Custody [Discontinued]

Chapter Three ~ Mine

Third Pov
The smile on Kei's face was really only a half smile, it made Shoyo feel good though. He thought of that smile as something he did to improve Kei's life a little. He assumed that letting Kei hold him for that extra minute really must've helped. It was either that or Kei just felt happy that Natsu was here so he could keep an eye on the little munchkin, either way Shoyo was happy that the boy had smiled even if it was only a half smile. 

"Sho and Tsu are so cool!" Natsu shouted from the sidelines, the girl had obviously given Kei a nickname, but instead of getting mad at it, he only smiled a little wider. They were doing split team matches, Tobio, Shoyo, and Kei against Sawamura, Koushi, and Azumane. Nishinoya was the libero for Kei's team while another third year played as the libero for Sawamura's team. Natsu was like her brothers own personal cheerleader, but she also cheered a lot for Kei. Ryunosuke was happy with how much energy the girl had, she basically radiated the same vibe that Shoyo did on and off the court. How they only knew. Kei could hear them all talking. 

"She's exactly like our wonderful Hinata!" Ittetsu said happily, Ryunosuke was hugging her happily as he spouted nonsense about how Shoyo was so bright and carefree. Kei looked over to Shoyo to see the look in his eyes, he looked determined but he was obviously drained from the event earlier. He had missed a spike and Kei immediately called for a time out for a minute. He took Shoyo's hand and led him to the sideline. 

"I know you're having a rough day, but get your head in the game, Natsu is watching and that smile of yours isn't as bright as usual. I get how annoying it is to hide something from someone, but just remember that you're not alone. I'm here, now let's go back out to the court and make sure that your smile is genuine. I know that it exists in there somewhere just find it" Kei told him, he didn't usually try to make his teammates feel better but he had the odd feeling that he had to help Shoyo. No one bothered them until they went back to their teams, then Shoyo got bombarded with questions. Kei didn't like how close they were getting to Shoyo at all. 

"Hey! What I tell him about and what we tell each other is none of your damn business!" He told the people who were basically attacking Shoyo with questions. 

"Damn drama queens, you always need something to gossip about. Go gossip over something else, some people like their privacy" Kei added on, he didn't like how he watched Shoyo go from genuinely happy to a ball of anxiety again because people couldn't keep their mouths shut. Shoyo got a drink of water, hugging his sister tight and spinning her around like she was his good luck charm and then went back out to the court. The matches went on and Kei's team ended up winning. Natsu ran to her brother to hug him happily, she thought Kei and Shoyo looked so cool. After she hugged Shoyo she was set down, Kei didn't think anything of it, he didn't expect the small girl to hug him too, but she demanded to be hugged by him. He kneeled down and let her hug him as tight as she wanted. 

"I didn't expect that from Tsuki at all" Tadashi said quietly to Shoyo as they both watched the blonde hug the mini version of Shoyo. The entire team was stuck watching the middle blocker look at his little sister. Shoyo's smile slowly grew wider, but it was even brighter than people were used to. His genuine smile had began to show. Shoyo's body relaxed, his shoulder's slouched, his posture became more relaxed, his gaze softened at the sight of Kei on his knees hugging his sister that he worked so hard to keep so close to him. The entire team saw his soft gaze as he watched Kei hold Natsu close in his arms. Keishin knew that look, he saw that look that Shoyo had and realized how much stress and pressure he put on the shorter boys shoulders. Shoyo went over to Natsu, sitting on the ground beside Kei. She smiled even wider to hug them both tight. Kei let out an almost silent chuckle.

"You ball of energy, you're so adorable" He told her quietly. The hug was released and he ruffled her hair.

"We should get back to practice, wanna go sit on the sidelines for me?" Shoyo asked, making his little sister nod and run back to Kiyoko's arms. Kei watched Shoyo stand up, he had a small but genuine smile on his face. Natsu knew this was her family, Kei was a part of her family and she had a feeling he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. The way he looked at Shoyo had changed so much in just a day, but so had the way her brother looked at Kei. The siblings were rapidly breaking down the walls around the blondes heart and opening him up.