning the outside. It took Kuroo longer than normal to reach the sloped porch roof, but he gripped onto the flashing and scooted along the snow covered surface.

He looked inside Kenma’s bedroom window, feeling his body go colder than the weather around him at the sight that met his eyes.

There was Sierria, facing almost completely away from him, her soft auburn hair flatter than normal, darker too, almost like she’d been in the shower.

What his mind went into overdrive about was when he saw the state of her attire, or lack thereof.

The teen was only wearing her underwear, in the process of buttoning her shirt. He caught a glimpse of her face, a wide grin and mouth moving as if she was talking, facing the slightly ajar bedroom door.

What the hell happened?

Why was she here?

She’d obviously spent the night.

The lights downstairs were turned off, which meant that nobody else was home.

Kenma’s mother was always home in the kitchen, light on and shining out into the street.

Kuroo couldn’t stop his mind from wandering to his worst case scenario, her and Kenma had obviously been up to something.

It was the only explanation.

He heard a muffled shout, looking into the room and seeing Sierria now fully clothed, but her eyes wide and tie still askew, as if she’d been in the middle of completing the half-Windsor knot when she’d noticed his presence through the crack in the curtains.

Seconds later he was faced with Kenma.

His brows furrowed as he pulled open the window.

“What—?”

Kuroo pushed past him and into the sweltering bedroom, grateful Kenma felt the cold so severely that it was always a furnace on days like this.

He’d gladly deal with chill blains if it meant keeping warm.

“Kuro—”

Kuroo sat down on the desk chair, trying to suss out the room.

“How come you’re here?” He finally asked, addressing Sierria.

“Kenma invited me for a sleepover.”

“Just the two of you?”

“Yes, Kuroo, is that a problem?” Kenma’s voice grew clipped and he took a step closer to his friend.

Kuroo went silent, simply glaring down at Kenma, tension and anger finally boiling over.

Sierria was the next person to speak, her posture fearful.

“I—”

“Are you scared of me having another friend? Someone who’s not you.” It had sounded like a question, but Kenma had left no room for arguing in his tone. He clicked his tongue. “Selfish.”

“Excuse you?” Kuroo hissed, grabbing Kenma’s shirt collar. “As. Fucking. If.”

Kenma grabbed both of his wrists, tugging his hands away from his clothes, causing small cuts with his nails.

“Then what is it? Scared that you’ve been caught being a massive pervert? Ashamed of spying on a fourteen year old?”

“What—?!”

“Stop it!” Sierria shouted, trying to diffuse the situation, coming between the two before they could utter any further words or become any more physical.

Feeling Kuroo’s anger Kenma pulled Sierria back, his arm on her waist and his body moving to be in front of hers.

This wasn’t her fight to get hurt in.

“And just because you act like a couple means that it’s totally okay for you to touch up a fourteen year old.” Kuroo retaliated, almost bracing himself for a punch, or a physical attack of some nature.

He didn’t expect the words that left Kenma’s mouth, he didn’t expect them at all.

“And what if we are a couple?” Kenma scowled, brows furrowed and fists clenching at his sides. “Also, what the fuck? You know I’m not into that shit, you know I’m not active—”

“No. I don’t,” Kuroo ground out, his voice dropping an octave and becoming an almost growl, “you didn’t tell me. Just like you didn’t tell me about this!” His voice was venomous, dripping like honey but not just laced with poison; infected with it. “How long were you going to keep this from your friends?!”

Kuroo shot off back towards the window, climbing out over the window ledge, sliding down the drainpipe as Kenma leaned out the window.

“Gee, I don’t fucking know, maybe today seeing as it only happened last night!” He shouted after him, his voice raising in a way that wasn’t Kenma. “If you can’t be happy for me then don’t bother talking to me!”

And Kuroo walked away.

Silent.

Akaashi had just finished getting ready when he received a text.

I’m outside.

He would’ve expected, and welcomed, such a text from Bokuto.

But it wasn’t something he’d ever thought Kuroo would send to him.

He moved from his bedroom to his parent’s, looking outside into the cul-de-sac, he opened the window enough to lean over the ledge. Sure enough there was Kuroo, shivering almost pathetically on the doorstep.

A loud sniff and Akaashi couldn’t tell if he’d been crying or if he was just cold.

Whatever it was, he didn’t like it.

He briefly wondered where Kenma was, maybe he was sick?

“I’ll be out now.” He called down, waiting for acknowledgement from Kuroo before shutting the window.

Akaashi went back into his room, collecting his phone and skipping down the stairs, sending Bokuto a text to wait at his house for him and that he’d be there soon.

“I’m going early today!” He called, grabbing his coat and scarf, even a spare one for Bokuto before picking up his bag and instrument case.

He said goodbye to his parents before leaving the front door, locking it behind himself.

“What’s up?” He asked Kuroo. “Take this a sec.” He thrust his instrument at Kuroo’s waiting arms while he fixed his bag, taking the case back again once his backpack was secure. “Thank you.”

“Me and Kenma had a fight.”

Akaashi refrained from gasping aloud, instead sucking in a breath.

“About what?” He asked fretfully, already having an ill feeling about the day without the additional information, now the feeling was aggravated.

“Did you know that he started dating Sierria?”

Akaashi thought for a moment, not remembering such a conversation ever happening.

“No,” he made a face, he was almost certain Kenma had liked Kuroo in that way, “I don’t recall ever talking about it.”

“Well they are, and I just went there and she was there, and I think they had a sleepover but she looked…different.”

“You think they’re sexually active with one another?” Judging by Kuroo's reaction he'd hit the nail on the head. 

“I dunno…maybe.”

“What evidence do you have to support it?”

“She was getting dressed in his room, and she looked like she was wet.”

“Was he in there with her?”

“No…”

“So she could also have just gotten a shower—”

“But—”

“Kuroo-san, while at first I did not give much interest or effort into becoming your friend, and just like I would back then, I must say you have a very active imagination.” Akaashi spoke, honestly and not sugar-coating the situation. “Can you really imagine Kenma-san doing anything more…mature?”

Kuroo was quiet for a moment.

“See, when you say it like that I think of the only mature then he’ll ever do is play eighteen rated games.” Kuroo scoffed, looking at the floor. “He also said something about not being active.”

“I do admit that is very Kenma-san.” Akaashi spoke around an amused huff.

“I mean, in that way, sexual.”

“Then what are you fretting about?”

Kuroo shrugged, moving his head to look at Akaashi.

“He didn’t tell me.” Kuroo sighed, running his hands through his messy, tousled bedhead. “To be honest my head’s a mess, can I just drop it for now?”

“Of course, Kuroo-san.” Akaashi’s eyes flicked from Kuroo’s face to his hair. “And for a messy head I suggest conditioner.”

The pair continued their journey to Bokuto’s home, barely making it into the side street before Bokuto left the front door, feet dragging as he walked to meet them.

“Bokuto-san?”

“Whoa, bro, are you okay?”

Bokuto was quite for a moment.

“I guess so…” He finally answered, leaving the other two to exchange worried glances.

Akaashi watched Bokuto’s behaviour, noting his mannerisms and his awkward posture.

“Ah, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi remembered, rummaging through his bag, “here.” Akaashi stepped in front of his boyfriend and hooked the scarf around his neck, adjusting the knot so it was warm and not too tight.

“Thanks, ‘Kaashi…”

“Are you sure you’re okay, Bokuto-san?” Akaashi asked, stroking his cheek with the pad of his thumb.

For a moment Akaashi saw something akin to sorrow and fear in those round, golden eyes, duller than normal.

“I’m okay, just a rough night.”

Akaashi knew what that meant, sliding his arm into the crook of Bokuto’s, linking him in silent support and comfort.

Kuroo immediately joined his other side, talking to Bokuto in a way that made it seem like he was as carefree as always.

Bokuto’s mood seemed to lift slightly, Akaashi quelling his jealousy to instead feel grateful.

He unlinked his arm from Bokuto’s and turned on his mobile data, wanting to order the item he’d seen the night before, knowing it would cheer Bokuto up.

He never made it to the website before a broad arm slammed across his chest.

“Akaash! We’re crossing the road, you gotta be careful!”

Akaashi looked up, still a full metre away from the curb edge.

He held Bokuto’s hand, intertwining their fingers and squeezing.

“Okay then,” he spoke softly, “ready?”

Bokuto nodded and at the next break in traffic they crossed the road together, at the other side Akaashi looked down to his phone screen.

His stomach dropped.

Heart frozen mid-beat.

Trending on his browser was the story:

“Four dead and six injured in horror seven car pile-up.”

He looked up at Bokuto, at his…lacklustre attitude.

That was why.

That explained his odd behaviour.

Bokuto’s father always had the radio on.

Bokuto would’ve already heard about it.

Akaashi nudged Kuroo, the latter stopping to look at the phone screen while Bokuto was still distracted, belting out the lyrics of a song Akaashi didn’t know but Kuroo had started.

“Shit…” Akaashi heard him hiss. “Is that what—?”

“I think so.”

“Then we gotta put our differences aside—”

“What differences are those, Kuroo-san?”

“You know what I mean!”

“What are you guys talking about?” Bokuto asked, turning to face them as they walked onto the frozen expanse of Rimrose.

“About how I left Kuroo with a crooked nose.” Akaashi smirked, playful and light.

“Hey! I busted your hand!”

“I never said you didn’t.” Akaashi’s lips still lightly tilting into a smile.

“Bo! Tell Akaashi to be nice and stop point scoring!”

Bokuto laughed, a genuine sound for the first time that day.

“Sorry, bro, if I do that he might break my nose too.”

This had Kuroo laughing too, with and run up and jump he mounted Bokuto’s back, holding his arms around his neck.

Akaashi watched the two play fight and bicker along the near-frozen marsh, Kuroo making the most of the piggyback he was the recipient of. He felt happy knowing that both their moods had improved.

They walked across the frozen ground, the grasses covered in a thin blanket of snow, trees without foliage crystallised by snow flakes and Akaashi found himself taking out his phone, taking a panorama of their view for Sugawara and for himself.

It was odd, since Sugawara had become their friend he’d begun to notice the smaller things, finer details that seemed like miracles in the grand scheme of things. So small, so insignificant, just like the weather and the processes behind it.

The weather itself was no miracle, it was something they’d grown up with, sporadic weather from their precarious position between mountains, barren farmland, coastal tides, and industry. Sporadic weather that changed hour upon hour.

No, it wasn’t the weather that was a miracle.

The processes behind it, however.

Everything around them, what they wouldn’t even pass a second glance at several months earlier, was becoming worth that second glance.

“It’s incredible.” Akaashi spoke aloud, making the other two turn round and make noises of question.

“What do you mean, Akaash?”

“I mean, Sugawara-san has changed everything.”

“You’re having it too?” Kuroo asked, looking back at Akaashi. “Stopping to appreciate things more?”

“Yes…”

“I guess that’s his personality too,” Kuroo chuckled, “his genuine excitement for life is infectious.”

They reached the end of the field, climbing over the wooden fence and disturbing the fresh snow, crossing the now sludgy back alley, and continuing their journey to school, idly chatting as they went.

Sugawara reached form with five minutes to spare, his fingers red and sore, hands numb. He stood with his back to the radiator outside the form room, warming his chilled body.

“Suga!”

He looked up, seeing Kuroo sliding on the floor with his wet shoes, stumbling into Sugawara.

“H—Hey Kuroo, uh, everything okay?”

“Just look after Bo okay?”

Kuroo seemed on edge, looking around the corridor before deciding to stay a few seconds longer.

“Okay?” Sugawara raised an eyebrow. “Is everything okay?”

“He’s having a bad day, don’t ask him for the deets, just distract him, yeah?” He looked around, seeing Bokuto’s hair over the crowds. “Thanks, gotta go!” And with that he took off in the other direction.

Sugawara looked at Bokuto as he drew nearer, realises what Kuroo had been talking about.

How was he meant to just…make up something?

“Hey Bokuto! You okay?”

Dammit.

“Morning Suga…” Bokuto mumbled. “I’ll be fine…”

Sugawara didn’t like this version of Bokuto.

“What’s got you like a wet noodle?”

Dammit.

Bokuto sighed heavily.

“Nothin’, just a bad night.”

Sugawara looked at his friend before stroking up and down his back supportively.

“If you wanna chat I’m here.”

“Thanks Suga…”

After that form time grew quieter, the pair sat together in silence.

Sugawara didn’t know what to do.

At the end of form time they made their way to their first lesson, more exams in the maths room before heading to second lesson, their first mock chemistry exam being thrust in front of them.

Throughout both lessons Sugawara kept glancing at his friend, his usual look of hard concentration replaced by a look of confusion and panic.

His fingers tugged at his hair, pulling strands loose and Sugawara watched as, with a look of frustration, Bokuto would pound his knuckles against his forehead, grimacing.

He was clearly stressed about something, even if Sugawara did struggle with expressions.

Sugawara stared at the question on his paper, balancing his pen between his nose and top lip before pouting thoughtfully.

He raised his hand, the teacher approaching his table, he removed the pen from its perch with the hand that had previously been up in the air.

“Sir,” he addressed, pointing to the question, “is there more context to this? It’s confusing with how vague it is.”

He watched the teacher’s face do something similar to Bokuto’s.

“Sugawara, it’s just a simple equation.”

“I know, but the question is vague, does it want me to work it out overall or a specific part?”

“It says it wants the whole thing.”

“It doesn’t, it doesn’t specifically say it wants that.”

“Just do it your own way; you’ll likely get it wrong anyway.” The teacher said the last part under his breath, but Sugawara heard it loud and clear.

“Like you’re failing at life?” Sugawara mumbled back, making the entire class stop to look at him and their teacher.

A severe scolding later and Sugawara was on his way to the canteen with Bokuto, a first warning strike against his name for chemistry.

Break passed uneventfully, nothing out of the ordinary apart from there being no sign of Kenma or Sierria.

It felt strange not having such large parts of his life not be there.

He went to food tech with Daichi, the pair talking about Bokuto, how Sugawara had been concerned.

The double lesson passed quickly as they made lamb keema, Sugawara deciding to try it for his lunch.

And then came lunchtime, Sugawara carrying his foil takeout tin to the canteen with Daichi, a cold sun beating down on them, the light snowfall now nothing more than puddles and small piles of greying slush.

They walked into the canteen, the roof now fixed and the protective sticker had been removed from the large glass pane since breaktime. Sugawara looked around to spot their friends, seeing Kuroo’s regular bedhead over the crowd of students.

“Hey guys!” He cheered, running up to greet them, quickly seeing Kenma, Akaashi, and Sierria still hadn’t arrived.

“Suga-chan!”

“’Sup Satan?” Sugawara asked, swinging his bag off his shoulders and putting his food down on the table in front of him, watching as Daichi went to collect two forks.

“Ha-ha that won’t be funny when I die and the throne is waiting for me.”

“You’d be Satan’s ho.”

“You’d be Satan’s bog roll.”

“Hey, Oikawa, have a space fact: Earth can fit in Uranus sixty-three times, but if you took that rod out your ass then it’d squeeze in a sixty-fourth.” Sugawara cackled as he folded the foil side, removing the cardboard lid.

“Heh, that’s where you’re wrong, Suga-chan.” Oikawa harrumphed, the sound melting into a scoff. “I’m like a fortress, nothing can penetrate me.”

Several snorts sounded from the table.

“Yeah, right.” Sugawara snickered, taking the fork from Daichi as the other teen returned from the serving stand and shovelling some of the mince and vegetables into his mouth.

“It’s true, both in terms of insults and sexuality!”

A choked noise came from beside Oikawa and a spray of aloe vera water splashed onto the table.

Iwaizumi coughed into his elbow, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

“Aaaand that’s when Iwaizumi discovers you’re both tops.” Kuroo laughed, Sugawara joining in with his dirty cackle, his body leaning into Kuroo’s side and he buried his face in his blazer shoulder.

“Why do you all seem to think I’m the bottom?!” Oikawa cried in offence.

“Whiny.” Sugawara said.

“Needy.” Kuroo continued.

“And look at him.” Sugawara motioned to Iwaizumi, the latter now beet red, hiding his eyes with his hand.

“Okay,” Oikawa conceded, “point proven, but no, I’m not a bottom. Never!”

“Okay, but hear us out, what if—” Kuroo began, getting cut off by the silver haired teen.

“—What if it was Iwaizumi’s wet dream since he was ten, would you still not do it, not even once?”

“Wait, Iwa-chan dreams of me?” Oikawa seemed to slow down, looking at his boyfriend with interest.

Iwaizumi rubbed the corners of his eyes with his thumb and fingers.

“I sometimes dream you’re gagged.” Iwaizumi said, gaining multiple faces from the group around him.

“Kink—”

“It’s so peaceful I practically dream sleep.”

The next sound was a snort as Sugawara’s head hit the table beside his food, a muffled ow between a laugh that was a giggly, bubbly, breathless laugh.

“Bokuto.”

Sugawara stopped his laughter and looked up to see an olive haired teen, unable to tell if he was their age or a sixth former. Beside him was a redheaded boy of a similar height, just more lanky in his physique.

“Ushijima.” Bokuto acknowledged, standing by leaning on the table heavily, as if the movement took every ounce of his strength with the weight of whatever was on his shoulders.

The pair walked off towards the sports faculty, the redhead staying behind and taking Bokuto’s seat as Sugawara ate another mouthful, Oikawa getting up to go and buy some food for himself and Iwaizumi.

“On your feet, lose your seat Bokuto!”

“You can have it!” Bokuto laughed back, but Sugawara could tell it was fake.

The redhead leant his elbows on the table, his knuckles pushing his cheeks as he grinned behind his hands, his eyes looking straight at Sugawara.

“Hey.”

“Hi, um,” Sugawara mumbled, feeling self-conscious under his stare, “I’m Sugawara Koushi.”

“Tendou Satori.”

“Tendou!”

Another new face made their way to the table, or, more accurately, two of the same face.

“Ahhhh the Miyas,” Tendou cooed, “have you seen this little guy, ‘Tsumu?”

“I recognise you, you were that kid who spoke up against Kurosaki-san. What was it? A fogbow? What the shit is that when it’s home?”

“Um,” Sugawara, “a bow of fog.”

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not!”

“Atsumu why are you teasing Koushi?” An unimpressed voice questioned, Sugawara looked up and saw Kenma, arms crossed over his chest, Sierria standing beside him.

Sugawara watched Kuroo’s posture change and the other teen buried his face in his phone.

“Ah, Kenma! Your hair looks great!” Atsumu grinned, fluffing it up to Kenma’s chagrin. “We’ve been trying to get you to cut your hair for ages!”

The previously silent twin gripped his brother’s wrists, pulling them away from Kenma’s hair.

“Atsumu stop it.”

“Well, as you know, it wasn’t exactly my choice.” Kenma spoke bitterly.

“’Samu are you sure I can’t go beat Saito up?”

“Absolutely positive.”

“Fine.”

Sugawara watched the blonde pout before turning back to Kenma.

“You gotta get the sides cut a little shorter and then you can be an honorary Miya!”

“What if I don’t want to be an honorary Miya?” Kenma smirked, leaning on his left leg and cocking his hip.

“Too late, you’re mine now.” Atsumu spoke before wrapping his arms around Kenma, snaking under his arms and standing to his full height, Kenma turning into a dead weight in his arms. “Fuck…heavy.”

Sugawara watched as Atsumu put Kenma down, amused at how Kenma could handle someone so much more intimidating.

How Atsumu didn’t seem so bad anymore.

Tendou still intimidated him, however.

He watched as Tendou’s eyes finally left him, the redhead standing and approaching Atsumu, mumbling in his ear before stretching nonchalantly.

The other twin took Tendou’s place, looking as unamused as ever.

“Tendou!” Atsumu shouted. “We gotta show Sugawara our super duper streamline run!”

Sugawara looked up at the mention of his name.

“Oh right!” Tendou grinned. “Want me to demonstrate?”

“Sure, why not? Suga, watch this!”

Sugawara rotated his body, chewing on his fork and watching Tendou as the redhead lifted his arms behind his body.

“This is how we run during matches to be the best!”

Tendou’s arms went as far back as he could manage before he hunched his body running through the gangway where they were sitting and back again.

“That doesn’t look very efficient.” Sugawara mused, but the mental image of Daichi running that way made him hope it was true. “I mean, where does the ball go?”

The twin beside him laughed.

“Shut up Osamu!” Tendou called, Atsumu saying something similar in tandem with Tendou.

“He’s not fucking stupid,” Osamu laughed, “you two though are a pair of thick-ass bookends. Thick as pigshit!”

“Shut up!”

“Boo.”

Lunch time was a change of routine after that, the other members of the team hovering around their table and the laughter making Sugawara feel at ease with all the new people around him. Bokuto never returned and he hadn’t seen Akaashi since break.

Before he knew it lunch was over and he packed away his things.

“Hey, Iwaizumi, wanna walk up together?” He asked.

“Sorry, Suga, can’t, I gotta go to training now.” Iwaizumi explained, gathering his things along with the other players around their tables.

“Okay, cool! See you at the match later!”

“Yeah, see you later.”

Sugawara waved as he headed up to geography, catching a glimpse of the sky beginning to cloud over with low stratus.

It was likely to grow foggy later.

Probably moisture laden fog from the sea that would leave everywhere cold and damp.

Geography seemed to drag for Sugawara; he was too excited about the game after school.

He could see the team training on the field and the goal posts being set up, a mist beginning to consume the tops of the trees on the other side of the field.

He clock watched for the entire hour, feeling as if he’d been zapped by electricity when the classroom clock struck three.

He packed his things, rushing from his classroom once they were dismissed and running headfirst into Akaashi.

“Akaashi!”

“Hello Sugawara-san.”

“You’re dating Bokuto, what’s wrong with him? He’s been funny all day.”

The pair followed the flow of students from their respective classrooms, skipping down the stairs.

“Stress, masses upon masses of stress.”

Sugawara looked at Akaashi as they reached the bottom of the stairs, the latter seeming to pick up his pace and Sugawara changed his steps to catch up before matching him.

“Like what?”

“You’ve both had a remarkable amount of exams, this match has been anticipated since the beginning of the school year, also, have you seen the news?”

“It was on the radio this morning, why?”

“A seven car pileup; six injured and four dead.”

“Oh…”

Akaashi hummed, walking into the mini mall. Sugawara looked to the floor as the heavy doors parted and he looked up, his body freezing up at the sight that met his eyes.

Thirteen in matching uniforms, one more wearing a tracksuit that matched the uniform; taller than the rest, silver hair like his own.

Huge was an understatement.

Their presence was phenomenal, in full kit, psyched up for the biggest, most advertised, and most anticipated game of the school season.

Sugawara forgot how to breathe as his heart stammered in his chest. His eyes scanned over the group with their backs to him as they listened to the coach with reverence. Their stances the same, hands joined behind them and their postures tall, proud, wearing their white, black, and midnight blue uniforms.

They looked like giants.

With cleated shoes that thundered on the cobblestones as the coach marched them out with the grace, dignity, and pride of a commanding officer leading his men into battle with the sheer confidence they’d win.

As the line moved forward Bokuto took the helm, walking alongside the coach with his olive haired teammate following him with an unwavering air of conviction.

Were they really the same teenagers he’d been laughing and joking with, and teasing only an hour before?

“It’s certainly a feeling to see them for the first time, isn’t it, Sugawara-san?”

Finally, he remembered to breathe.

“Wow…” He whispered in awe.

“Let’s go, Sugawara-san.” Akaashi gripped his hand, pulling him along to the outside where a crowd was gathering.

“Over here!” Kuroo called, he was stood on one of the faux wood benches, beckoning them with a wave consisting of both his arms.

Sugawara and Akaashi headed over, seeing Oikawa, Kenma, and Sierria on top of the large storage container where sports equipment weathered out any storm.

The mist was heavier now, not enough to hinder his view of the pitch, but the swirling clouds of translucent white cast an eerie shadow of the past on the scene.

“You get up there, Suga, that way your view won’t be hindered.” Kuroo explained, helping Sugawara climb up onto the two and a half metre high structure. “I’m gonna go speak to Bo.”

“Me too.” Akaashi said, going over to the team captain with Kuroo.

Sugawara watched as team members dispersed to speak to their families and friends before the other team came out, last minute encouragement from their nearest and dearest.

He watched Daichi and Iwaizumi speak to their family, Daichi kneeling to speak to the young children, the tarmac and gravel digging into his knees.

“Bokuto-san, your hair.”

Sugawara turned back to watch Akaashi running his fingers through the unkempt strands of salt and pepper, combing out the remaining product while Kuroo began rooting through his school bag.

He handed a tub to Akaashi who uncapped the lid and handed it back to Kuroo.

“Thanks guys…” Bokuto said, letting his friends clear the hair from his eyes and swipe it back into his usual style.

Sugawara’s eyes met Bokuto’s and he gave him a thumbs up, the captain’s eyes flitting away too quickly to notice.

Then he saw the opposing team.

Jerseys a blaze of reds and golds, they left the outdoor changing rooms.

Sugawara gasped as he suddenly became aware of who they were.

How could he forget those colours when in the past he was made to wear them himself?

His thought processes slowed down as he remembered all too late his previous school’s battle cry.

Their supporters blew on their horns, the sound igniting the late afternoon air, assaulting his ears and the flashing of car headlights bounced off the fog.

He turned to the pens behind him, opened as the away team car park, the magnitude of their assault reverberating through the air as Sugawara felt a phantom gust of wind on his face, bombarding his body.

He knew it was impossible, the general rule being when there was fog there would be no wind.

But his face stung with invisible wind burn.

Car horns blared, instruments of a similar nature creating chaos as he stood from his kneeling position and being caught in a headlight.

For once Brocken Spectre was the last thing on his mind as he looked to Bokuto, hoping, wishing, and praying with all his might that his friend would be unruffled. Instead he met amber eyes.

Those fearful, amber eyes.

Like an animal cornered.

Bokuto’s left hand collided with Kuroo’s chest, pushing him backwards and causing him to stumble. His right arm swinging outwards and impacting Akaashi, his shoulder carrying through the same movement, the momentum behind it making Akaashi lose his balance and fall backwards onto the hard floor, hands moving to catch himself only for his palm to break the tub of gel in his hand.

Sugawara watched as Bokuto shoved against Kuroo one last time before running through the exit he’d created, through the crowds and parting them like the Red Sea.

“Bokuto-san!”

He ran.

He ran and never looked back.

Bokuto ran from the school grounds, passing parents and fans, pushing and shoving anyone in his way.

It was too much.

He couldn’t handle it.

Exams.

Captaincy.

An old rival.

Horns.

Cars.

His neck.

Death.

He didn’t want to deal with it.

He was sixteen.

Why was he expected to just…cope?

It’d been three—

A car horn startled him from his demons, and he dodged traffic before continuing to run through the fog.

His cheeks stung, the dropping temperature coupled with the tears he didn’t know were there chilling his skin.

He ran into the park, slowing to a stop and keeling over himself in an attempt to catch his breath.

His lungs burned, each breath torture as his stomach threatened him with waves of nausea.

After his breathing had eased enough for him to at least stand straight, his shaking legs took him further into the park, finally falling to his knees on the damp grassy verge around the large duck pond, sheltered by a weeping willow.

Only then did he return to his thoughts.

It’d been three years.

Why was he still struggling?

His body shook with a sob he could no longer contain or keep quiet, shuddering gasps escaping him as he bowed his head onto the ground, arms wrapped tightly around himself as he sat on his legs.

With only wearing his sports kit Bokuto felt the cold seeping into his bones from his knees up, the ground cold and wet from the first snowfall melting away.

“Why aren’t you at the game?”

Bokuto shot up, turning to see a looming figure through the willow branches.

Saito.

Why was he here?

“I—I ran away…” Bokuto admitted, bowing his head in shame, looking away from his former teammate. “Th—The pressure put on that game, the horns, oh my God, the horns—”

Bokuto was so wrapped up in his own emotions he didn’t notice Saito was moving until a hand clasped his shoulder.

“Sit up straight,” his voice wasn’t softly spoken, but it wasn’t harsh either, “how do you expect to breathe properly if you can’t get a good breath?”

Bokuto listened, sitting up straighter and taking deep, slow breaths.

He swallowed.

“—It’s all too much…the—the PT…SD…”

“What do you mean?”

“From the crash…” Bokuto felt his breath coming easier, still too difficult to draw, but easier to let go.

Saito fell silent, his expression pensive and undecided.

Eventually he spoke.

“Do you…Did you ever know the other driver?”

Bokuto shook his head, the fact the other driver had died scared him so much he wanted to forget that could’ve been him.

“His name was Junpei.” Saito spoke, his voice taking on a harsh edge that made Bokuto flinch, how did Saito know this? “He was…like a brother to me.”

Did he really want to hear this?

The truth?

Knowing that for three years he vilified a person who someone he knew had thought so highly of?

“It’s lonely in the care system.”

“Care—”

“You don’t have a dad to help you, you don’t have a mam to cook you a decent meal.” Saito continued, unappreciative of Bokuto’s interruption. “If you get stuck on homework that’s your damn problem, there’s no pep talks, no affection after a bad day. People outside think you’re the dredges of society before you even get a chance to prove you’re worth something.”

Bokuto listened, not daring to interrupt again.

“Junpei was my hero. He was like a big brother and offered me everything I didn’t have. Taught me I didn’t need parents to be happy and that I didn’t need to struggle alone.” A scoff. “Then the bastard ripped all that away.”

Saito sat down beside Bokuto, not fully letting his guard down but Bokuto could hear how his voice became watery and something akin to gravel.

“I know people say that about everyone, he was a good lad this, he was well loved that, but Junpei wasn’t a bad guy. It was the drink that made him a bad guy, the company he kept.” Saito looked at the floor, his brow furrowed. “I loved him, idolised him, and suddenly he was a mangled wreck and my classmate was his victim.”

The grief Saito shown threatened to turn into anger and he held onto the chest of his hoodie like it was the only thing grounding him.

“It fucking sucked!” Saito yelled, his free hand clawing at the soil beneath his fingertips, tearing blades of grass from their beds and under his nails becoming black with dirt. “I was given a week to grieve and then I had to go back to being fine, when it wasn’t; it was never fine. And to go back to school, to expect some lenience, no, it was like nobody had noticed I was gone, nobody noticed I was broken.”

Bokuto felt his eyes brimming with tears, he’d had the complete opposite experience, doted on and given all the time he needed.

