the dutch boy - haikyuu x m!reader

HOW WE MET...

....long time no see !!! there is a very detailed explanation after this chapter but until then, please enjoy this chapter <333 ily all

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST FOR HWM = HWB = HILY <3 : 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/76jZo8ZJ6Ik29x5Zzp1mKD?si=df281b29a44547ea

DETAILED descriptions for every song and why it is on the playlist/is connected to the trio <3

booming-mahogany-93f.notion.site/PLAYLIST-7fb108d8dd0b404d83a24e9fa3b43327

(hopefully those work, and if they don't comment, and i'll just put the link somewhere in the comments or on my profile!)

M/N'S AGE: 10

"Mom, where are we going?" the young boy innocently asked, watching the unfamiliar environment around him constantly change.

This was the young boy's first time in the airport and he was rather frazzled by everything around him. Every now and then there'd be a loud noise, which was the taking off of a plane, but M/n didn't know that. And that left him more scared.

"Don't call me that," the woman with black hair mumbled, "I thought I told you to stop calling me that a long time ago,"

M/n put his head down in shame. He was so confused. Before, his mother used to treat him well, dress him up nice when they went to a fancy place, and doted on him. But now, after this afternoon, her entire attitude changed. As if she was never his mother in the first place.

The poor young M/n didn't know that it was exactly that.

He was born out of an affair that his mother and father had. He didn't know just how in shambles their 'relationship' was. His father was a man of power, wealth, and status in the Netherlands. But he was never made aware of that.

He just thought it was his dad, the man who supposedly loved him.

The relationship the two adults shared was reckless, but fun. That was until M/n came along.

All of his mother's happiness disappated the day she learned she was pregnant. The entire time she sat in that bathroom, and soon the doctor's office, she only thought about what it would mean for her and her 'lover.'

She was hell-bent on making sure that they remained strong and in tact, not breaking their special connection over some kid. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized the leverage she had over the man.

She had M/n and he was usable.

If she told the man she was pregnant, he would have no choice but to stay and commit to her. Leave his already established family behind, throw away his fancy titles and money - all for her and their unborn child. The fantasy that she had thought about several times, the fantasy of them living happy together until they were old and frail. It was coming soon.

She manipulated herself into thinking that that were true.

In the reality of things, M/n's father only looked upon the woman that he had an affair with for the pleasure of it. The sex. He was ashamed to admit it, even if just to himself, but she completely captivated him that he couldn't help but go back.

But it wasn't love.

He was a smart man, he knew the different between love and lust. He loved the three children that waited for him at home after work, he loved his wife that was nothing but kind to him, he loved his family. But he lusted after the woman that would warm his bed occasionally.

The Japanese woman that was nothing but a person to have sex with when he wanted to. And he knew it was reckless, for someone like him to commit such adulatory.

But he had needs! His wife couldn't compensate for pleasing him, so he went behind her back and sought comfort in a woman that was, supposedly only here for a vacation.

How was he supposed to know that the woman was lying to him to make him commit those said acts?

When he learned the truth, he tried to force himself to stay away, but he knew he couldn't.

And that's what lead to their current situation.

She was pregnant. It was his child, no doubt that it wasn't. But she was pregnant. With his child. The man that had a family waiting home for him, had to also manage keeping her mouth shut on their new discovery.

M/n's mother, selfish and greedy, agreed to not tell anyone a word of her pregnancy or who the father was. But the deal was - she'd not tell anyone and keep M/n's life a secret, if she were to be paid handsomely.

Yeah, her fantasy of riding off into the sunset with him was gone and done with. She was no longer preying on ideas that were simply impossible.

So she'd make the most of this and use M/n's just the way she had planned to in the beginning, just a different goal in mind now.

And he had no other choice but to agree.

He couldn't afford losing his family or tarnishing the name that he had inherited.

"Every month, I want payments sent to me - split into two different transactions. One will be for me, one will go into his account," she started the preposition, "until he turns 18, you keep sending this money,"

He gulped, thinking about how long term the proposal was. But he couldn't refuse it. He literally couldn't.

And that was that.

Now, you're probably wondering why M/n was now in the airport with his mother and not in some fancy mansion that they could pay for with the money they got.

Well, on his father's end, he demanded that she leave the country at once, take M/n with her, and never return. The most distance the two grew between themselves would make out to be the best for all of the parties involved.

"When he turns 10, you must leave. And I will make sure of it, if you don't leave voluntarily, I will force you to. I don't care where you go, just don't be here,"

"Fine," she huffed, not liking the idea of being so far from the one she loved, but if it meant that he'd comply to her wishes, she would be fine with it.

That was when M/n wasn't even born yet.

And now, here he was 10 years later and being fed information he could barely keep up with.

"Where's dad?" he asked, not knowing the true damage that his words had dealt.

"Not here," she replied in a meek voice.

"Is he coming?"

"Stop asking so many questions!" she finally broke, blowing up in his face. She screamed at the top of her lungs in her native language and M/n only was able to piece together some bits and pieces of the sentence.

"Stop..?" he repeated, confused as to what she was implying.

She was beyond frustrated. Her own son couldn't understand what she was saying.

"I should've gotten rid of you when I had the chance," she said, making sure that he understood every word she said, "maybe then he'd still love me,"

"Ah? Who, mom?"

She didn't bother replying.

M/n was only 10 when he had to be stripped away from the life he loved. M/n couldn't understand anything and the day his mother left him in that unfamiliar house in Japan, alone, he had never felt more afraid.

That night when they arried to the Asian country, M/n couldn't understand the characters that were on the walls, billboards, or signs. It almost gave him a headache to think too much about the letters.

"Stay here, close your eyes," his mother said to him, voice devoid of any emotions. She shoved him into a dark house, making him sit on the couch before taking her leave. She left as soon as she could and didn't look back once.

Meanwhile, M/n stayed as still as possible, thinking that he was in a relatives house and wanted to be as respectful as possible.

"Don't slouch," he murmured the rule his father said to him whenever he would, straightening out his back, "chin up..." he repeated, eyes becoming teary as he thought about his father. He screwed his eyes shut even tighter, hoping that would make the waterworks go away.

But instead it made it even more intense. And as his eyes were shut and he could only see darkness, he let the feeling of sadness and loneliness consume him.

"I miss dad!" he cried, crumbling in on himself and letting his sobs control his body.

He shouldn't be crying so loud, he tried telling himself. There might be someone home, he internally thought.

But nothing could stop the waterfall of tears that fell down his plump cheeks.

"I mi-miss dad, I wan-want to go home!" he cried, shoulders shaking as his breathing was becoming more and more erratic.

Mom would know what to do. Right?

He sniffled, wiping his tears and snot away with his sweater sleeve. He lifted his head to look around the dark living room.

"Mom?"

When he called for her, she didn't reply. Was she upstairs? The bathroom? The kitchen?

M/n shakily stood up, his socks protecting his feet against the cold tiles beneath him. He walked to the kitchen and hesitantly flicked the light on.

"Mom?"

Now his mother was gone. Or at least, he concluded that. He was too scared to check upstairs himself, so that was out of the question. Even if his mother was there, he knew that she would just come downstairs in the morning.

She did look pretty tired, he remembered.

So he settled back down onto the couch she sat him on, hugging his knees to his chest in a fetus position as he laid on his side.

He hoped that his mom would be by his side when he woke up.

When the sun shone through the glass panel behind him, M/n grabbed a nearby pillow to block it out of his vision.

"Mom?" he called out once more, sitting upright to look around if she was nearby. He turned his head, looking out the window to see if a car was parked outside.

There wasn't anything.

Only the empty street.

He sighed, shuffling upwards and looking around. He didn't have much, at the moment. He remembered the luggage that were parked at the entrance of the house and he made his way towards them, hoping to find something to entertain himself whilst he waited for his mom to come back.

After a long couple hours of unpacking everything inside of it carefully, the sound of the door being unlocked made his head perk up.

"Mom!"

He ran forward, stopping at the end of the hall's entrance to see if it really was his mother emerging from the doorway.

"Ah, sorry kid, not your mom," the voice replied in Japanese, making him tilt his head to the side in confusion.

Instinctively, he stepped backwards at the stranger.

"Who are you?" he asked, broken Japanese falling past his lips.

"You don't speak Japanese..." the voice realized, shoulder slouching as they were slapped of the reality of just how much harder this interaction was going to be.

The figure calmly collected themselves, shutting the door behind them and kicking off their shoes so that they could let themselves in.

"I..." M/n looked more at ease to hear the English word, "brother..."

"You're my brother?"

There was no response as the person tried thinking of a better way of phrasing this, "You mother brother,"

M/n could barely understand what that meant, but when he repeated it back in English, the man nodded his head in relief.

"Name - Tadami, but call me, Tadami-san,"

"Tadami-san," M/n repeated, "where's my mother?" he asked in almost fluent Japanese. He made sure to study that one well, including the male counterpart to it.

His Dutch accent was strong, it was obvious to any native Japanese speaker that he was foreign.

"Home," he replied in Japanese, hoping to god that M/n at least knew that.

And he did. But now he was even more confused, why was his mother not here if she was home? Isn't this home now?

"Why?" M/n asked.

"Family," Tadami replied in English this time.

"I am family," M/n said in Japanese, making his eyebrows crease together, "I don't know, I don't...know,"

He felt so frustrated and suffocated. Why did he have to speak this language he didn't even understand?! Where was his mom?! His dad?!

"Yeah, I don't know either, kid," Tadami sighed, honestly pitying the little boy. He knew the situation his sister was in, he knew why the boy was born - and he still couldn't understand how his sister could be so heartless and abandon this child.

