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Kinoshita Hisashi considers himself a tactile person but this is pushing the envelope of ridiculousness.
“Narita…do you plan letting me down any time soon?” He asks his best friend who he’s currently clinging to like a koala. Kinoshita had offered extra clothes, his sister had enough knitted goods to start a store, but Narita had insisted on this current arrangement.
“Wait until we meet Ennoshita,” Narita replies, squeezing Kinoshita tighter, “Otherwise it’ll be too cold.”
“You could have put on another sweater.”
“This is better—you’re comfier than a sweater.”
“You were just complaining about my elbows yesterday,” Kinoshita mutters back.
“Because you nailed me in the ribs. This is much nicer.” Narita smiles, tucking his chin in Kinoshita’s fluffy, dirty blonde hair.
“I guess I can’t disagree with that.” Narita makes him feel safe and, well, less guilty. Because Narita is normal too. Narita shares the bench with him as they cheer on their teammates and help Kiyoko take care of the team. Narita works alongside him during practice, exchanging spikes until they both can’t feel their limbs anymore. Narita walks him home and listens to him ramble about 17th century artists until they have to part. Narita tells him it’s okay to be himself.
“You’re the best friend you know that?” Kinoshita whispers into Narita’s ear.
“Don’t tell Ennoshita that—he’ll be upset.” Narita chuckles but rubs his cheek against Kinoshita’s. Narita marvels how frost never seems to touch Kinoshita—his cheeks are still pleasantly warm and unhardened by the snow falling around them. It’s appropriate though, he finds. Hinata may be the sun, the most brilliant ball of sunshine to transform Karasuno but Kinoshita radiates a homey warmth that provides a pillar of stability in their whirlwind of a team.
“He’s my best friend too, just different.” Kinoshita lets out a pleased sigh and rubs back gently like a contented cat.
“I know. You’re special to me too.” Narita replies and faces Kinoshita.
“I know that too.” Kinoshita grins cheekily and they both laugh.
“Are you two up to something?” Ennoshita looks bemused and tired in the dim winter sun.
“Is that any way to greet your friends?” Kinoshita whines dramatically, drawing a low laugh from Ennoshita.
“Good morning Kinoshita, Narita.”
“Morning.” Narita shuffles and picks Kinoshita up reluctantly. “Your turn.”
“Oi! I’m not a toy you guys,” Kinoshita pouts but accepts Ennoshita’s embrace easily. Unlike Narita, he and Ennoshita are almost the exact same height so he snuggles up to Ennoshita’s side instead of clinging onto him. Ennoshita immediately squeezes him to his side, sighing in relief at the incoming warmth.
“Of course, not. You’re a heater. A warm, bubbly amazing heater.” Ennoshita mumbles from the crook of Kinoshita’s neck.
“Is that all I am to you guys?” Kinoshita sighs.
“Never. You’re a good friend and teammate that’s been through hell with me and I’ve always been grateful to have you here.” Ennoshita replies smoothly because the answer is easy. Leaving volleyball would have been so much harder without Kinoshita’s reluctant acceptance and coming back would have been harder still without Kinoshita flanking him as they approached Daichi to ask for membership forms. Ennoshita doesn’t know what he’d do without either Narita and Kinoshita with him and he’s found it doesn’t matter what he’s doing with them—films, volleyball, homework, so long as they’re there. Both of them.
“…” Kinoshita doesn’t know what else to say but he curls into Ennoshita just a bit more. Narita walks beside them quietly. They pass the rest of the trip to school in silence, listening to each other’s breath. Somehow, the snow doesn’t seem to touch them as they arrive at Karasuno High, hair and coats largely free of the falling flakes. Proximity has melted the snow away.
“You’re here!” Noya smiles widely at the front gate and tackles Kinoshita who has to rapidly remove his arm from Ennoshita to catch the incoming ball of libero excitement.
“Noya! You could have fallen!” Ennoshita chides as he pulls away from Kinoshita slowly, savoring the last dregs of warmth.
“Not with Kinoshita! He’s always caught me, right?” Noya’s grin makes Kinoshita’s insides tighten and warm. Noya’s louder and more energetic but he has an inordinate amount of trust in Kinoshita that Kinoshita’s not entirely sure he deserves.