“And then you came back,” Saito growled bitterly, “you came back and the teachers were sympathetic, they bent over backwards to accommodate you. In my eyes it was fucking stupid as fuck! You broke some bones, I lost the only guy I could even categorise as family.”

Saito was breathing harshly, through his teeth and he remained quiet, Bokuto finally speaking up with a hoarse, cracked whisper.

“I’m sorry.” He cleared his throat of that heavy, Globus sensation.

“Why?”

“Because you were—are hurting too…”

Bokuto realised what it looked like, the first sympathy Saito had ever received was from the one person he probably didn’t want it from.

“Yeah…I am.” Saito clutched his chest, only then did Bokuto realise he appeared to be holding something. Saito shifted his jacket and a fuzzy, white head popped out of the neck hole, small ears flicking with whatever noise they could hear that Bokuto couldn’t, one twitching from Saito’s every exhale. “Want to pet her?”

Bokuto reached across, allowing the kitten to sniff his fingers before gently digging his fingertips into her scalp, making her purr.

He pulled away and she greedily clambered out of Saito’s jacket in close pursuit of Bokuto’s hands. Her every move premature and lacking the grace an adult cat would have.

“What’s her name?” Bokuto asked, a smile playing on his lips as he continued to tickle and tease the kitten, growing bolder as he figured out her ticks.

“Mint,” Saito spoke, his voice soft as to not scare the playful feline, “she really likes you.”

“I guess she does; she’s a real cutie.”

“Do you want her?”

“Huh?”

“I…I go back to the care home tomorrow, foster family don’t like me or some shit, but I won’t be able to take her.”

“That’s sad…what would you do if I didn’t take her?”

“I don’t know what I could do…”

“Do you want me to take her?”

“If it means she’s got a happy home and is well cared for I guess I don’t mind…it also wouldn’t be a bad thing if she helped the person out too.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll look after her…”

Bokuto could see the relief in Saito’s eyes, but also the sadness at losing another companion.

“You can come and visit her whenever you want, she’s still yours, I’m just…providing a means.”

A scoff.

“Thanks.”

They were silent for a number of minutes before Bokuto spoke again.

“Why did you come to speak to me?”

“I was gonna torment you and drown my sorrows in your suffering.”

“But you didn’t?”

“We ain’t all that different, Bokuto…”

Bokuto smiled, an idea coming to fruition in his mind.

“We’re not.”

Chapter Text

Oikawa couldn’t quite believe he’d woken up before his alarm, but here he was. He sighed through his nose, sinking into his pillow and pulling the duvet higher under his chin, letting out a quiet groan as he shifted onto his back.

He lay in a state of semi-lucidity, lulled by the gentle breathing beside him. His eyes fluttered open and he turned his head to the sleeping form on his left.

He didn’t know how Iwaizumi could sleep in such a way while it was so cold, the deep blue covers only draped over his abdomen and legs, leaving his chest bared to the cold weather.

Recently Oikawa had noticed a habit that was hard to shake, and while Iwaizumi slept he found himself doing it all over again.

He started with his face, even while he slept his brows held the smallest furrow, relaxed but also not quite. There was a bloom of discolouration on his left cheekbone spreading to his hairline and Oikawa knew it’d been from the shoulder of the opposing team’s lock.

Iwaizumi’s lips were parted as he breathed, bitten and still red from Iwaizumi’s habit of biting them during games.

Oikawa could never figure out if it was due to his excitement and nerves, or if it was because he was thinking. But he knew that this time he held part of the responsibility, his own lips still feeling plumper than normal.

Of course, he’d kissed Iwaizumi ceaselessly after his stunning victory.

As his eyes moved down he could see more patches of bruising, marking Iwaizumi’s shoulders and torso. Salt and peppered skin looked more like a marble slab, some of the bruises covering vast areas across the plains of his body.

The other team had been brutal in their assault, purely offensive and Oikawa had watched from his position on the side lines as time after time Iwaizumi was tackled and cut off from escaping the scrum to gain important ground on their opponents.

Oikawa shifted to reach for a bruise on Iwaizumi’s left pectoral, jumping and an embarrassing squeak escaping his lips (something he’d vehemently deny later) when he heard his phone alarm blare out shocking pop music.

Iwaizumi grumbled, his brows knitting together.

“You still listen to shit…” A sleep thick voice complained, a spiky head of hair burying itself face first into the pillow.

“Sorry Iwa-chaan~” Oikawa couldn’t refrain from smiling, reaching to his bedside table and shutting off his alarm. He sighed and his head flopped back onto the pillow.

The teens relished in the warmth of the bed and of one another, trying to delay getting ready for as long as possible.

“Does your cheek hurt?”

Iwaizumi hummed softly, a little crack in the noise from how dry his throat was.

“A little, honestly the cut on the inside hurts more.”

“Want me to kiss it better, Iwa-chan?”

“I think you did enough of that last night.” Iwaizumi teased, his tone light and carefree, albeit still laced with tiredness.

“Funny, I think I didn’t do it enough.” Oikawa laughed back, rolling onto his left side to watch his partner, reaching for the bruised cheek and to stroke it softly.

Once again his ministrations were cut short.

“Tooru, are you awake?” Katsumi called through the door, not waiting for a response before adding a warning with a less than threatening voice. “You two better not be naked in there~” She singsonged.

“We’re not!” Oikawa huffed, kicking back the covers and sitting up on the edge of his bed, rubbing at his face before gripping the shirt he’d discarded the night before and pulling it back over his head.

He listened to his mother’s footsteps disappear, and then a quiet chuckle from Iwaizumi. He appeared to be doing the opposite of Oikawa, removing his sweatpants and rummaging through his overnight bag for his clean clothes.

“I’m gonna go get a shower.” Iwaizumi then headed into Oikawa’s ensuite, leaving Oikawa sat in his room alone.

Oikawa stood and moved to the window, peering outside at the thick, needle-like frost covering every surface, the dark morning hiding more of the thinner coverage.

He got into his school uniform while he waited for Iwaizumi, tying his tie and sitting down on his bed to lace up his shoes.

His bathroom door creaked open and Iwaizumi emerged, fully dressed and now fully awake.

“Ready for breakfast?” He asked, straightening up and standing.

“Yeah,” Iwaizumi confirmed, “let’s go.”

The captain wandered through the sparsely populated hallways, he’d never been at school so early and the lack of other students was daunting.

“Good luck.” The man he walked beside said, firmly clapping him on the shoulder in encouragement. “I’ll be in the arts theatre if you need me.”

“Thanks pops.” Bokuto followed him into the administration corridor before splitting off from his father and going to the coach’s office.

He’d ended up speaking with Saito until late, playing with Mint and getting to know the other teen a little better. When Bokuto had finally returned to the school with Saito his father was the only one left, their car parked up and the field long empty.

The air had been cold, numbing, he would’ve lost feeling in his fingertips if it weren’t for the feline snuggled into his large palms, her little life dependant on his body heat.

That night his father had clung to him, doted on him, and refused to let Bokuto face his demons alone, insisting they stayed in the same room and Bokuto ended up sleeping beside the man in the same way he had when he was unwell as a child, the same way he had after the accident and he was afraid to be alone.

One night’s respite wouldn’t hurt.

And it didn’t.

Bokuto felt almost guilty, his dad having an entire king-size bed, his wife long gone, but he never starfished, never left his side of the bed, just in case Bokuto - and Bokuto assumed Keitaro too - ever needed him.

Even if the night before was the first time in almost two years.

He was always ready for either of his sons.

That morning he’d came to work with his father with the hope of speaking to his coach and to apologise for his behaviour the day before.

He still felt out of sorts, but he brought his hand to the heavy wooden door anyway.

“Come in.” Came a muffled response.

Bokuto let out a shaky breath and pulled on the door handle, pushing in.

“Sir?”

“Bokuto!” The coach stood from his desk chair, striding to the teen with an anxious relief etched into his features. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Coach, I—”

“Bokuto, listen,” the coach interrupted, leaning back on the edge of his desk, “about yesterday.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, sir, I’m—”

“I’m sorry that I didn’t take you into consideration, it must’ve been hard on you having the hype of the match on your shoulders.” The coach said, his voice low and laced with guilt. “And to think that they’d be so rowdy, I should’ve warned Aleutain otherwise.”

“I’m sorry for running.”

“Less of that,” the coach warned, “none of this is your fault.”

“It’s not yours either.”

“I have a duty of care—”

“I have a duty to lead.” It was then that Bokuto remembered his plan from the night before. “But…if you feel that bad I do have a request.”

“What is it? If you think I’m going to demote you, you’re wrong.”

“No, it’s nothing like that sir, it is a one-eighty turn though.”

Bokuto took a breath, watching as his coach motioned for him to continue.

“I want you to reinstate Saito, Yamazaki, and Kamiro.”

“What?” He could see the crease in the coach’s brows, his confusion. “Why?”

“I learned some things yesterday...about Saito. Why he disliked me, and we’ve come to an understanding.” Bokuto expected resistance, but instead the coach smiled.

“Consider it done; but ultimately who's on your team is your choice. You’re the captain, I only removed him in the first place because you wanted it.” The coach explained, Bokuto feeling like he was talking to an uncle more than a coach. “If you want him back then consider it done. I trust your judgement, Bokuto. You're a fine young man, I trust you.”

Bokuto felt the tension leave his shoulders and he sighed gently in relief. He tried not to puff up at the praise even when the words made him feel giddy; despite his flaws he was still doing a good job. 

“Thank you, sir.” Bokuto went quiet again. “Um, how did the match go yesterday?”

“You’ve got a team to be proud of; we won twenty-seven to twenty-four.” But then the coach added. “You’ve also got a loyal team. I was going to take them for pizza to celebrate and not a single one took me up on it, even the new kid, they all wanted to wait for you.”

“Whoa, seriously?” Bokuto felt his face heating up allowing himself to give into the need for validation. "Even the new kid?"

“You’re a brilliant captain, Bokuto, I’ll be sad to see you go at the end of this year.” The coach clapped him on the shoulder, in much the same way he did three years ago when Bokuto was first given the chance to be captain. It wasn't uncommon for someone that young to be made captain, they often wanted someone to be a mainstay for many years. But now it was time for Bokuto to pick a successor, something easier said than done.

“Yeah…me too.” He wished he could be captain forever.

Sierria walked through the main front doors alongside Kenma, they still had twenty minutes until form time after leaving earlier due to the adverse weather.

“How’s the scarf coming along?” Sierria asked as they headed through the corridors and into the canteen.

“It’s going good so far, I only had a little time to get started, but it’s looking good. I’m going to ask Keiji to come over tonight and do some more with me if you wanna come too?”

“Sure!”

They moved to the breakfast bar in the canteen, Sierria in line first and buying two cups of hot chocolate, scanning her thumb on the payment system before Kenma could oppose.

“Hey—” Kenma spoke, picking up one of the drinks as Sierria did the same, “I was gonna pay for mine.”

“Shame,” she said, taking a sip, “so was I.” She pulled tongues and they broke into laughter before going and sitting down at a table together.

“Makki, no.” They heard someone bicker as two sixth formers walked past, one with hot chocolate in hand and several sachets of full-fat double cream in the other, the one with curly black hair following close behind him, hands empty.

The pair quickly grew out of earshot, leaving Kenma and Sierria curious about the topic of conversation.

“Kozume-kun.” Kenma looked up, seeing Akaashi’s soft black curls as he leaned over the dividing wall.

“Morning Keiji, how’s your hand?”

Akaashi remained silent, holding up his bandaged limb and sighing.

“Any sign of Bokuto-san?”

“I’m afraid not, sorry.” Kenma apologised sincerely.

Sierria looked between them, the small purse of concern on Kenma’s features and the wave of exhaustion battering Akaashi’s.

His eyes were blackened, skin pale and sallow, his hair looked flatter and his body sagged from his usual straightened posture.

“I knocked but there was no answer; I went to the arts theatre and his dad told me he was here, but I can’t find him.”

“He’ll turn up,” Sierria reassured, patting the seat beside her, “he might just be with the team.”

“I hope you’re right, Sierria-san…” Akaashi sighed, climbing under the wall and taking the seat, resting his weary head on his arms.

“Oh! That reminds me!” Sierria gasped, dropping her bag onto her lap and rummaging through it for her planner.

“Everything okay?” Kenma asked, watching as she removed her planner, then a piece of paper from between the pages.

“Yeah, I just gotta get the school to fix my Goddamn name.”

“Your name?” Akaashi quizzed.

“Yeah, they keep spelling my third first name wrong.” Sierria opened the folded paper, the name change form already marked with her parents’ signatures.

“Third first name?” Sugawara asked after overhearing the conversation, coming over with Iwaizumi, Oikawa, and Daichi.

“Yeah, I have three first names, two last names.”

“Holy hell, Sie-chan!”

“What are they?” Kenma asked with intrigue.

“Um…” Sierria stumbled, tapping the nib of her pen on her paper. “On the school registers I’m down as Sierria Lopez. But Lopez is my father’s name, I also have my mother’s.”

“Like a double barrel name?” Sugawara asked, grinning with excitement.

“I don’t think so, isn’t that where there’s a hyphen?”

“Yeah, double barrel is hyphenated.” Akaashi confirmed.

“Then no, more like a second last name, a legal requirement.”

“That’s so interesting…” Daichi mused, resting his chin on his arms and listening to Sierria.

“My full name is Sierria Alessandra María Lopez De La Fuente.” Sierria spoke, her name rolling from her tongue and slipping into something that resembled a Spanish twist to her words.

The group left silent at the declaration.

“Um…”

“That’s so cool!” Sugawara couldn’t wipe the wide smile off his face. “Say it again!”

Sierria sighed with a smile, of course Sugawara would only find it exciting.

“Sierria Alessandra María Lopez De La Fuente.”

“And again!”

“Sierria Alessandra María Lopez De La Fuente.”

“And—”

“Suga-chan leave the poor girl alone,” Oikawa laughed, gripping his lips between his fingers, learning from the last time his hand was by Sugawara’s mouth and making sure he couldn’t lick him, “that’s such a cool name, Sie-chan!”

“My sister has a long name too; Sofía Ana Maite Lopez De La Fuente.” Sierria added, watching their expressions shift.

“You have a sister?” Kenma asked.

“Oh, yeah, but she’s in Spain finishing her studies.” Sierria explained, writing out her name on the form in front of her. “I’m gonna go visit at Christmas.”

“That’ll be fun!” Sugawara grinned, leaning on his hands and looking down at Sierria’s writing.

“Uh huh!”

“Bokuto!”

Sugawara looked up from the table, the group following his lead at the call of the other teen’s name.

A blur of colours passed their table and Sugawara watched as Bokuto was bombarded by several large bodies.

He watched as Daichi and Iwaizumi raised from their seats, going over to their captain and a rowdy group of teens that Sugawara recognised from the game.

He watched as the twins, Tendou, Daichi, and Iwaizumi crowded him, the olive haired vice-captain and other people he didn’t know the names of, but knew they were teammates joining the fray of concerned conversation.

A booming laugh.

And then the group broke into ramblings about their victory; how they wished Bokuto had been there.

Sugawara found it endearing, totally different to how his old school would behave in a similar situation.

This school wasn’t afraid to show affection, to encourage—

“Suga-chaan~ Wakey wakey~” He looked to Oikawa, seeing the group had all begun walking to Bokuto too and he ran to catch up.

“Coming!”

The day felt lighter after that, and Sugawara nearly convinced himself that he wasn’t afraid of the brewing storm.

For once the weather was the least of his worries, and as the day progressed he let his mind turn darker, his true fears filling him to the brim.

What if the current divide between his friends tore them apart?

He headed to his second lesson and was grateful Oikawa was in his class, they could work together on their project and he could maybe confide in his friend.

Sugawara took his seat at the back of the class, patiently waiting for Oikawa but eagerly watching the door for him.

He saw the brunette enter the room, walking over with a grin on his face.

“Morning, Suga-chan~” He greeted, swinging his bag under his desk and sitting beside the ashen haired teen.

“Morning, Satan.” Sugawara smirked back, hiding it behind his palm.

“When are you gonna stop using that as a greeting?”

“When I’m dead.”

“Which is never then?” Oikawa laughed, turning to his project partner. “You’ll outlive us all just to spite us.”

“Alright, class!” The teacher called, the class of thirty turning to the front. “You have this lesson and then until next lesson to get your stuff finished!” She called, confidently writing what they needed to complete on the white board at the front of the class.

Sugawara watched her neat, rounded handwriting, the way the class didn’t bicker or talk over her.

In the two months he’d been here he understood one thing; if the class was quiet, the teacher was cool.

He wondered what could be so cool about this particular teacher, nothing outstanding in the last two months catching his eyes aside from the fact she cared.

Once they were set back onto their projects he turned to Oikawa.

“Why does everyone treat her respectfully?” He whispered, leaning on close to hear Oikawa’s reply.

“Oh ho ho, Suga-chan, you haven’t been here very long, but Goto-san is the one teacher everyone respects.” Oikawa laughed softly, whispering. “She’s kind, caring, never lets a student down, but hoo boy she can rip some banter as well, and she’s the ultimate gay icon.”

“Wait, what?”

“She’s the school’s gay icon,” Oikawa elaborated, “it started as a rumour when I was in year seven, y’know? Kinda like Bokuto-san and whether he has prosthetic legs or not.”

Sugawara decided against telling Oikawa that Bokuto-san did, indeed, have prosthetic legs.

“Anyways, Goto-san is very openly gay and she’s not like some gay people where they get defensive when asked questions, she embraces them.”

“Are you telling Sugawara my life story, Oikawa?”

Goto was standing behind them, leaning in just enough to talk over their shoulders.

Sugawara turned around, looking at her in a whole new light.

“I—”

“Just some gay solidarity, Goto-san." Oikawa smiled, somewhere between his usual charming smirk but with a playful laugh.

Sugawara’s eyes shot wide and he looked at Oikawa, surely that was disrespectful, no matter how lenient she was.

“Why, Oikawa, I didn’t know you were finally on our team.”

“Only on the weekends.”

“He lies, he’s with Iwaizumi every day.” Sugawara quickly interjected, biting his lip when he realised what he’d said.

Curse his lack of brain-to-mouth filter.

“I mean—”

Goto laughed, find amusement at the comment rather than their expense.

“Oh, Sugawara,” she rested her hand on his shoulder, “I knew I’d enjoy having you in my lesson; it’s not often Oikawa’s left speechless.”

“He’s the only one who can leave me speechless, Goto-san.”

Sugawara’s heart still raced from his outburst, but he continued to talk with Oikawa and Goto until she moved to the next group.

They worked in silence while Sugawara mulled over his worries.

Before he knew it, it was breaktime, this lesson was a double lesson that would continue after break, so they left their things where they’d set up.

Sugawara gathered some of his lunch from his bag and made his way to the canteen alongside Oikawa.

What he didn’t expect was the noise of disgust from behind them, they turned to look at a group of younger students only half Oikawa’s size and fresh out of primary school sitting on the stairwell.

“Y’know boys aren’t meant to wear makeup.” One sneered with a cruel laugh.

Sugawara was shocked; these kids were five years younger than them.

“Y’know little kids are meant to be seen, not heard.” Oikawa spat back, crossing his arms over his chest. “Crawl back into the vaginas you dared crawl out of.”

“Nah, seriously though, you’re supposed to be a guy, you don’t wear makeup if you’re a real man.”

“And y’all aren’t meant to look like a bog brush but look at you all, trying so hard.” Oikawa cooed.

One of the younger kids stood up from their perch on the highest step, some form of hierarchy established by what step they were sat on.

“You don’t have ta wear makeup.” He hissed at Oikawa, even from his standpoint he was barely above Oikawa’s line of sight.

“He doesn’t have to wipe his ass after he takes a shit either, but, y’know, personal preference.” Sugawara glared at the younger students.

“Suga-chan!” Oikawa crowed with a gasp. “I was gonna say something cool and you ruined it, you muppet!”

“Well you gotta act fast, scrote!”

“Are you kidding?”

“Are these prepubes angstin’ over who gonna get the longest pube?” A new voice questioned, their tone smug. "Yer ma shoulda swallowed, kids."

Sugawara looked up to behind the smaller students, seeing the Miya twins looming over the group and a third boy he remembered from the match the night before positioned between them.

“Hey guys!” Sugawara cheered, if he hadn’t met them the day before he would’ve been intimidated, but now it was amusing to watch the group of year sevens gather their things and scurry past them.

“Hey-o Suga-kun!” Atsumu laughed, jumping down the remaining steps to land in front of them. Osamu and the other player took the stairs normally.

“How are you guys?”

“Tired after the match, but Teru’s gonna buy us pasta pots at lunch.”

“Like hell I am!” The newcomer laughed, shoving his hands against Atsumu’s face.

“Not even for Hana?”

“I would for Hana, but something’s tellin’ me she didn’t say to buy you a pasta pot.”

“Why can’t your IQ be the same as the amount of—”

“I’m hungry! Stop bickering and let’s just go to the canteen already!” Sugawara interrupted with a whiny voice, taking is sandwiches from his pocket and unwrapping one, shoving the bread into his mouth.

“What stinks?” Atsumu coughed as they began walking towards the canteen.

“Egg mayo and tuna, boy.” Sugawara spoke around his food with a grin.

“I’m allergic to egg.”

“On a scale of one to Makki how much do you eat anyway?” Sugawara asked.

“Egg allergies don’t work that way!” Terushima laughed, stuffing his hands in his pockets and following the group to the canteen.

Once seated Sugawara could feel his anxieties resurfacing, it was foreign, new people and his old friends nowhere to be found. Daichi and Iwaizumi joined them, and so did Bokuto, but nobody else materialised.

Was he going to lose his friends?

“Bokuto, what’s up?” Sugawara heard Atsumu ask, looking up from where his eyes had been previously trained on his hands in his lap. “You seem down.”

“’Kaashi isn’t talking to me.”

“What?! Why not?” The group seemed scandalised by the revelation, even Sugawara couldn’t quite believe it.

“I dunno, he’s just…distant.”

“Isn’t his hand all bandaged up?” Terushima asked.

After that everyone seemed to realise, and Sugawara watched his friend crumple.

“Shit, I hurt him yesterday!” Bokuto buried his face in his hands and letting out a low groan that trailed into a whine. “I fucked up.”

“Hey! Don’t be blaming yourself, you got spooked!”

“Yeah but I still hurt him!”

“Now, now Bokuto-chan!” Oikawa interjected the rising tensions. “Aka-chan is just busy!”

“Doing what?”

“Bokuto-chan, he’s fifteen, he’s doing all of his GCSEs a year early but isn’t moving up a year. He’s doing both a year ten workload and a year eleven workload which he’ll have to repeat next year even if he gets the passing grade.” Oikawa argued.

Sugawara listened intently, wanting to learn more about Akaashi, watching as Oikawa listed things off on his fingers.

“His parents are pushy and trying to get him into a high-end college to study something he likely has no interest in, not to mention he has a recital coming up soon, he’s bringing his clarinet to school every day right now so he can cram in as much practice as possible.”

Sugawara continued to listen, wondering how Akaashi was able to cope with such difficult circumstances. He’d run away from his and he didn’t have anywhere near as much trouble as Akaashi.

The rest of the team was silent now, allowing their captain to digest the information he already knew. Nobody mentioned the fact Akaashi’s hand was still injured from his fight with Kuroo, nor how yesterday probably hadn’t helped.

“Aka-chan doesn’t hate you and he isn’t avoiding you, he’s just got a lot of important things going on.”

“I know…”

After that the group was quiet and break time quickly gave way to third lesson, Sugawara heading back to the mall with Oikawa.

He mulled over his words, wondering how to express the muddled emotions in his mind.

“Suga-chan,” came a sigh, “I can tell there’s something bothering you, you’re really stimming.”

“Stimming?”

“Y’know, self-stimulation.” Sugawara still looked at Oikawa with a raised eyebrow and a doubtful expression. “You’re fidgeting more than normal. What’s wrong?”

Sugawara looked down at his hands, sure enough he was wringing them.

Sugawara sighed, there was never any escaping Oikawa’s watchful stare as they entered the classroom.

But his words wouldn’t come.

“Suga-chan?”

He tried to open his mouth, but no sound passed his lips.

He tried to clear his throat, but the thought of making a disgusting noise stopped him dead in his tracks.

He licked his lips, looking at Oikawa and meting his gaze before breaking eye contact again.

Why couldn’t he say what he wanted to?

Sugawara reached into his bag and removed his notepad, struggling to even formulate an answer in his head and articulate it.

It was only a simple sentence.

Why couldn’t he say it?

Why couldn’t he spell it out?

Finally, he gave up trying to articulate his thoughts, deciding to write it down in its simplest form.

An emotion he knew all too well; the only emotion he could say with certainty that he knew at all.

I’m scared.

He wrote in pigeon scrawl with a tremble to his hand.

Oikawa read over the words, taking longer than Sugawara would’ve expected him to take. His eyes rereading the words and his expression growing thoughtful.

“You’re scared?”

A nod.

“Suga-chan, why? What’s got you scared?”

Sugawara could feel something akin to a hand wrapped tightly around his throat, albeit looser than before. He began to write the next sentence, once again writing it in a crude way with none of his usual, well thought out finesse.

I don’t want to lose my friends.

Oikawa’s hand settled on his far shoulder and he felt himself being tugged just a little closer.

“Who said anything about losing us, hm?”

Finally, the initial conversation was breached, well received by the other party. He felt the tightness in his throat shift somewhat and he took a deep breath through his nose.

“No one, I just, you guys—” his words were still muddled, in his mind he knew what he wanted to say, sort of, but his mouth was yet to catch up.

“Take your time, Suga-chan.”

But this was reassuring.

“It feels like its…falling apart? If that makes sense?”

A small, quiet hum of confirmation. Sugawara knew that Oikawa likely didn’t see it that way, but the noise filled him with just a little bit more confidence that the taller teen at least understood Sugawara’s alternate way of thinking.

“In what way?”

This was good, Sugawara knew he could’ve trusted Oikawa to take control of the conversation, ask him just the right questions to focus Sugawara’s muddled mind on the answers.

“Like, Kuroo and Kenma aren’t talking, they had a big fight. Sierria and Kenma are dating now but they don’t come to the table anymore because of Kuroo, Kuroo’s not been coming the table as much because of Kenma and Sierria. Akaashi too, he’s just resolved his issues with Kuroo, but he’s also not been coming to the table, and Bokuto, Bokuto’s struggling and I feel powerless…”

“I see where you’re coming from, you see all these little disagreements and stuff as something unsettling.”

“It’s disrupting something that’s became the norm for me; and I like the rugby team, the twins are funny and Tendou is great, but they’re not you guys. And I’m scared our friendship group is just gonna separate and fall apart and I’ll be all alone again. I don’t think I can be alone after experiencing this.”

“Oh Suga-chan,” Oikawa huffed, but the sound was affectionate, making Sugawara relax knowing that he wasn’t going to get angry at his ramblings, “you could never get rid of us.”

“I just…I don’t have any proof, y’know?”

“Listen, we’re teenagers, fighting is just something that’s natural; friendship groups can fall out and be best buddies again a few days later all the time, just like people come and go from friendship groups. Kuroo-chan and Ken-chan are childhood friends; they won’t be like this forever. Sie-chan too. Wanna know a secret?”

Sugawara nodded, looking at Oikawa as the teen leaned in close to whisper in his ear.

“No way!” He gasped, his eyes bugging at the news.

A nod and a devilish smile.

“You better believe it!”

“Holy shit…” Sugawara gaped like a fish. “What did it feel like?” He whispered.

“I’ll tell you later.” Oikawa grinned. “But back to our conversation, what could you have done to help Bokuto-chan?”

“I dunno…I just feel like I should’ve done something. They were up against my old school.”

“Wait, that was your old school?” Oikawa gasped. “You were at Aleutian?”

“Yeah…it sucked balls.”

“All the more reason to show you off as my best friend!” Oikawa grinned. “Show them posh wankers what they’re missing.”

“They’re not missing much.”

“What a load of bollocks.”

“You’re a load of bollocks.”

“Here I am trying to comfort you and you drive a knife into my heart!” Oikawa whined in mock offence so over the top that even in his fragile state Sugawara knew he was only joking.

“What heart? All I stabbed was an empty cavity.”

Oikawa laughed, Sugawara unable to refrain from joining in with the infectious noise.

“Alright, alright, but listen.” His tone switched again and Sugawara found himself silent and listening. “Just because people have a gripe with one another doesn’t mean they’re going to stop being your friend.”

“I know, but—”

“If you’re that worried about that stuff then just stick with me; the only way you’ll get rid of me is in a body bag.”

“Great, I’ll get my knife.”

Kenma looked at the paper in front of him, briefly glancing up to the projector board, he sighed through his nose.

Geography was always his least favourite subject.

Seriously, why couldn’t they just have a fire drill?

He’d spend half an hour outside in the freezing cold, but at least it wasn’t the Goddamn water cycle.

He couldn’t believe fourth lesson had only begun fifteen minutes earlier, it felt like hours had passed.

He snuck his phone out under the desk, checking his screen but quickly growing dismayed at the lack of messages.

Nothing from Kuroo.

Nothing from anyone, really.

He wanted to fix things with his friend; it didn’t feel right to not have Kuroo beside him. But he wasn’t about to let Kuroo get away with what he said and how he behaved.

The teacher left the room and the previously quiet room burst into raucous whispers.

“Kenma.”

He turned to the table behind him where his name had been whispered from, a group of four boys crowded around the table.

“Yeah?”

“Is it true you and Kuroo had a fight?” One asked, leaning close to stage whisper.

Great, everyone loved the gossip.

And two best friends falling out over a girl was the pinnacle of high school gossip.

“We might’ve.”

“He’s telling everyone you did.” The first boy elaborated.

For some reason that struck a nerve with Kenma.

Was Kuroo bitching about him?

“And you’re dating the little Spanish kid in the year below?” Another asked, a twist to his lips.

Well, he couldn’t keep it secret forever.

“Yeah, I’m dating Sierria.” 

The proclamation felt alien on his tongue, but then again, she was his first crush.

“Nicee, what’s she like?” The next one asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Y’know, a screamer or…?” Back to the first.

Ah.

Of course.

Because it was expected for two kids to engage in such activities in a fit of raging hormones.

“I don’t know, we’ve only been dating for two days.”

“So? Not even kissed her?”

Kenma thought for a moment, when was the appropriate time to begin kissing your girlfriend?

