Feel free to critique my writing! I'm open to ways where/how I can improve my writing!
(H/c) - hair colour
(E/c) - eye colour
(S/c) - skin colour
(R/n) - random name
_____
• twelve •
“Left!!”
“Azumane-San!”
The echoing sounds of rowdy voices enticed the gym. Balls crashed onto the ground, the squeaking of shoes and chatter enveloped Hinata’s ears as he sat on the floor, bottle in hand and towel in the other. It had been a few days since the training camp and since then the team hadn’t stopped practicing, but one thing was different, (m/n) was nowhere to be found since the end of the training camp.
The ginger released yet another sigh for the umpteenth time of the morning. Sugawara frowned at the slight loneliness that the team bore on their faces.
“It just doesn’t feel the same without (m/n), huh?” Sugawara asked Daichi who nodded with a small wistful sigh escaping his lips as well. “Maybe we should go and look for him?” Sugawara suggested.
Nishinoya and Tanaka’s ears perked at the suggestion and scrambled over to Sugawara with stars in their eyes.
“We’ll go!” They yelled in unison.
“Yeah, like we’d trust you tw.” Sugawara and Daichi deadpanned.
Nishinoya and Tanaka frowned and turned away with their tail between their legs and head bowed. Sugawara sighed and scanned the gym to see if anyone would be qualified enough to bring (m/n) in a respectful and friendly manner. Knowing those two, they’d forcibly drag him to the gym—I don’t think (m/n) would like that. Sugawara sweat dropped at the thought of Tanaka and Nishinoya dragging (m/n) to the gym.
“Narita, Kinoshita,” Sugawara called out to the two second years who were in the middle of practicing their receives, “do you wanna go and look for (m/n)?”
The two looked at one another and nodded with a smile on their faces, “sure!”
“Alright, I’ll let Coach know where you two went once he arrives.” Daichi said giving them a thumbs up as the two walked out of the gym.
“Okay! We’ll be back!” Narita stated waving.
“How come they get to go!?” Nishinoya whined like a little child.
“Because you two would’ve dragged (m/n) here without so much as asking him to come.” Sugawara immediately answered with no hesitation.
“How dare you think so lowly of us!” Tanaka dramatically cried.
“We’re not, we’re just stating facts.” Daichi shrugged and walked off to inform Ukai where Narita and Kinoshita had gone.
_____
“(m/n)?” Rei asked, placing his phone down to face his fellow classmates, “yeah... about that... he got sick.”
“Eh?! Really?” Narita asked.
Rei chuckled as he lightly scratched his cheek, “yeah the idiot decided to head into the pool over at my place at night and got sick,” he answered, “I’m sure he’ll be better sooner or later.”
“Hm... alright, thanks for letting us know Rei.” Kinoshita smiled and headed out.
_____
“Ehhh??? (M/n)’s sick!? Is he alright??? He’s still alive right? Right???” Hinata and Sugawara asked, bombarding the two with never-ending questions. Narita and Kinoshita were luckily saved by Daichi who had put Sugawara and Hinata in a corner to stop them from bothering the two second years.
“Rei didn’t specify if he’s feeling better or not though, so I don’t know if he’s alright or not...” Kinoshita frowned.
“We could visit him!? Bring him snacks and chill out there!” Tanaka suggested.
“Do you guys even know where he lives?” Sugawara bluntly asked.
“Yup, he lives a few houses down from Noya-San's house.” Tanaka answered.
“Alright! Let’s see (m/n) and fight that cold!” Nishinoya declared and was about to rush out with Tanaka and Hinata when they were suddenly pulled back by Daichi and Ennoshita.
“Not so fast you three,” Daichi said as he sighed pondering how he ended up like this in his life, “we can’t all go there at once. It’ll just worsen his cold and also, we might all get it.”
“I’m honestly fine with that— “Ennoshita stated simply with the rest of the team nodding in agreement to his statement.
“Well, if you all get sick then none of you will be able to play at the tournament.” Sugawara deadpanned making the entire team sob at the harsh decision they had to make.
They all wanted to be around (m/n) and help him feel better, but their captain and co-captain we both correct. They couldn’t all go and if they did, they’d be risking the chances of themselves getting sick, which they were all sure that (m/n) would definitely scold them for.
