with every passing second of the night.
shōyō had pulled tobio all the way to the volleyball gym in a hurried rush, looking back every so often to giggle lightly. his cheeks were glowing red in the cold, his breath puffing out in big warm clouds in front of his face; tobio thought no sight was more deserving of being beheld.
"why are we here, shō?"
"did you really wanna go to the dance?"
"only for you."
"well," shōyō smiled cheekily, "i decided i don't want to anymore."
tobio laughed.
"what's so funny?"
"you're just so impulsive," tobio spoke lightly, "it's like you just live by playing everything by ear."
"it's fun, isn't it?"
tobio stared at those eyes- so bright, so full of life, so ambitious and daring and everything he hadn't been able to be himself for his whole life, and he nodded in agreement.
"i don't think we're gonna have fun, so why go? we can have fun by ourselves."
"you're such a weirdo."
the two opened the doors to the gym and turned on the lights, taking a deep breath and releasing all the inhibitions locked up in their chests- they were safe now. safer than they felt before.
"do you wanna play?"
"i'm in a suit, shō."
shōyō giggled with a, "so what?"
so they played.
the dance let out and they were still playing, still setting, still spiking, occasionally making out to break the monotony.
they played until they had no more game in them, and then they walked back to tobio's house for the night.
"you know, you didn't have to go to the dance if you didn't want to." tobio said to the boy as he lay next to him in tobio's bed, his orange mess a cushion on the taller boy's chest.
"i wanted to be brave for you."
silence.
"i think you're the bravest boy in the world."
"you do?"
"i do."
tobio kissed his head, and shōyō felt the bubble growing, begging to burst, begging to pop right in the air between them...
so he popped it.