But she had yelled at him enough to make him understand that he was to keep their interaction at a minimum. According to her, M/n was, "a clingy kid that doesn't stop bothering you even for a second! He's such a hassle, I wonder how he's even my son with the way he acts!"

M/n brought his head down so that the stranger wouldn't see him so obviously crying.

"Here," the voice spoke up, brining a small book into M/n's line of vision, "Japanese, learn,"

"Huh?"

He grabbed the book, wiping his tears away from his face so he could get a clear look at what was written across the cover.

The only reason he understood what it was because of its alternative English titled that was written underneath the Japanese characters.

"School starts soon, kid, so I hope you're a fast learner," Tadami said to himself, backing away from the child and going to the doorway. He was about to take his leave, but there was a hand that abruptly stopped him from moving.

"Where?"

"Leaving,"

The two accepted the fact that their conversations were going to be cut down to only one word sentences.

"Why?"

"Sister."

And that made M/n's hand drop to his side.

He wanted to ask when he would see her again, or even if he was going to see him again, but he couldn't find the right words.

So instead he resorted to hand motions.

He used his two fingers to point his eyes and then flicked his wrist back and forth, creating a flipping motion. He continued doing this until Tadami seemed to understand what he was trying to convey.

'When will we see each other again?'

So he answered in hand motions as well.

"3?"

Tadami nodded. Three days he would come back and stop by to make sure the boy wasn't dead, quoted directly from his sister. Originally, she only wanted him visiting every weekend, but he talked her through it and convinced her to allow him to go there every 3 days.

"Fine, do whatever you want, but I'm telling you - he'll cling to you and make everything 10 times harder,"

Tadami just couldn't neglect a child like that, not like his sister could.

But there was no way he was going to get attached, he didn't have the time nor patience to.

So he was more lenient with the first few weeks M/n stayed in Japan, walking him to the nearest convenience store so the boy knew where to shop for some snacks and food. Showed him the nearest shopping center, even taught him a little bit of Japanese.

But when Tadami felt the pull M/n had on him increase in strength, he pushed the boy off of him with as much power as possible.

And that was another person in M/n's life that did nothing but give him false hope and abandon him.

He was confused as to why his uncle was more cold, distant, and spoke in short sentences.

"Uncle? Why are you leaving so soon?" he asked one day, Tadami coming by to drop off some homemade food.

"Don't call me that, kid," the adult rasped from the doorway, "I thought I told you to call me, Tadami-san,"

"Sorry," M/n said, genuinely hurt, "where are you going?"

"Home,"

That stung M/n's heart.

Every time the man answered with that one worded phrase, he knew that their relationship truly meant nothing.

Everyone was going home, away from him. He was no one's home. He was just here, in this empty house alone. It wasn't his home, it didn't feel like one.

"Bye," M/n said in a shaky voice, watching as the light from the doorway slowly became more and more narrow until it was fully closed.

And he was left in the darkness once again.

M/n's eyes filled with tears, but he forced himself to not let out a peep. As if there was someone to be embarrassed in front of if they heard.

He trudged upstairs and collapsed into the small mattress on the floor.

"I'm tired," he murmured to himself, letting his eyes fall shut, not fighting the feeling of sleep.

The visits from Tadami were now far in between, M/n stopped wondering where his mother and father were, and by the age of 11, he accepted the fact that he was truly alone.

But just because he accepted it doesn't make it any better to face in private. Loneliness was the worst feeling, he concluded one night when he was done crying his eyes out in the shower.

And now, he had to pushed into a public junior high school.

He remembered Tadami telling him about it...

"Your father has enrolled you in your school already, paid for everything that's needed to be paid for," Tadami spoke, "here this is the money your mother gave me to give to you, use it to buy school supplies, she said."

M/n took the envelope with both hands, nodding his head in understanding.

"Whe-"

"There's a map inside as well, the route isn't a far walk, but if you want to invest in buying a bike to make the trip easier, you can. There's more than enough money in there for you,"

"Ah...okay,"

And he was gone.

M/n went through the paper envelope, a good amount of cash and then examined the map that was messily drawn. It seemed that whoever drew it didn't know the way to the school either with the way they had scribbled out several street names and replaced them with their correct ones.

That meant that his mother was nowhere near here, M/n concluded. He let his head fall onto the kitchen table, letting his head cool down on the wood.

He was tired.

One good thing, though, was that his Japanese got exceptionally better. It was scary, at first, to speak to strangers in a language he couldn't completely understand nor verbalize, but it was comforting when they gave him encouraging smiles.

He assumed it was because he was young that they weren't giving him displeased looks.

But his advancements in the language didn't make him completely invisible to his doubts and inner turmoil.

And they were specifically acting up now as he stood at a crosswalks, nearing his school. What would the kids say about his accent? Would he get a lot of attention? He hoped not, he wasn't comfortable by being completely surrounded like that if they were to find him that interesting.

He took in a deep breath and straightened up his back, cutting off hs slouching right then and there. Forcing himself to keep his chin up, he approached the imposing school grounds with a nervous, but hopeful look on his face.

Some people stared at him due to his different looks, but he tried his best not to pay attention to their stares. He would have closed his eyes and collapsed out of nerves right then and there, but he stopped his legs from giving up on him,

When he arrived to the entrance of his classroom, he repeated the same routine he did when he was walking on the school ground. Deep exhale, straighten up the posture, and keep his chin up.

That was everything he didn't want to do now, though.

All he wanted to do was cry into a pillow. He wanted to see his mom again.

But the rough shoving of other children walking past him snapped him out of his fantasy, pushing him into reality.

He cleared his throat, following in after the group and just doing as they did. Tadami didn't teach him much about school etiquette so he was rather lost and just tried to follow what everyone else was doing. However, that all came to a close when he was singularly called out to the group of students.

"Everyone! I need you attention now!" the teacher exclaimed, cutting off the short convos that were being exchanged between the students, "there is a student here that is foreign, who you haven't been introduced to yet. M/n-kun, if you could please stand up from your chair,"

M/n's head stayed completely still, too scared to look to the right or left since he knew he would awkwardly lock eyes with one of his classmates. So he did told, standing up and looking towards his teacher for further instruction.

The senior took pity on M/n, especially with that scared look on his face, so he set the stage for him, "He wasn't at this year's opening ceremony since M/n was flying in from a country in Europe,"

That elicited some sounds of awe and entertainment.

"His mother tells me," his mother? His mother has spoken with his teachers? When? "that he has been studying Japanese really hard, so I want all of you to be kind and welcoming to M/n-kun here," now the teacher's dull eyes fell upon M/n, "If you would like to properly introduce yourself to the class, M/n-kun, I'm sure we'd appreciate a formal meeting.

M/n coughed, trying his best to make sure his voice was clear and loud for when he spoke. He'd hate to have to repeat this, it'd make him crumble down, he knew it would.

"Hello, everyone," he spoke hesitantly, the tones of his voice changing as he tried to find the appropriate volume in which he could speak in, "I'm M/n..." and then he paused.

What last name does he take? His mother's? His father's?

Then he remembered what Tadami told him, "L/n, that's your last name. Your mom doesn't want you taking our last name, so I decided on a new one for you."

"L/n M/n, I'm L/n M/n it's nice to meet you," he paused, thinking about what the last part of his introduction was, "ah, please take care of me,"

There were snorts of laughter at his forgetfulness, but M/n clenched his fists tight enough to ignore them.

"Thank you for that introduction, M/n-kun," the teacher smiled, motioning with his hands for M/n to take a seat. And he did so in a hurry, desperate to not be the solo person standing in the room. But even when he did that, the attention didn't shift off of him.

"Did you hear his accent? Sounds kinda funny," a whisper behind him spoke.

"I think it sounds cool! Our classmate is a foreigner!"

"It's not cool, if anything it makes it more troublesome! Now, we have to be in charge of him and everything, it's annoying," a new voice quipped back and M/n wished that the world would collapse in of itself because him slouching into his chair further and further was not doing the trick.

Throughout the day, he was able to grasp the concepts that the teachers taught. Although, it was more like an 'initiation' day where everything they were going over was just an outlook on their future classes and how everything was to be structured. M/n didn't know if that was routinely done every year, but he appreciated it since it gave him a good idea on how to prepare.

Whilst all of his classmates looked bored out of their minds, M/n was dutifully writing everything that he deemed important into his notebook. For convenience, he did it all in English, just so that it was easier to understand when he read it later and so that it was faster to write.

And before he knew it, the morning classes were all done and over with.

He breathed a sigh of relief the moment the teacher stepped out of the room, announcing that they were all free to explore the school grounds before they were to be called back into their classroom for afternoon lessons.

M/n was about to take that offer up, explore the school, but a rough hand being planted on top of his desk made him sit back down.

"Hey! Sensei said you were from a European country, which one?!" an excited girl asked, leaning over his desk to get a closer inspection on his features.

"A-Ah...The Netherlands!"

Then a new person shoved their way through the crowd, he looked polite enough, but the look on his face said differently, "Oi! Does it look like we know where that is?! Just say which continent!"

'Didn't she just say Europe, though?' M/n internally thought, but shook his head - it's best to just answer the question rather than cause more trouble.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Europe!" M/n answered as quick as he could, hoping that it would get the man off of his desk and out of his personal space.

Instead it made his attitude even more aggressive, "Why did your family come here then? I'm sure they got enough space in Europe, or whatever, for ya!"

