~I'm now posting my TsukiHina week oneshots on here. Yes, I still need to finish posting the KageHina week ones. I promise I will! Anyway, the prompt for this day was Childhood Friends AU. I'm going to have to put a TW on this one for referenced child abuse. Anyway, enjoy!~
Hinata Shoyo was six years old when he started at Sakunomi elementary school, same as every other kid in his grade. He was nervous. He was small, shrimpy-looking and was one of the quietest kids in his whole neighbourhood, according to his mother who knew about every family in town one way or another. He was described as a shy kid by everyone around him. Even if he had the confidence to talk to people, he didn't have many social skills to speak of. So naturally, when he started elementary school, he didn't have many friends. He was always left out by the other kids, who had already sorted themselves out into cliques and closed off groups that really didn't need another shy quiet kid running around after them like a lost puppy. On the off chance that someone did actually speak to him, it was either for a dare or to make themselves look good to their friends and the teacher. It was such a forced 'look at me I'm including the loner' thing and he hated it but, honestly, he was too scared of social interaction to tell anyone how he really felt.
That's how it stayed for the first year or two of elementary school. However, it all changed once he showed up. Tsukishima Kei, the kid swept Shoyo off his feet, platonically obviously. Elementary school kids don't have feelings for guys usually; it takes a little longer for them to notice it. Anyway, Kei had transferred into Sakunomi about half way through their second year. Seeing as everyone except Shoyo was already in a closed off group of friends, the pair of them hit it off decently well and by that I mean Kei hated the annoying, clingy ginger boy but they didn't have a choice but to stick with each other.
Shoyo would trail around after him like a lost puppy and, as he started to get more comfortable with Kei, his outer walls began to crumble. He started laughing, smiling and even cracking the occasional joke. Sure, it felt weird at first because he'd never acted like this with anyone but, oh my god, it was so worth it! As he got more talkative, Kei slowly got more and more annoyed but he never explicitly told Shoyo this because he didn't want to dampen the mood of his best friend. He was just happy that the boy was finally coming out of his shell. He'd let it slide, just this once.
But 'just this once' soon turned into a barrage of never-ending second chances. He found that he didn't care how much Shoyo rambled on and on about the stupidest little things that he had no interest in, he found that he was happy just hearing his voice. Sooner or later, the pair started spending every hour of every day together that they possibly could. They were absolutely joined at the hip and they were happy that way.
School had just ended at they were up at the local parks. You know, like kids do. "Hey Kei?" Shoyo was lying on his back on one of the platforms at the top of the climbing frame. Kei was currently running up the slide, like the little badass he is, and sliding back down on his stomach. He stopped at the bottom and tilted his head slightly, looking up at his friend. "Have you ever thought about how stupid weddings are?"
The taller boy furrowed his brow, climbing up to where Shoyo was and sitting beside him, leaning against the plastic wall that was supposed to stop the kids from falling. He liked sitting up here with him. It felt like they were in their own little private box where no one could disturb them. "I can't say I have." He shrugged, looking down at the ginger. "Why? Are you planning on marrying someone?" He teased him, a smirk playing on his face.
"Ew, no way!" He faked a gagging motion, sitting up and leaning against one of the other walls. "Why would I want to do that if marriage is stupid? I thought you were the cleverest kid in class." He raised his eyebrows and folded his arms, staring at him. "My mummy's totally obsessed with getting married to her new boyfriend and I think it's stupid! He's not even that nice!"
"Oh really?" The blonde blinked a couple of times, trying to process this. What did Shoyo mean, he wasn't even that nice? Shoyo hardly ever disliked people! He always saw the good in a person which, at least in Kei's eyes, was a blessing and a curse so this guy must be extremely messed up for him not to like him. "Well if he's so mean to you, why not tell your mum?"
He scoffed. "She doesn't believe me. Like, ever." A pout formed on his face and he crossed his legs, going into full sulk mode. "It's so totally lame! She just believes some douche bag who walked into her life, what, four months ago over her own son? That's lousy!"
