Eleven Red Lotuses | Kageyama Tobio | S/H

Court Papers

・・・　・・・　・・・

     Hinata took some photos that he thought he could describe.  Silence enveloped them like a warm fog, and a real fog had also drifted down from the summit of the mountain.  (Y/N)'s phone wasn't taken care of particularly well.  The screen was cracked in a few places along the edges and the plain black protective case was worn, but Hinata didn't mind.  Not obsessing over material items was probably a good thing anyway.  
     "So when I saw you in the store, was that a special time?  I haven't seen you there since."  Hinata says, glancing back to see her nodding.  
     "My instructor wanted their dumplings specifically that day, her wife is pregnant and had a craving.  I don't usually cross the mountain."  (Y/N) explains calmly.  Her eyes trailed after a bug that Hinata couldn't see.  
     "Oh!  That makes sense.  Where do you usually go?  I'd love to hang out with you more.  You're fun to be around."  He says cheerfully, but she went quiet.  He looked back to see her old expression back.  Cold, blank, harsh.  
     "I don't really understand how you view me as fun to be around, but if you're trying to date me, you can drop it now."  Hinata froze for a moment.  He really did like her company: she was warm and soft, but quiet, always engaged in conversation but never drawing unnecessary attention to herself.  
     "No, no!  I'm sorry that it sounded like that!  I don't want to date anybody right now.  I just want you to have a friend, you seemed lonely."  (Y/N) continues to give him a blank stare, though it seemed less aggressive now.  
     "You're not my friend."  
     Hinata gazed back at her in shock.  Such a straightforward statement was completely unexpected, though it really shouldn't have been.  
     "If you want to be my friend, you'll have to earn my trust.  That takes time.  It's not easy.  Nobody has ever succeeded so you might as well just stop while you're ahead, Hinata Shoyo.  Leave this fever dream behind."  Hinata frowns.  
     "I'm not gonna stop until I finish what I started.  In volleyball, at Karasuno, and in my friendship with you.  One day, I'll be your friend.  We can celebrate New Years' together and give each other presents and charms and when I get lost on the mountain, I'll call you and you'll tell me how to get home.  Because we'll be friends."  
     "Good luck."  

     Kageyama was surprised to see Onibi sitting on a bench in the back of the school.  He was taking a break during practice, going to buy some yogurt —he checked the door this time before it closed, too.  Onibi usually rushed out of class and judging by the one "conversation" they'd had, she usually had something to attend to after school.  
     Today, though, she was seated outside of the school building.  Her phone was in her hand and a stack of papers was planted on her lap.  She looked like she was taking pictures of the papers as she flipped through them, or maybe taking a video of it.  
     He had looked away, though his head jerked back over to her when she started coughing into the open air, ending it with a few harsh wheezes and slapping her chest.  Figuring he had enough time to chat before she inevitably blew him off, Kageyama grabbed his purchase from the vending machine and jogged over to the bench she was on.  She had stopped recording, seemingly finished with flipping through the papers.  
     Onibi didn't pay him any mind when he sat down next to her.  She did, however, look down at the water bottle he offered.  "I just bought it, it's unopened."  He assures her.  
     "No thank you."  Kageyama immediately noticed how quiet her voice was.  It lacked the punch she usually used.  Something was up.  Not to mention, she was using manners, which wasn't quite like her.  
     "It's hot outside and you've been here for a while, I'm sure.  You need to stay hydrated."  He wasn't sure if he should mention the coughing fit.  
     She stares at him for a few beats before taking it.  "Thanks."  Kageyama glances around the sideyard that connected all of the various gyms and fields for sports.  She took a few sips from the bottle.  
     "So what are you doing out here?  With all those papers?"  He asks, looking back to her.  She glanced down at her lap before huffing.  
     "They're court papers.  Someone is suing me, and my attorney is being an asshole so I have to deliver the papers myself."  
     "A student here, I assume?"  Kageyama asks, getting a simple nod from her.  "Is it that basketball player?"  Again, she nodded.  Kageyama grimaced slightly.  "Ugh, yeah, serve that douche.  He passed by my club a couple of days ago and we were all grossed out about the stuff he was saying about you."  Onibi bobs her head.  
     "He's mad that I fucked up his nose, so he's trying to sue me."  
     "Well, I mean, biting into his nose was a tad much.  The black eye was totally deserved, though."  Kageyama states.  
     "I'd disagree."  He smiled a little, trying not to chuckle.  
     "And why's that?"  He questions.  Onibi turned towards him, her (E/C) eyes distant and icy, frozen over like a tundra.  
     "He tried to rape me."  
     "Oh, shit.  Really?  Okay yeah, that makes a lot more sense.  I knew that guy was creepy but I didn't know he was that bad."  Onibi shrugs halfheartedly.  "Sorry to hear that.  Are you feeling okay?"  She blinks a few times, head twisting down and slightly towards him.  
     "I... I'm...  Well, no.  Not really.  But I feel better than I did then so I suppose that's improvement."  She says calmly as if it didn't affect her, but Kageyama could tell it did.  
     "Is that what you meant by confrontations?  Hinata mentioned something about it."  Onibi shrugs.  "I heard a rumor you did boxing or something, too.  Is it related?"
     "Half."  She says in a clipped tone.  "I've always liked sports in general, but my brother was beaten to death on the street after defending his wife.  I've never wanted to put someone in that position, and I've never wanted to be in a position where I couldn't help myself."  She states.  
     "That's gotta be hard.  Sorry to hear that.  I couldn't even imagine living with that kind of trauma."  Onibi nods her head.  
     "Sometimes, I can't imagine it either."  There were several beats of silence as they both stared towards the far-side gym.  Kageyama knew the basketball practice wouldn't end for another 30 minutes or so.  
     "Hey, do you want to come inside our gym that we're using?  I'd hate for you to try to serve those papers and that ass trying to come onto you again."  Onibi stares at him for a moment.  
     "Sure."  
     Kageyama led her into the volleyball club's gymnasium.  Her presence sent the team into silence, except for Hinata, who happily and loudly welcomed her.  She went up to the balcony where she could watch over the gym and also see out the window to where the basketball players would pass by so she wouldn't miss him.  