“I might drop you one of these days if you keep giving me heart attacks like this,” Kinoshita warns. It’s an old warning, one Noya has heard more times than he would like.
“You won’t.” Noya asserts, boring into Kinoshita’s eyes intensely. “I trust you. I trust you with a lot of things Kinoshita.”
“Oh?” Kinoshita offers weakly. He wonders if he ate too much curry last night because there’s something in him wriggling about.
“Yeah! Like, I trust you to always have your history notes and all that stuff but I also trust you to take care of me too—like when Asahi is being too weak or when I’m too tired to keep up with Tanaka and Hinata, you’ll make some really awful joke to cheer me up. I know you carry around a first-aid kit because of me and that you make sure I wrap the gauze after practice because you worry for me. So of course, I trust you. You’ve only ever helped me up as long as I’ve known you.”
“I left before you,” Kinoshita mumbles as he walks to class.
“Because that’s who you are—you go where your heart is and your heart was with your friends. I never blamed you for that or resented it. I did the same thing when Asahi left so I can’t call you a hypocrite. Stop beating yourself up for that time.” Noya declares and Kinoshita smiles.
“Thanks Noya.”
“Thank you too, Kinoshita.” Noya replies cheerily as he dislodges himself and hops towards his class. Kinoshita finds himself grinning stupidly for the rest of the morning.
-
“Man I’ve been waiting for this all morning,” Tanaka huffs as he places his head onto of Kinoshita’s during lunch. They always meet up in Noya’s classroom because it’s at the halfway point between most of them.
“Did the heater in your classroom break?” Kinoshita asks as he feels ice old hands trail along his sides and into his pockets.
“Yeah, it short-circuited and nearly blew up. I forgot my gloves today too.” Tanaka grumbles.
“You did bring your lunch though right?” Kinoshita says as he unwraps his own bento.
“…”
“…stupid baldy.”
“Hey!”
“You’re such an idiot,” Kinoshita rolls his eyes and picks up a piece of meat, holding it over his head, “Here.”
“Are you sure?” Tanaka asks, a bit startled. Usually Kinoshita would laugh at him and then give him money to buy something from the vending machines.
“Would you rather eat chips for lunch again?” Kinoshita replies, eyebrow raised.
“Of course not!” Tanaka leans forward and gulps the food down.
“Can’t have next year’s ace starving, can we?” Kinoshita smiles indulgently before realizing what he’s said.
“What did you say?” Tanaka asks, completely shocked.
“You heard it fine the first time,” Kinoshita blushes from embarrassment and busies himself with eating the eggplant in his lunch. He makes fun of Tanaka a lot, not in the least because Tanaka sets himself up for insult, but the strongest feeling he has towards Tanaka is admiration. Admiration for his commitment to the club, for his strength on the court, and for those rare moments of startling wisdom from someone who’s a lot more perceptive than even he knows.
“…I won’t let you down.” Tanaka murmurs in Kinoshita’s ear.
“You never have,” Kinoshita whispers back.
-
“Hey Kinoshita! Are you ready for practice?” Daichi slips his head into Kinoshita’s classroom the minute the bell rings.
“Yes, give me a moment!” Kinoshita has stopped questioning Daichi’s ability to get out of class early. Whether it’s because his teacher adores him or he can teleport, Kinoshita doesn’t know.
“How was class today?” Daichi asks as he slings an arm easily around Kinoshita, drawing him close.
“Same old, same old. Math is the devil. English is an impossible language. Japanese is a constant hunt for symbols and science is the study of the inevitable apocalypse.”
“Your lessons were boring again?”
“Yes,” Kinoshita sags, eyes tired from staring at too small font for hours.
“It’ll probably get better next unit. You said that one is going to have more history, right?”
“Yeah, or at least, I can reference it more and not get docked,” Kinoshita quirks his lips just a little bit and Daichi laughs heartily.
“Sneaky.”
“That’s me.” They fall into a comfortable silence as they walk to practice, letting the winds howl around them. Daichi finds himself thinking they’re a bit like Kinoshita too—almost invisible but always present and absolutely necessary. Kinoshita doesn’t know, and no one on the team is sure how to tell him, that they wouldn’t exist without him.