“No, not yet.”

“Dude!” One crowed, the others making noises of disapproval.

“You gotta get in there fast! Spaniards; they need to be sexually fulfilled!”

“One, she’s fourteen; two, I’m pretty sure that’s racist.” Kenma scowled, not appreciating the comment. “And three, there’s more to a fulfilling relationship than stupid sex.”

“If you had it you wouldn’t think it was that stupid.”

“Are you speaking from experience or from a pipe dream?”

He watched the boy’s expression twist as his friends laughed at the response.

“You what?”

“You heard me.” Kenma’s voice dropped and he turned back to his work, glancing at his phone and noticing a new message.

He checked his phone, opening the message.

[[Nin: Look at these beautiful babies! Love nan x]]

Kenma couldn’t hide his smile, no matter how many times he explained to his grandma that she didn’t need to say love nan every time she messaged him her response was always the same:

Ignore him and do it anyway.

He scrolled down, clicking the attached photograph, the image attached was of their family pets and Kenma immediately felt lighter.

His grandma was right; they were beautiful babies.

The Maine Coons were the oldest, Volta and Deacon being littermates his grandma had rescued seven years ago and gifted him as a present. Deacon had dark chocolate fur with liver-tone tufts like a mane around his neck.

Volta’s fur was more of a charcoal grey, the same liver colouration confined to the tips of her fur, she had white socked paws and a white fleck on her nose. They were serial shedders, their fur needing regular brushing and combined with their usual grooming habits meant it was rare somewhere would escape without being covered in fur.

Then there was Linkin, two years younger than Deacon and Volta. His fur was as dark as a moonless night, a milky grey stomach and throat breaking up the harsh dark short hair in a pattern not unlike the Milky Way. He was mostly able to groom himself, but he still left his mark upon everything he came into contact with, it was why Kenma no longer wore white clothes.

Kenma remembers when they’d taken Jovi in, the ginger and beige tabby had been hit on the road right outside their house only six months after they’d got Linkin. His eyes were a dazzling blue and Kenma immediately gave his mother his pocket money in the hopes that he could pay for the vet bills and keep him.

She’d refused most of the money, as any mother would. But he remembered when she pretended to be short of money in the vet’s reception by the exact amount he had in his pocket. That was the first time he’d experienced responsibility.

Although Jovi sometimes left him unable to walk, the ridiculously short hair he shed embedding in Kenma’s feet and leaving him in discomfort, desperately pulling at the hairs with tweezers.

The Russian blue had been a surprise, Kenma hadn’t expected to receive the kitten as a gift, but Aalegra had quickly become a part of their family, and her soft grey fur was unrivalled in the group of six cats.

Finally, the youngest, Bangtan. Bangtan was barely out of kittenhood, barely a year old the tuxedo cat was the loudest and had the largest whiskers Kenma had ever seen on a cat, he was also the only one out of the five to have a pink button nose.

Bangtan had yet to master the art of leaving fur everywhere, but in his defence, he could drool like a broken faucet and purr like a revving engine, he was the most conversational out of the six, chirping, meowing, and purring at every single prompt.

Even though the family had gathered the cats together; it was obvious who the cats favoured.

Kenma was more often than not completely buried in cat.

And he was completely okay with that.

In the picture his grandma had sent the six cats were all curled up by the log burner fire in a basket, looking not unlike balls of wool.

He wished he was at home.

A shrill sound ignited the room and the teacher came back inside.

“You all know that’s the fire alarm, everyone out!”

The class stood up, Kenma tucking his phone in his pocket and grabbing his bag, hoisting it over his shoulder.

They made their way down the staircase, out into the frozen air. Despite it being almost an hour after midday the temperatures of the late November day hadn’t improved much since the morning, thick shards of frost and ice making every surface treacherous.

But it was still better than the water cycle.

As they lined up in their forms Kenma stood in his place, rumours about the trigger for the alarm beginning to surface.

“I heard it was someone in the kitchens burning toast.”

“No! I walked past the science rooms, S5 had smoke coming from it.”

S5?

That was Kuroo’s classroom.

He was supposed to have chemistry that period.

Was he okay?

Kenma tried to see the messy bedhead in the formation beside theirs, quickly able to see Oikawa in the first line, Iwaizumi was in the third, Daichi the sixth, Sugawara and Bokuto were in the seventh.

Where was Kuroo?

He should’ve been in the second line.

Kenma felt himself becoming consumed in panic, where was he?

Sirens became audible as the students stood far away from the building, quickly realising that it wasn’t a drill when the sirens drew nearer, they were moved onto the field to allow the fire engines onto the tarmac.

The teachers didn’t seem to mind the students group up in ways other than their form groups, registers had been taken, everyone had been accounted for as far as Kenma was aware, but he still couldn’t see Kuroo.

“Kenma, are you okay?”

Kenma looked beside him, seeing the concerned face of his girlfriend as she came to his side, holding his hand.

“I—”

“Kenma! Sierria!” Sugawara called, the group fully assembling, still no sign of Kuroo.

“He’s not here?” Kenma asked, frantic. “Not with you guys?”

“Who?”

“Kuro.”

“Was he even in school today?” Oikawa asked, not recalling seeing the teen.

“Yes, I—I think so? I saw him walk past my house this morning.”

“There’s an ambulance!” Sugawara called over them, pointing to the vehicle pulling up with sirens wailing.

“Shit.”

The ambulance came to a stop, paramedics meeting with the faculty.

“Is someone actually hurt?” Sierria asked, looking at the scene unfolding.

“Just a precaution?”

From the outside the building looked fine, there was no smoke or visible flames, so the student body was curious to say the least.

“I heard someone say they passed S5 and there were flames.”

“S5?” Sugawara asked. “That’s our science room.” He motioned between himself and Bokuto.

“It’s also Kuroo’s.” Kenma said.

The group stopped, realising why Kenma was so on edge.

Kenma could see the way the other friends became just as on edge, concerned for their friend.

“Call him?”

“He probably wouldn’t answer me.” Kenma reasoned, his fingers wrapping around his phone in his pocket as he watched for any kind of scruffy black hair.

“Here, I’ll call him.” Oikawa caved, expression pensive as he searched his contact list for Kuroo’s name.

“I’ll send him a text.” Sugawara said.

“I already did,” Bokuto told Sugawara, cleaning his phone screen on his slacks before putting it in his blazer pocket and looking to Kenma, “Kenma, come here.”

Kenma briefly heard Sugawara mumble I’ll go and ask a teacher before he walked off with Akaashi hot on his heels, approaching the nearest teacher.

Kenma moved closer to Bokuto, his heart rate elevating as he was lifted into the air by Daichi and Iwaizumi, positioned onto Bokuto’s shoulders.

His fingers clamped tightly on the thick strands of white and black and Bokuto stood to his full height.

“Can you see him?”

Kenma searched the crowd of students, the cold air catching his lungs as he breathed through his mouth.

Even at this height he couldn’t locate his childhood friend.

“No—”

“You guys!!” Sugawara was running back across the field with Akaashi.

“Suga?” Daichi asked, approaching him. “Do they know where he is?”

The silver haired teen looked at Akaashi and Kenma’s stomach dropped.

Those expressions weren’t positive ones.

“Uh, um, well—” Sugawara crashed and stumbled over his words.

Kenma noticed how Oikawa was now looking distressed, almost screaming at Iwaizumi as he brought the phone to his ear again.

“He’s been marked in all morning,” Akaashi explained breathlessly, his eyes almost teary, “but he’s currently unaccounted for.”

Kenma felt sick to his stomach and he clutched onto Bokuto as he felt nausea hit his body like a train.

“Put me down.” He choked out, afraid that he would be ill at the thoughts racing in his head.

No sooner were his feet on the ground they heard a commotion from the canteen door that led onto the tarmac.

Kenma saw the one thing he didn’t want to see.

His clothes were burned, in tatters, his skin was black and Kenma couldn’t tell if it was soot or burns, or something else entirely, but his posture wasn’t something Kenma was used to seeing.

Despite the sirens, the students, the talking from the group around him, everything went quiet as he watched his friend retch into his blazer sleeve before choking on an inhale.

Something was definitely wrong.

“Kuro!!” He ran towards his friend only to be stopped by a group of teachers requesting that they stayed back. “I need to see him!”

“Kozume, we can’t let you.”

“But—”

“We can’t.”

“Goto-san, please!” Oikawa cried, coming up behind Kenma.

“Oikawa, you know I can’t let you near that building.”

“I know…but that’s our friend.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t let you past.”

They watched as the ambulance left, taking their friend with it.

“Kuro…” Kenma whispered, feeling suddenly lonely and racked by guilt.

Kenma felt like everyone’s eyes were on him, watching him, judging him. He looked down, his blonde hair pooling around his face and he removed his phone from his pocket, burying his nose in it. Although the tremble in his hands was enough to give away the façade.

“Kenma?” Sierria moved closer, her hands settling on his shoulders. “Are you okay?” She voice was quiet, the others gathering around him to offer comfort.

“I’m fine…” He said before changing his mind. “Can we just...go somewhere quiet?”

“I can open up the minibus if you want,” Goto said, moving to also offer comfort to the teens, “it’s somewhere more quiet.”

“Is that okay?” Oikawa asked, turning to the teacher, grateful for her intervention.

“It’s not a problem.”

Goto took the group to the school’s minibus, opening the sliding door, letting the eight teens climb inside.

Once inside the teens sat together as Kenma battled with his trembling hands to type a message to his childhood friend, desperately asking for a response, to know he was okay.

It was only then that Kenma crumpled against Sierria’s side, the first tears escaping his eyes.

“Oh my God he’s actually hurt.” Kenma was gasping. “This can’t be happening.”

His breath was coming out short and fast and his friends immediately tried to comfort him, to relieve him from the throes of his panic.

The rest of the day passed in a blur for Kenma, he ate his lunch robotically, the food bland and nauseating, and then he attended fifth lesson in a daze.

It soon emerged that the fire was in fact more chemicals than fire, flammable gas igniting but burning up quickly. Students who had shared the class had told of a sudden fireball, noxious gas, and the teacher ushering them all out, staying with Kuroo.

It scared Kenma.

He knew a lot of it was likely dramatized.

But a fireball?

He could believe that because he’d also used the chemicals in question in the past.

His class had been explicitly told: do not ignite sodium hydroxide.

He walked home with the group, not really taking part in the conversation and instead keeping his phone tightly in his hands, staring down at the screen with a deathly glare.

He heard Oikawa and Sugawara doing their usual bickering.

“This frosty ground is doing my head in, it’s so slippery and cold!”

“It’s hoar frost!”

“Don’t slut shame the weather, Suga-chan!”

Kenma listened, almost smiling when Sugawara missed the joke, starting a ranting tirade about the weather.

“No! Not whore, hoar! H-O-A-R!” And then when the penny dropped, the joke becoming clear to him. “You’re the only frosty ass whore I see here, Oikawa.”

“Ey!”

Kenma missed the cackle from Kuroo that should’ve followed.

Things didn’t get any easier on the bus home, either.

He looked out the window, at the icy shards around the ground, the weather so cold and the sun so ineffective that the frost had hardly abated despite it being late in the afternoon. In fact some shards were beginning to regain the form they’d lost, the temperature already dropping.

“Kenma, do you wanna leave doing the scarf tonight?” Sierria asked, looking at her boyfriend in concern.

“No, I need a distraction, still come over.”

“Okay…”

Kenma was sat with Bokuto, Sierria, and Akaashi, feeling oddly out of sorts without Kuroo’s presence, he kept checking his phone, every few minutes unlocking it and going through his messages, still nothing from Kuroo. He felt sick.

He looked out the window at the sullen skies, resting his chin in his palm and zoning out from the chatter around him.

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and deduced it must’ve been Bokuto’s.

“I’m okay, I promise.”

“I know,” Bokuto smiled, “I just wanted you to know you’re not alone. Kuroo’s my best friend too, y’know?”

Kenma looked out the window, noticing the farmers fields on either side of them, a two-lane country road full of traffic. Had they travelled that far already?

He looked out the window and sure enough he could see his stop – five stops before Bokuto and Akaashi’s – coming up.

“We’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Kenma pressed the bell, standing with Sierria, “if you hear anything from Kuroo let me know?”

“Yeah, of course, see you tomorrow!” Bokuto cheered, trying to come across lighter than he actually was.

“Bye guys.” Kenma mumbled, waving them off while Akaashi echoed the sentiment and Sierria followed.

“I thought Akaashi was coming over tonight?” Sierria asked inquisitively as the doors slid shut behind them.

“He is, just…later. Avoid suspicion from Bokuto.”

“Ah, good idea!”

Sierria’s fingers laced between his, offering him a silent support and comfort to his confused and worried mind as they walked through residential streets to his house.

Once inside they were greeted by Bangtan, meeting them in the hallway after waltzing down the stairs.

“Omg Bangtan!” Sierria grinned, picking the small tuxedo cat up into her arms. “Hello baby!”

“Kenma? Is that you?”

Kenma looked up to the utility room, his grandmother perched daintily in the open concertina doorway.

“Hey, nin,” Kenma smiled, going over to give the older woman his usual hug, “how are you today?”

“I’m wonderful,” she kissed his cheek before turning to greet Sierria in the same way, “how was your day?” She led the pair through the utility room and into the kitchen where the oven was humming away and a stew pan bubbling on the stove hob. 

“We’ve had better,” Kenma said, depositing his bag on the utility room counter, Sierria doing the same, and Bangtan sauntered into the living room, “Kuroo got taken to hospital.”

Kenma watched his grandmother freeze, looking over to him.

“Oh, oh dear,” she mumbled, taking Kenma's hands in her own, “what happened, my dear? Is he alright?”

“There was a chemical explosion in the chemistry lab, from what I heard he was caught up in it.”

“Oh no, Kenma, I’m so sorry, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, nin, I promise.” Kenma smiled.

“Good, well,” despite her age her mobility was unhindered as she moved around the room, “I was just about to go out, there’s some stew in the pot on the stove if you get hungry while I’m out.”

“Thank you, nin.”

“Thank you Ms. Kozume!”

Kenma watched her move around the house, gathering her coat, scarf, gloves, and bobble hat before she took her leave, going out into the cold weather on whatever errand or wander she wanted to go on.

It was later that evening when Kenma’s grandmother returned, Akaashi had arrived some time ago and the three teens were stuffed from multiple servings of the warm stew and almost a full loaf of bread between them.

Kenma’s mother had also just arrived home, she was reheating the food while the three teens sat together, Kenma teaching the other two how to knit a patch of scarf.

Kenma’s eyes kept wandering to his phone screen, waiting for Kuroo’s text, but still nothing came.

“Mother, where have you been?” Kenma’s mother cried as his grandma re-entered the house.

“I was picking up Morris!”

Kenma looked up as his nan removed the shawl from around her body, a small bundle of cream fur with a dark brown face and dazzling ice blue eyes peeking out from the fabric.

“Another cat? Mother!” But the scolding wasn’t harsh, there was no bite to it, only a small, light laugh from the woman in the kitchen.

“What? Look at his little cute face, and the eyes! Siamese always have such beautiful eyes.”

“Morris is such a cute name, Ms. Kozume!” Sierria grinned.

“Agreed,” Akaashi smiled, watching the small kitten getting crowded by the other six cats and Kenma.

“Welcome to the family, Morris.” Kenma chuckled, picking the small ball of fur up in his hands and touching their noses together. “I hope you like it here.”

Chapter Text

His eyes felt heavy, lids drooping as he sat in the cool medical room. His skin was gooseflesh as the air conditioning kept the air flowing; from stagnating, sterilising the rooms. The rush of air from the ceiling vents was cold, his arms and legs feeling particularly vulnerable to the sensation.

“Tetsurou—here, let me get my jacket.”

The highly concentrated oxygen being fed to his lungs and respiratory system made him feel drowsy, his extremities just a little more pain free, a little more numb than the rest of his body. The medication added to ease the burn and irritation to his lungs making any movements jerky, muscles twitching and spasming minutely as a side effect, a visible tremble to his hands.

He rested his head back and closed his eyes, the combination of gases he was breathing in making him feel slightly dizzy and spaced out.

He hated feeling spaced out, unaware.

Some people told him it was relaxing, he called bullshit.

He felt his torso and arms grow warmer, his eyes sliding open and peering at the man beside him as he rested the puffer jacket around Tetsurou’s upper half of his body.  “Better?”

“Yeah—” he broke off into a cough, noting how his legs still felt all too chilled, stiff from being in the same position for the last few hours.

“I’m going to check your vitals again, just relax.” The doctor tucked a loose strand of hair behind his ear and wheeled over the contraption Tetsurou had seen at least once every hour for the last eleven or so hours.

Tetsurou closed his eyes again, letting the respiratory specialist do what he needed to, fighting the urge to cough with each breath, his lungs raw.

There was silence for a number of seconds before Tetsurou spoke again.

“You need a—” he fought back a cough “—haircut.”

“And you need to invest in a brush, what’s your point?”

Tetsurou bit back the laugh and ended up choking on his breath, ending in a coughing fit.

“Don’t make me laugh…”

“Sorry, sorry.” The doctor laughed, not at all sorry. He knew his brother was safe. 

Tetsurou’s body relaxed and he leant back, offering a trembling, bandaged arm for the blood pressure monitor. He felt he squeeze of the strap around his bicep, a grinding-click of a sound accompanying it, and then a gradual release.

The scribble of a pen.

“And again.” The voice was distracted as the scratch on thin paper continued, echoing in the sterile white room. The band tightened again before a wheezing hiss told Tetsurou it was over. “I need to check your blood sugar, you haven’t eaten since arriving—”

“Since seven this morning actually.”

“Yesterday morning.” The doctor corrected.

“What?”

"Six minutes past midnight. Sharp scratch.”

“Shit—” he hissed as the pin pricked at his fingertip, “—really?”

Time became meaningless in the sterile environment he found himself in.

“Yeah.” The doctor swiped at the speck of blood, popping the paper into the reader and offering Tetsurou the cotton patch for the bleeding. “It’s on three point four.”

“In layman’s terms please, we can’t all have an honours degree in biology, master’s degree in lungs, and doctorate in drugs.”

“It isn’t great.” The doctor explained, moving to dispose of the used paper. “I’m going to get you a sugary chocolate biscuit and full-fat carbonated drink, I want you to try get them down you.”

“Okay…”

The expert left the room, leaving Tetsurou to remove his phone from his pocket. The screen refused to turn on.

“Dammit…”

The door opened, the doctor returning with the promised items and handing them to Tetsurou.

“I just want to finish your observations first, then you can try eating and drinking. Your oxygen levels and heart rate are next.”

Tetsurou felt pressure around his index finger, almost a pinching sensation but not quite.

“Oxygen gon’ be higher than a preteen’s ballsack.” He joked through the oxygen mask, breaking from a scoff of a laugh into a wheezing cough.

"Charming.” His brother huffed, jerking his head to flick the hair from his face and tuck it back behind his ear. “Truly a mystery why you’re still single, Tetsu.”

"Harsh, but fair.”

The specialist prodded his ear, making Tetsurou swat at him in annoyance.

“Are you done, Tatsuo?”

"Just need your temperature.” He pressed the probe to the inside of Tetsurou’s ear, getting the reading and removing it. “Looks like your vitals are back to normal; they’ve plateaued for the last five hours. So your oxygen levels are more like perfectly positioned balls.”

Tetsurou snorted and broke into a cough, clearing his throat and wincing.

“I just want to check your chest, get the x-ray results back, then you’re free to go home.”

“Decent, what time does your shift end?”

Tatsuo moved behind his younger brother, raising the back of his shirt and placing the cool stethoscope on his skin and asking him to breathe as he listened to his lungs.

“Four thirty.” He moved to Tetsurou’s front before doing the same. “If you wanna wait for me I can get you a discount on the night bus.”

“As if I’d turn down a discount.” Then Tetsurou remembered the device in his pocket. “You don’t have a phone charger, do you?”

“Nope.”

“Worth a shot.”

“Back to your health, Mister,” Tatsuo spoke sternly, pinning Tetsurou with a steely gaze, “you’re so damn lucky, sodium hydroxide is dangerous, like, what were you thinking setting it on fire?”

“I dunno…” A crack in Tetsurou’s voice as he eased the mask from his face.

“Don’t give me that bullshit, we both know you’re a straight A chemistry student. You’re not daft.” Tatsuo looked at Tetsurou, his oddly startled expression catching the elder off guard. “Listen,” he ran his fingers through his thick, black hair, “you know she can’t lose another man she loves. This behaviour is reckless, dangerous, Tetsurou. Don’t do stupid things like setting highly flammable gas and caustic chemicals on fire!”

“I know…I’m sorry.”

“You’re meant to carve your name into the stars one day, Tetsurou, not become one of them.”

A pressure to Tetsurou’s forehead, the heel of Tatsuo’s palm impacting the centre.

"You’re so lucky, I’ve seen what sodium hydroxide can do, Tetsu, hell, what any chemical can do. You’re lucky that your lungs don’t sound damaged, they sound no worse than an asthmatic’s; a little inflammation. I’m going to give you some inhalers to help widen your airways, and some steroids to lessen the inflammation.”

“Get you being all doctor-like.” Tetsurou grinned, remembering the days of lecturing he’d get from Tatsuo whenever he got hurt when they were still children 

He remembered it fondly.

“Honestly, Tetsu? If I hadn’t taken the Hippocratic oath I’d deck you so fucking hard right about now.” Tatsuo laughed, the sound light and easy compared to the terse atmosphere minutes earlier.

"Harsh, but fair.” Tetsurou coughed again, the words catching his throat.

A knock on the door drew their attention and Tatsuo’s come in! startled Tetsurou.

A young woman entered the room, slipping inside in one fluid movement through a gap just the right size for her dainty physique.

“Doctor Kuroo,” Tetsurou noted her accent – Indian? Her tanned skin and rounded face framed by unruly ebony hair supported his theory, “doctor Abe wanted me to return the x-ray for Kuroo-san, he said there’s no indication of damage and that the patient should be advised to go home and arrange to see a local doctor later today.”

Later today. 

Oh.

It was after midnight.

Her eyes were bright, irises a deep mahogany red and they shimmered under the hospital lighting.

"Ah, doctor Gupta, thank you.” Tatsuo replied, taking the papers and radiograph from her hands.

Tetsurou watched the pair with a curious glance, the interaction was a simple exchange of medical terminology and documents. 

Yet it seemed like there was so much more.

“I apologise for interrupting your See and Treat, doctor Kuroo,” once again Tetsurou was taken back by the soft melodic sound of her voice, her softly spoken accent adding an aura of kindness around the woman, “I thought you would’ve sent the patient back out into the waiting room." 

“Ah, n—no, not this time.” Tetsurou watched his brother, barely able to keep his jaw from hanging.

Tatsuo was stuttering just minutes after lecturing him for his recklessness.

And over a girl no less. 

Tetsurou waited until she’d left the room again before coyly smirking at his brother.

“You like her.”

"Wh—what?” Tatsuo stammered some more. It could’ve been considered cute if Tetsurou wasn’t so nauseated by the thought of his brother being so passive; he looked like a deer in headlights, eyes blown wide, staring at Tetsurou with an unnerving lack of light in his eyes, his face was also tinged bright red.

In all his sixteen years Tetsurou had never seen Tatsuo’s face go completely tomato-red unless he was laughing, in which case it would go tomato-red to beet-purple in a matter of minutes filled with uncontrollable wheezing laughter.

“You got the hots for her!”

“I do not!” But the blush proved him to be a liar.

“Dude, I can feel your tachycardia from here!”

“I—Wait, shut up—” Tatsuo almost pouted, his lips pursing but not enough to pucker “—you saw her badge, didn’t you?”

“Oh, ho, ho, you bet I did.” Tetsurou confirmed his brother’s suspicions. “C’mon, a heart specialist? Think of the pick-up lines, man!”

"No!”

“Chicken.” Tetsurou clucked to prove a point.

"And how’s your oh so successful love life going?” Tatsuo snarked, earning a bark of a laugh that was all roughness to Tetsurou’s throat.

Tetsurou knew that the facial expression on Tatsuo’s face was the sign that his sarcastic war of words was only just beginning.

He grinned 

“Harsh, but fair.” Tetsurou conceded, knowing that in the field of biology he didn’t stand a chance against Tatsuo.

“What I’ll do is I’ll run this prescription down to the pharmacy and we can go pick it up as we’re leaving. Can you go and wait back in the waiting room while I continue to see patients?"

“Sure.” Tetsurou agreed, moving back through to the waiting room.

Time passed slowly in the sea of chairs, at first Kuroo tried to doze, but after an hour and a half he gave up trying. The soundscape of ambulance sirens outside, the roar of helicopter blades as the emergency helipad was in constant use, and the sound of patients in various states of pain and distress kept disturbing the sleep-fussy teen.

So at two in the morning, as an elderly lady came in via helicopter, Kuroo picked up one of every information pamphlet stored on the far wall.

By the time three AM rolled around Kuroo knew the symptoms, diagnostic procedures, and treatment of everything from wisdom tooth extraction to cancer. He also had the symptoms of half of the aliments he’d read about.

He heard the gentle clacking of heels on the tiled floor, looking up to see doctor Gupta approaching with a clipboard in her arms.

“I’m incredibly sorry to disturb you.” She began, Kuroo looked up and straightened his posture, not wanting to appear stand-offish to the softly spoken woman. “Doctor Kuroo wanted me to hand you the patient feedback form, I also want to apologise to you for interrupting your treatment earlier; doctor Kuroo doesn’t usually keep patients in his room."

“That’s fine,” Kuroo said, taking the feedback sheet from her hand, “I’m not mad, and I can fill out the form no problem.” He decided to joke, adding: “do I write down how the doctor threatened to deck me?”

“Oh my goodness,” the doctor gasped, Kuroo catching sight of her name tag Chahna Gupta, Heart Specialist, “surely he didn’t, did he?”

“He did, but he also said he wouldn’t because he took the Hippocratic oath.” Kuroo smiled, it was playful and light. “I’m sorry, I’ll fill in the form properly. Tatsuo’s my brother.”

“O—Oh, I suppose that makes sense!” She smiled in return, Kuroo could see the relief on her features. “I thought you might’ve been related when I saw the same last name, but then I didn’t want to assume." 

“Well you would’ve assumed correct, he’s my older brother. Kuroo Tetsurou.” He offered her his hand to shake.

“It’s lovely to meet you,” her smile didn’t leave her face as she accepted his greeting, “I’m Chahna Gupta. So how come you’re out here? Waiting for your brother’s shift to end?”

“Yeah, he said it would be four-thirty.”

“Well, you didn’t hear it off me,” she leaned in closer, “but I overheard him asking the supervisor if he can leave a little early today.” She stood back up, looking at the work in her arms. “Well, I gotta get back to cardiology, it was nice meeting you, Tetsurou-kun!”

She waved him off as she fled down the corridor and Kuroo settled back into his chair once more, his eyes feeling like sandpaper as he finally began to doze off.

 By the time the two brothers arrived home it was nearing five in the morning, Tatsuo had been able to finish work an hour early.

 Tetsurou trudged up the stairs, Tatsuo following on his heels and the pair retreated to Tetsurou’s bedroom.

“Tetsu, I just want to show you how to take this medication properly, watch you take it, and then you can go to bed.”

“Fine…” Tetsurou grumbled, sitting on his bed and handing the bag of medication to his brother.

“These are steroid tablets,” Tatsuo pulled a small box from the bag, “I want you to take eight every morning—”

“Eight?!”

“These are standard respiratory rescue packs, I’m giving you the doses I’d give someone with asthma to help their lungs recover. 

“But—”

“Oh my God can I finish?”

“Sorry.”

“You will be, you pain in the ass.” But the huff that Tatsuo breathed was affectionate. “Listen, eight every morning for four days, then each day drop your dose by two tablets until a full week has passed. Next is the inhaler, this is also a standard reliever inhaler for asthmatics, but it works with any lung disease or condition.”

Tatsuo threw the tablets into Tetsurou’s lap, and then reached for the blue inhaler.

“I want you to take two puffs of a morning, two at night and then another two whenever you need it until the inhaler runs out – roughly six weeks.” He reached into the bag and removed a hollow tube Tetsurou guessed was breathing apparatus. “This is called a spacer, you put the inhaler in the air tight seal, spray the medicine and rather than hold your breath you just take deep breaths.”

He demonstrated the inhaler and spacer, how they worked together before handing it to Tetsurou.

“Shake it up and give it a go."

Tetsurou did as he was told, shaking up the pressurised cannister and releasing a dose into the chamber. He followed his brother’s instruction, taking the two doses.

“Great! You did great, Tetsu, now for the steroids.”

“Can’t I just go to sleep?” 

“No, listen, you gotta take them at roughly the same time and preferably first thing in the morning. Seeing as you’re usually waking up right about now it’s best to take them."

Tetsurou rolled his eyes and snored, starting to pop out eight of the tablets, knocking each one back with a mouthful of water from the bottle he always kept filled at the side of his bed.

"Ugh, they taste like bleach.”

“How do you know what bleach tastes like?”

“No, you know what I mean, it’s what I imagine bleach to taste like.”

“You imagine what bleach tastes like.” It wasn’t a question.

Tetsurou just groaned in annoyance, flopping onto his bed and messing up his uniform.

“Let me sleeeep.” He whined lowly, crowding his pillows over his head.

“Sure thing.” Tatsuo smiled, neatening the blister packs back into the box and storing Tetsurou’s medicine on his bedside table.

Tetsurou heard his footsteps move further away, but then there was a pause before the door closed with a quiet click.

Only then did Tetsurou rearrange himself, falling into much needed slumber. 

“Kiss my ass!”

“Suga-chan, stop being a dick!”

Sugawara laughed loudly.

“As if! I’ll stop being a dick when you stop being gay for Iwaizumi’s biceps!”

The pair ran ahead of their friends, exchanging banter that would’ve been considered mean if they hadn’t been so close.

Sugawara felt the lack traction under his feet threaten to take them out from under him but it didn’t stop his laughter fuelled escape from his friend.

“They’re so lively first thing…” Daichi commented, biting back a yawn just long enough to finish his sentence. 

“It’s annoying as hell.” Iwaizumi finished, walking beside his cousin, peering behind himself to look at the rest of the group.

Nobody knew where Kuroo was, nobody had heard anything.

And Kenma and Bokuto were the ones suffering the most.

Iwaizumi stopped and turned to face the four trailing behind.

