Love Hurts (Haikyuu) (Boyxboy)

Chapter 5

It wasn't until later that I saw Nishi again.

Or rather, felt. Our house was rather large, since it was technically an inn. We didn't have hot springs or anything, but the place was still nice. The part we lived in was purposefully removed from the actual rooms, and you couldn't access it from inside. But sounds were always muffled, and not loud enough to wake anyone.

So I was in for a bit of a rude awakening from my nap when a dead weight suddenly seemed to fall on me. Not that he was really that heavy, but it was more startling than anything. I coughed dramatically, opening one eye to peer back into his general direction. I was laying on my stomach, one arm and part of my leg hanging off the edge of my bed. From what I could tell, he was laying on top of me, arms folded across my shoulder blades. Judging from how he moved, he seemed to be swinging his feet in the air.

"Heavy..."

My muttered complaint was met with cheerful, loud laughter.

"Liar! I weigh less than you do, Yoshiki!"

Always so loud. I used to like it. Not that I don't mind it, but I would always smile whenever he started shouting before. My life was quiet compared to his, and he was always that extra splash of color to my world's canvas. Now I just... Block it out, I guess. I hear him, but it takes a while for me to understand. I sigh, closing my eyes again and trying to fill myself back to the safety of slumber.

"Say, Shiki.... What were you dreaming about before?"

Back to the use of my nickname, I see. I don't like when people call me by my last name. It's my mother's, and I've never really felt comfortable with it. My father was always the one I ran to.

"Why?"

"Because you were smiling in your sleep."

Smiling in my sleep? Well, I can understand why. Happy memories do tend to show up out of no where for me.

"I was libero again. We'd just won a game. Everyone was happy, cheering. You were there, in the sidelines. He was there, smiling. We were all smiling then. But those times no longer exist, do they? Cap is gone, and everyone else too. Libero is your job now, and you have players to fill the court. My time has ended."

He snorts, as if getting angry. That wouldn't surprise me.

"I don't believe a word of it! So what if you can't play anymore? Hinata still sucks at receives, and it's a general weakness of our team. You can come back, teach everyone your method of receiving!"

Hinata? Who now? Well, doesn't really matter.

"I told you the day I started teaching you that the method only works for certain people. I knew you'd get it before I started, but I don't know those people. I can't help them if I don't know them. And I'm not going back to school. It's... Too much all at once. You know how it is for me, Nishi."

School was enjoyable for me. I loved learning, and doing homework and projects. But I always felt isolated from other guys my age. See, people find it hard to talk to you when you have most of the female populous chasing after you to profess their undying love. Lunch was always scary. I always hid in the staff room, sitting by my homeroom teacher's desk while he worked and chattered away to me.

You figure out pretty quick where all the hiding spots are when being chased by terrifying banshees. Women have always unnerved me. Kiyoko wasn't ever bad though. I think I was one of the few to have an actual conversation with her. Maybe because her womanly charms won't work on me since I'm gay. I liked her as a friend.

"Then just come after school. Or talk to your mom about it."

"That woman is no help."

"Just because she wasn't around doesn't mean she doesn't care, Shiki. She can talk to the school for you, maybe work something out! You know, like remedial classes!"

"I've never failed a test in my life, Nishi, that doesn't make any sense."

A small smile tugs at my lips. I forgot how fun he was when I could outsmart him...

------------------------------------------------------

"You... want to go back? But I thought it was too much to handle..."

I continue to stare right at her. I'll do whatever it takes at this point. If I don't change my life around... I'll go back to the empty shell of me. She's healthier now, and rather than being frightened at the sight of me, she seems hopeful. I never got to know her very well... I always lived with my father.

"Not all at once. Just, you know, a couple of classes a day. I have to take my final tests there  anyways, might as well accumulate myself back into society. Besides... It's what Father would've wanted for me."

She only smiles. While I think she's always been somewhat jealous of my relationship with my father, it's always warmed her heart to see how we interacted. She had visited often, but I never really spoke to her unless necessary.

"Well, if that's what you want, I'll see what I can do. But first... How about we see if your old uniform fits? You always did grow like a weed."

Classical mother. Within moments of casual words, she had me dressed in my uniform. It still fit, surprisingly. It felt... incomplete somehow. It was only when she handed me my hoodie that I realized just how much it meant to me. It was my shield, all this time. Mean comments from other teams bounced off of it, degrading stares from passerby when I was but a shell of me. Not that I'm not really myself now, but... it's a slow process.

An hour later, I returned to my room, met by a slumbering Nishi who drooled a little in his sleep. Did I mind him using my pillow? Not at all. I simply climbed into bed next to him. As if sensing me, he rolls over to rest on me. I'm used to it.

We've always been rather.... intimate friends.