Because it’s Kinoshita who strides up to the vice-principal first, feet shaking, and asks to keep the volleyball club on the roster even though they haven’t won in years. It’s Kinoshita who forcibly hauls them to the nurse’s office the minute he notices they’re limping. It’s Kinoshita who comes up with silly cheers with Suga to keep the team’s spirits up. He keeps the heart of the club pumping so the rest of them can give its mission flight.
“Are you going to practice your serve today?” Daichi asks when they’re a few hundred feet from the gym doors.
“Of course,” Kinoshita puffs up proudly. He’s raring to go now that even Noya is having trouble receiving his serves and Yamaguchi has a running bet with him.
“Call me over once you do.” Daichi chuckles.
“If you can keep up, old man.” Kinoshita teases and Daichi cuffs him over the head.
“Respect your elders, young grasshopper.”
“I always thought I was more of a cricket.” Kinoshita muses and Daichi laughs again.
-
“…you know you have to move at some point Suga.” Kinoshita is both deeply amused and slightly worried. Suga had cornered and snuggled him on one of the locker room benches for the last five minutes. Kinoshita doesn’t mind because Suga is surprisingly soft despite his sharp punches but his legs are beginning to stiffen and practice is about to start.
“Five more minutes,” Suga mumbles from his chest and Kinoshita shrugs helplessly and squeezes his arms around Suga’s waist a little tighter. Unlike the others, Suga remains fairly warm throughout the winter though his nose turns red without fail every Christmas. Suga’s parents even have photo evidence to prove it.
“If you’re tired, you can go rest in the nurse’s office.” Heaven knows the nurse won’t question it. Kinoshita’s brought in all of his teammates for all sort of injuries too many times for her to be fazed by any request he has.
“I’m happy here,” Suga rolls to his other side and Kinoshita shifts obligingly, “It’s like you’re a sponge Kinoshita.”
“What does that mean?” Suga gets a little loopy when he’s exhausted, Ennoshita has that piece of blackmail tucked safely under his bed, but Kinoshita likes listening to him. To Kinoshita, Suga’s voice sounds like home.
“You’ll absorb anything we throw at you. I guess, I don’t know but for some reason, whenever I talk to you, you seem to take away anything I feel bad about. Maybe you’re more of a filter? Like you’ll filter out all the bad things for us so when we’re done talking, we only feel good. Right now, you’re taking all the stress out of my life and I don’t want to leave.”
“I’ll always be here when you want me to Suga,” Kinoshita promises as he runs his hands through Suga’s downy hair.
“Mmhm. Stay.” Suga wraps his arms around Kinoshita’s neck and slowly falls asleep. Kinoshita keeps watch.
-
Coach Ukai doesn’t have the heart to dislodge them when he marches into the locker room to find them. One warning look from Kinoshita takes the words out of his mouth and he watches them both.
It’s a mistake to think of Kinoshita as ordinary, Ukai thinks. Swirling under the surface of good humor and carefreeness is an unstoppable current of devotion towards others that is perfectly capable of destroying anything that threatens its path.
Ukai knows his old man has called Kinoshita a sheep in the past. A follower, a good-with-the-flow-when-it’s-popular sort of guy or even a coward. Ukai likes to think he knows better.
Kinoshita is someone whose spotlight has been taken so many times he doesn’t believe he can dance anymore. The neglected middle child in a single parent household, then the perpetual bench warmer. Ukai can’t blame Kinoshita for lacking confidence when he’s hardly been given a chance to build it for himself. At the same time, it means Ukai has to push the kid hard in order to prove to Kinoshita that he ought to believe. He’s a damned scary pinch server and a respectable spiker when games begin to crunch. There’s no reason for him to be ashamed of what he brings to the court and Ukai will drill that into his head before the year is over. By whatever act of will and love that he clings onto, Kinoshita hasn’t quit which means Ukai won’t give up on him either.
“Suga, Kinoshita,” Daichi intones sternly, glare firmly in place as he taps his foot impatiently.
Kinoshita levels a reluctant glare at Daichi that somehow manages to be scary but Suga pulls himself up.
“Alright, let’s go Kinoshita,”
“Okay.” The glare dissipates like fresh snow on a heater, replaced by a too practiced smile. Ukai isn’t worried when he claps Kinoshita’s shoulder reassuringly. Spring will return without fail.
-
“Nice serve!” Yamaguchi smirks at Kinoshita’s latest serve—straight into Hinata’s face.