“Still no news?”

Daichi turned then as well, the two cousins slowing their pace to fall into step with the others.

“Nothing, his phone is just going straight to voicemail.”

“Maybe try to call the house phone?” Daichi suggested.

Kenma pulled out his phone, quickly pulling up Kuroo’s home phone number and calling through, the answering machine picking up the call several tense seconds later.

“No answer."

“Then try the hospital?”

“Do you have the hospital number?”

“No…”

“And his mum’s in Bulgaria right now,” Kenma sighed, pocketing his phone, “this sucks…”

“Isn’t Tatsuo back home?” Bokuto asked, playing with the strap of his bag.

“Wait, who’s Tatsuo?” Daichi questioned, looking at Bokuto.

"Kuroo’s older brother, he was working in a different hospital across the country but I’m sure he was meant to be coming back soon.”

“But what if he isn’t back?” Kenma asked, shooting Bokuto a look. “What if he doesn’t even know his brother has been hurt? Then he’s stuck with worry and can’t come home.”

“Okay, good point—Wait! Kenma, can I use your phone?”

“I suppose so…” Kenma fished out his phone, typing in his passcode and handing it to Bokuto.

“Thanks! Omg you got another cat? Kenmaaa!” Bokuto had obviously seen the new background on Kenma’s phone

“Kenma got another cat?” Sugawara perked up, turning to look at the group. “Wait, how many does he have?”

"Um,” Bokuto said, fiddling around on Kenma’s phone, “six? I think? I lose count.”

“Including Morris, it’s seven.” Kenma corrected, the first smile since waking up to Morris’ dirty-looking face gracing his lips. “Deacon, Volta, Aalegra, Linkin, Jovi, Bangtan, and now my nin brought home Morris.”

“He’s adorable!” Sierria cooed without thinking.

“W—Wait, you’ve already seen him?” Bokuto asked with scandal, handing Kenma’s phone back to him.

"Uh…”

“Of course she has, Bokuto-san, they’re dating.” Akaashi excused, they’d worked too hard on the scarf to be busted only a day later.

“Bokuto, what did you do on my—you messaged Tatsuo?! Why did you do that?!”

“I’m sure he’s home! I remember Kei saying he wanted to go out on the razz with him and Minori this weekend.”

I hope you’re right.” Kenma pursed his lips into the nearest thing to a pout he could muster.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait,” Sugawara interjected, “who the fuck is Kei, who the shit is Tatsuo, and who the—” he paused, trying to find another expletive to use, not finding any he particularly liked “–hell is Minori when they’re home?”

“Tatsuo is Kuro’s brother,” Kenma explained, “Minori is—”

“Keitaro is my brother!” Bokuto grinned, talking over Kenma.

“—Satori’s brother."

“No shitting way!” Sugawara’s mouth was open with shock, lips quirked upwards in amusement. “Why haven’t I heard any of this?”

“Well they’re all busy adults,” Bokuto made a face, “they’re never home and they just never cropped up in the conversation before.”

“I wanna meet them!”

“Well Keitaro is coming to the friendly tomorrow between us and the Sundogs, I think he’s gonna bring the other two as well.”

“Awesome—” Sugawara looked at the team captain. “Wait, who are the Sundogs?”

“Momo’s team!”

“Momo?”

"Ah, Suga…" Daichi began.

“Sundogs are a weather phenomenon, also known as mock suns and parhelions.”

"Suga-chan, Sawa-chan is tryna explain!”

“The Sundogs are a team from a school to the North, they’re the only team in the tournament captained by a girl.”

“She’s my childhood friend, Emiko!” Bokuto grinned proudly.

“Her nickname is the Bitch because despite the fact she’s a girl she can give some serious trouble,” Daichi explained, “once she gave me a black eye.”

“She broke my collar bone when we were kids!” Bokuto laughed. “She doesn’t mess around!”

Sugawara’s anxiety spiked, she was that strong?

He expected nothing less of Bokuto’s friend, but still.

The only female captain.

She must’ve had huge shoes to fill, no wonder she was ruthless. 

“Shitting hell…”

Iwaizumi heard Oikawa over dramatically sigh and suddenly his hand was petting Sugawara’s hair. He looked away, not really interested by the pair.

“Oh, Suga-chan,” Oikawa began, “you look so cute, but then you open your mouth!”

A sudden ear-piercing shriek filled the air followed by the sound of skin on skin, grabbing Iwaizumi’s attention back to the other two teens.

He watched as Oikawa furiously rubbed his hand on his pants leg, his other hand poised in the air as his face was beet red and contorted in disgust, Sugawara clutching a red, chapped cheek.

“What the hell is your oral fixation with my Goddamn hand?! First you lick it—”

“You’re the one who put it by my mouth, asshole!"

“—Then you fucking gob in my hand—” Oikawa’s mind registered what Sugawara said “—you’re the one who made it weird!”

“Yeah but statistically I only willingly contacted your hand twice! Your hand contacted my mouth three times!”

“Oh my God, I hate you!” Oikawa watched Sugawara’s face as it twisted and his friend fell silent, realising all too late what he’d said.

He definitely hadn’t meant it.

He hoped he’d at least said it in a light enough way to make it clear.

But Sugawara obviously hadn’t heard the soft joking tone, he’d only heard the words.

“Suga-chan, I didn’t mean it.” Now the whole group was looking at them as they walked into the school grounds.

“Alright, you’re all cutting it fine,” a teacher called out to them as they ushered students loitering around the gates, “get to form!”

Iwaizumi watched as Sugawara’s pace quickened, his head dipped with his fingers wrapped tightly around his bag straps.

Iwaizumi watched as Sugawara’s pace quickened, his head dipped with his fingers wrapped tightly around his bag straps.

“Suga, wait!” Daichi called, almost giving chase if it weren’t for Bokuto gripping his wrist.

"You can’t afford to be late for form, if you get a disciplinary then you know they’ll keep you from the game."

Daichi looked to the floor before nodding.

“Alright." 

They all parted ways, Bokuto following Sugawara to their form time. 

The next time Tetsurou opened his eyes there was the sound of worn strings; raw acoustic melody and scratches of calloused fingers plucking and strumming with a practiced motion that was now surely ingrained into muscle memory, filtering in through his closed bedroom door. 

Even after so long, he still remembered his brother’s lyrics, the words lingered in his memory like a shroud of ground hugging mist. His brother’s hardship lain bare on paper for everyone to see. Immortalised in a requiem of remembrance. 

All that was needed was to listen, listen and hear the anguish and grief of a much younger Tatsuo, just sixteen and in his sixth year of mourning the man who should’ve been in his life and teach him how to become a man himself.

Tetsurou remembered the stories, Tatsuo’s father’s legacy and pearls of wisdom.

He remembered how, in the absence of his own father, he’d listen to those stories and latch onto the hope that Tatsuo’s father had also been his own.

Tetsurou couldn’t imagine what it must’ve been like for the ten-year-old Tatsuo, for him to lose his father so suddenly at such a tender age. When the only death they should’ve known about was that of old age, not illness; not disease.

He tried to fight off his lucidity, already feeling the stinging in his eyes and a throbbing in his head. Then a retching cough ripped through his chest and forced him into a sitting position as he battled with the coughing fit.

His eyes felt like sandpaper, his brain full of cotton wool as he reached for his inhaler, taking two puffs and breathing them as deeply as he could without reigniting the cough.

“Tetsu?”

He looked up to the bedroom door, the house now silent and his brother stood in the threshold.

“You okay?” Tatsuo asked, moving into the room and sitting down on the bed.

“Yeah…” Tetsurou choked out around suppressing another coughing fit. “What’s the…time?” He wheezed, his lungs beginning to feel better as the inhaler did what it had to.

“It’s nearly one, you’ve had seven hours.”

“I feel like shit." 

“Honestly you look like it too.” Tatsuo said with a smile, leaning on his hand.

“Gee, thanks."

“Think you can eat?”

“I can try…” Tetsurou bit back a yawn as he rubbed his eyes.

“Good, get yourself in a shower, you stink of chemicals,” Tatsuo grinned, leaping from the bed and dodging the shoe Tetsurou had launched his way, “I’ll make us something to eat."

"Thanks…” Tetsurou breathed.

Tatsuo left the room and Tetsurou took a moment to compose himself before standing and gathering his things. He trudged to the bathroom, his body feeling heavy and muscles far too tight as he unwrapped the gauze straps from his forearms.

Tetsurou climbed into the shower, allowing the water to ease the tension in his shoulders and letting the water drench his hair and scalp. At first the stream of water hurt his arms, leaving the blistered skin stinging in protest.

He remembered what Akaashi had said days prior, his eyes landing on a bottle on the side of the bath.

“Conditioner, huh?” He went about washing his hair as normal, after rinsing the shampoo he applied the conditioner to the dark strands of charcoal, reading the bottle. “Leave for five minutes…”

Ever impatient, the teen washed his body and the rinsed the conditioner from his hair after only two minutes, instantly feeling the difference as he ran his fingers through the dense black mass and not getting tangled in knots.

"Tetsu! You got five minutes!”

“Or what?” Tetsurou called back, listening over the shower spray for his brother’s response.

“I’ll have a fat scran without you!”

“I’m coming!"

Tetsurou nearly slipped from the shower as he grabbed the towel on the heated towel rack 

He rushed to get dressed as the thought of his brother eating his share of whatever food he’d made filled him with sudden dread.

Once in the kitchen Tatsuo helped Tetsurou apply fresh bandages to his burned arms before serving up the food.

The brothers situated themselves in the living room, Tatsuo perched on one end in the L shaped sofa, Tetsurou sitting close to his side and feeling oddly fragile.

Tatsuo had only heated up tinned soup and warmed up some bread rolls, but Tetsurou welcomed the food.

He watched as his brother reached for the house phone on the end table and disconnected the handset.

“Let’s see if we missed anyone…” He mumbled, dialling the four-digit number for the call log.

“Wouldn’t we’ve heard it?”

“I got up for a wazz,” Tatsuo explained, taking a bite from one of the rolls of bread, holding the handset to his ear, “and I was goin’ back ashleep, an’ I thought I heard the phone.” He swallowed his food. “You know a number ending in five-one-four? Mobile number.”

Tetsurou put his spoon down, looking at his brother.

Of course he knew that number.

“Kenma.”

“Kenma?” Tatsuo set the phone back into the dock. “Call him back.”

“I—I’ll do it later.”

“Tetsurou…” Tatsuo’s voice was a warning.

"What? He’ll be in school.” Tetsurou replied, but he replied to quickly and his brother quickly caught onto that fact.

“It’ll also be lunch time." 

“My phone’s dead."

“Charge it up and use mine in the meantime!” Tatsuo picked up his phone, pressing the power button and watching the screen start up.

“No! Your ears have been touching that thing!”

“Honestly,” Tatsuo scoffed, “what’s your problem with ears—” his eyes widened then they narrowed into a mischievous glint, “I got a text off Kenma.”

“What? No way.” Tetsurou looked on sceptically, but the look on Tatsuo’s face didn’t make him disbelieve his brother.

Tatsuo began typing out a response.

“What are you saying to him?” Tetsurou gasped.

“Tetsu eat your soup.”

“Not until you tell me what you just told him!”

“I invited him over later.” Tatsuo smirked, sending the message and setting his phone down on his other side, continuing to eat his soup and bread.

“Why did you do that? We haven’t spoken in days and the last time we did it was an argument!”

“You two argued? What the hell over?”

“It doesn’t matter!”

“Tetsurou…”

Tetsurou knew he was fighting a losing battle.

Tatsuo wasn’t just a brother, he was also like a father, he couldn’t—didn’t want to hide something from him/

He was just ashamed of his behaviour.

“He’s got a girlfriend.”

“Kenma has a girlfriend?”

Tetsurou hummed his confirmation, scooping some soup into his mouth and his posture closing in on himself.

“Man, I’m sorry Tetsu.”

Tetsurou almost choked.

"Why are you apologising?”

“You’ve had a crush on Kenma for ages haven’t you?”

Tetsurou looked down to the bowl in front of him before nodding.

“Yeah,” he said his next words with disdain, “and that’s why we argued…I mean, I don’t hate Sierria, she’s great, she joined our friendship group a few months ago and she’s just real fun. But—”

“You want Kenma.”

“Yeah.” Tetsurou said, toying with his spoon in the soup. “I feel like if I had just realised sooner, I wouldn’t have lost what I wanted."

Kenma had nearly jumped from his skin when his phone buzzed with a reply from Tatsuo at the end of lunch. 

Bokuto’s are you home? Is Kuroo okay?  Had been returned by the elder Kuroo sibling.

[[Tatsuo: Hey, am home, bro’s fine, just tired. come over later?]]

It had taken him only minutes to mull over whether he’d go or not; he’d been collecting Kuroo’s work from his lessons all day, it was a given he’d at least take the work to him.

It was now only ten minutes from the end of the school day and it couldn’t come quick enough, he just wanted to see Kuroo with his own eyes, make sure he was okay. 

Maybe try to fix things between them.

He missed his friend.

The final ten minutes of the lesson continued in much the same way as the rest of the day.

He wanted to go see his friend.

But he was also nervous.

What if Kuroo didn’t want to see him?

“Alright, class, you’re dismissed, don’t forget the homework due in for tomorrow’s lesson.”

A chorus of tired confirmations sounded from the class as everyone began to pack their things away, Kenma included.

He looked out the window at the fat wet blobs of snow that’d begun to fall as he carefully placed his own work books next to Kuroo’s assigned work.

The precipitation was more like sleet, threatening to turn to rain as it fell, and as Kenma walked across the quad to meet the rest of his group he noted how the air had become considerably more humid.

Sugawara would surely have an explanation. 

He’d be sure to ask him.

The sound of the droplets bouncing off the world around him; wood, metals, leaves, filled him with an odd sense of calm, the sound soothing his racing thoughts at least a little.

“Kenma!”

He turned as he heard the familiar voice.

“Hey Suga,” he smiled, falling into step with the ashen haired boy, “how was last lesson?”

“Borin’ as balls.” Sugawara yawned, travelling the remaining distance to the mall alongside Kenma.

“How come it’s gone muggy?”

“Warm front, they bring the temperature up a little and make the air moist, it’ll probably sleet for the rest of the night.”

“I see…”

“Kenma!” Bokuto called, rushing to meet them, followed by the remaining members for the group. “I got the work from Kuroo’s last class.”

“Thanks Bokuto,” Kenma responded, shucking off his bag and carefully tucking the work away, he watched the other teen jitter restlessly, “I’ll get him to call you after I’m done, okay?”

“Y—Yeah, are you sure you don’t want one of us to come with you?”

"Nah, it’s all good, I’m just gonna drop off the stuff then I’ll be going home.”

“Okay…”

The group walked down the road together, Kenma lending his coat to Sierria as the precipitation grew heavier, replacing the snow with cold semi-frozen raindrops. Her arm was warm where it was linked with his.

They reached Sierria’s house first.

"Kenma, take the coat back.” She insisted, taking the clothing off and handing it back to Kenma. 

He accepted it, donning the sodden fabric and turning to see his bus stationary at the lights.

“I gotta go.” he said quickly, briefly pausing, isn’t this where he’d kiss her?

His classmates’ words ran rampant in his head. In the movies it was where they should kiss.

He turned to face her, glancing at her lips with a sudden rush of nerves.

They were dating, kissing was normal, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t at least curious about what kissing her would feel like.

“Kenma, you okay?”

“Yeah…” He closed the distance between them, feeling the gentle press of her lips against his, the hesitant movement as she returned the tender touch. 

It was short, they didn’t see a need to make the kiss last any longer. Kenma watched Sierria’s gaze as it flickered to his lips and then back to his eyes and he found himself doing the same, his cheeks feeling all too warm. She scoffed softly, the corners of her lips ticking upwards. He licked his lip before smiling.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Sierria."

“Yeah, see you tomorrow Kenma.” He could hear her smile as he walked down the path and to the curb side, ready to dodge traffic to reach the bus stop in time.

Kenma heard the whispered awe in Bokuto’s dude as they crossed the road, flagging down the bus as it rounded the corner. 

The three began their journey home, the air strangely humid for the middle of November, Kenma now knew it was the warm front, but as he sat on the bus he allowed his mind to wander.

“Kenma-san,” Akaashi addressed, gaining Kenma’s attention, “we’ll see you tomorrow." 

Oh, when had they arrived in the outskirts of their town?

“See you tomorrow Keiji, Koutarou.”

The pair waved, following up the verbal goodbye with their own and disembarking the bus together.

Kenma only had two stops to go until Kuroo’s. He gathered his bags as the bus crossed the busy dock road.

He pressed the bell as the first bus stop disappeared behind them, watching through condensation covered windows as the stop he needed drew nearer. 

He stood next to the driver, eyes fixed on the yellow bus shelter as the bus slowed and came to a stop beside it. He thanked the driver, climbing off and going to the curb side to cross the road.

He walked across the road and down a small walkway. Kuroo’s home had always been in a place that was awkward for access.

As Kenma drew nearer to the house he chanced a glance at the upstairs window; Kuroo’s bedroom. He didn’t expect the face that came into focus through a crack in the blinds, their eyes meeting and Kenma suddenly felt all too nervous; all too exposed.

He walked up the path, bringing his fist to the door and knocking in his usual pattern.

Knock knock. Knock. Knock.

Knock. 

As soon as their eyes met Kuroo was entranced. Kenma had actually came. 

His hair was plastered to his face, rain trekking down his cheeks and a droplet fell from the tip of his nose.

He took a deep breath in and left his bedroom as he heard the knocking, the sound barely audible but still Kenma’s knock. 

He took the stairs two at a time, almost colliding with the door as his sleep socks skidded along the floor. He grabbed the handle to steady himself and pulled it open, his nerves suddenly skyrocketed, the air buffered from his lungs and his heart slamming into his ribcage.

“Kenma.”

Kenma’s eyes betrayed a look of slight shock that quickly disappeared, no doubt caused by Kuroo’s dishevelled appearance.

“Kuro." 

The nickname made him feel ridiculous amounts of relief.

“Kenma…”

“I, uh, brought your school work.” Kenma swung his bag from his shoulders and positioned it on the stone step under the awning. His hair flooded around his face, leaving wet smears on his cheeks.

“Thanks…” Kuroo hated how speechless he felt, frozen with a ridiculous fear that they wouldn’t speak again after this exchange. 

He noticed Kenma’s attire, a hooded jacket that was several shades of blue darker than its usual royal colour, charcoal pants now a shadow black up to the middle of his shin.

“Here,” Kenma fished out the crisp sheets, despite being in his bag they weren’t dog eared or smudged with food like his own usually were, “I hope that’s everything.”

“Thank you,” Kuroo said, his voice hoarse but not just from chemical irritation, he cleared his throat with a grimace, “I appreciate it.”

“How,” Kenma stopped, almost as if he was catching himself before thinking better of it, his eyes landed in Kuroo’s bandaged arms, “how are you feeling?”

“It’s…” How was he feeling? Lonely. Depressed. Like a piece of him was missing, within his reach but still too far away. “I missed being at school.”

Kenma shrugged his bag back onto his back, looking to the floor.

“Everyone missed you too.” But just like that, he looked up. “I better—" He was turning to return down the steps. “See you later—"

“Do you want to come in?” Kuroo felt the words tumble out before he’d given them permission to. Knowing that if he let this chance slip through the cracks of his fingers he’d lose his oldest friend.

If only Kenma knew what it was like; falling in love with him. 

“I—"

“You’ll catch a cold.” His expression screamed his urgency, his desperation not to let their friendship get snuffed out like a flame without fuel. “You can dry off…”

Kenma stared at him, Kuroo filling with fear and cursing now more than ever that Kenma’s expressions were unreadable to even him at times.

But then something changed.

“Okay.”

And Kuroo could breathe again.

He moved aside and Kenma shuffled inside, slipping out of his sodden shoes.

“Here.” Kuroo said all too eagerly, picking them up and leaving them over the radiator in the hallway. “If you want to go and get a shower—”

“Kuro.”

He fell silent.

“Sorry…”

Kenma seemed to compose himself in a single breath, ready to say everything he wanted to.

“Don’t think I’ve forgiven what you said.”

Kuroo looked down shamefully.

"I know…”

“And after a shower we’re talking it through,” Kenma stopped, seemingly picking his next words carefully, “although…I meant it when I said everyone missed you. "

Kuroo watched as Kenma used the sleeves of his hoodie to wipe at his wet hair, sending the strands askew, the gravity of his words sinking in.

Kenma had missed him too.

“I’ll get you some dry clothes.”

“Thanks.” Kenma’s tone was lighter as they both headed upstairs.

Kuroo positioned Kenma’s clothes on the radiator-mounted drying racks in his room, listening to the shower from the room next door. He sat on his bed to catch his breath, taking another puff on his inhaler before looking to his bedroom window.

Kenma was there.

He wanted to talk.

What was he supposed to say to him?

Sorry I made crass comments, I love you. 

Somehow that didn’t feel right, to tell him such an emotionally loaded statement right after arguing.

You don’t know what it’s like to fall in love with you. 

No. That didn’t feel right either.

Without you I feel like I’m missing a part of myself. 

They were sixteen, like they’d figured out every piece of themselves anyway.

I need to say goodbye, let you go. 

I can’t go back to not loving you. 

              “Kuro?”

Kuroo looked back to the door, seeing Kenma in his hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants. Once again Kuroo’s heart reminded him of the situation he was in; his undeniable feelings.

He loved Kenma. 

The same Kenma he’d had for close to twelve years and never realised the feeling of comfort he had was love.

The same Kenma who was now dating someone else.

“C’mon, sit down and we can talk.” Kuroo tried to sound cold and clinical, shifting so there’d be room of Kenma on the bed.

Kenma sat down, subdued and silent as he tucked his legs under himself.

“Why did you say it?” He asked without missing a beat. “What’s your problem with Sierria? What’s your problem with me liking someone? Why have you been weird since the sleepover?"

Kuroo knew his answers, he also knew he wasn’t ready to face Kenma; face the answers; face his emotions.

“I’m sorry,” he began, “I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I said it,” he lied, “but I know it was wrong of me.”

“Just a bit.” Kenma remarked cynically. “You dare make me out to be some worthless guy who only wants a quick fuck? After these twelve years you should know better. I’m disappointed you don’t.” Kenma stopped, breathing in, and meeting Kuroo’s eyes. “What does our friendship mean to you if you know that little?” 

More than you’ll ever know. 

“Kenma, you’re my best friend—”

“You don’t seem to know me like a best friend would.”

“I—” Kuroo looked to his thumb hooked under the hemline of his ankle sock. “I’m sorry…”

Kenma was silent, the silence filling Kuroo’s veins with ice.

He chanced a glance at Kenma, looking at his sullen expression and glassy eyes, lips pursed tight and a tremble in his lower lip.

“Kenma?”

“It hurt.” A flash of watery golden eyes before they looked away again, Kenma’s fingers fiddled with the hemline of his socks in much the same way as Kuroo’s did. “It hurt to know you thought that of me, to know you weren’t happy with me, to feel hostility from my friend.” A quiet hiccup. “You’re my best friend; no one can take that place from you."

Kuroo watched as Kenma shuffled and stood, a quick swipe of his face as his hair pooled around it in a veil.

“I—I better go.” He was gathering his things, packing his sodden clothing away. “I’ll wash your things and bring them back tomorrow.”

He was speaking in a rush, his items stuffed haphazardly in his bag.

“Kenma, wait—”

“I gotta go!”

Kuroo watched as his childhood friend desperately struggled to get away, from what he didn’t know, but he could only guess that to let Kenma leave would be the end of their friendship.

Perhaps that was best for the both of them. 

Kuroo bit his lip, worrying it between his teeth and he then grabbed onto Kenma’s shoulder, never wanting to let go.

Let him go to his heart’s home.  

Kuroo tugged just enough for Kenma to turn around.

If you’re never going to speak again, don’t leave things unsaid.

The words wouldn’t come.

I love you. 

They were stuck in his throat.

So instead Kuroo moved forward, taking Kenma’s face in his hands and closing the distance between them, lips slotting together like it was second nature to do so.

He didn’t expect much, if anything at all, he just hoped he could hold his tears at bay until Kenma had pushed him out of his life.

But the lips his own were pressed to quivered, moving in tandem and Kenma’s hands skirted upwards to stroke along Kuroo’s jaw and up into his hair, fingers tightening into the soft ebony strands.

His face burned, heart like thunder in his chest.

Was this real?

Regardless; he never wanted it to end.

Then suddenly it was.

“Ken—”

“I—I have to go.” Kenma’s eyes were still glossy, his cheeks a similar carmine to Kuroo’s own. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

It wasn’t a question.

It also wasn’t the rejection he was certain would come. 

It was a glimmer of hope in a dark, moonless night.

Yet Kuroo wasn’t sure he wanted it.

“Y—Yeah,” he felt all too breathless, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

They walked down to the front door in silence, but it wasn’t tense; only nervous.

“Bye, Kuro.”

“See you tomorrow – message me so I know you’re home safe." 

“I will.” Kenma paused, looking at Kuroo. "And give Koutarou a call, he's been worried. "

"I will."

Kenma walked down the front path, turning to look at Kuroo and smiling, waving him goodbye. 

Kenma walked back down the alley, onto the main road. 

What had just happened?

He’d been furious, awash with negative emotions

But then…he wasn’t.

He waited at the sheltered bus stop for his bus home, finding his fingers playing with his bottom lip several times, pulling on it.

Had that really happened?

Every time he thought about the events that’d transpired in Kuroo’s room he felt a rolling in his stomach that wasn’t wholly unpleasant nor unwelcome, his face would start to burn and he could still feel the lingering sensation of Kuroo’s lips.

He smiled against his fingers.

But then the daydream ended.

He’d kissed someone else.

Friend or not he’d kissed someone who wasn’t Sierria.

He groaned quietly as the guilt filled up within inside him, confusion setting him on edge while also numbing his receptiveness to the world around him; nearly missing his bus in the process.

It seemed his feelings for both Kuroo and Sierria hadn’t ended with the new development of dating the latter.

It’d only made it more confusing.

Chapter Text

The next morning Sugawara awoke to his alarm just like usual, seconds later the group chat blew up.

He rolled onto his front, arms wrapped around the pillow he often cuddled and he rubbed at his eyes with a yawn, blearily opening the message while squinting at the screen in front of him.

The first messages had been about Kuroo missing his alarm, the other teen documenting his delayed start to the morning, responses of various levels of amusement and torment quickly followed from the other members of the chat, but then there was one message from Kuroo that made Sugawara’s stomach roll with a nervous excitement.

[[Kuroo: USE CONDITIONER AKAASHI SAID
              IT’LL HELP HE SAID]]

The message was accompanied by an ellipsis indicating the fact he was still writing, seconds later a picture was sent.

[[Kuroo: DOES THIS LOOK LIKE IT HELPED????!?!?!?!!]]

And Sugawara couldn’t contain his hysterical laughter, especially when Akaashi’s only response was the shrugging kaomoji.

Kuroo’s hair was flyaway, each strand out of place and askew, his expression was one of anguish with a hint of acceptance as he held the phone to what Sugawara assumed was the bathroom mirror.

A second picture was sent moments later and Sugawara’s laughter only increased. There in the background of the second picture was a man who looked not unlike Kuroo, his hair was more well styled and neck and forearms adorned with black inkwork.

His expression was also priceless as Kuroo’s face was side on, looking in horror at the man behind him.

[[Kuroo: tatsuo ain’t ever gonna let me live this down…]]

[[Sugawara: THAT’S TATSUO??? WTF HE’S SO HOT.]]

Apparently, the rest of the group agreed.

A few moments later another message came through, Tatsuo clearly in frame with his brother this time.

[[Kuroo: he says he woke up that way. its a lie.]]

Sugawara snorted, pushing himself off his bed so he could get dressed. He opened the messages from Oikawa that’d been exchanged the night before as he took the stairs in a slow walk. Another sleepover arranged for the coming Saturday night.

After the misunderstanding the day before Oikawa had spent most of the night apologising to Sugawara and demanding he come over to have a sleepover.

To prove how much he didn’t hate him, or something.

Turns out he did have feelings.

Sugawara just had to cry to make the other teen express them.

He ate his usual breakfast, followed by the characteristic knock on the door. Sugawara waved goodbye to Mariko and Mamoru, kissing them both on the cheek as he left the house with Oikawa.

He didn’t even remember to check the weather before he left.

“So Kuroo-san has to go the doctor?”

“Yeah, Tatsuo’s takin’ him.” Bokuto confirmed, burying his face into Akaashi’s scarf and his hands deep into his pants pockets. “He’ll be here later for the match though.”

“I also spoke with Kenma-san,” Akaashi shivered, “he’s meeting Sierria-san today and will meet us in school.”

“Nice," Bokuto said, quickly changing the topic again, "this match is gonna be so good, Akaash!” He grinned, spreading his arms wide despite the cold nipping at his fingertips. “I can’t wait to see Momo again!”

Akaashi smiled, watching Bokuto begin to rant about the Sundogs; about his friend Emiko. He tried to ignore the incessant throbbing in his hand, to focus on what Bokuto had to say.

But the cold weather, coupled with the incident with Bokuto just days earlier had left his hand even worse off than just the punch to Kuroo’s nose.

He glanced down at the limb still wrapped in a support bandage, everywhere from the tips of his fingers to the base of his wrist hurting in one way or another, the tips still an ugly bruised purple, cuts between his fingers and his palm torn to shreds from shattered plastic.

How was he supposed to play his final piece with a damaged hand?

He knew he needed to go and get the injury properly treated, but he was afraid of what the outcome may be, what if he needed surgery? Or a brace that inevitably meant he couldn’t perform?

What if—

“Akaash?”

Akaashi looked up from his injured hand, looking at Bokuto.

Oh, he’d stopped talking, he was waiting for a response.

“I think Inoue-san would—”

“Is…is your hand okay?” Bokuto’s voice was small, far too small for his larger-than-life personality.

“Bokuto-san, I—”

“Akaash, I asked a question…” Bokuto said, more firmly this time, “tell me the truth. I—I haven’t even seen the injury, but it’s bad, isn’t it?” The lack of response had Bokuto asking again. “It is, isn’t it? It’s bad.”

“It’s…” Akaashi sighed, “admittedly it’s not ideal when I have my final assessment soon.”