Daichi released a sigh as the entire team frowned, “Ennoshita, Kinoshita and Narita you guys can go and visit him,” he said, “you’re planning on going over to Nishinoya’s for a study session, right? You can head over to (m/n) and hand him some medicine, which we’ll buy for him, and then head over to Nishinoya’s.”
Ennoshita turned to his fellow forgotten ones and nodded, “alright.”
“Great, now that’s settled let’s continue practicing before Coach Ukai yells at us for slacking off.” Sugawara chuckled as he ushered Tanaka and Nishinoya off to the court while the other’s headed to the other side.
_____
“Okay! Let’s get going,” Daichi said as he walked out of the shop with meat buns, handing one to each team member and leaving two for (m/n), “here Ennoshita, the medicine plus some meat buns for him to eat.”
“Thanks,” Ennoshita smiled and turned to the rest of the second years, “okay let’s head out.”
“Yeah!” Nishinoya yelled with a grin.
The small group separated from the rest of the team, walking, and talking with one another. The sun slowly setting over the horizon as a nightly breeze whistled at them. The streetlights one by one turning on, guiding their path to their designated location.
“So, regarding what Coach told us earlier, who do you think our captain should be?” Narita asked as he took yet another bite of his meat bun.
“Chikara, obviously!” Nishinoya immediately responded, earning a nod from Tanaka who grinned.
“What? Why me? Why not one of those two?” Ennoshita asked as he pointed to his fellow forgotten ones.
“What? No way, you’re more qualified than we are.” Narita and Kinoshita both said in unison.
“Ugh...” Ennoshita slouched as he imagined himself being captain of the rowdiest team in existence.
“Nishinoya’s right though, you’re like Daichi-San, like the second father of the team... or something.” Kinoshita stated.
“No thanks, I’m not ready for the responsibility and commitment.” Ennoshita bluntly replied.
“Well too bad! You’re gonna be our captain and that’s guaranteed, bet two-thousand yen!” Nishinoya declared.
“Boo! Do four thousand!” Kinoshita said in the background.
“Yeah! Don’t be a coward!” Narita pitched in.
“Then you guys bet that!” Nishinoya exclaimed.
“No way, we’re too broke for that.” The two responded in unison, waving their hands in front of them.
“And you call me weak.” Nishinoya grumbled.
_____
Ennoshita, Narita and Kinoshita arrived at (m/n)’s house.
“We’re here!” Nishinoya grinned and approached the door, his hand just hovering above the handle.
“Nishinoya…” Ennoshita said, an ominous aura surrounding him making the midget flinch at the scary atmosphere the taller male was emitting, “what do you think you’re doing?”
“Uh… opening the d-door for you…?” Nishinoya answered, sweating bullets.
“Great!” Ennoshita beamed as he approached the door, Nishinoya was about to enter the house after him however the dark-haired male, “get back outside and go to your house with Tanaka. We’ll be back in a few minutes, okay?”
“Y-Yes sir.” Nishinoya stuttered and scurried away with Tanaka close behind him.
Ennoshita sighed and turned around, looking at his two best friends who shrugged.
“Wait… why was the door open?” Narita asked.
“Eh?”
“What?”
“It was open, Nishinoya just straight up opened the door, it was unlocked.” Narita explained.
Silence.
“We can ask (m/n) later, okay? For now, let’s drop off his medicine and food, before it gets cold, and help him get better, yeah?” Ennoshita asked.
“Okay! Let’s go look for him!” Narita smiled and the trio ventured around the house, admiring the clean and tidy space. The three could tell that it was a place that was looked after quiet well, not a single speck of dust to be around.
Narita waltz into the kitchen, seeing a single bowl, plate and cup lined up neatly on the rack, a single cloth which hung on the oven doors handle and the little light which seeped through the short curtains that covered the window above the sink. He looked through the cupboards, finding little cutlery, cups, and plates. He grabbed a bowl and left to join Ennoshita who was carrying the meat buns.
Kinoshita explored the dining room, the long table with six chairs joining on its sides defined that (m/n) wasn’t alone, at least that’s what he had thought. The little light that escaped the curtains shadow lit the dark, lavish wood. Kinoshita looked over to the clean, white walls, seeing nothing decorated on them. The only decoration in the room, a single plant which rested at the corner of the room, nothing else.