     "Kageyama Tobio, what is wrong with you?"  Sawamura asks in a harsh and whispered tone, angrily jerking towards the girl.  Finally on another short break, it had been tense since she arrived.  Even Nishinoya was unnerved by her.  
     "What?"  Kageyama retorts.  
     "You can't just let people like her walk in here!  What if she tries to start something?"  Sugawara inquires.  "Did you think that far ahead?"  
     "No, because it's not necessary.  She's just sitting in here for a bit.  It's hot outside."  Kageyama explains.  "Going by you're own logic, wouldn't you rather her be somewhere where there are a bunch of people stopping her from hurting someone instead of leaving her alone in the courtyard?"  
     Sugawara huffs and Sawamura follows suit. 
     "She's really nice, I promise!"  Hinata pleads, popping up out of nowhere.  
     "I don't like agreeing with the idiot but he is right.  She's not actually aggressive, she's just defensive."  The captain shook his head and Sugawara covered his eyes in defeat.  
     "Kageyama, he's coming."  Onibi's voice was subdued, something that shocked almost all of the team.  Sawamura and Sugawara almost jumped out of their skin at her sudden appearance.  "He has a friend with him."  
     "Let's go give him the papers then."  She nods solemnly, giving a polite bow to the elder two before turning on her heel and falling in step with Kageyama as they left the gym.  

     She continued her recording of her and Kageyama approaching the two boys.  
     "These are papers ordered by the city about our upcoming trial and my counter sue.  Everything about the court date is in there, as well as my lawyer's contact information."  She hands him the papers and he awkwardly took them, glancing over at his friend and then back to Kageyama.  Onibi stepped out of his way and followed him with the camera as he began to walk away, never saying a word.  
     As soon as he was out of the school gates, she stopped the recording and shivered.  She raises a hand and holds it over her heart with a worried expression.  
     "Why did you have to record all of that?"  Kageyama asks as they begin back towards the gym.  She was walking much slower than her usual —it was more of a shuffle than anything— and he kept pace with her.  
     "There's a chance that he could try to say I just never gave him the papers, and then I'll look really bad to the judge.  I documented that they were the correct papers and that he did receive them and left with them.  Actually, what's your number?  It would be helpful to have you as a witness to that."  Kageyama takes her phone to type it in as she continues to lead them back to the gym.