That sentence itself made M/n still, looking onward with a dazed look. How was he supposed to answer that question? Lie? Tell the truth? His words were getting all jumbled up in his head and when he verbalized his thoughts, they came out broken as well.

"My family...not...here," he said, cursing himself for forgetting how to properly speak under the pressure. He wished he could just run away, right now.

"Eh?! Speak up - and clearly! I can't hear your quiet voice, your accent doesn't help either!" the boy exclaimed, loud enough to make M/n flinch and shake where he sat. Why was no one helping him? He's almost too scared to think straight.

So he took in a deep breath and repeated his words, clearly and in a more understandable structure, "I said, my family did not come,"

This made all those around look at him in awe, almost admiring him for speaking the truth, but also some of them were looking at him as if he were crazy.

"So what? You live alone?" the boy questioned, voice not yelling anymore as he looked genuinely confused as to what M/n was talking about.

"Y-Yeah, I live alone," M/n shakily responded.

The brash boy, who he didn't know the name of, clicked his tongue in annoyance and lifted his head up to show that he was tired of conversing with M/n, "Tch, you're useless talking to,"

...Useless, M/n let the word echo in his mind. From then on, he drowned everything else out. What a fitting word for him. He felt the tears already working their way up.

"Sorry, Kyouto is just like that," a meek voice to his right spoke, attempting in comforting the obviously traumatized young boy. But her words barely made it through to him.

He remained unmoving and unresponsive, simply looking at the palms of his hands as he let that single word ring out in his mind.

Useless.

Maybe that was why his mother abandoned him? Because he was useless.

A voice in the back of his mind tried to convince himself to give it the benefit of the doubt, but deep down, he knew that that was exactly why he was left in the dust, as if he meant nothing.

He was useless, to everyone he has interacted with since he was a child - he had been utterly useless and nothing but a burden.

M/n tried his best not to cry through the remaining classes, albeit it was very hard as he also heard the harsh, rude whispers that Kyouto would remark every now and then. How unlucky his seating was to be positioned right in front of the brutal male.

And it got even worse as they left the school grounds. Kyouto was mocking M/n for every step that he took, bringing something up about how he was a foreigner, how he spoke, his accent - whatever he could pick apart and make M/n feel as if he should cry about, he brought it up.

He continued on like this until they came to a crosswalk, Kyouto ending their one-sided conversation with a promising, "I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!"

And M/n couldn't help but flinch at that comment, making him dread waking up the next morning. The entire walk home M/n tried his best not to cry in the middle of the side walk, but when he turned the corner of his street that had his small house, there were more than a couple of tears that escaped his tightly screwed eyes.

He just kept repeating the same question, why him?

Why did his parents have to leave him like this, little to no explanation? Why did life have to give hi the misfortune of having that one classmate? What did he do deserve this? Was it his birth in general, or had he caused something so terrible to happen that this was his punishment?

He unlocked the front door of his house and lazily kicked off his shoes, wiping away his wet face with his jacket's sleeve. He set his bag down and weakly brought himself up the stairs to the empty building.

Everything was tiring.

And as M/n collapsed onto his bed with nothing to look forward to when he would have to wake up.

The next school day, the teasing's only got worse and the amount of people verbally making fun of him only continued to grow. It had been a mere week since his enrollment into the school and he was past his limit. His energy was wearing thin and the constant berating of insults that were thrown to him every single minute of the day wasn't helping whatsoever.

And he knew that this wasn't even the worst that was to come. There was still that portion of time after classes were dismissed where he truly suffered.

Now there was minimal physical damage that was done onto M/n, but he had a terrible feeling at the pit of his stomach that that was going to change today. It started with the way Kyouto had pulled his hair extra hard during one of the Sensei's lessons, snickering as M/n let out both a pained and surprised yelp.

Next was during the lunch time when Kyouto and his small friend group took his lunch, that he bought from the kind old lady at the convenience store, out into the trash and beckoned him to fish it out if he was that hungry. And he was, but he wasn't hungry enough to stain his new uniform.

And when the bell finally rang, he was practically dragged out of the building and into a nearby alleyway. M/n supposed because it was Friday and it was nearing the weekend, the boys would use that time to take advantage of him.

"He can't even look us in the eyes when we speak to him!" one of the boys cackles, earning more laughter from the group of 4. M/n simply shielded his face and neck from their, frankly, weak hits. But even if they were weak and light blows, the masses in which they were hitting him were too much for him to handle and he collapsed onto his backside.

They towered over him, practically blocking any sunlight from entering the alleyway and it left M/n in the place he was most familiar with - the dark.

He hated feeling so powerless, but he physically couldn't do anything. He knew he could tend to his cuts just fine, but if he were to fight back, he'd end up in an even worse condition. He hated that he could do nothing to protect himself, besides cower away.

Their fists kept pelting into his skin, and he was sure it was going to bruise the next day, and his muffled cries were the aftermath of their attacks.

"Look, he's crying now too!" Kyouto teased, "I don't think he gets that real men aren't supposed to cry! Maybe his dad didn't teach him that properly before he sent him off to this country by himself!"

A low blow, really. Bringing in M/n's familial problems, even when he had no say in the matter, was something that only lowlives like Kyouto would do. And M/n knew that he shouldn't take the words of a bully seriously or to heart, but it was hard to when he had himself thinking those harsh words were true.

"Let's leave him with a black eye to finish the week off properly!" Kyouto cheered and he earned everyone's approval.

Knowing that he was to be hit in the face, M/n covered that area to the best his arms could do, but it barely helped. His defense was weak and Kyouto really packed a punch for someone so young. His knuckles met the side of his face, however, missing their target completely.

"Bro, your aim was so off, try again!" one of the the friends to the right of Kyouto shouted, making the ash brown haired boy nod his head in determination.

"I'll make sure not to miss this time!" he exclaimed, obviously excited to land another hit on the poor boy.

But before his hand could come down to strike M/n, there was a loud thump, it sounded like a ball hitting a hard surface, and someone shouting from the sides, "Oi! All of you back up! I've already called the police on you, so get going before you get arrested for abuse!"

Surprisingly, that had all of them scurrying away - truly fearing the law enforcement that was supposedly coming.

That left M/n shaking, alone in the alleyway with arms wrapped tight around his face. He heard the pedaling of a bike coming over and he hesitantly lifted his head to see who he had to thank for saving him. His hands fell to wrap around his legs as his e/c eyes fell onto the side profile of a young boy, no more than a year older than him.

He had rich chocolate hair, that was rather messy, but M/n thought it was a cute hairstyle. M/n couldn't see the boy's face due to the shadow that was cast over his expression, but he could take in the sight of his uniform. He wasn't a kid that went to M/n's school, thank god. He'd be even more embarrassed if he did.

The tears that were crowded around the lining of his eyes fell down effortlessly, cooling his face slightly, but also making him whimper at the sting they left as they glazed the bruises and cuts on his skin.

At the sound of the pathetic cry, the brunette on the bike turned his head around. He was looking up, expecting to see the person already standing on their feet, but his head slowly fell down as he realized that the person he 'saved' was still on the ground.

And the two locked eyes.

M/n's breathing was shaky as he thought he was about to be ridiculed even further. Perhaps this student recognized that he was a foreigner and would use it to assault his image even more. M/n unconsciously hugged his legs closer to his chest and let the bangs of his hair fall in front of his eyes. He was trying his hardest to hide away. Possibly even disappear.

Meanwhile, the brunette that arrived on the scene just in time had the breath knocked out of his lungs. He slowly took in his features, making note of his uniform as well as his defensive position. He wanted to approach the boy, but he was literally frozen still. From what feeling, he couldn't name it, but it shook him to his core.

This boy, with a bruised face and slight smudges of dirt on it, was the prettiest boy he had ever seen. His eyes were sad, but they were still shining - as if there were stars in them. And then the boy averted them and Oikawa was forced to focus on another aspect of his appearance.

Before he knew it, Oikawa had felt all the blood rush to his cheeks. A new rosy glow on his face as he completely took M/n in.

His small and frail figure made Oikawa feel as if he needed to protect him. He was so vulnerable and Oikawa was glad that he arrived on the scene when he did. He didn't know who this boy was, but he knew that he didn't deserve this type of treatment. No one did.

So he kicked the stand for his bike down and slowly approached M/n, holding his hand out for him to take, "Can you stand?"

There was a silence as M/n tried processing the words and actions.

'He's helping me...?" M/n thought to himself, locking eyes once more with the stranger.

And now it was his turn to have the breath knocked out of his chest. His eyes, despite being an average shade of brown, absolutely captivated him. He squinted his eyes, though, when the sun behind him shone right into his pupils. At this, the tears that were bunched together had fallen and M/n wiped them away with no hesitation.

"I can stand," he replied, accent coming out stronger due to his weak mentality and exhausted state.

Oikawa paused, feeling his heart race at the sound of the boy's voice. He sounded so sweet, but he hated how weak the words came out. It was a sign that the mysterious student was close to collapsing.

"What's your name?" Oikawa asked in a hurry, steadying the boy with a sturdy grip of his hand.

"L/n M/n," he replied and Oikawa nodded in understanding.

"I'm Oikawa Tooru, do you need my help getting home? Are your parents anywhere nearby?"

The dreaded parents question. M/n shook his head as a reply, making Oikawa frown. By keeping a steady hold on M/n's hand and resting his other hand on his backside, he could practically feel the boy's bones.

He was severely undernourished.

"I can help you get home, then," Oikawa breathed out, trying to keep the boy awake, "hey, hey!"

And the worried shouts of the stranger named Oikawa Tooru was the last thing M/n heard before he passed out.

