The Red String of Faith

Chapter 1

Oikawa just stood there. He couldn't bring himself to force out any words as he stared at the orange head. The person's face in front of him started to slowly mirror his expression. They were suddenly both covered in cold sweat. "Ch-Ch-Chibi-chan?" he finally manages to choke out, though barely audible. It's a shock Hinata even heard the words, but he did. "What are you doing here?"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you what you're doing at my house, Grand King?!" Hinata yelped, looking like he was on the verge of tears.

"Oh, your house." Oikawa paused until it sank in. "Your house!"

"Tooru!" he heard his mom call. "Is everything alright?" He honestly couldn't answer. The last person on earth he expected to see was staring him right in the face. Ever since Karasuno defeated his team, Oikawa hasn't been able to get Hinata out of his head. Well, not that he didn't think about Hinata on a regular basis - because he was considered a rival of course! He couldn't help but think that Hinata was increasingly on his mind more and more every day. Maybe it was because he did the final blow. Now that he looks closer... was Hinata sick? He looked like he was on the verge of passing out.

"Ayame!" a voice shouted from inside the house. "Is that you?" A woman with familiar bright orange hair suddenly stood beside Hinata. She was a bit taller than Hinata, but other than that, they looked pretty much the same. His sister?

"Rin!" Oikawa heard his mom scream and ran up to hug the female Hinata look-alike. Ah, no, his mom. She looked so young and so cute, he could see now why Hinata was so adorable. Wait! Hinata!? Adorable!? What was he thinking?!

"Oh! This must be Tooru," the Hinata look-alike looked up at him. "I'm Hinata Rin, but you can call me Rin. I'm one of your mom's childhood friends. It's nice to finally meet you, Tooru."

Oikawa immediately snapped out of it and shot one of his signature smiles. He swore he saw Hinata cringe for a second. "The pleasure is all mine Rin-san."

"I wish you had brought him sooner, Ayame. So polite and handsome too," Rin said excitedly to his mother.

"Careful Rin. You've barely known the monster for a day."

"Mom!" Oikawa clutched his chest as if he was in pain. "I'm still your son you know."

"Which is why I have learned to accept the monster you have become," she beamed. He swore Iwa-chan's treatment of him was inspired by his mother's.

His mom looked down and smiled gently. "So this must be Shouyou."

"Oh dear, has Shouyou not even greeted you guys yet?" Rin sighed. Hinata still looked like he was in shock. "Shouyou!" Hinata jumped and turned to Rin. "I told you to go and greet our guests."

"Ah, Rin-san, it's okay really." Oikawa held his hands up. "There really doesn't need to be any formalities between me and Chibi-chan."

"Chibi-chan?" Rin and his mom said in unison.

"Ah yeah, Chi- Hinata-san and I played volleyball together. On different teams of course! Isn't that right Chibi-..." Oikawa turned around to have the door slammed right in his face " –chan?" There was a moment of silence until they heard Hinata screaming from inside, panicking about the Grand King being at his house.

"Ah, it seems your son does know my Tooru," his mom pointed to the door. "See Rin, that's a spot-on reaction to him."

"Mom!" Oikawa screamed.

Oikawa remembered the day when his mom walked in grinning like a teenage girl who had just met their idol. That was probably the beginning of all of this. He and his dad were a bit scared by how jolly she had seemed. She had smiled while cleaning while cooking, even while talking to their neighbour. And she hated him! Finally, over dinner, his Dad finally decided to ask the long thought of the question.