“If that was nice, then what was that serve to Ennoshita?” And it is on.
“Brilliant, compared to yours.”
“Which one of us has more drops on Noya?”
“Changing the subject I see.”
“Only to save you from embarrassment. I didn’t think you’d forget how many times you’ve served into Hinata’s face.”
“Save me!” Hinata wails dramatically at Kageyama who’s just a little bit lost amidst the pinch setter showdown.
“And I didn’t think you’d forget how many times you’ve served Narita like an armless lizard.”
“Like that’s comparable to your pigeon-footed stances.”
“At least I don’t do run ups like a duck.”
“Shithead”
“Bastard”. Kinoshita finishes and they both burst out laughing. Off to the side, Tsukishima is smiling proudly.
“Okay, okay you two, give it a rest,” Suga chortles. Yamaguchi has a secret competitive streak a mile wide and Kinoshita is a spectacular enabler.
“Yes mother,” they chorus, narrowly dodging a swift kick from Suga before they run for the gym doors.
“Come back here you miscreants!” Suga shouts after them.
“Let them be—it’s good to see they’re having fun.” Daichi’s face should not be as Zen as it is.
“Shouldn’t we call them back?” Asahi asks nervously.
“They’ll come back soon enough and Yamaguchi won’t freeze if he has Kinoshita,” Daichi’s face remains serenely blank and he turns around, “I guess you’ll have to fill in for them Suga, Tanaka.”
“Alright!” Tanaka cheers as Suga groans.
~
“The look on Suga’s face was priceless!” Yamaguchi crows as he and Kinoshita stumble out into the snow, breathless with laughter and adrenaline from fleeing Mama Crow.
“Ennoshita better have pictures,” Kinoshita agrees, slinging his arm around Yamaguchi as they grin wildly at each other.
“Truce?” Yamaguchi asks first.
“Truce, until Suga finishes chewing us out for leaving him with Tanaka.”
“Deal.” They shake on it and laugh and again.
“Race you back?”
“You’re on.” It is at this moment they realize that they’re completely lost, the snow has begun to fall so thick that they have difficulty seeing the tracks they left.
“Well…I suppose there’s worse people to be lost with,” Yamaguchi decides as he takes Kinoshita’s hand and strides forward, “We should head to the nearest building and go from there.”
“Alright, captain.” Kinoshita teases and Yamaguchi flushes from head to toe.
“I don’t think so Kinoshita.”
“You know you’re the only one sane enough to do the job, right?”
“…. okay you have a point.” Yamaguchi shakes his head at the thought. Kageyama, despite his improvements, is far too awkward. Hinata is too energetic to teach anyone the basics and the less he thought about Tsukishima trying to help out a shy first year the better.
“I told you so,” Kinoshita replies smugly as he squeezes Yamaguchi’s hand reassuringly, “There’s no one else we can trust more.”
“Thanks I think.” Yamaguchi laughs lightly and squeezes back.
They don’t let go until Suga demands that they both return to their serving positions before he beans Tanaka with a volleyball.
-
Yachi thinks one of the safest places in the world is right in Kinoshita’s lap. It’s something she’s not sure how to explain but there’s something about sitting near or on Kinoshita that is incredibly calming. Some days she thinks it’s his unquestioning silence. Other times it’s the soft smile he reserves for her or maybe it’s the times he rubs circles into her too tense shoulders. She doesn’t know what or why exactly but maybe not knowing is okay into of itself.
Still, she remembers how it all started quite vividly. It was a particularly chilly day in September when all of her deadlines seemed to be happening the very next day. Coach Ukai had excused her from taking notes, sympathizing with the five tests and two projects that she had due, but she couldn’t focus when her hands were shaking and her mind was a blur. Kinoshita had looked at her for three seconds before promptly hoisting her into his lap. At first, Yachi nearly died from embarrassment but she’s learned since then to soak in the security Kinoshita radiates and lets him take away her worries.
“Nice design,” Kinoshita compliments Yachi as her hands word studiously over a soaring crow and smiles indulgently as she beams up at him. He adores her the same way he adores his younger sister, Hikari and irrationally, childishly wants to protect her from the rest of the world. There’s not a single mean bone in Yachi’s spine and that makes her all the more vulnerable. So Kinoshita holds her tight and whispers gentle words in her ear to keep her smiling and laughing, to keep Karasuno’s other ball of sunshine burning bright.