While M/n fell to the ground, Oikawa tried his best in catching him. And just as he assumed, his body was so light it was worrisome. He grit his teeth, having a bit of trouble getting a good grip on the boy's body. But once he had his hands secured under his thighs, he held him tight by his waist. Oikawa was determined to take him home to his mother, where she would hopefully know what to do.

He didn't bother kicked the stand to his bike down properly, simply letting it drop in his front yard as he rushed to the front door of his home. The sudden ruckus of the door being opened in such a rough manner made Oikawa's mother emerge from the living room.

"Tooru, what did we talk about slamming doors?" she sighed, looking up from her magazine, expecting her son to greet her with a wide grin. But her face fell when she saw that her sweet son was close to tears as he held a smaller boy in his arms.

"He passed out, mom, I don't know what to do!" Oikawa cried out, letting his pre-teen emotions get the best of him as he almost began sobbing right then and there.

"Quick set him down on the couch," she ushered, running to the kitchen where they kept the first aid kit. Oikawa did as told, almost stumbling over his own feet as he carried the light body to the couch, gingerly setting him down.

The second year in junior high sniffled to see the frightening sight that was M/n's frail, thin, and pale face, "Mom! Hurry!" he shouted, pushing the strands out of his face to make sure he had a clear view of M/n.

"Honey, I need you to move over," his mother softly spoke, although the underlying panic in her voice was obvious, "I need to see his wounds properly,"

Oikawa nodded, rushing out of the way so his mother could get to work. He lingered around, not moving too far away as he was invested in helping his mom nurse the boy back to health.

The entire time M/n was passed out, they prodded his flesh and treated him appropriately, both of them on edge as he was still knocked out when the moon had risen.

"We seriously need to get him home to his parents," Oikawa's mother sighed, running a stressed hand through her hair as she paced the living room. Their landline phone was in her hands, as if she was going to call someone, but Oikawa thinks she was just holding it to fiddle with.

"We need to get him to a hospital," Oikawa reasoned, still not believing his mother when she said they did the most they could whilst the hospital would tell them just the same thing, "he's so skinny, maybe they can do something about that."

Oikawa's mom shook her head, "His parents are the ones that need to take care of that - and I will ensure they will once we find out where they are," she said, spitting out the title of parents with absolute venom, "just who lets their child come to a point such as this!"

At her exclamation, Oikawa flinched. He couldn't help but agree though.

Despite being only a year older, M/n's ID had fallen out of his pocket so he found out what year he was and learned his name, he knew that these conditions that the young boy's body were in are serious.

"We'll have to also see what your father has to say about this-"

Just as she finished speaking that sentence, Oikawa had jumped up out of his seat on the couch and went to M/n's side. He looked panicked, grabbing ahold of the boy's hand so that there was at least a sense of comfort.

He assumed that the boy needed it.

M/n's eyes slowly began opening, but not before they screwed up in pain.

"Wh..." the question died down in the back of his throat when he saw two unfamiliar faces in front of him. He also felt something warm in his hands and when he looked down to see there was another intertwined with his, he immediately pushed himself far away from the mother and son.

"Relax, relax," the mother cooed, and M/n was almost so quick to give in just because of her kind words and tone, but he continued to stumble off of the couch.

"We treated your wounds, calm down before you collapse again!" Oikawa said, grabbing for M/n's hand and aggressively tugging him to the couch, "you can't be so quick on your feet, who knows what might happen!"

M/n looked startled to feel the sense of care that the two were radiating.

"Where am I? Who are you?" he quietly asked, not fighting the grip that was around his hand. Oikawa did have a strong hold on him, anyway, he wasn't capable of pulling himself away a second time.

"I'm Oikawa Tooru and that's my mom, she treated your wounds!" Oikawa exclaimed, ready to get some answers out of the injured boy, "I found you in an alleyway and brought you to our house,"

Yeah, M/n remembers that part. When everything around him went black and he felt the strength in his legs leave him. He also remembered those shocked, but kind chocolate eyes that had locked with his own.

M/n lifted his head to look into Oikawa's eyes, further proving that this was the same boy. M/n gulped, nodding his head to him, "Thank you for helping me, Oikawa-san," he said, remembering that the title at the end was vital to show his respectful gratitude.

The young boy nodded his head whilst his mother beside him grinned down at him. Speaking of the mother, she took a set beside M/n, holding out the phone to him, "You can call your parents so they know that you aren't in trouble," she offered, not thinking for a moment that he'd refuse.

At the mention of his parents, he shook his head with a weak, forced smile, "No, no, don't worry, that's not...needed,"

She blinked in surprise, "Huh?" she voiced, thoroughly confused as to why he had rejected the phone.

"I can make my way home just fine," M/n breathed out as his reason, but she didn't seem convinced, "I'm sure my home isn't that far away from here either! I'm used to walking anyway, I walk to school everyday!"

She raised her eyebrow, showing that she wasn't going to let the young kid do that. Especially alone, at night.

"I can speak to your mother or father, if you want. I can explain right away that you aren't in trouble, if that makes you feel better,"

M/n wasn't in the mood to explain his entire familial story to the kind woman, or her son, so he just opted out and shook his head once more, "They work really hard, it's okay. They probably aren't even home, now," he lied, red coming onto his face as he was under the pressure of keeping the fib he told consistent, "they work pretty far away from our house, so I don't want to bother them,"

She still looked at him suspiciously, noting how skinny he was and how meek he spoke. Sirens were going off in her head, but she decided to take the boy's word for it. For now.

She was sure he was exhausted out of his mind, the last thing he probably wanted was to talk.

"I will drive you home then, no debates. I can't let you walk home all by yourself," she said, already reaching to the cushion of the couch for her sweater, "Oikawa, you can stay-"

"No! I want to come too!" Oikawa butted in, rejecting the idea of staying still whilst his mother took the kid back to his own house. It didn't feel right if he were to just let his mother do this alone. He was the one who burdened her on treating the boy's injuries anyway.

She shrugged, finding it odd that her son was so quick to come along, but didn't let it linger in her mind for too long.

M/n shuffled politely a couple of steps behind the mother and son, not being able to stop himself from feeling envious as they smiled and held hands as they walked. It was obvious that she loved her son, it was also obvious that he loves her back tenfold.

It made him almost huff in anger and frustration.

The only thing that stopped him was the hand wrapping around his own, making his entire palm bloom warmth.

"Come on, it's late," Oikawa said before turning ahead and taking M/n to the family car.

M/n looked down, feeling so shy to be exposed to such kindness and hospitality. The entire car ride was rather silent, despite Oikawa brewing to the top with questions about the young boy (he just wanted to learn more about him before they parted), he kept to himself for the most part of the ride.

As for M/n, he completely distracted himself with the passing scenery and didn't make further contact with the mother or son.

Despite this, their hands still remained intertwined in the middle space between the two.

When they arrived to M/n's front door, Oikawa's mother made sure to note down the address. He wasn't too far, maybe a 10 minute drive. But the reason as to why she was memorizing his address was because she knew that something was going in his household. For now, she wouldn't press on further seeing as it was late and she was sure that M/n was exhausted beyond comprehension. The last thing she wanted to do was stress M/n even further.

"You have a good night, M/n-kun! Stay safe!" she called out to him, putting on a friendly smile and waving to him from the window.

"Thank you for the ride home," M/n said whilst bowing politely to her and Oikawa, scampering off almost immediately to the safety of his house.

"He's odd," Oikawa pouted for no reason, watching as his mother got their car started back up.

"Tooru! Don't say that!"

He put his hands up in surrender, "I was just saying!"

"Yeah, well next time don't," his mother sighed making him mock her in his own funny tone. This made her turn to him with an annoyed look on her face, instantly shutting him up on the spot.

And whilst Oikawa and his mother were playfully bickering in the car ride home, M/n was closely inspecting his face in the mirror. He didn't dare to touch the bandages, afraid that it would ruin the nice woman's work, instead only gently pressing on the bruises that were forming on his face.

There was a blotch on his jawline, dangerously close to his neck, and he felt other parts of his body were beginning to become sore as well. All he hoped was that the pain would disperse before Monday of the next week.

And as he stepped away from the bathroom mirror, a soft smile came onto his broken face, "Oikawa..." he murmured, testing out how the name sounded falling off of his tongue. The name of the persons that had helped him so generously, he was truly grateful to them.

That was the closest thing he had gotten to a warm, helping hand in a long time.

When the next day came around, M/n walked to his kitchen to see if they had any eggs left in the fridge. He was craving an omelet

And, of course, there were no eggs. This made him sigh in annoyance as he now had to make his way to the store. He didn't even know if he had enough money to spare on a carton of eggs. And he felt bad every time buying from the old lady that already gave him discounts.

Times like this made him really wish there was an adult nearby that could help him.

But there was no time to be sulking about it now, he realized, he needed eggs. And it was only a short walk away, so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

He shut the front door behind him, locking it with his key before stashing the metallic object back into his pocket. And when he turned around, the last thing he thought he'd see was Oikawa standing on the grass in front of his small house with his bike by his side.

"Oikawa?" M/n spoke, looking at the older boy in confusion, "What are yo-"

Before he could even finish his question, Oikawa was riding off, speedily biking down the street and roughly turning the corner of M/n's street without even looking back.

"...doing here...?" M/n finished, watching with a weak smile as the boy was already out of his sights.

Meanwhile, as Oikawa was aggressively biking down the street that was one road over from M/n's, his face was burning red.