“Oh man,” Bokuto crumpled in on himself, chin on his chest and eyes to the floor, his fingers fiddling in much the same way as Akaashi’s own nervous habit, “I’m so sorry,” he whined, “is there any way I can help?”

“Not unless you can heal broken skin, torn ligaments, and severe bruising, Bokuto-san…”

Akaashi watched his boyfriend deflate, they’d always kept displays of affection limited to privacy, out in the streets wasn’t the place for them to be hugging or kissing and it had only happened a handful of accidental times in public.

But surely one time with intent couldn’t hurt, right?

“Bokuto-san…” Akaashi mumbled, gaining Bokuto’s attention. “Perhaps a kiss would help?” He smiled gently, one only reserved for Bokuto gracing his lips as he watched Bokuto take in what he was saying.

“A—Are you sure?”

“What are the odds of my parents finding out?” Akaashi asked, moving closer, his gaze moving to Bokuto’s parted lips, as he watched him swallow his protest.

“I—I dunno, just feels like you’re tempting fate.” Bokuto laughed nervously, taking Akaashi’s uninjured hand in his and closing the gap between them.

Akaashi indulged himself, kissing back and allowing himself to relax in Bokuto’s hold.

On the corner of their quiet school road and the rush hour-stricken main road, on a cold November morning with the smell of wood burners and crisp Autumnal air thick around them, they shared a kiss that took Akaashi’s breath away.

But then Akaashi’s stomach dropped and he seized Bokuto’s wrists in his hands, removing the other teen from his personal space, eyes wide with horror.

No.

No way.

Akaashi looked past Bokuto’s form, meeting the eyes of the man parked at the traffic lights across from them.

A face twisted in disgust.

His father’s face.

“No...”

He’d tempted fate.

Kenma didn’t like how his stomach had felt so uneasy since the night before, rather than play his portable games on his bus journey he found himself staring out the window, overthinking.

He remembered what Oikawa had said the weekend before, about always being there if he ever needed to talk to someone, he was now seriously considering the offer.

He withdrew his phone from his pocket, changing the song to one that better suited his mood before pulling up Oikawa’s contact information.

[[You: Hey, Tooru, can we talk about some things?]]

It wasn’t five minutes later Kenma received a response.

[[Tooru: Sure, when’s best for you? I’m having a sleepover with Suga-chan at the weekend if that works for you.]]

Kenma had no trouble agreeing.

He made his way down the gangway, exiting the bus and walking down to Sierria’s home, as usual the house looked empty.

He made it half way down the front path before he was greeted by the ginger-haired whirlwind.

“Mornin’ Kenma!” She grinned, skateboard in hand as she rushed to greet him.

“Morning Sierria,” he smiled back, turning on his heel and they both made their way down the front path, “how was your night?”

“It was good! I finally finished stripping the walls downstairs, and my parents are returning this weekend, so we can start to decorate! What about you? How did it go with Kuroo-san?”

Kenma froze momentarily, he could tell her right now, but he was scared.

“It went okay,” he began, choosing his words carefully, “we made up.”

“Ahhhh I’m so glad!” Sierria said with a cheer, kissing Kenma’s cheek before rushing ahead, throwing her skateboard to the floor and kicking off the pavement.

Kenma watched her with an amused smile, giving chase.

He would tell her.

Just not right now.

Tetsurou gave his name in at the desk and ran his fingers through his limp hair. After the initial shock had worn off he’d been left no choice but to wash his hair again; this time without the conditioner. The receptionist reminded him that his appointment was in twenty minutes.

“Yeah, I know,” he cleared his throat into his fist, “thank you.”

Tatsuo waved at the receptionist, smiling as he followed Tetsurou to the seating area.

“You oughta be nicer, Tetsu, maybe then you’d get a girlfriend.”

“You oughta ask the heart specialist out with a heart pick-up line or I’m disowning you as a brother.”

“I’m not gonna ask Doctor Gupta out.”

“Why the hell not? You like her.” Tetsurou argued, taking a seat on one of the rows of seats, Tatsuo taking up the chair beside him.

“But she’s engaged, Tetsu.”

“What?” Tetsurou gasped. “No way, you lie.”

“No, she’s engaged, her father is my boss and he’s told me that she’s engaged.”

“Man, that sucks.” Tetsurou ran his fingers through his hair, parting the strands with a gentle massage of his scalp. “Sorry, bro.”

“I don’t wanna hear that from Mr. Loves-His-Childhood-Best-Friend-But-Is-Too-Scared-To-Tell-Him.”

“Hah! That’s where you’re wrong, at least I have made progress.”

Tatsuo’s face changed, almost bug eyed as Tetsurou’s word registered with him.

“What did I miss?!”

“Me kissing Kenma and owning your ass!” Tetsurou grinned, pulling tongues at his brother, his face scrunched up in the same childish way it always did when they were growing up. “How does it feel to know your baby brother is gettin’ a kiss before you do?”

“Honestly I feel kinda like a proud dad and I don’t know what to think of it. You kissed him even though he has a girlfriend.”

“You’re a bad role model, Tatsu.”

“Only as bad as you want me to be, Tetsu.”

Tetsurou snickered, crossing his arms over his chest and tucking his hands under his arms.

“Guess that’s true. I’ll never forget Thailand.”

“Where you punched me in the face?”

“Yeah, and the rest.”

“That was definitely a holiday to remember.”

The looks they received off several other patients made the boys stop their banter, but not before Tatsuo had one last thing to say. “Don’t touch the genitals.” He giggled under his breath as Tetsurou broke into howling laughter.

It was the end of second lesson and Sugawara found himself navigating through the rapidly filling corridors, battling the waves of other students, heading towards the administration office.

It was his first time having a substitute teacher and up until half an hour ago he never knew they didn’t have access to the online registration system that the other teachers used. He also had no idea that they were often too lazy to take the paper register to the office themselves, instead getting a student to do it at the end of the lesson.

He was that student.

He knocked on the heavy office door before peering around it and into the room, register in hand as he slipped inside quietly.

“Hello?” He looked around, seeing only one office assistant in there at the time, but she was speaking on the phone.

She acknowledged Sugawara with a wave before returning to her call with what sounded like a parent, twirling the receiver wire around her index finger.

Unsure of what to do, Sugawara waved back, approaching her desk and laying the sheet down on the surface, she gave him a friendly smile as he pointed to the class name at the top of the register, tapping the paper twice. He received a thumbs up and a wink of understanding before he turned to leave.

As he turned his eyes landed on a large machine not far from where he was walking, he quickly figured out that it was a shredder, he also quickly worked out what each little warning symbol meant.

Apart from one.

The others were easy to see, do not let loose clothing get caught in the blades; do not let hair get caught in the blades; remover all staples and paperclips before shredding paper; don’t allow children to operate.

But the last one?

It looked like a breast.

Nipple included.

Amused and perplexed Sugawara quickly took a snapshot of the warning image, rushing from the room before he could be caught. He ran through the quad, grit and salt crunching under his feet and he barely slowed his pace when asked by a teacher. It was cold out, the frigid November air only amplified by the clear skies they’d been having, so like hell was he gonna slow down.

Entering the canteen, he was greeted with warmth, the smell of hot chocolate, coffee, and toast.

He quickly located his table of friends, giddy with excitement when he saw all of them gathered around a table together for the first time in several days; aside from Kuroo, but Sugawara’s mind felt at ease knowing that Kuroo wasn’t isolating himself, it was because of a genuine reason.

“Hey Suga!” Bokuto cheered excitedly, “what kept ya?”

Sugawara moved to sit down, swinging his backpack from his shoulders under the table and onto the floor. “Ah, we had a sub; he asked me to take the register to the office.”

“Oof, which one did you have?” Oikawa questioned, dipping a plastic spoon into the fruit pot he’d purchased from the canteen and taking a bite of the gelatinous treat.

“Abe.”

“Legend!” Bokuto cheered again, startling Kenma from his game. “I love Abe-san. The ladies in the office can be real scary though, can’t they?” Bokuto asked, resting his head on his forearms on the table.

“Yeah, I was a little nervous, but there was only one in there, and check this,” he removed his phone, showing the photograph to anyone who’d listen, “who’d put their boob in a shredder?”

There were several amused noises from the group ranging from snickers to snorts, a howl of a laugh escaping Oikawa’s lips.

“Who’s gonna tell him?” Sierria asked in a hushed tone, still no less audible to Sugawara. Several refusals sounded from them before eyes slowly converged on Daichi expectantly.

“What?” Sugawara asked with confusion, “tell me what?”

“Uh, Suga,” Daichi began, getting a small yeah? From the other teen before continuing, “that’s a necklace.”

Sugawara could’ve heard a pin drop at the table.

“What? No way, you’re having me on.”

“Suga-chan,” Oikawa sputtered, “that’s a necklace, look.” He traced the outline, “chain,” and the nipple-esque part, “pendant.”

Sugawara copied Oikawa’s movements, “it’s a boob,” he traced the outline and then the pendant, “and a nipple.”

“Why not just meet in the middle and call it a nipple-lace, or a neck-nipple?” Sierria suggested with a laugh, the debate becoming heated.

“Because there’s my opinion,” Sugawara said with a haughty tone, “and then there’s being wrong.” He side-glanced at Oikawa through narrowed eyes, although now his protests were more in jest than anything else. With seven teens against him Sugawara knew when he was beat.

But if they thought he was going to go quietly then they had another thing coming.

“Yo, what did I miss?”

“Kuroo!”

“Bro!”

“Suga-chan thought the don’t get your necklace trapped in the shredder warning was a boob.”

Kuroo lasted mere seconds before he started laughing, and it took even less time for his laughter to turn in a wheezing, chest rattling coughing fit.

“Kuro?” Kenma spoke first, concern in his tone as he stood from his seat, leaning on the table with his palms flat, ready to skirt around the table and help his friend if need be. His body moved automatically, following through the practiced movement after years of doing it without hesitation. Whether they’d hit a turbulent patch in their relationship or not, Kuroo was still his best friend.

“I’m okay,” Kuroo waved away his concern, trying to laugh it off, only being reduced to a sputtering cough once again, he grimaced as he swallowed around the cough, forcing it to stop, “I went the docs and he said I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Iwaizumi asked, not convinced. “You still don’t sound too great.”

“It’s only been two days, I’m honestly—” Sugawara turned to look at Kuroo as he stopped abruptly. “Omg, Suga, you have a neck nipple.” He rasped.

The table stopped dead, glancing up at the two teens and Sugawara felt he face growing hot.

“What the fuck, no I don’t—” Before he could continue his protest a chilled finger on the base of his neck had Sugawara flinching under the cold touch, hunching his shoulders and throwing his head back in an attempt to shield his nape.

“Yeah, you do,” Kuroo interrupted, grinning widely at Sugawara’s reactions as he prodded and poked the raised skin – a mole – on Sugawara’s neck, “neck nipple.”

“Stop fondling his neck nipple, Kuroo-chan, that’s sexual harassment.”

Sugawara was still tensed up, “can you do one?” He asked, shaking his shoulders to try and rid himself of the touch, “fuck off you wonky nosed pain in the ass!” He swatted at Kuroo’s hands, gripping them in his own and removing them forcibly.

“I—” Kuroo was cut off by Bokuto suddenly rising from his seat.

“Saito!” The captain called, going to the boy positioned between Yamazaki and Kamiro several metres away.

The table was left stunned as they watched the pair converse, Saito’s two friends wearing similar looks of shock as Bokuto spoke with the three. He mostly directed his words at Saito, but he did speak to Yamazaki and Kamiro too.

“What the hell?” Kenma asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Suddenly Bokuto’s loud laugh boomed out across the canteen and he clapped Saito on the back before he spoke again, turning on his heel and waving the three off.

As he returned to the table there was only stunned silence.

But Kuroo didn’t keep quiet for long. “Uh…bro, what the fuck was that?”

“Mmm,” Sierria made the noise with a sneer, crossing her arms over her chest, “last time you guys spoke you nearly caved his head in. He caused actual bodily harm to Kenma.”

“There better be a good reason for you being all buddy-buddy with him now.” Kuroo finished.

Sugawara looked between Kuroo and Sierria, he could only be grateful that they were getting along, even if their only common ground was a mutual friend and a common enemy.

“No, no,” Bokuto silenced, waving his hands in surrender, “I had the chance to speak to him a few days ago; I…I know more now, and I decided to cut him some slack.”

Sugawara watched as Daichi and Iwaizumi shared glances, knowing glances; Akaashi’s apparent indifference at Bokuto’s decision.

The three had known this was coming.

“Are you fucking crazy?” Kuroo seethed, moving around the table to where Kenma was sat, standing defensively on the side not flanked by Sierria.

“I’m not crazy, I’m giving him a second chance at the team, it’s not like he’s gonna become my brother or anything!”

“That’s the definition of crazy! Did you not think to at least fucking check with Kenma before you did that?”

“Hey, hold on.” Iwaizumi said, trying to pacify growing tensions and demanding the table’s attention. “He asked the team and we trust his leadership and his decision-making skills.”

Daichi nodded in confirmation, joining his cousin, “we trust his judgement. It’s not like he’s asked him to sit with us every break and lunch – it’s the team.”

Kuroo looked ready to fire a retort, that was until Kenma stood silently.

“Kenma?” Sierria questioned, as the teen removed himself from the table.

“Kenma!” Kuroo called, allowing the small redhead to leave her seat first, messenger bag in tow before they both gave chase to Kenma.

Sugawara barely had time to look back to the table before Bokuto was leaving too, his eyes met Akaashi’s apologetic ones before he, too, left.

His friendship group was falling apart again.

“Suga-chan,” Oikawa attracted his attention, silent understanding passing between them, “it’s gonna be okay.”

Sugawara looked into Oikawa’s eyes before quickly losing confidence and looking away, he nodded his head, wishing he could believe him.

The rest of the day passed far too slowly of Kenma’s liking. He didn’t know why he’d ran from the table at break time, he just…didn’t want to listen to his friends argue, he didn’t want to be reminded of his ordeal a week earlier. But as he made his way through the mini mall to reach the playing field where the practice match would be taking place his mind was racing as fast as his anxious heart, and no amount of willing it to slow down was working.

“Kenma-kun!” Kenma stopped, freezing in place at the voice, he turned to the source slowly, almost wishing he didn’t know who it belonged to.

“Saito.” He acknowledged shortly, immediately wary of the other teen.

“Uh, I—” Saito drew closer, Kenma’s heart rate sky rocketing in a way he didn’t think was possible.

“No, stay there,” Kenma hissed out, holding his hand out in front of him to halt the other teen, his free hand moving to his chest and subconsciously rubbing his sternum. Surprised that Saito had listened to his request, “what do you want?”

“About the other day—”

“No, stop, you don’t—”

“I want to say sorry.”

Kenma jolted, the sensation feeling like his stomach had dropped to the floor, “what…? Why?" He asked warily.

“Because what I did was wrong.”

“No shit.”

“Listen, you don’t have to accept it,” Saito paused, Kenma was tempted to put an end to the apology before it began, but instead he allowed Saito to compose his thoughts into words, and then he listened, “you can go ahead and smack the shit outta me right now. But I want you to know I’m sorry.”

Kenma was silent for a minute, mulling his own words over. In the meantime, he looked at Saito’s attire, he wasn’t in his kit yet, he had no obligation to apologise, nothing holding him in shackles until he did.

So why did he?

“Did Bokuto put you up to this?”

“No,” Saito scoffed, his brusque words shining light on the Saito Kenma was used to, “as if, he ain’t the boss of me off the pitch.”

“That sounds more like the Saito I know.” Kenma said, looking away as he twisted a lock of hair around his finger. “I don’t want your apology,” he finally admitted, “I trust Koutarou’s judgement.”

“I—”

“I’m not finished.” Kenma interrupted, meeting Saito’s gaze and holding him there. “He chose to give you a second chance, and while I don’t agree,” Saito broke the connection between their eyes and looked to the floor, “in fact, I don’t agree doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel. But if he’s decided to put his neck on the line for you then I trust him, and I trust his decision.”

Kenma watched as Saito’s posture slackened, shoulders slumping in relief.

“Thank you, I—I don’t know why he’s giving me a second chance, I don’t know why his dad is trying so hard to keep me in school either.”

“What do you mean? What about Koutarou’s dad?”

“I took the blame for everything – Yamazaki and Kamiro didn’t deserve to be expelled over something that was all my doing,” Kenma hadn’t been expecting such a confession, yet in some ways he accepted something that seemed so farfetched as fact, “Bokuto-san just...he took me aside and spoke to me in private, gave me this big ass pep talk you’d expect from a dad – not a teacher, after that he took my corner and hasn’t stopped fighting since.” Saito looked to the ground. “I have no control over any of that stuff…so I guess I’m just trying to fix things that are in my control. Fix whatever I can so Bokuto-san doesn’t have to fight so hard.”

“How surprisingly noble of you.” Kenma said, moving closer to Saito and surprising them both as he raised his hand, although he was more surprised by Saito flinching as he moved his hand, almost as if he was expecting to be hit. “But I have to disagree, Seiya is both; he’s a father and a teacher. And he’s pretty damn amazing at both.”

“Yeah…” Saito scoffed, his posture unfurling when he realised Kenma’s hand held no threat.

“Saito shake my hand.” Kenma cleared up any confusion between them, the larger taking Kenma’s hand in his own and firmly shaking in acknowledgment of one another’s individual hardships, both spoken and unspoken.

“You’re a bigger man than me.”

“That’s not hard,” Kenma said without so much as skipping a beat, “but don’t sell yourself short; apologies take guts.” Kenma watched Saito’s unsure body language. “I’m being serious, Saito.”

“Hibiki,” Kenma looked up at him in slight confusion, “you prefer to use first names, right? Hibiki.”

“I don’t—” Kenma looked at him. “Not yet, but one day, Saito.”

He expected to see Saito’s shoulders drop again, to watch his body wilt in disappointment, but instead he got a small half smile. “Okay.”

Sugawara couldn’t help but wonder what sort of person could be behind a moniker like The Bitch. Bokuto didn’t have a nickname like that, none of the team he’d met so far had a nickname.

He could only think how terrifying she would have to be to have such a name for the game.

It was an oddly sobering name, heralded by a mysterious character only known as Bokuto’s childhood friend; Emiko. Someone Bokuto also called Momo in the most affectionate way.

As he approached the field he saw Bokuto leading the team in warmup exercises, sure enough Saito’s orange faded hair was there, along with Yamazaki’s brown curls and Kamiro’s black short back and sides.

Sugawara looked around and saw his friends all gathered to the side lines, it seemed they were deep in conversation, Kenma and Sierria sat on the bench, talking with a Kuroo who still looked less than pleased at the afternoon’s development, his arms crossed over his chest, Oikawa was leaning heavily on his left leg, listening to Kuroo. Sugawara’s eyes found Akaashi’s and the pair shared a glance.

Akaashi looked tired, but he gave Sugawara a wave in greeting anyway.

“Hey guys!”

He seemed to startle the group, making them turn to face him.

“Oh.” It was full of the sound of relief. Odd. “Hey Suga!”

“Where’s the other team?” He asked, trying to mask his curiosity at their behaviour.

“Still in the changies,” Sierria answered, “should be coming out soon though.”

“Sweet,” Sugawara could barely stand the atmosphere around the group, “reckon I have enough time to go speak to Atsumu and Tendou?”

“Should do,” Kuroo said with a flippancy Sugawara didn’t like.

“Awesome, be right back.” Sugawara walked away to escape the atmosphere, eyes meeting Oikawa’s before quickly looking away again.

He didn’t approach the team straight away, instead he waited until Bokuto paused the warmups to talk to them as a group. Only then did he close the distance between himself and the team.

“Hey guys! Looking good!”

“Why thanks,” Atsumu said without missing a beat, flexing his bicep, “I—”

“Hey Suga!” Bokuto huffed, hands on his hips as he shot Atsumu a warning glare with no real bite to it. “You okay?”

Sugawara faltered just slightly, but it was enough.

“Suga?” Bokuto left his team, leading Sugawara away with a hand on his back, just far enough to be out of earshot. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just feeling uneasy…” Sugawara half-lied, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously. “Everyone seems really high strung since break.”

“Gee,” Bokuto sighed, “I’m sorry Suga, that’s my fault, huh?” He was about to vehemently protest, but broad arms offered Sugawara solace, a suffocating embrace of reassurance and he smiled.

“Thanks, Bokuto…”

“Don’t mention it, Suga, was there anything else I can help you with?”

“Nah,” Sugawara wouldn’t let go of Bokuto, hugging him tightly, “I just came over to remind Tendou and Atsumu they need to show me this cool run of theirs.”

Bokuto laughed, shifting his arm to drape it over Sugawara’s shoulders, holding him into his side, “let’s do that then.”

They headed back over to the team, Bokuto beckoning for the two players in particular, “Suga has something he wants to say to you guys!”

“Uh, so, youse have gotta show me that cool run, ‘kay?” Sugawara said, phrasing it like a question but leaving no room for arguments.

“’Kaaay!”

“We will~” The pair responded to the jibe with a singsong tone of voice.

Before anything else could be said Sugawara watched as several players froze where they stood, watching behind himself and Bokuto. As he was about to turn a rough, feminine voice attracted his attention fast enough to cause whiplash.

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” Was the declaration, a smirk to her words without Sugawara even looking.

Sugawara spun on the balls of his feet at the sound of her voice, his eyes landing on the owner and he sucked in a breath. He didn’t need someone to introduce the girl in teal approaching their team, cleated shoes digging into the concrete in a way that made a noise Sugawara had never heard before, lighter than the boys, but no less powerful.

She was well-built, broad shouldered and arms thick with muscle, her legs were no different, sturdy and offering a solid pillar of support. It was clear the raw power she possessed, locked away in her body and unleashed in such a way she was named The Bitch. A light wind brought the few loose strands of hair down into her face and she flicked it away, a long, whip-like plait previously hidden behind her snapping into Sugawara’s line of sight, sandy blonde interspersed with baby pink and pastel blue.

“Momo!”

Sugawara swallowed.

He’d been right; this was her. The Bitch.

Her presence commanded his attention, he gave her all of it.

The rival captains stood at a stand-off, lips quirking in similar fashion to the other as they sized each other up, the tension in the air electrifying and setting Sugawara’s hair on end. He’d never felt this atmosphere from Bokuto before.

Finally, it was Bokuto to break the tension, “it’s good to see you back on the field.” His tone was softer that before, words sincere and smile gentle as he spoke, but Sugawara didn’t miss the hint of a challenge in his tone, he was baiting her.

“As if something so trivial would stop me.” She returned, her voice low as she stood toe-to-toe with Bokuto, nose-to-nose as she reared up in his face.

“Good, I wanna fight The Bitch at her best.”

“You got her, Bokuto, you got her.” Emiko ground out through her teeth, voice lowering. “You’re about to see a true bitch.”

“And you’re about to see a real mad dog!” Came a shout from behind them, Sugawara’s attention shifting to Terushima. He was cocksure, a grin splitting his lips wide. “We got Kyoutani!”

“Ah, how is my Kyouken?” Emiko asked lightly, her tone surprising Sugawara and her words intriguing him.

“Mad dog is great!”

“Why the fuck are you calling me—” Terushima shushed the bleach-haired boy.

“Your team lost a solid inside centre, so you’re no longer the only team with a mad dog on the field!”

Sugawara watched Emiko’s expressions closely, observing them change from mild shock at the statement into a creased brow and lips twisting at the corners.

“Mad dog?” Her tone was light and airy again, yet Sugawara didn’t miss the venom just hidden beneath the surface; a warning. “Puh-lease, give me some credit; I know exactly what I’m capable of, Teru.”

Terushima’s mouth opened with gobsmacked amusement, lighting his face with an ear-to-ear grin. “Mark me down as scared and horny!”

Sugawara almost missed the way Emiko tensed slightly at the comment.

“Dude,” Atsumu laughed, “do you want that to get back to Hana? Because saying your thoughts out loud and in front of people is how they get back to Hana.”

“What’s gonna get back to me?” A girl with tawny brown, choppy hair asked, approaching Terushima.

“Teru’s scared and horny.” Tendou tattled in a stage whisper.

“Emiko did it.” Atsumu finished.

“Grasses! Tendou and Atsumu the grasses!” Terushima rebelled, kicking up a fuss.

Hana was silent for a moment, looking Emiko up and down before humming appreciatively, “honestly, same.”

Honestly?

Sugawara agreed.

The teacher refereeing the match approached the group as Emiko’s team exited onto the field. “You ready?”

Bokuto and Emiko shared glances before shaking hands, Sugawara watching their arms battle to offer the strongest challenge, they both turned to the teacher, answering in unison.

“Yeah.”

“We’re ready!”

“Welp, that’s my cue to skedaddle,” Sugawara said, “laters!” He waved, heading back to the group of friends.

His heart pounded in his chest at the thought of what kind of atmosphere awaited him, the beating only growing stronger when he saw the three figures of unknown adults, although one of them looked a lot like Tatsuo from Tetsurou’s photographs earlier that day.

“Yo Suga!” Tetsurou greeted, the tense atmosphere from earlier had abated somewhat and the three adults turned to look at him with curiosity, causing his heart to skip a beat, face heating up with the attention of the strangers. “This is Tatsuo, Minori, and Keitaro.”

At the mention of their names the first man, the one Sugawara knew was Tatsuo, offered a wave and a hand shake, his demeanour was friendly, disarming. Somehow exactly what Sugawara imagined from the man.

“Hey, I’m Tatsuo – Tetsu’s older brother.” Sugawara shook his hand automatically.

“Nice to—”

The redheaded adult hummed, interrupting Sugawara. Oh, had he spoken prematurely? Were they all going to introduce themselves?

But he didn’t speak, so Sugawara tried again.

“Nice to—”

“Name’s Minori,” Minori spoke, words lazily slurred, tone laid back and slow, he put Matsukawa’s attitude to shame with just his speech alone, “’m Satori’s bro.”

Sugawara looked at the messy display of crimson hair, easily coming up with that deduction himself, he looked at the final adult, salt and pepper hair that matched Bokuto and his father, he expected the same vibrancy, too.

“Keitaro, pleasure.”

Oh.

Sugawara nodded with a dumbfounded expression, taking longer than he’d planned to respond to the trio. “I’m Sugawara Koushi, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, Sugawara!” Tatsuo returned, the sound of a whistle cutting through the air distracted them, making the group look towards the game.

The sound bounced off the surrounding houses, echoing back on itself and Sugawara watched the two teams join on the field as the shrill cry faded out.

Sugawara heard Bokuto bellow “come on lads!” as their team took their positions in the scrum and the whistle was blown again. Sixteen bodies in respective navy blue and turquoise began the push forward, battling for possession of the ball that’d been tossed in by a member of the Sundogs’ team.

“Who’s that guy?” Sugawara asked, pointing to the player marked with the number nine. “Oh, wait, are they the fly-half?”

“Nah, fly-half is number ten.” Oikawa explained.

“So Daichi is our fly-half?”

“Yeah, but number nines are the scrum-half.”

“Ah! I got it now, I was real close, huh?”

Considering it’s only your second time one or two mistakes are allowed.” Tetsurou grinned, sitting down on bench.

Sugawara’s attention was brought back to the game as he saw a broad, tanned arm parting the opposing team and forcing its way through the blockade, moving forward with the ball tucked in close to his chest.

The team dispersed, all making their way towards the try-line on the Sundogs side of the pitch, their opponents bolstering their line of defence.

“Go Iwa-chaan!!” Oikawa shouted, fists pumping the air above his head as similar cheers of Hajime and Iwaizumi rising from the crowd of onlookers. Similar cheers of their team name rose up from the crowd, Harmattan Devils.

A flash of red hair took position behind Iwaizumi, preparing for a back pass from the number eight to the number nine—scrum-half. Sugawara had struggled to imagine what a back pass would look like at first, when he’d learned they could only pass behind them he’d imagined an awkward underarm pass. But they could throw it however they wanted; so long as the player they were passing to was behind them.

“Hajime!” Tendou called, breaking through the barrier of the opposing team, catching the ball in both hands as he sprinted forward, his lanky and lithe physique creating a longer stride to push forward with.

Tendou drew parallel with Daichi, Sugawara watched as Emiko fearlessly charged at Tendou and fiercely collided with him, breaking him down as the ball left his arms, transferring to Daichi.

“Kick it!” Bokuto roared as an order, the rest of their team bringing themselves forward in line with Daichi, albeit a few paces behind, fanning out onto the field.

Daichi spun the ball in his hands as he ran, letting it drop and bringing his foot up to meet it in mid-air, not once stopping his sprint. He kicked it wide and high to be received by his teammates, Sugawara marvelling at how his body shifted through the motion of the kick; strength seeming to carry through his body, starting at his arms that dropped the ball, through his broad back, and into his right leg, fluid and not unlike a ripple disrupting previously still water.

Like he was made for it, his skill was undeniable.

Sugawara watched as a player marked twelve – Kyoutani? – seized the ball, pushing past the Sundogs’ attempt at tackling him, former team or not, he’d win. With Osamu’s assistance they pair made headway, Sugawara watched them pass back and forth, escaping the Sundogs’ advances and making the final pass to Kamiro.

The right winger closing the distance between himself and the try-line, throwing himself and the ball to the floor across the chalk white line.

“Nice, nice!” Bokuto encouraged, clapping his teammate across his back. “Let’s show The Bitch what we’re made of!”

“Holy fuck, they’re insane,” Sugawara spoke with an awed grin, his excitement growing, as he wrung his hands in front of him, cracking his fingers, “look at them!”

“Is this your first time with rugby, Sugawara-kun?” Tatsuo asked and Sugawara looked up to meet his gaze, looking away as soon as he did so and focusing on his shoulder instead.

“Uh, I went to the match against Aleutian, the one on Monday.”

“Ah! Yeah…” Tatsuo crossed his arms, sitting down on the tarmac where it met the grass, playing with the blades in his hands, “are they still really aggressive?” He asked, Sugawara looked to him, noticing he was speaking to him specifically.

Sugawara hummed in confirmation, “still loud, still aggressive, I’ve never been happier being outta that.”

“Hold up,” Tetsurou suddenly demanded, all eyes looking to him, “you went to Aleutian?”

“Yeah, why is that so hard to believe? Like, okay, I get the whole why give up a place in a prestigious school for a fucking dump, no offense, but why is it so hard to believe? Oikawa was the same when I told him the other day.”

“None taken, compared to Aleutian with its high walls and extra curriculum this place is a dump.” Tetsurou agreed.