Someday, she won’t need him, won’t need his smile to reassure or his encouragement for her to take pride in her work; it’s coming sooner than even Yachi herself expects. But until then, he’s more than happy to let her take shelter under his wings.
-
“You need help?” Kinoshita asks Kiyoko, leaning over her shoulder to see her notes.
“A little bit,” Kiyoko leans back into Kinoshita’s warmth as she purses her lips, “Would you guys prefer Pocari during matches or water?”
“Pocari I think,” Kinoshita replies after a few seconds, idly stroking Kiyoko’s hair, “It’ll keep us more energetic, especially since the team as a whole isn’t used to five-set matches. But it’d be a good idea to keep a barrel of water just in case someone gets a nosebleed or begins to overheat. Plus, our team has more sweet tooth’s than a kindergarten.” Kiyoko has to laugh at the last part.
“Is that how they seem to you?”
“Sometimes. I mean, we have Noya and Hinata.”
“That’s true,” Kiyoko smiles at Hinata’s well-timed yelp.
“Yeah. Is there anything else you’d like me to help you with?” Kiyoko admires Kinoshita’s earnestness. He never seems to bellyache at whatever task she asks him to do. It’s this fact that makes her baffled when he refers to himself as ungrateful. If anything, it’s the team that can be ungrateful. Sometimes it is easy to forget Kinoshita contributes at all because he comes to all of them alone, away from the crowds and nosy classmates, and showers them all with love. Kiyoko wonders how big Kinoshita’s heart must be, to fit all of them so fully.
“There’s a package of new volleyballs that should be waiting in the admin building. Could you pick it up?”
“Of course,” Simple, easy. Kinoshita releases Kiyoko’s tresses and walks amicably out the gym doors. His cheeks are still a bit warm after being so close to Kiyoko. Her presence soothes him and he’s grateful she lets him run his fingers through her hair. It’s calmed him down more than once in the heat of matches. Kinoshita wonders why she lets him get away with it, no one else on their team is allowed to, but he also supposes it doesn’t matter. If anything, it means Kiyoko trusts him a little differently than the others and he’s more than okay with that.
Kiyoko finds herself rifling through her drawings after she watches Kinoshita disappear in a swirl of snow. When she draws her teammates, Kiyoko finds that Kinoshita is always a white butterfly* because there’s nothing else he could possibly be other than loyal and caring beyond all odds. Once she graduates, he’s going to get a small note book of those drawings but for now, Kiyoko smiles at the pictures and waits for his return.
-
“Can you help me reach the ball?” Hinata puts on his biggest puppy dog eyes and Kinoshita finds he can’t refuse. Only Tsukishima has lasted longer than ten seconds under that gaze.
“Sure.” Kinoshita kneels down for Hinata to jump on his shoulders and he manages not to wince when Hinata’s shoes dig into his collarbone.
“Be careful!” Suga calls from across the court and Kinoshita manages a two-fingered salute before grabbing onto Hinata’s feet tightly. He can’t lift up his head when Hinata’s weight is crushing his neck so he maneuvers according to Hinata’s boisterously loud instructions.
“Left, a little higher, higher! There!” Hinata crows in delight as he knocks down the errant volleyball that had nestled itself on top of one of the closed stands.
“Nice!” Kinoshita compliments and jumps a little, jostling Hinata.
“Whoa! Do that again!” Hinata laughs gaily as Kinoshita continues to hop around like a jackrabbit.
“Zshoom!” Kinoshita cries out as he rockets around the gym, Hinata shrieking in delight the whole way. Hinata enjoys being Natsu’s older brother but it’s nice to be the younger brother, especially when piggyback rides are complimentary. For Kinoshita’s part, he can’t help but spoiling Hinata just a little bit. The kid embodies the spirit of the club—that never-ending desire to fly higher, shoot for better—and Kinoshita finds himself both inspired and humbled that a player like Hinata exists. So Kinoshita runs, runs, runs to keep Hinata soaring on high where he rightfully belongs.
Eventually though, Kinoshita runs out of breath and Coach Ukai stops laughing at Kinoshita’s attempts to Naruto run off the walls long enough to tell them to get back to work.