"That is the most embarrassing moment of my life!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, resisting the urge to just crash his bike right then and there, "He literally caught me on his lawn! He's probably going to tell his parents that some weirdo was just out on their front yard!"

It was truly embarrassing, especially because of how flustered he was by the mere name call that M/n gently spoke. The more he thought about it, the more red he got. The realization that M/n knew who he was by his name, despite only knowing him for a couple of minutes, made him feel warm in his chest and his tummy was doing flips.

"Now I'm getting sick!" Oikawa shouted, turning down another road as he was just trying to increase the distance between him and M/n as much as possible.

And while M/n was walking down the street to the closest store, there was a sad smile on his face, "I wonder why he ran, or I guess, biked off...I wonder if he heard me pronounce his name wrong or something," M/n thought outload, to himself. The mere thought of him saying Oikawa's name in the wrong manner, accent, or pronunciation, embarrassed him greatly and soon he was red in the face too.

Two boys had continued on their journeys with rapidly beating hearts and criminally red faces.

When Oikawa returned back to his house, Iwaizumi was already waiting there with a pissed off look on his face.

"Oi! Shittykawa, next time you're gonna be late to plans you made, don't make them next time!" Iwaizumi shouted, his voice gruff and straightforward, throwing a volleyball to Oikawa's forehead.

"Sorry, sorry, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa called back, a more at ease look on his face due to the familiar friend, "mom needed me do something..."

"Whatever, you suck at lying," Iwaizumi sighed, "now pick up the volleyball and let's get going!"

"Hai, hai," Oikawa said, thankful that his friend didn't notice his red face and embarrassed habits.

And the boys' morning proceeded as normal. M/n went home to make some delicious eggs and Oikawa spent the most of his day with Iwaizumi, playing volleyball and just having a good time with each other. But both of them were unconsciously bringing their thoughts back to the other.

M/n thought about why Oikawa was even at his house in the first place as well as why he ran away so fast whilst Oikawa thought of how embarrassing it was that he was caught (even though he planned on approaching the house anyway) and how M/n softly spoke his name.

He sighed, swallowing down the last of his cooked eggs before pushing the thoughts to the back of his mind. There was most likely no real reason, he thought, he was probably just trying to be polite - Don't think too much about it from now on.

And M/n did a good job in forgetting about it for the rest of the evening. Even until morning of the next day. He almost completely forgot about it until there was a ring at his door and when he swung it open, a nervously fidgeting Oikawa was standing there.

"I- uhm," the brunette's words got caught in the back of his throat as he made eye contact with the shorter h/c haired boy, "well, I just,"

This was so unlike Oikawa and it was beginning to get annoying dealing with these sudden bouts of stuttering and hiding his red face! He seriously wanted to just move on from whatever phase this was and the only way to do that was get comfortable with M/n, learn more about him and be trusting enough with him where he was no longer flustered to look into his eyes.

"I was going to, uhm, stop by the other day! But my mom...had called me to come home for dinner," M/n nodded his head in understanding, looking at Oikawa, awaiting for him to continue as he kept his mouth shut, "I just wanted to check in with you...? And make sure you were okay...?"

It honestly sounded more like it was a question rather than a statement, but M/n paid it no mind. Instead, he stepped to the side and welcomed Oikawa inside, deeming the boy a trustworthy person to have in his home. I mean, worst came to worst Oikawa brutally murdered him right then and there - even if that were to happen though, it's not like any immediate family would make a big fuss over it.

And with Oikawa discarding his sneakers and stepping into the quaint living area, he awkwardly held his hands behind his back and awaited for M/n to welcome him further in.

"You can just sit on the couch if you like, Oikawa-san," M/n said politely, gesturing over to the large couch near the windows, "D-D o you want anything to drink? If you biked all the way from your house, I'm sure you must be thirsty?"

Oikawa cleared his throat, nodding in confirmation. Now that he thought about it, a glass of water could help his dry throat a bit. So as M/n disappeared into the kitchen, Oikawa set himself down onto the couch, making sure to keep his manners.

It was unusual, being greeted by the child of the house rather than an adult, but that didn't mean it was an excuse to be sloppy with his manners. His mother would have his head if she knew he was being disrespectful under someone else's roof.

And that was when Oikawa noticed it. Where were your parents? It was Sunday, meaning they should have been home? And, why were the walls so naked and bare? Not a single hanging picture frame was in his sights, not even basic home décor. He supposed that the latter was a personal preference M/n's parents had, but the lack of family photographs was odd.

Before he could think further on that observation, M/n came back with a small tray of two tea cups and a tall glass of water. He set it down in front of Oikawa without any comment.

"Thank you for stopping by, Oikawa-san, that was very nice of you," M/n said, speaking with utmost formality, afraid to tick the older boy off by accident. This was the closest he's had to a regular, normal conversation with someone around his age. The kids at his school barely let him speak more than three words before they started making fun of him, his accent, and his mispronunciation.

"Oh, it's nothing really!" Oikawa smiled, gulping the cool water down in thanks, "I just wanted to make sure that my mom's work really healed you up!"

M/n's face turned a pale pink at the sudden smile that was on Oikawa's face, "If it wasn't for your mom, I'm sure my condition would have been worse, so I am very grateful,"

"Oh, don't worry about it!" Oikawa said, mustering himself to continue on with this confident persona. He wasn't going to get anywhere if he kept being shy, so he forced his outgoing persona out, "You sure you don't want to check in with her again today? She could maybe make sure that none of them are infected!"

"Oh, no, please, it's alright! I don't want to burden you or your mother further. I mean, it's my fault you came all this way, so I apologize for that as well," M/n bowed deeply, hoping that he had remembered the formal customs of showing sorrow or regret.

Oikawa raised his brow at the utter formalities before waving his hand around, dismissing it, "It's alright! I wasn't going to leave you there anyway," and then he suddenly remembered how M/n had ended up in such a condition in the first place.

A good amount of boys were crowding around the entrance of the alleyway and at first he had thought they were picking on some stray animal, which is why he went over to help in the first place! And when they were pushed aside and running off, he was shocked to see that it was instead a boy that was helplessly clutching his knees to his chest as tears ran down the sides of his face.

Oikawa was surely surprised, but it wasn't unpleasant. It was rather awkward and unfortunate that a couple of moments after locking eyes with the said young boy, he had collapsed and fell unconscious in front of him.

"Those boys that were picking on you, when I found you, they go to your school?"

At the mere mention of the terrorizing boys, M/n deflated where he sat and turned more shy. A nod of his head was the only answer Oikawa needed.

"You're not from Japan, right?" another nod. However, this brightened up the mood instantly as Oikawa was keen in knowing more about the foreigner's home country, "Oh! Where are you from?! America? Hello!" Oikawa proudly said the greeting in English, looking intrigued in knowing where M/n originally came from.

To hear that he easily switched the topic of discussion, M/n felt at ease to know he was speaking with someone that wasn't so uptight with the details of how they had met. If he spoke more about his bullies, then he surely would have cried.

The past few days have been a whole sensitive rollercoaster of emotions, M/n thought to himself with a shake of his head.

There was a moment before M/n answered Oikawa's eager question, "I'm from Europe," he said meekly.

Oikawa's eyes practically sparkled, "Wow! Really where?! England? Ireland? Russia?!"

M/n chuckled at the listed countries and shook his head, "No, I'm from a place in the Netherlands,"

Oikawa pouted slightly, "I've never heard of that, what's there?"

At the expression on his face, M/n almost chuckled. But instead, he forced himself to try focusing on the question, "Uhm...I can't remember much, but I lived in a nice area. There were pretty trees and the people were nice, but I can't remember a lot since it's all just a big blur," he partially lied. He remembered the Netherlands well enough to inform someone curious, but he didn't want to completely tell of his upbringing to Oikawa. He wasn't even sure if he was allowed to talk about his childhood in Europe.

"Then your parents are Japanese or European?" Oikawa asked, eyebrows raised in curiosity.

"My mom is Japanese and my dad is Dutch," M/n simply answered, noticing Oikawa's confused face at the new word (which was, Dutch) before continuing on, "My dad is from Europe," he clarified, making Oikawa make an elongated, 'oh,' sound.

"That's pretty cool! My mom and dad are just Japanese, so it's pretty boring," Oikawa sighed, making an exaggerated pouty face.

M/n smiled softly at the cute expression, raising his hand to cover his face as he felt bashful in finding his companions face so adorable. Oikawa blinked at the sight of his smile, feeling his cheeks redden before grinning himself.

This felt nice, whatever this was.

"Oh! Did you bring anything from Europe over?" Oikawa excitedly asked hopping onto his feet as he felt the need to hide his red face with a wide smile.

'Didn't really get the time to properly pack,' M/n thought to himself, but he knew that there was no way he would kill Oikawa's excited spirit with that answer.

"Uhm, not much," Oikawa deflated, "but I could still show you some of the things I brought! Upstairs, in my room....if you're comfortable!"

"Of course! I want to see some souvenirs!" Oikawa cheered, turning to show M/n his back as he looked for the stairwell.

"I'll show you," M/n said, walking ahead to the stairs and guiding Oikawa to his bedroom, humming as a way to distract the boy from the empty home, "Just don't go into the room down the hall, that's my parent's room...they're really tired from work," M/n lied, making Oikawa nod his head and promise he wouldn't.

When he opened his room to Oikawa, he felt ashamed to have such a boring room. There was barely any personality to the room, the walls black and bare besides the calendar that was pinned to the wood.

"Oh! I see you have some stuff!" Oikawa chimed in, snapping M/n out of his self-wallowing thoughts, "is this the flag of your country?"