“But it’s a biiiig family dump!” Oikawa grinned, wrapping his arms around Sugawara. “And we’re glad to have you!”

“I’m glad I’m here!”

“My parents wanted me to attend Aleutian,” Akaashi said, attracting the group’s attention, “they wanted me to take the pre-college course.”

Sugawara laughed, but it was a terrible attempt at a fake laugh, “that’s the one I got kicked off because my head was too far in the clouds or some shit.” No matter who it came from, being repeatedly told he was too stupid and never going to achieve anything still stung.

“You’re doing really well with your head in the clouds here,” Kenma said from his position on the bench, smiling as he did so, “so keep it there.”

“Is there something we’re missing?” Tatsuo asked curiously, looking between the teens.

“Suga’s the one I was telling you about,” Tetsurou explained, sitting beside his brother, “the one with the interest in the weather.”

“More like obsession, but okay.” Sugawara corrected with a smile, but he felt vulnerable.

Just two months ago he didn’t want anyone to know about his quirks, now people were being told. People he didn’t know, people who he didn’t want to judge him, people who wouldn’t understand; after all, even he didn’t know why he was the way he was.

“You’re that guy?” Tatsuo looked up at him, eyes wide and inquisitive, also leaving Sugawara feeling far too exposed. He was a stranger. He shouldn’t know about his obsession. “That’s incredible!”

“Isn’t it?” Kenma was smiling, looking at Sugawara and Sugawara quickly looked away.

“He shown us fog giants!” Sierria was also smiling, in awe and raw excitement.

“Fog giants?” Minori suddenly spoke up, nearly giving Sugawara whiplash with how fast he turned his head, had that been Minori? He was met with a curious stare and he quickly looked away, biting the inside of his lip.

“The correct name is Brocken Spectre and it’s when the fog is thick you shine a light and stand in front of the light, and it casts a shadow onto the fog, if it’s thick enough it retains its shape in the air, so it doesn’t work with mist.” He spoke quickly, only daring to glance up once or twice before shying away from the eye contact again, Minori’s eyes being too unreadable; too daunting.

“Oh, it works with mist.” Oikawa suddenly said, Sugawara meeting him with a glare.

“Fuck off, you tool!” Sugawara ground out. “It won’t work on mist!”

“Well, what about a thick mist?”

“No! It’s gotta be fog!”

“Foggy mist?”

“Fog!”

Tetsurou snickered to his brother and Minori, “he’s fun to wind up,” then he turned to Sugawara, “okay, Suga! We get it, fog is under one-kilometre visibility and mist is anything further, right?”

“Yes! Someone gets it!” Sugawara hissed at Oikawa.

“Tetsurou-chan’s a suck up.”

Sugawara happened to glance at Minori again, he was…writing? He looked at the book curiously, trying to sneak a peek at the words only to have Minori’s gaze meet his own and he hurriedly looked away again, eyes landing on a silent Keitaro, wary gaze directed at him.

“So, Sugawara-kun,” Sugawara’s attention was brought back to the redhead, “any…y’know, special requirements for this, uhhh,” he looked down to his jotter, tapping his pen on the paper, “Brocken Spectre?”

“It’s…just gotta be thick fog.”

“Hey, Minori, Satori just scored a try.” Keitaro informed, the latter looking up to where his younger brother was running across the field in celebration with his teammates.

“Hmm? Oh, awesome, that’s my bro! How many points is that?”

“Five.”

“Sweet.”

The two adults continued to converse, Sugawara returning his attention to Tetsurou’s earlier comment. “Why was it so hard to believe I came from Aleutian?”

“I dunno!” Tetsurou defended, moving his hands to motion at Sugawara. “You’re you, and,” he motioned to the East where Aleutian Academy was located, “they’re them.”

“I don’t follow.”

“I think Tetsu means Aleutian and Harmattan have a rich history of hating each other, like, even when me, Kei, and Minori attended here we’d scrap with the Aleutians all the time.”

A snort from Minori attracted their attention, Keitaro’s face wearing an almost goofy half smile.

“They used to harass us over our favourite music—”

Minori hummed, “y’know that whole: you like metal or rave? Bullshit.”

“Oh God, guys, don’t bring that up, I was, like, thirteen.” Tatsuo was talking into his hands with an embarrassed laugh. “My music tastes were immature.”

“I still don’t follow.”

By now the group were all listening to the three adults with curiosity and intrigue at what Tatsuo could’ve done with such a reaction. Meanwhile, Sugawara was watching Keitaro seemingly come alive in the comfort of his two friends.

“They were aiming to intimidate him, right? Do you like metal or rave?” Keitaro spoke the last sentence in a voice Sugawara assumed was an attempt at replicating the Aleutians in the story. “And, y’know, you’d be fucking terrified because these lads were all four years older and real tall, you’d be like: uh, uh, metal, no, uh, rave, whatever, just, don’t hit me.”

“Not Tatsuo though.” Minori smirked, Sugawara watching as Tatsuo buried his face in his hands and shrunk in on himself. “Y’know, this kid, he was all: Duffy, mate, y’know, I’ll mess you up. And, uhhh, what should’ve happened, was Tatsuo, y’know, getting beat up.”

“Stoooop.” Tatsuo practically whined into his hands, to which Keitaro laughed.

“Nah, he punched the leader in the face, whilst singing Duffy.”

“Actually, I changed the lyrics to fit the situation.” Tatsuo corrected.

“Either way he was singing you’ll be begging me for mercy and it was the best thing ever.”

Sugawara listened to the group dissolve into laughter, various comments on Tatsuo’s behaviour passing lips yet quickly lost in the sound. He was vaguely aware of other people watching them, an awareness that only grew, and he wished he could disappear into the ground.

“Ohmigosh why are they doing the Naruto run?”

Sugawara looked up and at the field, sure enough half the team were baffled as several players ran with their arms stretched out behind them. Sugawara couldn’t fight his laughter this time, watching as the smallest player through to the largest were joining in with Atsumu and Tendou, a total of five players out of fifteen, and Sugawara only knew three. Atsumu, Tendou, and Terushima, the other two comprised of the tallest player, one with silver hair, and the shortest, spiky brown hair with a blonde fleck at the front.

He watched Tendou look at the vice-captain, several words being exchanged between them before the vice-captain also did the same, his posture somewhat more rigid than the other five.

“I can’t believe they actually did it!” Sugawara cackled.

His shirt clung to his skin uncomfortably as the final whistle was blown. Breaths coming as harsh pants as he looked around the field at his teammates.

Once again, the Sundogs had been just that little bit better, despite their team’s early lead and best efforts.

“Ahhh, Wakatoshiii,” lanky arms draped themselves over Ushijima’s shoulders and he turned to look at the redhead leaning on him, “we lost.”

He hummed in acknowledgement of the statement, not attempting to remove the other teen as he watched Satori’s hair falling out of its usually rigid style. Cute. “But it was only a practice.”

“That’s right!” His shoulders became lighter and Satori walked ahead with a large stride and spring to his step. “The real match is in January!”

Ushijima missed the warmth of the other boy against his back, despite their perspiration sodden clothes Satori’s presence had been pleasant, now he was just cold.

Their captain was quick to go to his childhood friend, congratulations and banter being passed loudly between the pair and Ushijima watched as Satori’s lips curled and he sighed. “I bet Bokuto’s been spreading our secrets to the enemy.”

“You think so?”

“Oh, yeah, totally! Look at them! I bet even right now he’s telling her what we plan to work on over the next few months.” Ushijima could hear the jovial nature to Satori’s words, knowing the latter was joking, fantasising about a world that never was, a world of conspiracy and never trusting anyone.

A world just like one out of Minori’s novels.

“Satori,” Ushijima waited until Satori turned, now walking backwards as he acknowledged Ushijima with a hum, “Minori came to watch today.” He pointed to the group on the edge of the tarmac, where the grassy verge met the paved yard.

“Oh yeah, so he did, let’s go say hi!” The next thing he knew, his hand was in Satori’s, the redhead pulling him along to the group of students; both current and former.

He looked between them and at their hands clasped tightly, Satori’s grip always just slightly tighter than his own. It felt sticky, uncomfortably so, but he also never wanted it to end.

“Miii~no~riiii!” Satori called, waving to his brother and Ushijima felt the eyes of the older Tendou blink between them and then meet his own hazel-green ones. His eyes were smirking.

Satori’s hand left his own and once again he was left feeling chilled, the residual warmth fading fast in the November cold. He watched at a distance as the two brothers spoke to one another, Satori’s hands running through his deflating locks and he itched at his scalp.

Ushijima watched as Tendou stretched his arms over his head, first stretching to the left, and then to the right. An old habit that never changed, his body twisting underneath his Devils jersey.

Minori was looking at him now, his gaze also attracting Satori’s attention and the teen turned to face him.

“Wakatoshi?”

“We have to go to the changing rooms now.” Ushijima said, motioning to the other players now making their way into the indoors changing rooms, the Sundogs using the changing rooms connected to the outside.

“Oooh, okay,” Satori acknowledged, “I need to get a shower! See ya in a bit, M’nori!”

Ushijima turned with Satori, about to head to the changing rooms before he was called back by the elder Tendou brother.

“Wakatoshi, c’mere a sec.”

The vice-captain shared a glance with Satori.

“I’m gonna go on ahead, Wakatoshi! I gotta beat Noya to the showers!”

“I’ll catch up now.” Ushijima reassured, approaching Minori only to be lead out of earshot of the group.

A long hum. “You asked him yet?” Minori inquired, eyes hooded but with a spark of curiosity.

“No, I still haven’t figured out how to do it.” Ushijima responded.

“Just go ahead and do it, y’know?” Minori advised, humming again before looking up into Ushijima’s eyes. “You could even do it with a toenail and he’d still say yes.”

“But that’s unhygienic.”

“So’s Satori.”

Ushijima broke eye contact, looking at the ground, “I’ll keep that in mind, but now I need to get changed.”

Minori hummed again, the sound a happy one, “alright, I’ll let you go this time.”

Ushijima left the adult to regroup with his team, walking across the yard.

The gooseflesh on his arms was undeniable now, his shoulders feeling almost tender with the cold air catching his wet clothes and cooling him down too much. He entered the mini mall through the yellow doors, punching in the passcode before tugging on the metal handle.

Something shining on the cobble stones caught his eye, noticing the simple silver chain glinting on the floor.

Daichi’s, if he remembered correctly.

Why was it on the floor?

He picked it up, gathering the cold metal in his palm and he noticed one of the links had worn through, it made sense; Daichi always wore it. He couldn’t remember a time he hadn’t seen it around the other teen’s neck.

Walking the final few metres into the boys’ changing rooms and being met with a wall of humid, warm air, the smell of body sprays, and the sound of raucous laughter.

After what’d happened with Kenma the week before the school had decided to reconnect the showers to the boilers, but during normal physical education the doors were kept locked. They were the first team in years to feel the benefits of a hot shower on the school grounds.

And November was the perfect month for that to happen.

He immediately moved to find Daichi, to return the necklace to him, he spotted the teen emerging from the shower cubicles wrapped in a towel.

“Daichi,” he muttered, approaching him, “this was on the floor.” He shown him the jewellery.

“Oh,” Daichi reached up to his neck, feeling for the necklace that was in Ushijima’s palm, had he not noticed? Daichi held out his palm and Ushijima tipped the dainty chain into his hand, “thanks, I didn’t notice it’d fell.”

“I think it’s broken,” Ushijima explained, meeting Daichi’s gaze, “one of the links cracked.”

“Ah…yeah…” Daichi looked down, an oddly far-off expression on his face, brows furrowed in a troubling expression. “I guess that was bound to happen eventually…”

“Does it hold significant importance?”

“It was my mother’s, the first gift my father bought for her.” Daichi was still looking at the metal in his hand.

“Oh…” Ushijima didn’t know how to respond to such information, not wanting to upset the teen further. “I know a metalsmith…he’s an acquaintance who could probably fix it up for you easily.”

“Ah, really? That’d be great,” but Daichi didn’t look happy, “I guess it’ll have to wait until after Christmas though.”

“Of course, you have twins to buy for?”

“Yeah…”

“How are they doing?”

“They’re doing great, thanks.” Daichi smiled, and Ushijima finally felt some relief to have an expression he was more used to seeing on the boy.

“I’m glad—”

“Daichi-saaaaan!” Their shortest team member crowed, rushing to hide behind Daichi’s form and away from the onslaught Terushima had created. Unfortunately, that meant Daichi was at the receiving end of Terushima’s towel as he whipped the fabric and missed Nishinoya.

“Oh, shit,” Terushima choked out around laughter as Daichi grabbed the towel in his hand and tugged hard, “Daichi, I’m sorry!”

“You will be!”

Ushijima watched as Daichi’s towel left his waist – oh, boxer shorts – and he gave chase to the other rowdy teens.

He returned to where his clothes were folded on the bench, his bag hanging on the metal hanger. He removed his shirt, wiping his chest with it as he looked around for Tendou.

“Wakaaatoshiiii!”

His vision disappeared and wet hands were on his face.

Even if the other boy hadn’t loudly given away his presence he still would’ve been able to guess whose long hands covered his eyes and strong fingers now dug into his cheek bones.

“Satori,” Ushijima lifted the hands from his face, slender wrists in his broad palms, turning to see Tendou, his hair now limply framing his face and rivulets of water fell from the strands, down his face and onto his shoulders and collar bones. Ushijima briefly wondered how naked Tendou was, but didn’t dare check, “do you feel better after the shower?”

Tendou hummed, moving from such close proximity and to the bench beside Ushijima.

Oh.

He was very naked.

Shamelessly so.

“You gonna get one too, Ushijima?” Bokuto asked suddenly, his hair was also down and it flipped as he motioned to the showers.

“I wasn’t planning to, but a shower sounds good right about now.” Ushijima conceded, he needed time to think without distractions. And Tendou’s nakedness was very distracting.

He rummaged for his towel and fresh underwear, heading into the cubicles to finish undressing.

He started the warm stream of water, feeling a slight draft from the outside as, he could only assume, players began leaving to go home.

Ushijima could still hear the remaining teammates sharing banter and creating a lot more noise that was necessary, and as he washed his hair he listened to Tendou’s infectious laughter.

He dried off in the cubicle, donning his underwear before heading back out into the changing rooms to finish getting ready, the team had significantly thinned and he wasn’t surprised to see Emiko sat on the benches talking to a fully dressed Bokuto. He could hear the sound of Sugawara and his large group of friends entering through the main door.

“So, what about you, Tatsuo?” He could hear Sugawara ask as the entered the changing room.

“Oh, no brainer, dinosaurs!”

“Dude, there’s legit five movies showing the consequences of that, and why it’s a bad idea.” Kuroo laughed.

“Yeah, but I’d do something that those movies didn’t do!”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah! I’d take their teeth and claws out, like, a T-rex without teeth is just—”

There was silence and Ushijima turned to see Tatsuo making strange movements with his lips, making strange “gummy” sound effects and reducing the teens to laughter.

“You okay, Wakatoshi?”

Ushijima turned to his left, seeing Tendou fully dressed and sat on the bench, legs outstretched and hands wringing in his lap. His hair was still damp, the strands around his face sticking to his skin and the rest hastily tucked behind his ears.

“Yeah, are you?”

“Yep!”

Why was he so quiet?

“Satori,” Minori called, walking over to them and passing Ushijima a glance as he struggled into his trousers, “I’m gonna head back – wanna get a head start on my next chapter.”

“Okay! See you back at the house!”

Minori said his goodbyes, leaving with Tatsuo, Kuroo, Kenma, Akaashi, and Sierria. He couldn’t help but wonder why Akaashi was leaving before Bokuto, but he was sure he heard something about his parents waiting for him at home.

“I gotta go too, Bokuto, my team bus is ready to go.” Emiko said with a smile, enveloping the captain in a hug that was wholeheartedly returned before lifting her bag over her shoulder and waving goodbye to the dwindling numbers of people in the room.

“You guys can go, if you want!” Bokuto said, addressing Daichi, Iwaizumi, Sugawara, and Oikawa. Ushijima listened to their polite refusal, the follow up statements about waiting for him and not wanting to leave him to lock up alone echoing from the cousins.

He finished adjusting his undershirt, pulling his button-up over his shoulders.

“Bokuto, you can go if you want,” Ushijima said, “Satori and I can lock up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, you guys can go.” Go with Akaashi.

“Okay,” Bokuto said, passing Ushijima the keys as he bent to lace his shoes, “see you guys tomorrow!”

The changing room emptied out and Ushijima reached for his jacket and bag.

“Are you ready, Satori?”

“Ready!”

The pair left the changing rooms, Ushijima locking them up behind them and they walked through the quiet school building. The canteen was unnervingly quiet, and as they exited through the North East entrance most teachers’ cars were still there, the staff meeting meaning teachers would be there until late, they exited through the only unlocked gate and crossed through the car park.

“Are you okay?”

The red shock of hair shot up to look at Ushijima, eyes wide in slight surprise.

Why was he surprised?

“Yeah! Of course!” But his tone didn’t sit right with Ushijima.

He kicked a stone in front of him, the pebble clattering on the pavement and veering to his left, rolling to a stop in front of Tendou.

He watched as Tendou eyed it, kicking the pebble with the outside of his left foot and hopping onto his right, keys jangling in his pocket as he did so.

The rock landed a few feet in front of Ushijima and he couldn’t fight the small smile from his lips, nor did he want to, as he kicked it again, purposefully aiming for Tendou’s next steps. This earned a laugh from the other teen, a soft snort at the end and Ushijima couldn’t stop himself from intercepting Tendou’s kick. He blocked the stone with the inside of his foot, a half laugh escaping his lips as they grew more competitive with each pass.

“Like hell you’re gonna best me!” Tendou cackled, kicking the stone too hard and it flew into the quiet side street.

“You don’t have much choice,” Ushijima argued with a smile, heading into the road to get the stone and kicking it across the road onto the other curb, “I’m going to win.”

“Like hell you are!” Tendou crossed the road in a half jog-run, hands cocooned in his hoodie pockets and he tried to tackle the stone from Ushijima’s foot.

It slowly grew more physical as Tendou grappled for Ushijima’s shoulders, trying to throw the other boy off his aim, instead getting broad arms around his torso that easily threw him off kilter and into a hedgerow.

“Ohmigod did you just throw me in a bush?” Tendou was laughing harder, the sound incredibly infectious and Ushijima let a few chuckles escape his lips.

“All’s fair in love and war, Satori.” And he turned to keep walking while Tendou struggled from the hedge’s embrace.

He heard Tendou’s feet pounding along the pavement and he turned just in time to meet him, grabbing his arms before he could latch onto him and spinning them just enough to throw Tendou off balance, breaking into a sprint down the side street, stumbling slightly as he regained his orientation from the spin, his foot catching Tendou’s leg.

They ran towards the park, a shortcut home.

Tendou was quickly able to catch up, tackling from the side this time and running his body into Ushijima’s as they entered the gated green space. They both fell into the blackberry brambles, Tendou toppling as Ushijima grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled, ripping several buttons with his clumsy movement.

He’d cushioned their fall, both their uniforms stained with purples and blues from the berries beneath them. Tendou held the sleeves of his jacket tightly in his hands, crouching over Ushijima on one knee and his other leg stretched out, caging him in the bed of brambles.

Ushijima found his hands holding Tendou up, on his sides and holding under his arms.

“If you dare,” Tendou was breathless, still laughing, “tickle me, I will crush you.”

How could Ushijima resist the temptation?

His fingertips dug into Tendou’s underarms and the teen above him quickly caved into his chest, peals of breathless laughter and protests escaping his lips.

Suddenly, Ushijima knew. He knew what he needed to do.

He moved his hands to trap Tendou’s waist and bring him closer, hands moving up to his shoulder blades. Worrying his lip briefly, he then craned his neck, capturing Tendou’s lips in his. He felt Tendou struggle only momentarily, then their bodies slotted together like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Ushijima could feel Tendou’s hands skate up his biceps and gripping his shoulders tightly, like he was afraid to let go.

There was a tremble to Tendou’s hold, a quiver to his lips as they moved against Ushijima’s. He was just as eager now as he was in every other aspect of his life.

It was endearing.

Breath-taking.

Breath-takingly endearing.

Ushijima could feel two beating hearts; pounding in unison, and if Tendou’s was beating for the same reason as his own then the running and the laughter would only be half of that reason.

They finally parted, making no move to get up as Ushijima’s hands settled at the base of Tendou’s back.

“Satori, I like you.”

It was plain and simple, but it didn’t beat around the bush.

He liked Satori.

“You like me? Wait, why?” Tendou joked, but Ushijima didn’t like the self-doubt and insecurity, even if it was only joking.

But, he’d be there all night if he listed everything he loved about Tendou, so instead he mumbled two words – a single question – into the space between them, “why not?”

Tendou buried his head into the crook of Ushijima’s neck, a breathy laugh passing his lips.

“Trust you to say it so simply.”

“I don’t like beating around the bush.”

“Yeah, you just like beating me into a bush.”

“And kissing you in a bush.”

Tendou laughed again, making Ushijima’s cheeks swell with a smile and eyes wrinkle in the corners as he looked up at the other teen. Wishing he could tell Tendou just how much he enjoyed listening to his joy.

“And that,” Tendou leaned lower until only mere millimetres separated their lips, “I like you too, so can we do it again?”

Ushijima hummed, this time allowing Tendou to take the initiative.

Bokuto waved goodbye to Kuroo and Tatsuo as the bus pulled away, himself, Akaashi, and Keitaro left standing at the bus shelter at the top of Akaashi’s road.

Now the match was out of the way, Bokuto allowed himself and his thoughts to spiral into a darker place; Akaashi’s parents had seen him. Them.

Akaashi’s father had seen them kiss.

And now he didn’t want the other boy to go home to whatever mess awaited him.

“Uh…Kei,” Bokuto began, looking to his older brother stood to the side with his hands tucked in the pockets of his jeans, “you can go ahead if you want, I just wanna speak to Akaash…”

“Nah, I’ll wait,” Keitaro insisted, “I need to talk to you without Seiya bein’ around.”

“Okay…” Bokuto turned back to Akaashi, looking at the younger teen. “Akaash…are you sure you can’t stay somewhere else tonight?”

“I’m sure, Bokuto-san,” the smile on Akaashi’s face was surprisingly light, but Bokuto could see it was made of glass. Acceptance of whatever was about to come once he was in his home, “but seeing as the cat’s well and truly out of the bag, come here.”

Akaashi’s cold hands trapped Bokuto’s cheeks, lips meeting and Bokuto immediately wrapped his arms around Akaashi.

“Please message me, let me know you’re okay.”

“I will, Bokuto-san.” Akaashi smiled, stepping away slowly and moving to the quiet main road. “See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, Akaash…”

The next break in the traffic came and with it Akaashi went, crossing the road and waving to the brothers before disappearing down the side street.

Bokuto watched for longer than was necessary, stomach rolling with nausea. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he reached for it, wiping the screen with his thumb and typing in the passcode – their anniversary – the message on the screen illuminating his face in the darkening evening.

[[AKAASHI: I <3 U]]

Bokuto sighed, returning the message with his own emoji filled text.

“You ready, Koutarou?”

“Yeah,” he tucked the phone back into his pocket, thumbing it so there was no way he’d miss the vibration if he received a text, “coming.”

The brothers walked down their own side street, coming to the house at the end and disappearing inside.

Read.

Koutarou pursed his lips at the four-letter word under his message, tucking his phone away into his hoodie as he moved to the kitchen counter where Keitaro was.

“What we making?” He asked, watching his brother peeling leaves from the lettuce, bunching them in his hands and tearing them into smaller shreds.

“I was thinking fajitas, quick and easy.” Keitaro responded, arm shirking from Koutarou’s all too close body. “Prep the chicken?”

“Sure!” Koutarou responded, moving to the sink to wash his hands, he bunched his hoodie sleeves at his elbows and rinsed his hands, lathering them up with the hand soap and rinsing them again. He dried his hands on a towel and moved to the fridge. “What did you wanna talk about?”

Koutarou rummaged through the lower shelf of the fridge, removing a tray of raw chicken and putting it on the worktop, going to the overhead cupboard and reaching for the spices.

“Just wanted to see how you were doing after Monday.”

“Monday?” Koutarou was perplexed for a moment before realising what Keitaro meant. “Oh, I—I’m okay…” He reached for the ground paprika, coriander, cumin, ground garlic, and tabasco sauce, laying them out on the worktop beside the chicken.

He measured out the herbs and spices into a metal bowl, creating a marinade with the tabasco sauce.

“Good…that’s good.” Keitaro was washing the lettuce leaves now, leaving them in the colander and preparing the rocket. “So…Akaashi’s parents found out, huh?”

“Yeah…” Koutarou scowled at the filleted chicken in front of him, finely slicing the raw meat on the red chopping board. “It really pisses me off!”

“Don’t cuss with the knife, Koutarou. Watch your fingers.” Keitaro chastised, washing the rocket before placing it in the colander with the lettuce.

He moved to beside Koutarou, picking out the green chopping board from the mini-rack and going to the vegetable cupboard for a red onion, red chilli, and red pepper, beginning to finely dice them.

“I know…I just can’t help it. His parents are horrible, I wish I could just…run away with him.” Koutarou placed the chicken in the bowl of marinade, going to the sink to wash his hands again. He looked at the wall clock. “Pops’ll be home soon, want me to put the sweet potato wedges in?”

“Yeah, go on,” Keitaro said, scooping the slices vegetables into the marinade and giving it a stir, “just three handfuls.”

“Right!” Koutarou moved clumsily, taking the bag of frozen chips from the freezer and putting three handfuls on a baking tray, he placed the tray in the oven, turning and almost bumping into Keitaro who was carrying the bowl of marinated chicken to the stove.

“Koutarou, be careful.”

“S—Sorry, uh, how was your day?” Koutarou asked, shifting to turn the radio on and he messed with the tuning dial, finding is favourite station.

“It was fine, just another day.” Keitaro reached for the griddle pan, emptying the bowl into the pan and turning it onto a high heat.

“Well…I guess it wasn’t bad!” Koutarou smiled, taking the bowl off his brother and moving to the sink. “I’ll wash up!”

“Okay, but first pass me some tongs?”

Koutarou reached into the cutlery drawer, removing the utensil Keitaro requested and handing it to him before running the tap warm and adding dish soap to the filling sink.

Akaashi was still on the back of his mind as Bokuto washed the used dishes, reminding himself to check his phone once he was finished.

“Hey, Kou,” Keitaro addressed, attracting his attention as the new song played over the radio, “remember this song?”

“How could I forget?” Koutarou laughed, reaching for the volume dial and turning the music up. “Baby you know that I miss you, I wanna get with you—”

“—tonight, but I can’t now baby ‘n’ that’s the issue—” Keitaro joined in, the brothers taking the next line together, “—girl you know I miss you, I just wanna kiss you, but I can’t right now so—”

“—baby kiss me through the phoneee.” Koutarou belted out.

“Kiss me through the phoneee.” Keitaro sang, albeit with less enthusiasm, using the tongs as a microphone before stirring the meat again.

Koutarou knew that his brother had changed since being in the armed forces, he came back quieter, more aloof, sometimes standoffish even to Koutarou at times. But he was glad right now wasn’t one of those moments – even if he couldn’t hug his brother as they sang.

“It’s good to see you boys getting along!”

The brothers turned to kitchen door, meeting their father’s weary gaze.

“Pops!”

“Seiya.”

Koutarou rushed to greet his father and Keitaro continued passing the chicken around the griddle to soak up the remaining marinade and to make sure it was cooked through.

“How was the meeting?”

“Stressful,” Koutarou watched the sag in Seiya’s shoulders, catching even Keitaro watching the older man as he dropped his work bag onto the floor, “what’s cooking?”

“Fajitas! They were Kei’s idea.”

“Sign me up for some of Kei’s cooking.”

“Hey, I helped too!”

Seiya laughed, the sound loud, “food from both my boys, sign me up twice!”

Koutarou smiled, going to the cupboard for plates and beginning to set the table, the fourth place at the table left unfilled.

Only then did he check his phone. Still nothing.

“I need to speak to you boys about something, is that okay?”

“Sure, what is it, pops?”

“Do you want me to wait until after the meal?” Seiya asked, moving to the sink to wash his hands while Keitaro dished up the food into serving bowls, soft tortilla wraps on a plate and setting the table.

“You might as well just tell us now.” The eldest Bokuto sibling said, sitting in his place beside Koutarou and opposite the place that was left empty. Koutarou reached for a wrap, using his fingers to pick up pieces of meat and clean tongs to pick up some of the salad.

“It’s…about the meeting tonight," Seiya introduced, sitting opposite Koutarou, “it was about Saito and the incident with Kozume.” Keitaro watched as Seiya took his food next.

The table fell silent, Keitaro’s hand paused over the wraps, “what does this have to do with us?” He finally asked, tone guarded as he picked up a wrap.

“Well, I can’t go into too much detail – but I don’t want to make the final decision without you both.”

“Cut it with being cryptic, Seiya.” Keitaro ground out, standing to reach for the chicken and salad, Koutarou could only guess his brother was as anxious as he was, closer to his tipping point.

He wanted to rest his hand on his forearm, to steady him. But he couldn’t.

Keitaro wouldn’t like that.

“Alright,” Seiya said, making his wrap but nailing his sons with a stare that made Koutarou itch, “I’ve made a deal with the school and Kozume’s mother.”

“So really we don’t get a say in this anyway?” Keitaro asked, his lips twisted down and his arms across his chest.

“No, you do,” Seiya spoke calmly, “if you say no then the deal is off.” Koutarou watched Keitaro’s mouth open, not getting a chance to speak before Seiya raised his hand in a wait motion. “But you’re both adults and I want you to know exactly what the consequences will be.”

“You both know how I’ve been fighting Saito’s corner recently,” he turned to Koutarou, “what you’ve told me has really made me think. I want to help this kid. But as he is now he cannot be allowed to stay in school.”

Koutarou and Keitaro shared a look as Seiya prepared himself, Koutarou taking a bite from his fajita and meeting his father’s gaze.

“The school have agreed to keep him in classes on the condition he becomes stable, whatever that means,” Seiya’s face scrunched up and he took a bite of one of the potato wedges, “and apparently just being a mentor won’t be enough.”

“So what’cha gonna do, pops?” Koutarou spoke around a mouthful of food.

“Well, if you both agree, I’m thinking about fostering him.”