“Thanks Kinoshita,” Hinata smiles so broadly it has to hurt and hugs Kinoshita around the waist tightly. Kinoshita grins back tiredly, managing to ruffle Hinata’s perpetually messy hair before he runs off to pester Kageyama for more sets. Kinoshita spends the next half hour giggling softly he hurls serves at Ennoshita’s entirely too smug face.
“Shut up Ennoshita.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
-
Kinoshita steps out of the showers and is greeted with a cup of hot tea.
“Asahi?” Kinoshita tilts his head up to ask the ace for permission.
“Go ahead.” Asahi smiles fondly as Kinoshita happily sips the tea, squeezing Asahi’s hand when he realizes that’s chamomile and lemon.
Kinoshita reminds Asahi a little bit of himself; both of them share wavering doubts about their role in the club. For this reason, Asahi seeks Kinoshita out when he’s tired of being pushed forward by Daichi or Noya. Some days, Asahi needs to know it’s okay to be who he is at that moment and Kinoshita gives them to him without a second thought.
“Mm, thanks sempai.” Kinoshita hums happily, “Are we going out today?” Kinoshita appreciates how Asahi takes care to notice the little things, an ironic fact for such a large guy. But it’s what makes him a good friend and teammate and Kinoshita finds himself wrapping around Asahi easily.
“Yeah, Daichi decided that all of us are getting hot food before going home.”
“Good thinking,” Kinoshita reluctantly detaches one of his arms to towel off his hair.
“I’ll do it.” Asahi takes the towel from Kinoshita’s hand.
“Sure?” Kinoshita is a bit bewildered but let’s Asahi dry off his hair. This isn’t something Asahi has done for him before but Kinoshita finds that it’s easy to get lost in the circles Asahi draws into his head. A low purr rumbles in his chest and vibrates against them both.
“Thanks,” Kinoshita blinks up at Asahi when he feels the towel moving away.
“No problem,” Asahi smiles warmly, “Come on, let’s go.”
“Okay.” Kinoshita agrees. In a bout of mischievousness, Kinoshita jumps up and manages to get a grip on Asahi’s shoulder’s. Asahi grunts in surprise but grabs Kinoshita’s legs instinctively, letting the smaller boy pull himself up until his head is resting on Asahi’s shoulder.
“Is this okay?” Kinoshita checks with Asahi. In hindsight, he should have mentioned it sooner but better late than never.
“Not at all,” Asahi smiles broadly and jumps a little, startling Kinoshita, then drawing out a childish giggle.
“Forward march then, my noble steed,” Kinoshita commands between his snickers.
“Neigh!” Asahi plays a long, earning himself a ringing laugh from Kinoshita.
Ennoshita is Daichi’s protégé, Narita is Suga’s partner and Tanaka and Noya are Kiyoko’s subjects. But Kinoshita is Asahi’s little brother and Asahi adamantly refuses to let him ever feel unhappy when he’s around.
-
Quiet is something Tsukishima values and while that’s usually impossible around his teammates, Kinoshita manages to find a corner of the booth where the sound of their team is muffled. He grunts his thanks to Kinoshita who acknowledges it with a soft groan before the smaller boy curls up against him sleepily. Tsukishima can’t stop the small smile that ghosts over his lips and strokes his fingers over Kinoshita’s cheek. After checking that everyone else is occupied, Tsukishima starts to sing.
It’s an old German lullaby, one of the few Tsukishima remembers from his childhood days, sitting on his grandfather’s lap as the old man told him old fairytales and rhymes. When Tsukishima feels that he is in his own bubble, isolated from the rest of the world, the old songs call to his bones and make him raise his voice. He’d hardly expected anyone to recognize the tunes, not that he’d let anyone, even Yamaguchi, listen in.
Kinoshita had recognized the tune one day after practice when he’d returned from hauling Noya to the nurse to fetch his stuff. Tsukishima remembers being both miffed and fearful of Kinoshita’s reaction. But to Tsukishima’s surprise, the older boy had smiled broadly and excitedly told Tsukishima that he hadn’t heard anyone sing it since his grandmother moved away.
Somehow, through more weeks of practice and a couple of deep conversations about having foreign blood in a homogenous country, they had both reached this arrangement. It happened without any clear rhythm. Sometimes they would text each other during lunch and escape to the roof for the rest of the period. Sometimes it was during water breaks in practice. Kinoshita even hummed a hymn through a whole scrimmage.