There was a cute little stand of the Netherland's flag, so M/n nodded his head in confirmation, "It was a gift,"

"Cool!" Oikawa exclaimed, looking to the other trinkets on the wooden desk, "oh, is this your mom and dad?"

In the small frame was a pictured family of three. But that wasn't M/n's family. His father never took photos with him or his mother. But it was his father. And a pair of scribbled out faces, courtesy of his mother. Unknown to Oikawa, this was M/n's father's real, true family. The one he loved.

His mother had dropped it out of her purse one day and M/n intended to hand it back to her, but she never wondered where it was after she had 'lost' it. So he kept it for himself. And with this photo, he was able to piece together the minimal amounts of information that he needed to know about his family.

That his father was technically his father, but he was also the dad to two other children and the husband of another woman.

He made this connection on one of the many days he was sitting alone in this very house.

M/n remained silent and Oikawa just awkwardly looked between him and the photo before walking away. He didn't know why the boy didn't bother answering his question, but he didn't want to be in that awkward silence for any longer.

"So it's a pretty boring room!" Oikawa exclaimed, coming off rather excited and enthusiastic about that. M/n flinched slightly, taking light offence before reminding himself that there was really nothing he could do to decorate his own living space. He had a scarce amount of money that he needed to save anyway.

"Yeah, I haven't gotten around to decorating properly,"

"Eh? That's your mom and dad's job, blame them for giving you a boring room," Oikawa huffed, obviously joking as he didn't mean any true offense to the boy's parents. He just had a unique sense of humor for someone his age, M/n supposed.

He didn't laugh though, offering a weak, dry chuckle instead whilst Oikawa just bounced on the balls of his feet. His lips were pursed as if he wanted to let out a whistle, but couldn't feel the urge to since he felt it would make it even more awkward.

"So, your parents are usually home at this hour?"

"They both work at night..." M/n lied, "Uhm, yeah, the night when you drove me back home, they weren't even in the house yet..."

Oikawa let out a long, 'oh,' in realization as he accepted the lame excuse as to where M/n's parents usually were.

"You wanna go out?" Oikawa asked, not really thinking about his words. But when he did after a slight pause, his face erupted into a deep blush, "N-Not like that! I don't like you like that!"

Poor M/n misinterpreted what he said, getting confused with the phrasing and couldn't help but pout. He was under the impression that Oikawa didn't like him, period. His words did confuse M/n greatly.

"Well, you can leave if you want...Sorry to bother you," M/n said, bowing deeply in apology.

Oikawa flinched, slapping a hand on his face as he felt as if he were going to implode with embarrassment. It was easy to forget that M/n had trouble communicating with him, still. He supposed he just unconsciously got used to the barrier in their short time together.

"No! No! I didn't mean it like that!" Oikawa sputtered, waving his arms around as he forced M/n up from his bowing position. Seeing his tearful eyes made him pout, looking to the side to avoid his watery gaze, "...let's just go," he murmured, practically swallowing his words.

"Huh, Oikawa-san?" M/n asked, not fully understanding what Oikawa was saying.

"Let's just go for a walk or something! It's lame to be cooped up all day!"

"But I like being inside..." M/n meekly whispered making Oikawa sigh in exasperation, reaching out and roughly grabbing ahold of M/n's hand.

"Let's just go!" he exclaimed, already rushing to go downstairs to the doorway.

"Please slow down, Oikawa-san," M/n said in his usual quiet tone.

Oikawa didn't know why he was trying so hard to befriend M/n, nor why he cared so much in doing so. It wasn't like he was anyone special, Oikawa knew a bunch of quiet kids back at his junior high!

Even now, as he grinned with his hands behind his head and walking alongside M/n, he didn't know why he had bothered sparing time for the boy.

But at least it seemed like M/n was enjoying himself a little bit.

It was spring in Japan now. The weather wasn't terrible, it was actually the kind that M/n preferred. It was chilly, but since the sun was out, it was refreshing. It reminded him of Amsterdam, a little bit. Although, where he grew up, he considered it to be colder.

But he was still grinning like the kid he is at the memories the weather had brought up. So, even though he preferred staying inside most days, he couldn't help but be grateful Oikawa literally dragged him out of the house for this.

Besides, Oikawa was a pretty good buddy. He liked to think of him as an acquaintance, not wanting to get ahead of himself by calling him a friend. Although, M/n deeply wished that the brunette would accept him as a friend.

He was in desperate need of one.

And just as M/n and Oikawa were walking towards the park, a cheery blossom promptly landed on top of M/n's head. It then fell graciously down onto his face, making him swat it away in fear that it was a bug.

But when he heard Oikawa's laugh resonate in the air, he knew that his stressful smacking of the air should be put to a halt.

"Are you blind? It's just a cherry blossom," Oikawa chuckled, holding his stomach as M/n pouted.

"Shut up,"

"Wow! That was so rude of you to say M/n, I'm telling my mom!" Oikawa teased, obviously getting a kick out of making fun of M/n.

The both of them knew it was all light-hearted though. Oikawa would never think about genuinely trying to hurt the boy's feelings, not after what he saw those students do to him.

M/n smiled softly at the jokes, happy to be with someone he was capable of feeling comfortable with. Oikawa's teasing words were obviously a joke which is why he gave himself the right to laugh and take with his head held high.

Oikawa was nice, M/n decided, he liked him.

He just wished that Oikawa liked him too. And wasn't doing all of this out of pity.

"We should sit over there, there's shade too," Oikawa pointed out, walking ahead and making sure that the boy was following after him.

And when the two did sit down, they basked in the serene park in front of them. It was small, more like a simple circle for people to walk through, but in the center there was a grand cherry blossom tree.

It really took up the space of the grassy field. And there were a couple of children running around it, playing tag, whilst their mothers watched with soft smiles. Laughter echoed in the air as the blossoms gradually fell down to the ground.

It was truly peaceful.

"Mom used to bring me here when I was a kid!" Oikawa announced, proud to have shown one of his favorite places to M/n, "usually there aren't this many people, but since its spring a lot of people take the time to come out here. But, it's fine since I knew of it before all of them! Haha!"

M/n chuckled at Oikawa's comment, not noticing how Oikawa's lips quirked up in their own smile as well.

"Iwa-chan really likes this spot too, although he's a brute so he goes up the tree to get all the really gross bugs and force me to be near them," a childish pout was on Oikawa's face as he thought of his childhood friend.

"Iwa-chan...?" M/n repeated in question.

"Ah! Iwaizumi! He's my best friend!" Oikawa said in pride, "although he's a bit of a rude one, nothing like my amazing self, so don't bother thinking about him! He'll just be mean to you, he's so mean to me!"

"Really?" M/n asked in wonderment.

"Mhm! He has devil horns and a spiked tail too! And when he gets really angry he breathes fire like Godzilla! I swear I've seen it myself!"

"...You're lying," M/n said, squinting his eyes at the playful boy.

"Of course I'm not! I would never lie to you!" Oikawa chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest, "But he would surely roast you alive! He's such a meanie!"

"But he's your friend? Your best friend...?"

"Yup!"

There was a pregnant pause before M/n spoke up to Oikawa, "I want to meet him..."

"Hah?!" Oikawa shouted in shock, "You voluntarily wanna meet the demon spawn Iwaizumi?!"

M/n nodded slowly, as if he wasn't sure himself, "If he's Oikawa-san's friend, I'm sure he's very nice!"

There was more confidence to his statement, locking eyes with the surprised Oikawa, "You're nice, so it's only natural you're friends with nice people, right?"

Oikawa almost choked on his own spit in surprise, not expecting such a heartfelt compliment to fall off of M/n's tongue. He was expecting M/n to maybe deadpan or say something about how Oikawa was getting way too ahead of himself.

The last thing he expected was a genuine compliment.

But then again, he didn't really know M/n well enough to be thinking of him in such ways.

"Ahem," Oikawa cleared his throat, breaking their eye contact, "maybe I'll introduce you to him one day...But! First we gotta work on your communication skills! Iwa-chan would probably harass you into speaking up,"

That could have also been Oikawa's mental just wishing he could have more time with the mysterious, yet welcoming M/n to himself. For at least a little while longer.

"What's wrong with the way I speak?" M/n asked gently, trying to not take it personally. When he heard what Oikawa said, he automatically went to the harassment he got from his bullies - who bullied him for his accent, way of speaking, tones, uncertainty whenever he spoke, etc. And when Oikawa saw the crestfallen look on M/n's face, he panicked.

"N-Not like that! It's more like, just, gaining more confidence...?"

It sounded more like a question than a statement, but Oikawa decided to roll with it since M/n looked close to tears.

"Like, being more sure of yourself whenever you talk! As if there's a spotlight on you whenever you talk!"

M/n took a deep breath, "Is that what you do, Oikawa-san?"

The brunette shamelessly puffed his chest out in pride, "Well, in my case the spotlights on me all the time - what can I say? I'm just that amazing," he let out an exaggerated sigh, "it's so hard being this charming at my age, the girls at my school love me, the boys admire me, and all the teachers love my effort!"

M/n intook the amount of words that were said, slowly, but surely, computing them as he just mentally translated them individually. And when he finally understood what Oikawa meant, he nodded with a look of eagerness.

"I'm not sure I'll get it down the fastest, but I'll try my best to be just like you Oikawa-san!" M/n cheered, hesitantly raising his fist in the air. He didn't really know if that gesture was appropriate, but he remembered a tv show character doing it to their friend with a smile on their face. So he just mimicked that and it seemed to be a good move as Oikawa smiled down at him.