This time the table really was plunged into silence, the two sons staring wide eyed at their father, Keitaro’s mouth hanging open slightly in disbelief.

“Why?” Keitaro hissed.

“He’s not had it easy, I think he deserves a chance.” Seiya spoke softly. “Care isn’t easy, being in between homes is even harder.” Koutarou looked to the food on his plate, swallowing, his proclamation to his friends earlier that day ringing in his skull.

It’s not like he’s gonna become my brother or anything.

“Uh, pops, like, you’d foster him and he’d be our brother?”

“Yes, he’d be here with us and given the opportunity to have a stable homelife, and hopefully his behaviour in school will stabilise too.”

Keitaro was silent.

“So, you told the school you’d foster him so he could stay there?”

“They suggested stability, I offered it.”

“Basically, you want us to pick between having a bully in our home or some bully’s future.” Keitaro said. “And on our head be it if we dare choose to leave a bully to rot?”

“No, Keitaro, it’s not like that,” Seiya fought back, not raising his voice, “Saito has had it rough, and I mean it, really rough, his behaviour always deteriorates whenever something in his personal life happens, if he has that stability then he might improve. I know I’m asking a lot, like you said, he is a bully, he’s hurt Koutarou’s friend and many other students—”

“You always see the good in people, even when it’s not there.”

“Kei…” Koutarou finally mumbled, having to refrain from reaching out to his brother.

“Whatever,” Keitaro pushed his chair out from under the table, moving to stand, “I’ll be—”

“Keitaro, wait,” Seiya said, his hand reaching across the table and ghosting close enough to his son to make him pause, palm landing flat on the table top, “will you just humour me for a minute?”

Keitaro met his father’s eyes, “what do you want, Seiya?”

“I know I’m asking a lot, but I just…you’re both good lads, I couldn’t be prouder to call you my sons…I won’t hold it against you if you say no, I love you both more than you’ll ever know. But that’s exactly why I put myself – us – forward for this.”

“We’d be role models for him.” Koutarou said, understanding.

“Yes! You’d both be amazing role models…” Seiya sighed, looking to the table. “I just want to give him a second chance, I don’t think he’s bad, more misled.”

Keitaro was silent.

Koutarou was silent.

Seiya, too, fell silent.

All were mulling over the possibilities, their brains working overtime to weigh out the pros and cons.

“Okay.” Keitaro finally said.

“I don’t mind either, it could be fun!”

Seiya smiled, “thank you both…” He opened his arms and Koutarou was quick to round the table and hug him back tightly, squeezing around his middle.

The pair looked to Keitaro, “can I have a hug off my eldest son?”

Koutarou watched as Keitaro shook his head, far too fast and the movement jerky with anxiety.

“N—No—” Keitaro hiccupped, Koutarou watching as he struggled to get his words out, his breaths becoming shaky and words unable to pass his lips.

“Kei…?” He watched his brother’s expression crumple and twist into a face he’d never seen on the man before, tears spilling down Keitaro’s face.

“Keitaro?”

“I—I’m sorry…” He sobbed, his feet heavy as he trudged to his family, arms spread out wide and he crumpled into his brother and father.

Koutarou wrapped his arms around Keitaro as his shoulders began to shake, feeling his father’s arms encompass them both and the front and shoulder of his father’s shirt growing damp.

“I—” Keitaro breathed, his voice shaking, “some—something happened…while I was away...”
 

Chapter Text

When Bokuto opened his bedroom curtains he was greeted by the sight of a blanket of white through condensation covered glass.

“Snow?” He mumbled around a yawn, scratching at his side before reaching to wipe the window pane. “Oh, it’s just hail.”

A rush of wind sent a barrage of tiny frozen pellets against his window, making the teen wince at the unpleasant sound and he shied away from the window.

He looked to his bed and the small ball of white fur curled up in his woollen throw blanket, the rise and fall of her body as she purred in her sleep.

It seemed like that was all she did. Sleep.

But he didn’t mind.

In the short time he’d had Mint she’d managed to claw her way under his skin and into his heart, his hands were proof of that.

He sat down on his bed, mattress dipping under his weight as he sighed, thinking about the conversation with Keitaro two days earlier.

He wondered how his brother had stayed so strong for, at a guess, four years – if Bokuto was doing his maths right.

Four years with such a burden…he couldn’t imagine it.

Keitaro had even said he’d not told them everything, that there were things he wasn’t ready to tell them, but what he’d told them was enough. Bokuto wanted nothing more than to help his brother.

But Keitaro was at Tatsuo’s with Minori ready for them to go out later that day. Did they know?

He wondered if Keitaro had ever told them.

He felt soft wisps on his arm and heavy-footed paws padding on his thighs as Mint wormed her way onto his lap.

“Hey Mint…” He tickled the kitten’s ears and she began to purr loudly in response.

“Koutarou? Are you awake?”

Bokuto looked to his door, “yeah, come in pops!”

Moments later Seiya appeared from the hallway, crossing the room to Bokuto’s bed.

“Any news from Keiji?”

“Still nothing…” Bokuto’s fingers played with the long fur on Mint’s head. “I’m really worried.”

A hand on his back.

“Why don’t you go and knock? They can’t ignore you—”

“But they can turn me away.”

Seiya hummed in thought, eyes wandering around Bokuto’s room.

“But they can’t turn away homework.”

Bokuto’s head snapped to look up at his father, mouth agape and then with a wide grin he shifted the kitten from is lap and stood.

“What homework?” He asked, looking around for anything he could use.

“He has his final music assessment soon, right? I have some musical scores on my shelf.”

Bokuto gasped, excitement and eagerness quickly building, “oh man, oh man, but then what do I do?”

“Write a note and hide it in the pages with a prompt for him to look there!” Seiya grinned. “That’s what they do in the movies.”

“But what if his parents see the prompt?”

“We can make it look like an old text book, one with graffiti on it.”

“The go to pages!”

“Yes!” Seiya jumped to his feet. “Write that note and I’ll get the book!”

Bokuto did as he was told, going to his desk and stealing a piece of plain paper from his printer, he struggled for several minutes trying to find a pen that worked. But after five pens the first scrawl of black ink transferred onto the nib-groove covered paper.

He kept the note short, even though he wanted to write, and write, and write about everything Akaashi had missed in school the day before; about the things their friends had said; how much he missed him; wanted to see him; even the weather.

The distance between their streets had never felt further.

He found his mind wandering, remembering the first time they’d met.

Purely by chance, only seven years old and outside his street for the first time.

He met Akaashi Keiji on a spring day, they’d played most of the afternoon in the children’s playground at the local park. He never saw Akaashi in his classes, or at his school. He had no idea he was from the private school with the charcoal knee-length dungarees and crimson shirts as the uniform, the little flat-top cap that mussed Akaashi’s hair and hid their first kiss two years later.

Bokuto sighed.

It wasn’t fair.

“Koutarou!” His father returned with the music book, dropping it onto Bokuto’s desk and handing him sticky tape. “Stick it in and do the graffiti, then take it over there!”

“Okay!” Bokuto grinned, doing as his father said before getting dressed, he quickly petted Mint’s head before running downstairs. Hearing the bell on her collar jingle as she gave chase he donned his coat, listening to the violent weather outside and shuddering.

He really needed to invest in a scarf.

“Koutarou!” Seiya called, reaching for the book and slapping a well written note onto the front cover. “Good luck, son, I’ll let you off this time, but next weekend you owe me two hours!”

Bokuto read the note; a teacher’s note, and then he grinned. “You got it, pops!”

He pulled his hood up over his head and left the house, waving to his father as he left the garden and wandered into the winter-bitten street. Small balls of ice drifted along the road and collected in quiet, sheltered cubbies against walls, branches overhead roared with the force of the wind and Bokuto ducked his head as he made the journey toward the main road.

He thought about Keitaro some more as he approached the curb side, sighing as a car rushed passed on the slush-covered surface; how did his brother do it?

A break in the traffic and Bokuto was crossing the slippery surface, ducking under low hanging shrubbery fallen from the ever-increasing winds as he disappeared down Akaashi’s side street.

His thoughts turned to Akaashi; the silence of the last two days. He hoped the other boy was okay, picking up his pace as if there hadn’t been two days between them last seeing each other; like the next few minutes of his life were dependant on seeing Akaashi was okay.

He picked up his pace as the next barrage of ice fell from the angry skies, burying himself as far into his own body as possible. His heart pounded against his ribcage as his nerves grew.

Would Akaashi be okay?

He rounded the corner and into the cul-de-sac Akaashi called home, seeing his house in the centre; something his parents saw as a status to be proud of. In an odd number of houses they were dead centre.

Their car was parked outside and Bokuto bit his lip, crossing the stone cul-de-sac and approaching the gate, he pushed on the frozen latch, the metal clanging as it broke free of its icy prison and he ducked his head as he wandered up the path, to the front door, and he brought his fist down loudly.

Movement of the blinds in the front window, the sound of a key turning in the lock, the door opening to reveal the laminate flooring of the hallway and royal blue carpet that led upstairs.

“Can I help you?”

Akaashi’s father.

Bokuto gulped, “uh, I have ‘Kaashi’s homework,” his dad looked sceptical so Bokuto reached for the book and handed it to him, “music, for his final recital.”

The book was thrust back into his arms, “he won’t be needing that, Bokuto Koutarou.” A tone like venom.

“I—”

Movement at the top of the stairs caught Bokuto’s attention, looking up to see Akaashi sitting on the top step, looking down at him with an expression that didn’t belong on Akaashi’s face.

“I’m sorry, sir, I fail to understand what you mean,” Bokuto said, “this is the music score for Akaashi’s final assessment, he forgot to take it on Thursday and his teacher asked me to bring it. Look, there’s even a note in the front page.”

The book was passed between them once more and he watched Akaashi’s expression change into confusion, lips moving in a silent question, Bokuto returned his question with a wink and a smile before returning his gaze to Akaashi’s father, reading over Seiya’s note.

“Very well, good day.” Akaashi’s father couldn’t get rid of him quick enough, Bokuto could see the rotund man fighting back voicing his disapproval of Bokuto’s presence and his he tainted his son. “Keiji!”

And with that the door was closed in his face, slamming into the door frame and leaving a gust of wind in its wake.

It’d worked.

They’d actually taken the book.

He turned and walked down the path, grinning to himself as he went, fisting the air. Out of habit he looked back as he rounded the corner, catching ebony curls in Akaashi’s parent’s bedroom window, the figure waved and held up the book and Bokuto’s grin grew wider as he flashed a thumbs up, more movement catching his attention and he quickly retreated.

He didn’t want to make whatever kind of punishment Akaashi was receiving any worse than it already was.

He crossed the road again, this time using the small pedestrian crossing, grinning to himself as he made the short walk home.

Akaashi held the book in his hands, moving back to his bedroom and perching himself on his bed as he read the letter Seiya had written.

He smiled as he rested his chin on his hand, sometimes having a teacher as a parent was definitely beneficial.

In Seiya’s letter it told him to turn to one of the pages, so he did. Akaashi thumbed through the pages until he reached midway through the book, seeing Bokuto’s handwriting and smiling.

Go to page 56.

Go to page 98.

He frowned, two pages?

He tried fifty-six first, holding back a snort of amusement when he saw Bokuto’s handwriting once again.

Ye ma’s a slag.

He flicked through to ninety-eight next.

Go to 109.

So he did so.

Hey Akaashi,

“Keiji! I don’t hear you practicing!”

“Sorry! I just wanted to read the score fully before I started!”

With no response he turned back to the book.

I’m sorry this happened, you’ve got no idea how sorry I am. But we’re working on fixing it so hold tight!

I have a lot to tell you when we can next speak.

I love you.

He smiled at the words, reading them in Bokuto’s voice and feeling a swell of affection in his chest…he missed him.

The last two days had been hell; the emotional blackmail and tormenting from his parents making playing his final piece with an injured hand seem like child’s play.

He sighed, collecting his clarinet from beside his bed and setting up, unable to help his wandering thoughts as he reread the note in his “music” book.

With a smile he began to play, something new and something not written down; his own creation, a piece he could proudly say was inspired by the rugby captain and their childhood romance.

Bokuto sighed as he rested his forearms on the shopping trolley handle, leaning on them heavily as he trundled along the supermarket floor behind Seiya.

He looked at the beginnings of the weekly shop and sighed again, reaching up to run his fingers through his wind-swept hair.

“Think Oikawa likes pecan nuts?”

His head shot up and he looked to his left, seeing a familiar head of unruly silver hair behind the fruit stand.

“Suga!”

Sure enough brown orbs met his and widened a fraction. “Bokuto!”

“Hey, pops, I’m just going to see Suga!”

“Alright, but don’t wander too far.” Seiya acknowledged, continuing to talk to the man he’d bumped into, Bokuto knew the pair were good friends and didn’t want to cut his father’s time short.

He took hold of the trolley handle, pushing over to Sugawara, “hey Suga!”

“Hey! Weekly shop?”

“Yeah, you?”

“Same, but I’m going to Oikawa’s later so I’m also looking for sweets and shit.” Sugawara said, standing on the front of Bokuto’s trolley and lifting his feet off the ground, standing on the wheel bar.

Bokuto pushed through the aisles, stopping to pick up a carton of a dozen eggs, “ooh! That sound like fun! I’m glad you two are okay after the other day.” He smiled.

“Yeah, he cried on the phone.” Sugawara snickered, leaning on the trolley basket.

Bokuto laughed too, moving along to the tinned section, picking up several tins of vegetables, fish, and fruit.

“Ew, you like tinned pears?”

“Hey, tinned pears are food of the Gods!” Bokuto laughed.

“I prefer tinned peaches.”

“That’s no way to talk about Daichi.” Bokuto jibed back, watching as Sugawara lost his footing and laughing as his feet slipped back onto the tiled supermarket floor.

“You bastard!” Sugawara laughed back, hoisting himself back up only this time to sit inside the trolley. “Just for that I’m gonna take up your shopping space.” He lay back, an upside-down smile plastered to his face, knees hooked over the front of the cart and legs dangling down.

“Who said anything about you taking up shopping space?” Bokuto asked, throwing a multipacket of crisps on top of the other boy, laughing as he picked up his pace and jumped on the back-wheel bar.

“Bokuto!” Sugawara howled, erupting into giggles and struggling to sit up as Bokuto lurched his body and kicked off his left foot, turning the trolley to the right and down into the next aisle.

“What’s the matter, Suga? Scared?” Bokuto laughed, stopping suddenly and reaching for a carton of milk, once he was satisfied with the date he placed it against Sugawara’s face, watching the other teen shudder at the cold on his bare skin.

“Just a little!” Sugawara was still trying to sit up as Bokuto kicked off again, gripping the metal sides in a white-knuckled grip.

They sped down aisles and around customers, Bokuto picking the shopping he needed and burying Sugawara under piles of food.

He stopped in the middle of one aisle, stopping to think what other food they’d need, watching Sugawara struggle from his food-tomb.

“How’s Akaashi? Have you heard anything?”

Bokuto bit his lip, “no, I went to his house today and dropped off bogus homework with a note for him, but I haven’t spoken to him.”

Bokuto could see Sugawara’s face change as he thought; undoubtedly thinking a way around their issue – trying to find the solution to their puzzle.

If there was one thing Bokuto had learned about the other boy was that to him everything was a puzzle that just needed solving, this predicament was obviously no different.

“What if we sleepover at Akaashi’s?” Sugawara asked, gripping the sides of the trolley and turning to look at Bokuto.

“Dude, they barely let me drop off bogus homework, like fuck are they gonna let me stay the night.” He realised what else he’d need, walking down the aisle to the cooked meat. “Hey, Suga, pass us the ham at the top.”

Sugawara obliged, reaching up to the top shelf and fishing down the sealed packets of sliced ham, “I mean me, Kenma, and Oikawa.” He used the stillness to jump out of the trolley and Bokuto watched as he approached a stand full of sunglasses. Sugawara picked a pair up, donning them and turning to face Bokuto, framing his chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Fake study sleepover – we’ll find a way to call you so you guys can talk.” He smirked.

“Holy hell, you’re conniving, you’d really do that?” Bokuto looked at the other teen, in the few months he’d known Sugawara he’d learned he was the epitome of selflessness; sometimes too selfless for his own good, too afraid to lose his worth in the eyes of others.

“Uh, yeah.” Sugawara scoffed, taking off the glasses and putting them back, Bokuto could see the slight pout of his lips, “you guys are my friends.”

“I know, but still…what about Oikawa?”

Sugawara laughed, walking back over to Bokuto, “I have dirt on him; he owes me.”

Bokuto could fight his grin, wrapping the other in a bone crushing hug and almost lifting him from the ground, “thank you.” He set him down.

Sugawara returned the hug, pulling away with a grin, “watch this.” He pulled out his phone, bringing up Oikawa’s contact details and pressing the call button. After a few seconds he grinned widely, “hey Satan~”

Bokuto listened to a muffled noise from the other end of the receiver, and then Sugawara’s response, “yeah, yeah, you love me really; I’m a ball of fucking sunshine. Listen, Oikawa, my buddy; my pal; homie—” Sugawara cut off and laughed at something Oikawa said, “—I need a favour—hey! Don’t you groan like a common whore at me, you don’t even know what I’m gonna say.”

They continued with their shopping, Sugawara standing on the back-wheel bar and continuing his conversation while Bokuto pushed the trolley along, peering around Sugawara’s shoulders.

“What? I’m in the Goddamn supermarket, I can’t just tell the cashiers to stop scanning food—fuck off, sensitive ears my ass—listen! Stay on task! It’s about Akaashi.” Sugawara peered around at Bokuto and winked. “I just so happened to bump into our glorious captain, yes, yes—Shut the hell up and let me finish, y’mug! How about changing the venue of tonight’s sleepover to Akaashi’s?”

Bokuto reached up for a packet of pasta, throwing it around Sugawara’s body and into the trolley.

“Excuse you, I’m a saint and you know it. I just wanna…scope out the enemy. Okay, okay, can you let Kenma know? We’ll meet up at the Square? Awesome, byeeeee.” Sugawara grinned over his shoulder. “Call you tonight, Bo?”

“Yeah…thanks Suga,” Bokuto smiled, gnawing at his lip as he debated whether he should tell Sugawara about his father’s plans…fuck it, “can I tell you something? Our secret for now?”

The silver haired boy looked to him, “sure.”

“Okay…well,” Bokuto paused, “My pops is kinda…planning to,” he cleared his throat, “foster Saito.”

Tetsurou looked around at the mess in their living room, letting out a rough exhale as he pursed his lips and scratched at his bandaged forearms.

His mother would not be happy with the state of her house.

“Tatsuo!” He called up the stairs, swallowing a cough. “Get your ugly ass down here and help me!”

He moved back into the living room and began to pick up the empty drinks glasses from the coffee and side tables before carrying them into the kitchen. He placed them in the washing up bowl and began running the warm water, listening as Tatsuo’s and two other sets of footsteps tumbled down the stairs.

Tetsurou washed the glasses, coughing into his shoulder while his hands were wet, the cough was nowhere near as hacking as a few days prior, it was beginning to sound drier and as a result was affecting him less. Although washing dishes wasn’t easy trying to keep his lightly bandaged forearms dry, but he was managing.

“Boo!”

Tetsurou startled at the two hands closed in on his sides and he swung round with sudsy hands and threw bubbles at his brother, “fuck you, mug!”

All Tatsuo did was shield himself from the attack, if it could’ve been called that, laughing loudly. He stood beside Tetsurou and began drying the dishes Tetsurou had just washed.

They worked in amused silence for a while, finishing the dishes and heading into the living room to finish clearing the floor space.

“Listen,” Tatsuo said, looking up from where he was gathering Tetsurou’s school shoes and his own work ones, “what are you gonna tell mum?”

“What do you mean?” Tetsurou asked, turning to face his older brother before realising what he meant. “Oh…uh, well, I don’t want her to worry, of course.”

“She’s our mum, dummy, she’ll worry regardless.” Tatsuo tucked the two pairs of shoes under the side table he was closest to. “Just ‘fess up.”

“No way, she’ll have a heart attack.” Tetsurou immediately responded, looking down at his wrapped arms. “What if I—”

“Tetsu…” Tatsuo warned, crossing his arms over his chest and Tetsurou was immediately reminded of why he looked up to the other man like he did; his maturity and gentle, yet insistent, guidance helping him navigate through life. “You need to tell her.”

“I know…”

“I won’t tell her you ended up in the A&E with me, we’ll say I was able to treat it here.” Tatsuo closed the distance between them and Tetsurou nodded.

“You’re such a cool guy, damn.” Tetsurou scoffed.

“I know, I’m the coolest.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Don’t make me turn the water off the next time you’re in the shower.”

“Don’t make me tell Doctor Gupta you like her.”

“Fuck off—”

The sound of the front door unlocking attracted their attention. “Boys! I’m home!”

“Hey mum!” Tatsuo greeted, grinning at Tetsurou, the latter barely being able to shout no! before he gave chase, the two brothers quickly rushing to their mother.

Sugawara whistled into the wind as he huddled further under the shop awning, watching the balls of ice fly across the street with unrelenting winds. He shivered, only half from the cold, the weather making his skin crawl and stomach roll.

Their third named storm of the season; Cassidy.

He toyed with his hat, pulling it further over his ears as he looked up and down the street, spotting Oikawa’s form approaching him. Sugawara sighed in relief, rushing over to his friend and immediately latching onto his arm.

“Suga-chan?”

“Ssssh, just let me…” He mumbled, Oikawa relaxing and falling quiet as they braved the rushing winds to get to the bus stop on the other side of the road.

They waited together as a new barrage of ice fell from the sky.

“Ugh,” Oikawa huffed, spotting their bus approaching the depot, “stupid hail.”

Sugawara reached out to flag the bus down, looking at Oikawa, “not hail; graupel.”

“Graupel?”

Sugawara nodded, climbing onto the bus and paying for his ticket, he waited for Oikawa before walking down the gangway together and sitting over the right rear wheel.

“Graupel and hail are different things.” Sugawara clarified, reaching for his phone to message Kenma so he could catch the same bus, he typed out the message and sent it. “Hail forms in layers, cut open a hailstone and it’ll be layered and rough edged – this is because it’s passed through the cloud layer multiple times by updrafts in thunderclouds and each time more water molecules bind to the hailstone until it grows in size. Typically hail can only form in thunderstorms or in clouds with a really strong internal convective airflow.”

“And graupel?”

“Exactly the opposite, supercooled water droplets that bind with snow crystals and freeze, they typically form in winter and if you cut one in half it’d be whole ice, not layered. But most graupel is incredibly soft; try to cut it and it’d sooner crush under the weight.”

“Oh…the more you know, I guess.”

Sugawara looked out the bus window and at the scenery passing by, tucking his hands into his pockets watching the thick charcoal skies rumble and roll above them. He could feel his arm hair beginning to stand on end as he lost himself in the weather.

“Suga-chan,” his head snapped up to look at Oikawa, finding Oikawa’s right arm drape over his shoulders and the other teen shuffled just that little bit closer, “don’t overthink it. Just curse Cassidy.”

Sugawara could feel his face burn with embarrassment, settling into Oikawa’s comfort as the bus turned down the narrow roads, winding through farmers fields and he looked out the window again. This time he could see the spatterings of clear blue sky between the precipitation shafts and dark clouds.

The next stop was Kenma’s, the windswept teen trying to fix his hair as he sat down opposite them.

“Hey Kenma, sorry about the change in venue.”

“Nah,” Kenma dismissed, “it’s fine. How is Keiji?”

“Nobody knows. I got a whole load of bogus homework and stuff in my bag, I was thinking that we can tell them that, as Akaashi’s peers, me and Oikawa—”

“Oikawa and I.”

“Shush,” Sugawara hissed, “me and Oikawa,” he grinned at the exasperated reaction from the other teen, “are going to help him, and you’re tagging along for a specific subjects too.”

“Suga-chan, you didn’t need to do that much planning,” Oikawa laughed, “we’ll just tell them we’re there to revise together.”

“Honestly I’m just here to scope out the enemy.”

“Don’t make an enemy of them, Suga-chan.”

“Too late.”

“Mood.” Kenma agreed, slouching in his seat and looking up at them, lips hidden by the neck of his coat but it was clear he was smiling.

The bus continued towards the village not far from Akaashi’s, two bus stops left. The trio watching the graupel skidding across the road, blown by the wind as they bus passed the next stop.

Kenma stood, swinging around the grip pole, finger pressing the stop button and walking down the gangway.

Oikawa followed and Sugawara hoisted his bag onto his back to follow the pair.

They disembarked from the bus and made their way down the quiet side street. Sugawara looked around at the houses, there wasn’t as much garden space as Mariko and Mamoru’s house, but as they turned into the cul-de-sac, he could easily see which one was Akaashi’s.

He felt anxiety rolling in his gut as they drew nearer and he nibbled his lip as they walked up the garden path, Oikawa’s hand knocking on faux wood.

They waited only moments until the door opened, and Akaashi’s father was not what Sugawara expected; a rotund man with a nasty snarl.

“What do you want?” He asked with a growl, fastening expensive-looking cufflinks.

“Uh,” he froze up, “revision.”

Oikawa stepped forward, almost towering over Akaashi’s father, “we’re here to revise with Akaashi-san, we agreed on Tuesday so we could prepare for the mock exams in January.”

Sugawara let Oikawa and Akaashi’s father war with their words, glancing inside to see a short woman descending the stairs in a glittering gown, clipping fake earrings to her lobes.

“Keiji’s friends?” She asked, her voice accentuated with a whiny, nasal sound. “Why are they here?”

“They said revision.” Her husband responded.

“Then you should let them in; that way we can go out tonight without worry.”

The pair silently stared at each other and Sugawara fidgeted as he bit his lip again, finally, after what felt like hours, the man finally caved, his gaze narrow as he watched them, “alright, come on in.”

“Thank you, sir.” Oikawa bowed.

The trio walked in, Sugawara not blind to the expression that was shot their way, Akaashi’s father clearly didn’t trust them.

“Keiji’s room is the one at the back of the house.”

Oikawa nodded his thanks, Kenma and Sugawara doing the same as they walked up the staircase to Akaashi’s closed bedroom door, Sugawara glanced back to see Akaashi’s mother and father finally give up and carry on with their business, and that was also when Oikawa pushed inside Akaashi’s room.

The three piled inside Akaashi’s bedroom, startling the other teen perched on his bed.

“Akaashi!” Sugawara grinned, bounding onto the bed and swallowing the other boy in a bone crushing hug.

“Sugawara-san? Oika—” Akaashi was cut off by Sugawara’s shoulder colliding with his face, mouth agape as he slowly wrapped his arms around Sugawara’s body. “I--, why are you—”

“We’re here to revise!” Sugawara grinned, pulling away and winking, turning to look at Oikawa and Kenma for their approval.

Instead he had their silence.

He was about to open his mouth; to ask them what was wrong, but instead he followed their stares.

Akaashi.

He looked back to his friend and realised.

“Akaashi, your face!” He gasped, finally noticing to marring to his cheek. “What happened…?”

The other teen lifted his hand, hiding the side of his face with his arm and his sleeve, “nothing.”

But Sugawara had already seen the shallow cut on Akaashi’s cheekbone and he felt a sombre air settle over himself as he realised just what the mark was.

“They hit you?” His voice dropped to a whisper and he felt the bed dip behind him, Kenma appearing to his right, Oikawa to his left.

Akaashi looked down, “it was only once; they’ve honestly never done it before. I just…pushed them over the edge.”

“So fucking what?” Oikawa scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. “So fucking what if you pushed them over the edge? They shouldn’t hit you, you could be the biggest brat on Earth—”

“Who? You?” Sugawara interrupted.

Oikawa sneered, pounding his finger into Akaashi’s bedspread, “they hit you hard enough to cut you.”

“Incorrect,” Akaashi interjected, “it was honestly just an accident; they apologised immediately. Mother’s ring just caught my face, that’s all.”

“Ugh, still bastards.” Oikawa fumed, hunching his shoulders as he glared at the door.

With an uncanny timing Akaashi’s mother’s voice floated through the closed bedroom door, “Keiji, we’re going now!”

“Okay, mother, have a nice time.” Akaashi replied hollowly, sighing as the four listened to fading footsteps, the front door finally slammed shut and keys jangled. A collective sigh escaping the teens.

“Where are they going?”

“Some fancy gala, I don’t know,” Akaashi shrugged, curling up on himself and wrapping his arms around his knees, “how did you guys get in here anyway?”

“Bullshitted homework.”

Akaashi scoffed, “you all seem to think up the same idea; Bokuto-san did it too.”

“Oh yeah!” Sugawara laughed. “He told me he wrote a letter for you!”

“Yeah…and snuck it in homework— wait,” Akaashi looked up at Sugawara, “you spoke to him?”

“Yeah! Bumped into him today at the shops!”

Akaashi smiled, closing his eyes and picking at his fingernails, “of course you did.”

Sugawara watched the curly haired boy with interest as Akaashi opened his eyes an moved to stand.

“Are you three hungry?”

Sugawara wasn’t the only one in the group to declare that yes, he was hungry, and with very little prompting from Akaashi the group made their way down to the kitchen.

Later that night the four settled back in Akaashi’s bedroom, cocooned under the blankets, Sugawara shivered and brought it up to his chin.

“Is there anything you guys wanna do?” He mumbled, remembering their other sleepovers and how packed with fun they were.

“I wanna paint my nails,” Oikawa said, leaning over the side of the bed and reaching down to pick up his bag, “I got this new colour called Starlit Galaxy, but Iwa-chan has been at mine a lot and I haven’t had a chance to paint them.”

Sugawara found the statement confusing, watching as Oikawa unzipped his bag and removed a bottle of nail polish remover and what must’ve been the new nail polish; midnight blue with flecks of silver glitter, “doesn’t Iwaizumi know you paint your nails?”

“Not my toe nails.”

“Ew, are we gonna have to put up with stinky feet?”

Oikawa stretched over Akaashi and kicked Sugawara, poking him with his toes, “that answer your question?”

Sugawara nodded, leaning on Kenma’s shoulder to try and escape the onslaught.

Light conversation took over once again, Oikawa clicking his fringe from his face and getting to work on his task.

“Somehow this sleepover feels vastly different to the other one.” Sugawara commented, looking around Akaashi to watch Oikawa’s steady hand.

“Yeah, of course it is, I can be myself in this one.” Oikawa’s tongue poked out as he focused.