Tsukishima likes these moments best though—right after practice and surrounded by their teammates, their chatter making a blanket of familial comfort around the bubble he’s extended to Kinoshita as they both take a break from the rest of the world.
-
“Your home is this way too Kageyama?” Kinoshita is surprised. Kageyama had asked him to come over for an hour to help him on history, something Kinoshita readily agreed to. How Kageyama could mix up the battle of Sekigahara with Pearl Harbor was something Kinoshita would never fully understand.
“Yeah, it’s pretty close to school.” Kageyama’s nervous. He has no real reason to be but he still worries.
“That’s nice.” It’s a bit awkward but Kinoshita has learned that with Kageyama, awkward is normal.
“I’m home,” Kageyama announces to emptiness. No patter of footsteps or a reply, Kinoshita notes. It could mean nothing. Ennoshita’s home is similarly quiet, being an only child with busy parents.
“Pardon the intrusion,” Kinoshita calls out, expecting nothing as he takes off his shoes. There’s only one other pair besides his and Kageyama’s. A pair of well-worn but well-cared for high heels carelessly thrown aside.
“My older sister has the same shoes,” Kinoshita observes.
“Oh?” Kageyama bites out nervously.
“It’s a good thing. Similar taste, similar people, right?” Kinoshita soothes. He lets Kageyama make the conjecture that Kinoshita likes them, watching his brow furrow and then smooth.
“Right.” Kageyama nods shortly and ushers Kinoshita into a cozy living room. There’s a small, elegant woman sitting there. She’s poised proudly—regal, dignified and self-assured of her own power. Her eyes are two balls of blue fire, just like her son and Kinoshita realizes that she must be where Kageyama’s passion comes from.
“Hello ma’am. I’m Kinoshita Hisashi, Kageyama’s history tutor,” He greets and bows respectfully. Kinoshita expects Kageyama to say something but instead he catches a flurry of hand movements. When he sees Kageyama’s mom gesture back, it all clicks.
You could have asked me if I knew how to sign you know. Kinoshita gives Kageyama a fondly exasperated look after he turns Kageyama to face him and signs in JSL.
I wasn’t sure. Kageyama answers honestly. The last person I brought lied about knowing how to sign and left not too long afterwards.
Then they can go fuck themselves. They broke your trust and I’d throw them out in a heartbeat. And there’s no shame in JSL or deafness. Kinoshita huffs angrily and tightens his grip on Kageyama’s shoulder. Kageyama swallows hard and nods slowly. Kinoshita studies him carefully before and settling down around the coffee table, bringing out books and pens.
He’s good to you. Kageyama Tatsuki is both thrilled that her son has finally gotten the upperclassman he needed and pleased at his response to her disability.
He is good to everyone in our team.
Then enjoy what shade** you can get from him now. She chuckles lowly in her throat before asking Kinoshita if he’d like some snacks. He declines but she manages to sneak a jar of pickled ginger into his backpack regardless.
-
Kinoshita Hisashi arrives home feeling totally and completely warm.
“How was your day son?” Kinoshita Keishima asks as he reads yesterday’s morning papers.
“It was good, I, yeah.” Hisashi throws his head back and smiles, “Everyone was especially kind today.”
“That’s good to hear,” Keishima returns the smile, “How goes volleyball training?”
“I’m going to play in an official game soon at the rate I’m growing,” Hisashi’s giddy from love and his father breathes in relief.
“I’ll try to come and watch,” Keishima promises a bit sorrowfully. A single father of three children doesn’t have much time but Keishima wants to try to be there for his son a little more. He knows he’s neglected Hisashi between Hinageshi’s college expenses and Hikari’s traveling performances and Keishima wants to make up for lost time.
“If you have the time.” Hisashi is used to not having his father around but treasures each time he is. He can’t begrudge the man who works twelve hours a day to keep his older sister in school, his younger sister on the competitive circuit and his volleyball equipment new and well cared for. There are moments when he wistfully remembers the weekends when his father could take him out to the park and spend time with him but without another source of income, neither of them have any time.
“I’ll light the way.” Keishima begins.
“Always.” Hisashi finishes. And they’re both home.