"And when we finish working up your confidence, those guys at school will leave you alone!"

"Really?" M/n asked, a true speck of hope going through him.

"Well, i-it's not guaranteed, but! I believe that you can do it, M/n!"

"Alright, then, if you say so, I'll believe in you too!" M/n said, a rare, toothy grin on his face, "Where do we start Oikawa-san?"

Just slightly, Oikawa's lips upturned as well.

Something about seeing the boy happy made him feel contented too. It made him feel like he had a worth to him, and as of right now, it was teaching him how to be more confident.

About, 2 weeks have passed since Oikawa and M/n became acquainted. And it was safe to say, that the comfortability levels between the two were at a peak. Despite M/n's shy nature and his tendency to stay away from loud groups of people, him and Oikawa complimented each other well.

Oikawa's regular personality shone through the most whenever he was with M/n. And another spikey haired boy, but that didn't matter right now.

What mattered was the comfortable way Oikawa and M/n were brushing their teeth next to each other in the Oikawa household bathroom.

M/n was on a small stool, so that his torso was just slightly above the sink so he could properly wash his mouth after he was done. And it was such a domestic picture that Oikawa's mother literally took one.

This caused Oikawa to nearly spit toothpaste all over the bathroom, frantically dropping his toothbrush into a cup and chasing after his mother. Meanwhile, M/n was watching as the pair chased each other with confused eyes that slowly morphed into that of sadness.

He wished that he was able to do that with his mother.

He wished he had a mother.

"M/n, stop dazing away while brushing your teeth, it's weird!" Oikawa said, slightly out of breath, "mom won't delete that hideous photo of me no matter how much I beg...it's fine, I'll just sneakily delete it later," he said this with pride, even accompanying it with a thumbs up.

"I wan sphee pifoo-"

"Ew, don't do that you almost spat your saliva and toothpaste at me," Oikawa cut him off, making a dramatic disgusted face. This caused M/n to smirk as he spit out the liquid in his mouth and wash his face, turning to Oikawa and holding his dirtied, toothpaste hand out, "Hey! Hey, don't touch me!"

And soon the pitter patter of feet on the second floor of the house echoed through the halls as the two boys were messing around, followed by laughter as well.

"I said get your hands away from me!" Oikawa chuckled, weakly pushing M/n away to be at an arms-length.

"Don't care!" M/n shouted back, waving his hands around to desperately slobber them on some piece of Oikawa's clothing - or even better, somewhere on the boy's face.

"Ah!" A shrill and girly scream resounded through the house, prompting Oikawa's mother and father downstairs to chuckle at.

After a couple of minutes of finally getting M/n to wipe his hands on a towel and not Oikawa's shirt, they were heavily out of breath and laying on the twin bed that was Oikawa's. M/n had become more accustom to Oikawa as of the passing two weeks and he was grateful he did. He learned so much from him and he was truly grateful to have someone so kind reach his hand out to him.

If Oikawa didn't save him that day, he always wondered how it would have played out instead.

And, frankly, he didn't want to know. Oikawa was the light at the end of the tunnel that he reached just in time, he wasn't going to dwell on the possibilities that would've happened if he missed that chance.

Oikawa's skinny arm rested on the backside of M/n's neck, giving the younger one support as they both stared up at the glow in the dark stars that were glued to his ceiling.

"I never noticed you had these here," M/n said with a tired grin.

"Yeah, you're too dumb to notice!" Oikawa teased, tickling M/n's side lightly, promptly stopping when he was smacked in the face with a pillow.

"This is our cooldown, Oikawa-san, please try and be more calm before I hit you even harder," there was a mischievous glint in M/n's eyes to show that he really would hit him with the pillow, so he backed down and retreated back to their previous comfortable position.

"I like space," Oikawa simply said, "just think about how...we're all just floating on a rock in the middle of nowhere. And we're so small in comparison to everything else. It's kind of scary, but I guess curiosity and intrigue outweigh things like fear,"

M/n hummed, lips pursing together, "Well, I don't really get what you mean, but if the galaxy is that big, then I'm glad that I'm here with you, right now in this galaxy. Or life. Or space. Or planet," M/n sheepishly smiled, scratching his cheek, "I don't really understand these concepts, to be honest,"

But what M/n truly didn't understand was how his words erupted massive amounts of butterflies to go crazy in Oikawa's stomach.

The delivery was sloppy, but Oikawa understood what M/n meant.

He was happy that they met when they did, M/n was meaning to say.

And Oikawa knew this with such certainty because he felt the same exact way.

What would have happened if he didn't take the poor kid back home to his mother? This friendship and trust would have never bloomed and just thinking of what M/n could possibly be going through at school if they hadn't met, made Oikawa fume with anger and also ridden with sadness.

Oikawa was just as glad, if not more happy, that he met M/n, as well.

And when Oikawa's shy eyes finally averted back to M/n, they softened to see that the boy was now beginning to doze off into sleep. He used the warm pillow that was Oikawa's arm with no shame, not that the brunette minded either, and even cuddled a bit closer to the older boy's slightly taller frame.

Now, Oikawa was no old soul, and he was no wise man, but moments like these with M/n were just so obviously the ones that he would cherish. Moments of just them, together and direct quiet.

It was immensely peaceful and Oikawa almost felt himself begin to drift off into sleep too, had it not been for the loud bang of his door opening and a very familiar voice yelling at him.

"Oi, shit for brains, you still wanna practice or not?! If you say no, I'm positively throwing this volleyball at your empty brain!"

Ah, those vulgar and heartless words could only be spoken by one boy.

Iwaizumi Hajime.

And now, this was M/n's first time encountering the boy that Oikawa spoke so highly, and sometimes lowly, of. But when he blinked his eyes open at the sudden ruckus, he couldn't put two and two together.

Instead, he cowered further into Oikawa's side to hide from the intruder, feeling bashful, shy, and frankly, a bit scared.

The loud tone that the boy was using reminded him of his bullies that would yell obscenities at him.

It was scary.

"Iwa-chan! You can't just barge in without knocking!"

Iwaizumi raised his eyebrows, for now dismissing the fact another person was in the room, "What?! I always come in here doing this," he positioned the ball to rest on his hip, between his lax arm, and lifted his other unoccupied one to M/n, "What is that? A life-size doll? You got weird taste, shit for brains!"

"Oi, quit it!" Oikawa defended, wrapping a protective arm around M/n's shoulders, "this is the one I've been talking to you about, you idiot!"

There was still silence.

M/n's breathing was deep and slow, eyes screwed shut as he tried to disappear into Oikawa's side.

Oikawa's ragged breathing being a sign of his anger and frustration due to his best friend's antics.

And Iwaizumi's still expression, with theoccasional blinks, was the sign that he was finally realizing what he exactly had done.

"You mean the one that has crazy serious issues with self-esteem?"

Nod.

"The one that's really meek and shy?"

Nod.

"That took you nearly a month to fully understand and get close to?"

A bashful and shy nod.

There was a pregnant pause before Iwaizumi ran a stressed hand through his hair, "Shit! I'm sorry, kid!" he bowed deeply, not lifting his head, "Didn't mean to scare you, or...something..."

Oikawa looked over his shoulder to see M/n was hesitating in greeting the brash person in front of them. He gave the younger boy a nod of encouragement, mouthing the name of, Iwaizumi, before looking back to his childhood friend.

"Ah," M/n cleared his throat, still not moving from hiding slightly behind Oikawa's figure, "nice to finally meet you, I-Iwai, Iwais...Iwaisumi-san....?"

It was the first time M/n had tested out saying the name itself, also really the first time he was able to practice his Japanese to someone other than the convenience store lady and Oikawa, plus Oikawa's mother and father.

And with the way Iwaizumi's jaw dropped, he assumed that it wasn't his best show of his growing language skills.

"It's IwaiZUmi, Z-Z-Z, not Iwaisumi, Z-Z-Z," Iwaizumi scolded, holding his pointer finger outward to extenuate his stress on the letter Z and not, S.

"Ah,"

"Repeat it back!" Iwaizumi gruffly shouted, getting slightly annoyed with M/n's shy behavior. It wasn't like he was really trying to intimidate him either, so why was he still hiding behind Oikawa like some lost kid. It was really beginning to tick him off.

"Iwaizumi-san!" M/n quickly shouted back, getting more and more fearful of this newcomer's attitude.

"Iwa-chan, quit yelling, you're going to scare him," Oikawa protectively scolded, resting one hand on M/n's shoulder to comfort him, "Japanese isn't his first language! Idiot!"

"How was I supposed to know that?!"

"I've told you this before!"

"Is that why your dumbass was buying those first grade learner books for Japanese, I thought you were just being dumb again," Iwaizumi teased, crossing his arms over his chest as he saw the way Oikawa slowly began to fume where he sat.

"Shut up!" Oikawa shouted, not liking the fact Iwaizumi was making him look like a fool in front of M/n.

"Whatever. Are we still going to practice or not?" Iwaizumi asked with a huff, tossing the ball between his hands as he stood in front of the duo, "He can join us if he wants,"

"I'm not any good...I've never played any sports,"

"Well, you should try, volleyball isn't that bad," Iwaizumi said in a much softer voice, seeing as the boy was still tense behind him, "It's fun,"

M/n looked to Oikawa for guidance, as if he couldn't make the decision himself.

"It'll be fun," Oikawa gently smiled, also wanting to go play volleyball with Iwaizumi as well as hang out with M/n. Even if M/n didn't end up being the best at the sport, Oikawa had a feeling it would be a memorable experience anyway.