Pretty plain house. Kinoshita thought and headed to the living room where Ennoshita was.
Ennoshita looked around the living room, a large TV hung on the wall, a medium sized drawing resting beneath it with speakers, game consoles and controller’s resting on it. A glass coffee table, clear and clean with nothing but a remote on it sat before the dark grey sofa. Beside the sofa was an armchair and across the armchair was a recliner chair. The large window, covered by two different curtains brightened the room just a little.
Not a single decoration to be found.
Nothing but plants at least.
“He must be in his room then.” Kinoshita said as he entered the living room.
“Yeah, oh! Here, I grabbed one from the kitchen. Put the meat buns in here.” Narita stated as he held the bowl up. Ennoshita opened the bag of meat buns and put them into the bowl, one by one.
The trio proceeded down the hallway, finding a bathroom in one of the rooms and another bedroom, but it seemed to be lock. They knocked on the door but received no answer. They couldn’t tell if it was (m/n)’s room or not, unsure of what to do, they had planned to sit and wait.
“What are you guys doing in my house...?” A weak voice asked
The three turned to find (m/n), a thick, (f/c) coloured blanket wrapped around his sweaty figure. The fatigue clear in his (e/c) hues, a light shade of red sprawled across his sweaty face. Heavy breaths could be heard from the tall male as he leaned against the wall for support.
“(m/n)!!” Narita exclaimed, “what are you doing? Get back to bed!”
“Yeah! Here Kino hold these!” Ennoshita said as he shoved the meat buns and medicine to Kinoshita and rushed over to (m/n) quickly picking him up bridal style, his knees buckling and almost collapsing at (m/n)’s unexpected heaviness. Not like Ennoshita was deeming (m/n) to be overweight, he was just assuming he was heavy because he was bigger, that’s all.
“Chika-chin… don’t waste your energy… I don’t want you catching my cold, please.” (m/n) whispered, his eyes were barely able to stay open as he let out a weak cough.
“No, you’re in no position to talk,” Ennoshita said, “you shouldn’t have gotten out of bed either! Although… your door was left open—that’s beside the point! You need to rest and that’s period.”
(m/n) weakly chuckled as he salvaged the warmth of Ennoshita’s body as he rested his head against Ennoshita’s chest. His eyes slowly closed as he relaxed a little. Ennoshita blushed but pushed on, he couldn’t let this warm and happy feeling prevent him from reaching his goal. (M/n)’s health was the thing that came first and then gay panic.
The dark-haired male gently place (m/n) on his bed and tucked him onto bed, Kinoshita placed the meat buns and medicine on the dresser beside (m/n)’s bed. Narita quickly left to fetch some water, Ennoshita and Kinoshita were about to leave when (m/n) suddenly grabbed Ennoshita’s arm, his hand squeezed his wrist tightly as if he were his lifeline.
Ennoshita raised an eyebrow and looked over at (m/n) whose eyes were screwed shut with tears streaming down his cheeks. A groan escaped his lips followed by a whimper and quiet sniffles.
Without so much as giving it another thought, Ennoshita got down onto his knees and held onto (m/n) hugging his tightly in a comforting manner. Kinoshita joined in on the hug as (m/n) whimpered and sobbed in his sleep, muttering out cries as if he were pleading for something or someone.
After a little bit, when Narita had returned with the water, (m/n)’s quiet cries died down and the tall male was back to sleeping peacefully.
“You guys good?” Narita asked as he raised an eyebrow at the two who looked like they were on the verge of crying.
“Yeah, we’re fine,” Ennoshita said, “anyways we should get going. I’m sure Tanaka and Nishinoya are just playing video games back at Nishinoya’s place.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were.” Narita chuckled.
Kinoshita and Narita took their leave, immersing themselves in small talk. Ennoshita followed however stopped by the door, taking one last glance to (m/n) who looked more at ease. His quiet and soft snores could be heard by him and Ennoshita smiled. He walked over to (m/n) and gently ruffled (m/n)’s hair.
“Sleep well (m/n),” he whispered, “and get well soon.”