Be My Halo

Barred Windows (Part 62)

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(Hinata's POV)

I walk beside my bike, wheeling it around to the bike rack outside Karasuno High. Puddles splash under my feet. Only a few students mill about, and the air is quiet and calm. My breath comes out in a sigh, but I can't help but smile up at the pink and orange clouds for a moment. Blue eyes flash in my head, startlingly vivid, and his voice murmurs in my ears. My heart skips a beat, and I can feel my ears and cheeks redden.

Flushed, I grin to myself and fidget with my backpack strings as I begin the short trek to the doors. When I'm almost there, I hesitate, looking to my right at the gym. I bite my lip, before my grin grows bigger. No concrete path guides my way as I head toward the gym, but I know it by heart anyways. Finally, I'm standing at the slightly open doors, on the short strip of concrete canopied by a metal roof. Nervous, I wonder if anybody is inside.

"Yo, Hinata!"

I jump, turning towards the source of the voice as if I just got caught doing something I wasn't supposed to be doing. A shaved-headed, large-muscled someone, and a much shorter, brown and spiky-haired someone else wave at me with massive grins. They're a few feet away on the same concrete strip; I'm surprised I didn't hear them approach.

"Tanaka-senpai! Nishinoya-senpai!" I turn around fully, greeting them with my own wild grin.

"Well, if it isn't the Number One Shorty," Tanaka laughs, heartily. His backpack hangs from one shoulder over his black, unzipped uniform. Under it is a violently green shirt that has to be against school dress code. The pair finish heading toward me, almost swaggering.

I laugh, sticking my tongue out at him and putting my hands on my hips. Nishinoya, also with his backpack slung over one shoulder over an unzipped jacket, laughs as well, painfully slapping a hand onto my shoulder.

"Well, Ryuu? Aren'tcha gonna tell little Shorty, here?" Nishinoya asks Tanaka, turning to him with a sly grin.

The other dons a similar grin before relaxing his face and pressing his palms together in front of his chest. He looks very... 'Buddha-esque'. "Of course, Noya-san. That was always my intention, as his brother."

Nishinoya snorts, turning back to me, one eyebrow raised. I blink, cocking my head, hands still on my hips. "Brother? What do you mean?"

"Brother in law," Tanaka corrects, grandly, sweeping himself into a semi-graceful bow.

Seeing as Tanaka is never going to elaborate, Nishinoya laughs loudly, clapping him on the back, before turning once again to me. "Ryuu's sister and Kageyama's sister have a date. Today, in fact!"

My eyes widen, and my hands fall from my hips. An unbidden but not unwelcome smile spreads across my face. "Really!? That's great!"

Tanaka straightens, laughing and ruffling my hair while Nishinoya grins, his eyes full of chaos. But I mean less about Saeko and Miwa going on a date, though I truly am happy for them, and more about the fact that Tanaka and Nishinoya don't even blink at the fact that they're both girls. I hope they'll react the same when Yama and I tell the team about us... Then, however, I frown.

"But... how does that make us brothers?"

"Well, y'know, since you and Kageyama are a pair..?" Tanaka manages to explain, as if it were obvious, without his smile shrinking.

I choke.

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(Kageyama's POV)

The Karasuno High building sits on the grounds, awakening from its slumber, and watching with hooded eyes as I make my way towards it. The carton of milk I clutch in one hand, jaw clenched around the straw, tastes of strawberries and reminds me of Shouyou. The flowers that dot the grass along my path, though once jarring, shine like all those different colors in his eyes.

Students and classmates brush past me, laughing and talking about something or other. Instead of glowering or snapping at them, I simply look up at the school that grows ever closer, swallowing another gulp of strawberry milk. My heart flutters, and the corner of my mouth twitches, as I see bright orange leaping high into the air, loudly. It quickly disappears, though, into the doorway.

I gulp down the rest of the milk with a satisfied sigh, and toss the carton into the trashcan by the entrance as I pass. Here we go. I only have to wait until practice. Then I can see Shouyou. And we can talk to Sugawara-San.

~•°•°----------------------°•°•~

(Hinata's POV)

"H-how did you know!?" I exclaim, though trying to remain quiet, glancing around me.

Tanaka and Nishinoya raise their eyebrows at me, amused. "As if you'd think we wouldn't notice! You two've been eyeing each other since you first met. Honestly, it's worse than Suga-san and Daichi!"

I blink again. "Suga-san and Daichi? What about them? And 'Yama and I have only been together since--"

Just then, the loud chime over the loudspeaker begins going off, signaling that students need to start heading to class. Nishinoya sighs dramatically, rucking up his backpack. Suddenly, Tanaka gasps, grabbing the other's arm.

"Was that Kiyoko-san?" he whispers loudly to him, pointing off in the distance from where I'd just come.

Nishinoya whips his head around as I laugh, this time, nearly forgetting to be confused.

~•°•°-----------------------°•°•~

(Sugawara's POV)

I watch through the barred windows of the gym, clutching them tightly so I don't fall, as the trio depart, heading to the school. Then all three of us drop down, though Asahi takes a half second longer. We stand there for a moment, then can't help but snort, bursting into laughter, Daichi's being the loudest.

"Is it really that obvious!?" I ask Asahi incredulously as we grab our bags from the floor.

He puts his hand on the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Well..."

Daichi laughs again, turning to me and quirking an eyebrow, making me roll my eyes. "Then I suppose we may as well talk to the team," he shrugs as we head out the door.

Daichi and I stand by as Asahi nervously shuts the doors, leaving on the lights. "Shouldn't we talk to Kageyama and Hinata about themselves, first?" I ask Daichi, smiling.

He hums thoughtfully as Asahi rejoins us. "Alright."