“What do you mean? You’re not always a cranky fifty-year-old in the body of a sixteen-year-old?”

“Har, har, Suga-chan,” Oikawa huffed, “no, I mean I have an image to uphold around others.”

“You don’t have to pretend, by others you mean Hajime, right?”

Oikawa hummed.

“Wait,” Sugawara began, perplexed by the statement, “an image to uphold around your childhood friend? You don’t act like yourself around Iwaizumi?”

“Duh,” Oikawa responded, blowing on his finished left foot, “he knows me better than anyone, but there’s also stuff I’m not confident enough to tell him about.” He motioned to his feet.

Kenma was next to speak up, “it’s not as weird as you think, Koushi, like,” Kenma brought his legs up to his chest, “with Kuro and myself, I don’t think Kuro can see me as anything other than his childhood friend with more video game personas than real friends, and definitely no romantic urges.” Sugawara heard the small frustrated huff from his friend.

“Oh…I always thought…”

“It’s great having a childhood friend, but you can also get stuck as just that, y’know?” Kenma explained further. “you end up growing into someone who isn’t who you were as a kid; but they don’t see that as readily as you’d like, if at all.”

“And that puts strain on a relationship.” Oikawa finished, earning a hum from Kenma and a quieter one from Akaashi.

“I’ve found it can be the same for childhood romance,” Akaashi stated, “when Bokuto-san and I first met we were only seven, but by nine we were sharing kisses like it was the most normal thing on the world. Now we’re so settled into that domesticity that I don’t know if what we have is love, is there romantic feelings? Or was it just me seeking physical comfort after moving halfway across the country?”

“That’s kinda…sad.” Sugawara whispered, watching Akaashi’s face.

The other teen shrugged, trying to play off his insecurity with indifference, “Bokuto-san is incredibly close with his other childhood friend, who’s to say he won’t realise he likes her one day?”

“Emiko?”

“Yeah… Inoue-san.”

Sugawara continued to listen to his friend, the other boy pouring out his insecurities before the others rushed to comfort him, when they finally fell quiet it was Kenma’s turn to speak.

“I feel the same. I…something happened the other day.”

“Ken-chan?”

“Kuro, well…Kuro kissed me?” Kenma rested his forehead on his knees, arms wrapped around his legs and his hair pooling around his features. “And I don’t know what to do.”

“Wait. Rooster Head-chan kissed you.” Oikawa repeated. “Is this what you wanted to speak about the other day?”

Kenma nodded.

“Fuuuuck, does Sie-chan know?”

Kenma shook his head, “no, not yet.”

“You gotta tell her!”

“I know, I know, I plan to.”

“Good…”

“Oh!” Sugawara suddenly shouted over them, “your parents won’t be back for a while, right?”

Akaashi hummed in response to the other teen.

“Brill.” Sugawara pulled his phone from his pocket, unlocking it and selecting Bokuto’s contact and pressing the green phone button beside his name.

“Suga-chan what are you do—”

“Suga?”

“Bokuto!” Sugawara called, putting the device on speaker.

“Bokuto-san?”

“Akaash! Oh, man, how are you? Are you okay?”

Sugawara moved his hands from his phone, listening to Bokuto ramble his questions and not once giving Akaashi the chance to speak.

“Bokuto-san!” The other teen fell silent. “Yes,” Akaashi smiled, “I’m okay, thank you for your message.”

“I’m so glad you got it, Akaash!! I was super worried!”

“Yeah,” Akaashi laughed, “I got it. How are you, Bokuto-san?”

“Missin’ you…”

Sugawara watched Akaashi’s expression, how it twisted into something he couldn’t identify, and how his lip seemed to tremble.

“I miss you too, Bokuto-san.”

“Akaash…”

“I promise, I’ll be back to school soon.” Akaashi’s eyes closed. “I have to go, Bokuto-san. I’ll see you soon.”

"’Kaashi—"

Before the other teenager could get a word in edgeways, Akaashi pressed the end call button, hanging up on Bokuto and his hands coming up to hide his face.

“Fuck—” He sniffled. “Why the fuck does he use that tone? Why does it have to be so hard? Why can’t I tell him my parents are looking into the pre-college course at Aleutian?”

“Wait, what?!”

“Akaashi!”

Sugawara felt his heart freeze.

Akaashi at Aleutian?

Away from them all?

Scary.

He didn’t want that.

“Not if I have anything to do with it.”

The next morning, the friends sat around the kitchen table with dour expressions, Sugawara pursed his lips as he looked down at his bowl of chocolate cereal. He startled at the sound of Akaashi’s mother making toast, loud clattering and clanging of the grill and utensils.

Oh, he was supposed to be painting Aleutian in a bad light.

He smirked into his fist.

“I can’t believe this time last year I started that awful pre-college class at Aleutian.” He sighed, resting his hand on his fist.

He caught sight of Akaashi’s mother pause in her actions.

“Suga-chan…” Oikawa kicked him under the table, mouthing don’t you dare.

“What? Honestly, it was awful there! I feel sorry for anyone who gets stuck going there.”

“Sugawara-san,” Akaashi started, “what do you mean?” He could see the three other teens and their shared looks of confusion.

“I mean, like, damn! There was so much…male on male touching, it was kinda disgusting.” Sugawara watched their expressions turn into ones of understanding. “I mean, if you’re gay then it’s perfect, y’know? You’d fit right in. But damn, I’m not gay and I had to protect my ass!”

“Sugawara-san, you went to Aleutian?”

Sugawara looked behind him, to Akaashi’s bewildered mother’s face; what was it with people not believing he used to attend Aleutian?

“Yeah, but I transferred to Harmattan in September – best decision I’ve ever made!”

The woman fell quiet, “and…the homosexual activities are a problem there?”

“Emphasis on sexual and yes.”

Her reply was almost instant this time, “Keiji, if you feel better then you can go back to school on Monday.”

“Thank you, mother.” Akaashi smiled.

Kenma looked at his phone, nerves rolling in his gut as he drew nearer to the cinema.

He’d planned a date with Sierria, he wanted to tell her the truth; what happened with Kuroo. But he didn’t know how else to do it.

“Kenma!”

He looked over to the direction Sierria’s voice came from, smiling when he saw her.

Kenma pocketed his phone, moving to embrace her, “hey Sierria.”

“Hey!” She hugged him back before pulling away, “everything okay?”

“Actually I...I have something to confess.” Kenma looked down at the floor. “A few days ago me and Kuroo...kissed.”

"Oh..." 

Chapter Text

Iwaizumi exhaled heavily, something soft and wispy tickling his nose and he sighed contently.

The room was still bathed in the pre-dawn twilight as he opened his eyes, even though the clock on the bedside read a little after eight. He bit back a yawn before closing his eyes again.

They could sleep some more; school had just finished for Christmas.

A quiet mumble made him open his eyes and he looked to the other teen in his arms, the mess of mousy hair that just sleep wasn’t responsible for.

His memory then went back to the night before, his face beginning to burn at the memory.

“I can hear your lewd mind from over here, Iwa-chan.” Oikawa’s voice was hoarse, thick with sleep.

Iwaizumi’s face definitely ignited after the statement.

“You’re already awake?”

A quiet hum.

“Something about spending the night with you, combined with seeing our friends today makes me want to get up and be productive.” Oikawa huffed and Iwaizumi could hear the smile on is lips. “Even if they’re not coming until midday.”

“Well I’m still tired,” he teased, “so we’ll be here a little longer.”

“That’s fine with me, Iwa-chan.” Oikawa yawned, settling back into Iwaizumi’s arms.

Sugawara leaned on the observatory’s balcony rail as he watched the snow clouds high over the mountain tops hide the peaks in a shroud of thick white undulations in the atmosphere.

He rested his cheek on his fist as he mentally compared the mountain’s appearance to the days before, clear skies allowing him to see the ground snow. It was now mid-December and the mountain top grew whiter each day, but the snow was yet to come down to ground level.

He hoped it would soon extend down to their level, but he also knew not to expect too much; the air was too dry on the leeside of the mountain and, unfortunately, given the wind direction they were the leeside.

His attention shifted overhead, a lily pad of concaved cloud above him and he filled with excitement.

Orographic clouds!

He felt the seat of his pants before cursing at the feeling of empty pockets.

Where was his phone?

He looked around his immediate vicinity for the black case with a printed image of purple lightning illuminating the cloud layer. His search turning out to be fruitless made him move to search inside, spotting his phone on the desk.

“Stupid!” He cursed himself, rushing over to the device and picking it up. He went back outside, snapping photographs of the phenomenon, at least three more than he needed; at least three he’d never delete at least two of.

“Koushi!” Mamoru called up, Sugawara turned to see him stood at the top of the stair case. “Are you ready?”

The affection in his uncle’s eyes didn’t escape Sugawara’s notice and he squirmed under the attention, he still had no idea how to respond.

So he played dumb.

“Yeah! I’m ready!” He came back inside, sliding the glass door shut and locking it, walking towards his uncle.

“Think it’s gonna snow, kid?” Mamoru asked, turning to walk in front of Sugawara down the set of stairs.

Sugawara hummed, mentally analysing the data he’d collected.

“Well, I guess it could?” He hypothesised, watching his feet dance down the stairs. “I mean, right now the wind is the wrong direction, we’re on the leeside of the mountain so the air is dry and the snow will have already been dumped on the mountain. But there’s a cold front on the way and the wind will back, so it’ll fill with moisture from the sea and then it might fall as snow on this side of the mountain.”

“Fascinating!” Mamoru chuckled as they rounded the final flight of stairs and into the hallway. “Imagine if it snowed while we were at the beach with Lissy and Bora.”

The mental image amused Sugawara as he slipped into his hooded jumper.

Snow on a beach?

Not something you’d ever expect, but oddly enough was actually rather common.

Claws clattered along the floor and into the hallway, both Lissy and Bora donning their leads and collars, the two shepherds excitedly crowding their feet.

“Hey Lissy! Bora!” Sugawara greeted happily. “How are you lovely ladies today? Ready for a run on the beach?” He chatted to the animals as if they were human, taking their leads as Mamoru reached for the car keys.

“See you later Mariko!”

“Bye auntie!”

“See you boys later!!” Mariko called from the kitchen.

They shut the door behind them, walking down the broken stone path and Sugawara helped get the dogs into the carry case at the rear of the car before climbing into the front passenger seat.

Mamoru climbed in beside him and started the car, as they pulled away from the house Sugawara looked out his window to see Mariko waving from the living room window.

“You’re going to your friend’s later?” Mamoru asked, steering the car through narrow residential streets before pulling onto the dock road and taking his place between large trucks and lorries on their journeys to the many ports along the coast.

“Yeah, I’m going to Oikawa’s for midday,” Sugawara confirmed, watching the large vehicle lumbering beside them, his eyes meeting the driver’s and they shared a smile, “he’s home alone so we’re having a movie day.”

“That sounds like fun! Which one is Oikawa again?”

“Satan.”

Mamoru laughed at Sugawara’s answer.

“Ah, the one with the fluffy hair?”

“Please don’t boost his ego, he’ll be able to hear you from here.” Sugawara grinned, looking at his uncle.

“Are you staying over?”

Sugawara hummed in confirmation.

“Yeah, we can’t all stay over this time, so after the movies it’ll just be me and Oikawa.”

They finally pulled clear of the truck cab, Sugawara turning to look at the sky as they drew nearer to the coast. The sky was overcast, the clouds off shore much thicker than the ones inland.

Sugawara felt his anxiety spike, the clouds were really dark, what if there was a storm? Ominous-looking dark clouds over a rolling metallic turquoise-grey.

They finally pulled off the industrial road and down the coastal road, Sugawara now spent most of his time looking for broken landmarks. Now he knew about Bokuto’s accident he looked for any lasting evidence, all the while his heart speeding in his chest, the prospect of finding something, combined with the changeable weather making his anxiety worse.

They sped down the coastal road, finally pulling into a car park behind the marine lake. Sugawara exited the car, the blustery wind catching him by surprise, sand whipping around him in a flurry. He buried his hands into his hoodie pockets and moved to help Mamoru get the two dogs from the back of their car.

The four then headed onto the marina pathway, Sugawara experiencing the full effect of a coastal breeze hitting him head-on.

“It’s so windy here!” He shouted to Mamoru, the air whistling as it weaved through metal railings and old warehouses on the land next to them.

“The dock road is like a boundary!” Mamoru called back, walking alongside Sugawara. “This is your first time at the beach, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Sugawara said, also nodding, “it’s not really what I had in mind!”

Mamoru laughed, beckoning Sugawara off the path and onto the rocky marine lake edge, salty brine just inches from their feet.

Lissy and Bora played around their legs as Mamoru bent down to inspect the water’s edge.

“Looks like it’s not quite here yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“We get sea foam during storms, it lines the lake and the beach,” Mamoru explained, “you can always see the organisms on the rocks before it happens.”

“Amazing…”

They continued to walk down the tarmac path, the track becoming more uneven as they neared the sand dunes, soon enough it was an incline and Sugawara leant into the wind in order to climb it.

When he reached the top he was met by icy blasts of wind, his cheeks cold and red raw from wind burn. The sea tumbled around the low tide mark, a ship not too far out with what looked like hundreds of containers, the wind turbines to the North West spinning in the turbulent weather.

Sugawara tucked stray hair behind his ear, pausing at the top of the sandy hill to admire the view.

It was then he realised; the sky was changing.

Those dark clouds were moving closer on a sea breeze, and as his hair whipped around his face he watched as no sun penetrated the thick layer. He worried his lip between his teeth, a strong arm wrapping around his shoulders and pulling him into a warm body.

“Looks to me like it might snow, what do you think?” Mamoru asked, keeping Sugawara tucked into his side protectively. “The sky’s full of it.”

He was right, Sugawara noted, looking back towards the horizon and noticing things his anxious mind had missed first time round.

The yellow hue to the clouds; the pale whitish precipitation shafts; far too light to be just rain, a few miles off the coast.

Snow.

“Snow!” Sugawara cheered with a laugh, running down the sand dune onto the wet sand below, he kept running along the expanse of sand, the roaring waves less than fifty metres away as he pumped his legs as fast as he could.

He nearly tripped on his own feet as he pushed off the sand with powerful kicks, his shoes throwing chunks of sand up behind him.

Over the roar of the wind he heard the jingle of metal, looking behind himself just fast enough to see Lissy and Bora, their dog tags clattering as they bounded to catch him, before his silver locks consumed his vision.

Suddenly he was tumbling onto wet sand, the grains reaching every crevice as he went down. Two pups proudly licking him and panting above him.

He was also panting, his lungs burning from the exertion of the wind and his impromptu sprint, he looked passed his pets to the sky.

And that’s when the first flakes began to fall, somehow still colder than his wind bitten cheeks.

He let out a breathy laugh as his uncle appeared in his vision, out of breath and offering him a hand.

“Koushi!” He laughed breathlessly as Sugawara grabbed his hand, tugging himself up with Mamoru’s help.

“That was fun!”

Sugawara couldn’t stop his laughter as the snow blew around them, he watched the white flecks landing and melting into the already sodden sand and tumbling waves.

Mamoru’s arm returned to around Sugawara, holding his nephew and Sugawara sighed; half breathless, half content as he leaned into his uncle.

“Koushi,” Mamoru began, still out of breath, “how would you like to come on holiday with me and Mariko?”

Sugawara looked at Mamoru, curious about the question.

“Where to?”

“The mountains; my boss has a chalet and he lends it to us each year for a few days,” Mamoru elaborated, “I told him we couldn’t go because were minding our nephew and he said he didn’t care if you came too, that the chalet can hold up to sixteen people so he didn’t mind how many people we took with us as long as we didn’t leave it a mess.”

“Oh wow…so I can bring friends?”

“Yeah, me and Mariko are boring adults, you can bring your friends.”

Sugawara imagined how much fun it would be to have his friends there with him, the snow on the mountains, the weather phenomena he’d get to see.

It outweighed his anxiety about being somewhere new.

“That sounds like fun!” Sugawara grinned at Mamoru before cooing at Lissy and Bora. “C’mon girls!” He laughed, taking off down the beach with the dogs hot on his heels. “I’ll ask my friends later today!” He called back to Mamoru, finding that, after the earlier stumble his back hurt like hell, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

He was happy.

He didn’t want to go back home.

No.

He already was home.

This was his home.

Where he’d lived before now was just a stepping stone.

A prison.

He never wanted to go back.

Sugawara looked at the old beige Victorian house as Mamoru pulled up outside it.

“Have fun, Koushi.”

“I will!” Sugawara climbed out the car, carrying his overnight bag in his left hand, waving goodbye to Mamoru before walking up the drive to Oikawa’s house.

Sugawara could still feel the grainy textures from the beach on his body, despite going home and having a shower before going to Oikawa’s.

He knocked on the door, surprised when Iwaizumi opened it instead.

“Hey Suga, come on in.”

He stepped over the threshold, once again being taken back by the sheer size of the house.

“This place would be so daunting if I didn’t know Oikawa was a total pussy.”

Iwaizumi snorted and he led the way into the living room; somewhere Sugawara had never been before.

Wait.

Was Iwaizumi limping?

“Did you hurt your leg?”

He seemed to stumble at the question.

“S—Something like that.” He rubbed the back of his neck, his ears and nape a reddish tinge.

“Suga-chan!”

“Satan!”

Oikawa groaned low in the back of his throat, a pained noise, earning a laugh from Sugawara.

“Hey Sugaaaaa!!”

Sugawara looked over to the caller, to Kuroo.

“Chemicals, my man—Oh, hey Kenma!”

Everyone had already arrived, Sugawara greeting them all in turn before Oikawa took his chance to speak.

“Where do you guys wanna watch the movies? In here or the basement again?”

“Eeeh, let’s not be moles this time.” Kuroo snickered. “We can also keep track of the takeout up here.”

“Okay, we’ll stay in here. What movies do you want?”

“Godzilla.” Iwaizumi spoke without missing a beat.

“Human Centipede trilogy!”

“Nooo!”

“Alien!”

“Alien vs. Predator!”

“Suga, what movie do you want to watch?” Daichi turned to ask him as he sat down beside him.

“Uhm,” Sugawara thought for a moment, he never liked scary or thriller movies, “Treasure Planet?”

The room quietened down, people seeming to realise that the pressure from their peers meant Sugawara was the only one to suggest a children’s movie.

“I could settle for that!” Oikawa grinned, sorting through his collection.

“Good choice, Suga!” Kuroo smiled. “Man, I used to love this movie.”

“Who didn’t?” Kenma asked, leaning back into the plush white velvet couch, Sierria leaning into him.

“I’ve only seen it once or twice, is that the one with the cat lady?”

“Damn she was hot.” Kuroo blurted out, attracting numerous stares.

“I want her to step on me with those boots.” Oikawa confessed.

“Same...” Sugawara hummed.

The group of teens put the movie on, settling down together on the couch with various snacks and the electric fake log burner fire on its highest setting.

Sugawara found himself squished between Daichi and Kuroo, not that he minded being flanked by the warmest members of the group.

As the movie progressed he felt like he could relate to the main character, seen as a screw up in other people’s eyes, a misfit with no real purpose. His parents wanted nothing to do with him, they made him feel like he needed to hide who he was and fit a broken mould; a mould that had never been suited to him in the first place.

But then, amongst all of that he found his friends, his version of Jim’s crew. To them he wasn’t a misfit or a reject, he felt like he had a purpose with his friends, he felt like he was loved wholeheartedly for who he was, not broken into something he wasn’t.

By the time Jim’s theme began to play, the song ringing out through the surround sound speakers Sugawara was startled as the group began to sing along.

“I am a question to the world, not an answer to be heard.” Kuroo sang, his feet on the foot rest in front of them moving not unlike a conductor’s arm.

Oikawa joined in next, “or a moment that’s held in your arms.”

“And what do you think you’d ever say?” Bokuto sang too, his arm around Akaashi’s shoulder. “I won’t listen anyway,” Oikawa harmonised with Bokuto, “you don’t know me, and I’ll never be what you want me to be.”

Sugawara longed to join in, he wished he didn’t feel the crippling anxiety about doing something he could mess up with in front of his friends.

Singing with other people was scary.

“And what do you think you’d understand? I’m a boy, no, I’m a man.” Akaashi sung, his fingers holding Bokuto’s free hand as Bokuto and Kuroo joined in. “You can’t take me and throw me away.”

The group continued to sing right through the song, Sierria joining by the first chorus and by the second verses Kenma, Daichi, and Iwaizumi joined in too. "I'M STILL HERE!"

Sugawara felt the urge to join in growing stronger, but so did the anxiety. So instead he mimed, not noticing the tears on his cheeks.

“Suga?”

Sugawara looked up to Daichi, an involuntary sniffle escaping his lips.

The sound attracted the rest of the group’s attention, the eight teens looking at Sugawara with worry and concern, Oikawa pausing the movie.

“Suga-chan?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Sugawara apologised, wiping at his face furiously, realising he couldn’t keep his secret forever, “it just hits close to home…”

He could see the looks of confusion from most of his friends, but then Oikawa’s realisation.

“Suga-chan…” Oikawa shifted off the edge of the couch and leaned close to Sugawara’s face. “Fuck your parents.”

“Huh? What?” Kuroo asked, looking at Sugawara. “Are your parents dickheads or something?”

“Why do you think I live with my aunt and uncle?” Sugawara asked, his tone subdued aside of the quiver as he fought back his tears, he looked to the ceiling and blinked furiously. “They didn’t want me anymore, couldn’t wait to pawn me off to the nearest family member.”

He looked down at his curled toes in his worn galaxy patterned socks, he didn’t want this, he didn’t want to ruin the light mood.

“We’re here for you.” And two warm hands, one from each side of him rested on his back, Oikawa’s hand on his left knee. “It must be hard keeping your feelings all bottled up, Suga-chan.”

“Sugaa!” Bokuto crowed, jumping over Daichi to hug the teen in the middle.

“I just…I don’t want to ruin the mood.” Sugawara said. “I’m fine, honestly.”

“Suga, can I talk to you?” Daichi asked, not offering any extra explanation but his eyes betraying how he wanted to help him.

“O—Okay…”

“We’ll be back in a minute guys,” Daichi said, standing and offering a hand to Sugawara, “you can keep watching the movie if you want.”

Sugawara took his hand, hauling himself up and following Daichi out the room.

They walked out of the living room, heading up the stairs and settling on the settee on the first-floor landing.

“He has a fucking couch on his landing?” Sugawara scoffed sitting down beside Daichi, only then realising they hadn’t let go of each other’s hands.

“I know, totally OTT.” Daichi smiled, earning another watery laugh from Sugawara.

“What did you want to talk about?” Sugawara asked quietly.

“I just…wanted to make sure you know you’re not alone.” Daichi shrugged, surprising Sugawara with a teary smile of his own. “Trying to make your parents proud of you can be really hard sometimes.”

Sugawara realised instantly what Daichi was referring to, Oikawa had told him about Daichi’s parents.

“I—I’m sorry…!”

“For what?” Daichi seemed surprised by the sudden proclamation.

“You…lost your parents, I couldn’t possibly compare our experiences.”

“We both lost our parents, sure the circumstances were different, but we both lost those people who were meant to help us grow into the people we could be proud of,” Daichi rationalised, “it’s scary growing up too fast, it’s scary doing all you physically can and still not feeling like someone your parents could be proud of. But I couldn’t imagine having parents who made you feel like they could never be proud of you.”

Sugawara shrugged, looking to the floor.

“They didn’t like the fact I loved the weather, they didn’t like how it also made me incredibly anxious,” Sugawara looked to the circle shaped, frosted stained glass window at the end of the landing space, he could see the lead boat on a stormy sea, but he could also see the fat snowflakes whirling around outside, “they hated the things I couldn’t change.”

“Is that why when we first met you freaked out after talking about the fair—cumulus clouds?”

Sugawara looked at Daichi, taken back by the fact he actually remembered the name of the clouds, even after four months.

He took the time to remember something about Sugawara’s favourite thing.

“Yeah…it is…”

“I hope you realise you don’t have to pretend around us, around me.” Daichi said, his warm hand finding its way back to Sugawara’s back, his thumb rubbing a soothing pattern into his shoulder blade.

“Thank you…”

“And you’ve really…God Suga, you’re so incredibly interesting, you leave me speechless with how you can forecast the weather and recite all this information as if it’s the only thing you’re made of. You live and breathe this amazing talent and I’ve never met anyone who can do that. You make me stop and look at the sky to see if I can identify some cloud types, but I think I’ll leave that to the expert.” Daichi grinned boyishly.

Sugawara’s face felt far too hot as he received the praise, not use to such attention, such positive attention.

“If only my parents saw what you see.”

Daichi hummed, “it would make everything easier.”

A low rumble reverberated through the house and Sugawara startled, jumping and hiding his face into his hands. “I hate thunder…”

“Thunder? But it’s snowing outside!” Daichi responded with confusion thick in his voice.

“Thundersnow…” Sugawara groaned, “a rare weather phenomenon.”

“Really? Wow,” Daichi muttered, looking out the stained glass window, “that’s incredible. Wanna go watch?”

Sugawara shook his head violently, “distract me.”

“Okay, uh,” Sugawara watched the other trying to think of a distraction, “your parents are daft, Suga, and I know how you can prove them wrong.”

Sugawara worried his lip between his teeth, “how?”

“Thunder.”

“Thunder?”

“You cowered when you heard it.” A louder boom made its presence known. “But why not try to be the lightning?”

“The lightning?”

“With your parents, with your hobbies and with the weather, be there first. Don’t cower and hide when you can be there first.”

“Be there first…”

“Yeah! Like, be the lightning and everyone else is the thunder.”

Sugawara fell quiet, staring at a spot on the floor, an old fleck of white paint on varnished laminate. He leaned into Daichi’s side, partially to hide his teary, heated face, partially to just feel a little bit closer to the other teen.

“For the record, your parents would be so proud of you, Daichi, look at all the things you do, the people you help.”

Sugawara felt a gentle pressure on his crown, only realising that it was Daichi’s own head when he next spoke, feeling the movement of his jaw on his scalp.

“Thank you…”

“Don’t—”

They were interrupted by the sound of another rumble of thunder overhead, a flash of lightning visible this time, too.

“Let’s go watch the thundersnow, Daichi!”

The pair headed back down to their group of friends, Sugawara eagerly beckoning them to follow. They did, the nine teens heading outside to marvel at the sight of lighting against snow-filled skies, flurries of white building up instead of a torrent of rain.

He listened to the sounds of awe coming from his friends, wondering if he’d always be able to bring them so much joy.

“Oh! Right, you guys!” Sugawara suddenly perked up. “You’re all invited on holiday with me and auntie and uncle.”

“Wait what? Where?” Oikawa was first to voice his protest.

“Where the hell are you going first?” Kuroo asked.

“The mountains! Uncle Mamoru’s boss has a chalet there.”

Kenma rolled his eyes. “Alright for some.”

“I can’t, Suga, I’m going to visit my grandparents.” Sierria pouted.

“No…” Sugawara felt guilt at asking. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna go see them for a while.” Sierria explained, “but it’s okay! There’s always gonna be next time!” She reassured.

“I’ll check if I can get time off work,” Daichi said, “tonight.”

“Awesome!” Sugawara really hoped Daichi could make it.

“It sounds like fun.” Akaashi smiled. “I’m in, so long as we don’t tell my parents Bokuto will be there, they should let me.”

“When will we be going?” Iwaizumi finally asked.

“Uh, I don’t know the exact dates, but it’s probably gonna be New Year.”

“Well, I think apart from Sie-chan and Sawa-chan you’ve got a full house.”

Sugawara smiled, trying to hide his disappointment, he wanted all of his friends there, “yeah.”

Daichi checked his bag one last time, making sure the contents were in order and his work uniform was neatly packed.

He’d get changed in work.

He flung his backpack onto his back, bidding farewell to his siblings and uncle, catching Iwaizumi on his way out.

“Thanks again for doing this, Daichi.”

“What do you mean?”

“Taking my shifts so I can be with Oikawa more.”

“Oh,” Daichi muttered, “it’s fine, you’d do the same for me.”

Iwaizumi hummed, “but still, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” He walked out from the hallway and into the front garden, lifting his bike from where it was resting along the side of the wall.

“Daichi, wait,” Iwaizumi ran down the steps at the front of their house, “are you really goin to ask for time off?”

Daichi fell quiet, initially he wasn’t…he’d just tell Sugawara his work had said no. But something had changed…

“Yeah, I’m gonna ask tonight.”

Iwaizumi smiled, “it sounds like it could be fun, going up the mountain.”

“Yeah, it does.” Daichi smiled and then he climbed onto his bike. “See you later.”

He pushed off the garden path and waved goodbye to Iwaizumi, the latter returning the gesture and going inside.

Cycling onto the main road Daichi fell into line with traffic, at the kerbside to avoid getting in the way of the heavy goods vehicles that were also travelling down the road.

He crossed over small side streets without trouble, passing Oikawa’s home where he knew Oikawa and Sugawara would probably be ordering all manner of food.

Next he went down the next road to his work, still more than forty-five minutes away he kept cycling, eventually reaching a fork in the road where it bottlenecked. There was no sidewalk there, only tarmac and side streets.

The last thing he heard as he crossed over a side street was the sound of a car horn.

Sugawara emerged from the bathroom, in his pajamas and ready for bed, “what are you shouting about?” He asked after listening to Oikawa crow down the phone from the bathroom.

Oikawa ignored him.

“Is he okay?” His voice was quiet. “Broken?” Broken? “Shit…hold on, I’ll let Suga-chan know—Oh, okay, keep me updated, yeah, yeah, bye.”

Oikawa lowered the phone from his ear, looking at Sugawara with his lip pulled between his teeth, “that was Iwa-chan.”

Sugawara’s stomach rolled, “and?”

“Sawa-chan was hit by a car,” Oikawa’s hand came up to rub at his eyes, Sugawara felt like he was going to be sick, nausea rolling inside him, “he’s okay, but he’s broke his arm, they’re not sure how serious it is yet – they’re waiting for a specialist.”

“OhmyGod… Poor Daichi.” Sugawara still felt sick.

A car crash…

“Can we go visit him?”

“His whole family is there right now, I don’t think they’d let us in. Too crowded.”

“Fuck…” He sank onto Oikawa’s bed, huddling into the other teenager’s body. “I don’t think I’d be able to sleep tonight…”

“Yeah…” Oikawa’s arm wrapped around him, “me too.”