A couple minutes later and Oikawa was now third wheeling their time spent together. M/n was listening intently to what Iwaizumi was teaching him, mimicking the hand movements and form in which his arms needed to be. And Iwaizumi's personality had adapted to mellowing out whenever he was talking to M/n.

"Since Oikawa is pretty good at serving, it might hurt a lot whenever you receive it," Iwaizumi said, subtly glaring at the spaced out Oikawa, "but we should just let you try it out first,"

M/n nodded his head, staying wordless for the majority of that conversation and got into the advised position. Knees slightly bent as his feet were planted into the ground and he was just slightly hunched over with his intertwined hands and arms extended out, prepared to receive the serve.

Oikawa took a deep breath, tying to convince himself that he didn't need to go easy on M/n and then threw the ball into the air to be served. And despite it being a regular serve, the speed in which it was racing towards M/n was remarkably fast and strong.

So strong in fact that it made M/n fall backwards as he received it, tumbling a couple of times before stopping nd laying flat on his face on the ground.

"Oi!" Iwaizumi shouted in a panic.

Oikawa running forward as well, calling out to M/n as he hoped to God that he was alright.

"Are you okay?!" Iwaizumi asked, bending down so that he had a clear view of M/n's face so that he could inspect it. Oikawa was soon by his side as well, grabbing ahold of his shoulders and violently shaking him back and forth.

"I'm so sorry, M/n-chan! It was by accident! I didn't mean to hurt you!" he cried out with crocodile tears running down his cheeks in hsi suusla dramatic fashion.

"Idiot, stop shaking him so much you might give him brain damage!" Iwaizumi scolded, hitting Oikawa on the back of his head and watching as the setter was now pouting, "O-Oi! Quit making that face," his eyes trailed over to M/n as well, who had his bottom lip jutted out too, "You too, you brat! Quit looking like you're about to cry!"

A sniffle was heard and a dark look came onto Iwaizumi's face, "Nope, nope, nope! Stop crying!"

"I'm not even crying, you meanie!" Oikawa screamed, his eyebrows furrowed together at the accusation.

"Not everything is about you shit head, I was talking about the damn Dutch boy!" Iwaizumi shouted back, pointing a finger at M/n was indeed silently crying.

His hand was resting on the corner of his temple, slowly rubbing at the aching spot as quiet tears fell down his face, "It hurts...I don't like volleyball," he whined, making Oikawa and Iwaizumi jump in a panic.

"Let me get mom! She'll know what to do!"

"Your parents both went out to get groceries, idiot!" Iwaizumi cried out, the panic of seeing the younger kid in front of him cry even harder hitting him like a bus, "I said stop crying, fool!"

"Calling him a fool won't stop making him cry, Iwa-chan! What do we do?!"

"I don't know you tell me! You're the one that's all buddy buddy with him!"

"Don't phrase it like that! You make it sound weird!" Oikawa said in a moment of flusterment, cheeks and ears turning red.

"Just- Just stop! We need to get him to stop crying! Does he like...drink milk to calm down?" Iwaizumi suggested making Oikawa deadpan.

"That's for babies! Like literal newborn babies!"

"Is he not a baby?!"

And when the point finally came where Iwaizumi and Oikawa were done yelling each other's heads off at one another, M/n was finally calmed down and delicately treated for his injuries by a mildly angered Mrs. Oikawa. The trio was finally calm and mellowed out.

When Oikawa's mother came home to 2 of the 3 boys she left alone yelling at each other with the final silently crying on the couch, she was more than angry at the two for leaving him untreated. And she made sure that each of them knew that as she took care of him in the bathroom, scolding them for their immaturity and lack of responsibility.

M/n's injuries were mild, just a small cut on his temple and once he was gifted a lollipop for being, "a strong young boy," as Oikawa's mother complimented, he was as good as new.

Now the older duo were walking M/n back home. Iwaizumi was awkwardly looking at M/n every now and then, having the image of the tearful boy imprinted in his brain and making him feel pretty guilty for yelling whilst he was vulnerable like that. Meanwhile, Oikawa had no care in the world as he swung their intertwined hands back and forth.

They were supposed to bike back, as it would have been an easier and faster route, but Oikawa's mother didn't trust them in not getting M/n injured again so she ordered them to walk him home instead.

Oikawa had no problem with that, but Iwaizumi was just the taddest bit of uncomfortable at the task.

He didn't know what M/n thought of him now since he didn't put much of a care in the world in their first impression - but now that he's seen the way Oikawa, and even how his mom, acts around M/n made him think that he should have taken it more seriously.

And as his dark eyes trailed to the soft expression on M/n's face, he could somewhat understand why.

From what Oikawa told him, the boy's parents were so busy they were rarely ever home - working hard to provide for their son as they had just moved to a completely foreign country only a couple of months ago. And because of their schedules, M/n had felt alone since their move here. This led to Oikawa extending out an inviting, albeit shy, hand out to him and befriending him.

If only the two boys knew the truth on M/n's upbringing and the truth about his parents.

But for now, as M/n happily smiled, a true smile, and the two boys by his side enjoyed his presence, they would pretend as if they were in their own world.

A/N: hey guys, it has been A M I N U T E , very close to me not updating for nearly a year....and me coming back now to beg for forgiveness with this HEAVY word chapter. the first installment to the three part iwa + oikawa series that is going to be the next two updates. and i feel as if i owe all of you an apology and explanation. i'm so so so sorry for making you guys wait for NEARYL A YEAR for an update (some of the new readers are prolly gonna read this hella confused since they just started lmfaoo). and i'll be completely honest as to why i hadn't updated. it wasn't a matter of me not having time, i had plenty of time. however, when i wasn't updating this book i was constantly thinking about it - thinking about how i should update soon since sooooo many people were waiting for the next part (esp with the way i ended it before lmfaooo. but i never had enough motivation or interest to even sit in front of my laptop and think of writing this chapter. it was terrible and i hated it. i really wanted to saatisfy you guys, especialyl with the way i had ended off the latest chapter, and i felt super shitty seeing so many people waiting for me to updated and me just sitting here: not even wanting to write. i wouldn't even call it writer's block as i knew exactly what i wanted to write and how i wanted it to be done, it was just the absolute lack of motivation or interest in this book, the mc, and haikyuu in general. if i were to describe it, it would be: this book being an immense high, peak in my life where all my attention was on it for the longest time (flashback to when i would consistently update almost every single day lol) and because of all the time and dedication i put into this book, it had grown into one of my favorite works ever. but one day there was just a crash in that high. i was no longer obsessed with haikyuu, this book, or the relationships i had grown with the people within this fanfiction. it was slowly becoming more of what felt like a hassle than an enjoyment. and it was not the reader's faults, at all. it was something that just happened, that i don't even understand it myself. it was as if my entire world, which was this book and haikyuu, just suddenly didn't matter anymore. and it's sad to admit, and scary as well, because i fear it will happen again, but i'm really hoping it won't. because writing this story brings me a lot of happiness, reading the feedback is just one of the best parts of my day, and just hitting publish on this chapter is one of the most satisfying feelings ever. i absolutely adore the mc, the person that i had 'molded' for this haikyuu ff and he is one of my FAVORITE reader inserts i have EVVVERRR written (i quite literally fell in love with him). and reading your comments about how you gusy liked/loved him made me feel more motivated to get back into it. and re-reading the comments on wattpad/quotev made me realize that this book still has so much life left in it. and my interest in haikyuu/this ff is slowly growing more and more and i hope it continues to do so because i really have so many things planned for this. we still have to go against shiratorizawa, go to nationals, touch upon manga subjects that it really gets me more and more excited to write for the dutch boy again. and, i'm going to say it again, i am genuinely really sorry for keeping you guys waiting for so long and i'm really sorry if this chapter doesn't live up to your standards or was generally unenjoyable - i really tried to make it appealing as it would be the first chapter i would be publishing after a wwhile of a hiatus. and i really hope that it keeps you guys interested and looking forward to my future chapters/storylines for the rest of this book because i'm excited too :) also i might release little blurbs before the release of the next two chapters because they are going to take quite a while to write and i want to give you guys something to read whilst you wait

and to those that have moved one past this book, or had simply dropped it out of boredom, i am so grateful to you as well. i am sorry i hadn't been active enough to keep you interested, but i completely understand and even if this audience aren't reading this right now, i just want my gratitude and apologies to be made known as i genuinely feel so grateful towards you for supporting me and also apologetic as i had let you down.

A/N #2: as of writing this, i will be only a week away from starting my junior year of high school now. and i really hate to do this, but i feel the need to apologize once again since there might be a gap between this update and the next. i will be entering my junior year of high school and this is one of the most important academic years for me (if i even live to see the end of it sighhhh smh) and i really am going to try and focus on my academics as much as possible. so if there is a really long gap in my updates, i am truly so sorry. i hate to leave you guys for sucha long time agaain, so i'll try and do my best to get to writing with as much freetime as i get !!!

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THAT YOU DO FOR ME AND THE DUTCH BOY. I READ EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR COMMENTS AND THEY WERE THE THINGS THAT I COULD REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO AND MOTIVATE ME TO GET BACK INTO WRITING FOR THE DUTCH BOY. SO THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH AND I HOPE YOU LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS AS I AM EXCITED TO WRITE THEM AND SEE YOUR GUYS' REACTIONS! <3

comments are appreciated and help motivate me to write more ;))) LOVE YOU ALL AND SEE YOU IN THE NEXT UPDATTTEEEE

word count: 16,958