It was a few hours later that Shiro, unwillingly, found himself helping Sugawara and Tanaka put things away in the equipment room. He wasn't sure why Suga thought that him helping with this would be a good idea, but he had accepted nonetheless, wanting to do something for the team he was technically a part of.
Oh yeah, that was something else.
At the end of practice, Daichi had managed to shoo Suga and Tanaka away from him long enough to talk in private. It hadn't been anything bad, mostly going over the details of what was expected of Shiro to do since he'd decided to add him to the team. Shiro was to be a bookkeeper and number cruncher, keeping track of the things people did well in and things they needed to work on.
It was all thanks to Kiyoko really, but still.
Shiro was now in the cramped equipment room, holding onto one of the poles for the net, while Sugawara and Tanaka cleaned up some stuff that had fallen.
"There's something I don't like about those newbie first years..." Tanaka started, grumbling under his breath as he put away a box of spilled athletic tape.
"You don't like anyone you meet for the first time." Sugawara rolled his eyes, the brown orbs unconsciously finding their way to where Shiro stood in the doorway. "You know, that's your personality, right?"
Tanaka deflated, looking at Suga in disbelief. "My personality?" he questioned, and Shiro couldn't help himself to let out a light chuckle.
"But those guys sure were beyond expectations," Sugawara continued. "Are you going to be okay in the match on Saturday?" Tanaka made some sort of spluttering noise, ripping another smothered chuckle from Shiro.
"O-of course! I'm on the team after all!" Suga made a noise acknowledgment, finishing folding the spare net they had. "That's true."
It was after a few moments of silence that he started to talk again. "There's Kageyama, too."
Tanaka rolled his eyes, after having to deal with said male all morning he didn't really wanna hear about him. "He's really mellowed out since junior high, don't you think?"
This time it was Shiro rolling his eyes. "How can you think he's mellowed out?" Tanaka demanded, having forgotten that he was supposed to be cleaning, now just leaning against a shelf to talk.
Sugawara sighed, stretching to put the net back onto the shelf it belonged on. "Well, when he was in junior high it seemed as if he had this unwavering confidence." The grey-haired male kept talking as he helped Shiro put the pole into the stand it belonged in. "Like he was some unchallenged phenomenon or something."
Shiro hummed, understanding where Sugawara was coming from. Unfortunately for the blind male, he was in an area where he'd only been told one side of the truth, one side of the story. Shiro hardly knew anything about Kageyama, but he didn't like the male all for the fact of what Shoyo had said about him. Sugawara was indifferent, and Shiro wished he himself could be.
"Either way he's cocky as hell," Tanaka said with another roll of his eyes, and Shiro chuckled.
"Sorry, sorry," Sugawara said with a smile, one hand pressed gently into Shiro's back to guide him out of the equipment room. "I shouldn't have asked you that."
Tanaka, still in the equipment room, looked at the two of them in confusion. "What?"
Shiro smiled, letting Sugawara guide him across the gym floor so they could grab the other pole. He knew what Sugawara was talking about, was getting at. He knew that he saw unlimited potential in Kageyama and Shoyo, knew that he saw the way that Kageyama had been humbled a bit by not getting into the school he'd chosen first.
He knew that Sugawara saw the little things and that was a wonderful skill to have in life.
-
It was late when they'd gotten the gym cleaned up, late enough that Daichi had gotten fed up with them and had thrown the keys at Sugawara, yelling about some test he needed to study for. Tanaka had abandoned them the second Suga had let him go, and the other 2nd years had followed suit, leaving only Shiro and Sugawara to clean up.
Leaving the Vice-Captain, and the blind manager to clean a gym.
Shiro truly hated other people.
He was doing what he could; he wanted desperately to help Sugawara finish cleaning up, but he was basically reduced to grunt work due to being the stronger of the two of them, and being blind. He wanted to help, but there was nothing he could do anymore.
Shiro was now sitting by the door, trying to go through a mental checklist of everything he'd taken to school with him today, while Sugawara did the last dry mop across the gym floor. It was quiet and peaceful, and it was great, but nothing can stay forever.
"C'mon Shiro," Sugawara said softly, helping the taller male off the floor, "I'm done for the night so we can go home." Said male nodded, letting Sugawara pull him up off the floor before pulling his hoodie back on, school blazer shoved into his bag once more.
One of Sugawara's hands found its way to Shiro's back, gently guiding him along in the dark, while the other was occupied by his phone where he was texting his parents. They weren't home at the moment, on some business trip or something, but he liked to keep them updated in his life.
Shiro was patient and quiet while Sugawara finished the text, while the grey-haired male made sure he had everything he'd taken with him to school, and didn't say a word while he waited outside in the cold for Suga to lock up the gym. It was a nice and comfortable silence, something Shiro was thankful for.
Once the gym was locked up one of Suga's hands found it's way back to Shiro's lower back, more out of a habit he'd acquired in the short time they'd known each other than anything else.
Shiro didn't say anything about, but he enjoyed the warmth nonetheless.
The two of them walked in silence, both tired from long days of school and the morning practice fiasco, then normal practice after school. As they walked Suga's hand wandered absently, moving up then back down to its original position, then off to the side so he could link arms with Shiro like he'd done earlier that day during lunch.
Shiro, who was used to being touched by only Shoyo, Natsu, and Emica, found himself freezing a bit. He wasn't used to being touched by others; most people avoided him due to his height or his general demeanor, he seemed unapproachable at best to some, and yet the silver-haired male was doing this unconsciously.
The black-haired male felt his face heating up in the cold night.
"Oh?" Sugawara questioned softly, slowing himself and Shiro down as Hinata and Kageyama came into view. "They're still practicing?"
The two first years were arguing, Kageyama doing basic hits down to Hinata to imitate a spike, but Hinata's receiving was still not the best so the ball went in a random direction more often than not.
The two of them stood there for a moment or two, Suga watching as the ball went haywire and Hinata went running after it, the pattern continuing on and on.
"What time is it?" Shiro asked softly, his hands shoved into his pockets, forcing the two of them to stand hip to hip. "Uhm," Suga said eloquently, "late." The taller of the two sighed, leaning over so his head was propped up on Suga's. "I should get going," he said softly with another sigh. Suga tried to form a response but instead could only bring himself to blush and hum.
They stood like that for a moment or two, in a little bubble together, until Shiro sighed once more and slowly lifted himself off of Suga, pulling his arm away to step forward.
"Shoyo! We need to go home!" he yelled over to the first years, spooking the both of them into momentarily forgetting what they were doing until the ball came falling down onto Kageyama's head.
Shoyo let out this little nervous giggle, rubbing at the back of his neck as he looked up to the two third years. "Sorry, sorry, I'll get my stuff." Shiro huffed in fake annoyance, shoving his hands into his pockets as he looked off to the side where Sugawara stood.
"Thank you," he said softly, genuinely, the silver haired male found himself nodding dumbly for a moment. "Right! Right, no problem, anytime!" his words were fast, nervous in a way he couldn't recall being like since middle school, and a dark flush found its way onto his cheeks once more. "Anytime."
Shiro chuckled, reaching out to pat at his should but hitting more at his collar bones before Shoyo bounced over to them, linking arms with the taller male and waving to Suga. The two of them walked off, Shiro giving him another pat, this time on his shoulder, leaving him alone as Kageyama had left while Shoyo had collected his thing.
Sugawara found himself standing there for a moment, just thinking, wondering. He was nervous around Shiro, much like he'd been in middle school before a presentation, or having to introduce himself or like...
..or like when he'd had a crush.
He blanched, eyes wide as his mouth opened in realization. It had been what, 2 or 3 days? There was no way he actually had a crush on Shiro already! Suga shook his head, pulling at his hair a little before forcing himself to start the walk home.
There was no way he actually had a crush on Shiro already, right?
----------
Days later Shiro found himself sitting on the gym floor much like the first time. He was in the corner, head propped up on the wall as he listened to Shoyo and Kageyama do receiving practice. They had been working today for a while already when Suga came in, the third year taking his usual spot next to Shiro.
"He's gotten good," Suga said softly, as to not distract the two. Shiro hummed, a smile coming to his face at the praise Shoyo got. He wouldn't be lying as to say he missed that, missed the praise of being good at a sport, but now he was unable to play so he applied himself to other subjects, like making Natsu happy.
A few minutes later Tanaka came in, moving to stand next to Suga and Shiro who offered him quiet welcomes. They watched in relative silence, or as silent as Tanaka could be until Kageyama told Hinata he'd reached his limit, hitting the ball too far.
Shiro sighed; it had only been around a week and he was tired of their constant competitivity, tired of their arguing already, but he listened as Shoyo ran across the gym floor in order to save the ball.
"He won't let it drop," Shiro said softly, Tanaka and Suga looking down at him. "If he has even the slightest chance to get the ball he's gonna go after it." Shiro felt Tanaka kick his leg a little before going back to watching Hinata run across the gym, but he could still feel Suga looking at him, could feel him watching him, but then there was a crash of a body hitting the floor, and the sound of Tanaka cheering.
"A toss?" Suga questioned seconds later, Shiro making a soft noise in reply. This was probably his least favorite part of the day; he felt useless in the gym, felt like a waste of space in the area since he was a hazard since he couldn't help.
He wanted out of the gym, but he also wanted to be here for Shoyo, to give him the support he deserved.
Shiro heard Shoyo make a sound of excitement, and heard him run-up to the net and jump, hit the ball, and land. He could hear him cheering, hear Tanaka and Suga talking about how he can jump and how happy he looked, but all he could think about was leaving the gym.
Shiro felt... disgusted with himself.
He was here for Shoyo; he'd chosen this school for Shoyo, he'd joined the team for Shoyo, he tutored him, he practiced with him, he did all of this for Shoyo, and yet he could only think about how he'd grown to hate volleyball since he wasn't able to play anymore.
Shiro let out a huff, rubbing at his collar bones. He was better than this, better than being bitter just because he couldn't play anymore.
Shiro sighed, closing his eyes behind his glasses, and let himself relax into the wall. It was time for him to step back and let Shoyo begin to live out his dreams.
-
[I'M SO SORRY ABOUT THE WAIT! School has recently started to kick my ass, probably because it's my last year and I'm about to be done but what ever.
I'll try to get updates out more often but I can't promise anything since school is gonna be my priority but still, I will try!
Also, tell me what you think! I love to read comments so tell me your thoughts or your ideas!
Thank you for your time!]