Kei sighed, that did sound pretty unfortunate. "Yeah that sounds pretty sucky... but that doesn't mean weddings are stupid. I, for one, thing weddings are pretty cool."
"I didn't think you were the lovey-dovey type." Shoyo giggled, hugging his knees into his chest.
"No, I'm being serious." The megane one rolled his eyes, shuffling around until he was sat directly next to his friend. "Weddings are cool and I'm not taking criticism on that." The other opened his mouth to argue but Kei covered it. "What part of I'm not taking criticism do you not understand? That's code for shut up, you dummy." He removed his hand from Shoyo's mouth, ignoring the pout that had come back onto his face. "Think about it, everyone dresses up all nice and they're all happy in each other's company. How often do families actually do that?"
"Not very often..." His voice trailed off and he rested his chin on his knees, his eyes loosing focus and zoning out.
"Exactly!" The other was getting quite animated at this point which was pretty rare for him. "The bride wears this really long flowy dress and she always looks beautiful, no exceptions, ever! Plus, the groom wears a matching suit and they look like absolute couple goals. At least, that's what my big brother says..."
Shoyo giggled to himself, looking at his best friend and tilting his head slightly with his signature grin on his face. "You really do love you brother, huh? I swear you take everything he says as... well, you listen to him like it's your religion!"
He suddenly got flustered and started rubbing the back of his neck, bashfully looking away from the ginger. "I guess so... but there's no need to call me out on it, you hear?" He looked back at him and suddenly pointed at him, causing the other to recoil slightly as his eyes widened. "Tell you what. One day, when we're older, I'll make you my bride. Maybe then you'll understand where I'm coming from." He smiled smugly, like he'd done something there.
Shoyo blinked at him a couple of times before descending into giggles once again. "Silly Kei! You have to marry someone who you love a whole lot and want to make babies with!" He covered his mouth with his hand and laughed into it, looking away from his friend.
Kei blushed to himself and folded his arms, a grumpy aura surrounding him. "Shut up, stupid Shoyo." He puffed up his cheeks. "We can have a friend wedding and move in together."
The other's eyes lit up. "When we move in together, can we get seventeen puppies?"
He sighed. "Sure, why not. But you'll be taking care of them!"
"Then deal! I'll be your bride Kei!"
~~~
It had been a number of years since then and the boys were starting middle school. They had remained by each other's side this whole time and were literally inseparable. They were joined at the hip, like two peas in a pod. At least they were until he came along. His name was Tadashi Yamaguchi. He sat next to Tsukishima in class so, naturally, the two of them ended up spending a good chunk of their day together... without Hinata. That was expected though because Hinata wasn't in their class, he wasn't clever enough. It was ok though because they still sat together at lunch, just the two of them... until Yamaguchi overstepped his boundaries, in Hinata's opinion, and started following Tsukki to their lunch table. Shoyo didn't like the idea of sharing his best friend with someone else but what can you really do? As long as Kei was happy, it was fine by him. At least, that's the front he put up on the outside. On the inside, he was in constant fear that Yamaguchi would take Kei away from him.
He was everything that Shoyo was not. While Shoyo was unnecessarily bubbly to the point of it being annoying, Yamaguchi was quieter but still managed to bring up the mood everywhere he went so, so much better than he ever could. Shoyo was short, pale-skinned and ugly but Yamaguchi was tall, tan and stereotypically pretty, at least for a middle school boy. Shoyo was bone-dead stupid and Yamaguchi was close to the top of his class, only beaten out by Kei and Mizaki, their class president. He had everything that Shoyo didn't and that... well, that hurt. He was afraid of losing Kei to him because, let's be honest, why wouldn't he choose the other?
Kei was eating his lunch, side-eyeing his best friend every once in a while. Tadashi was yapping down his ear about something but he was kind of tuning him out because Shoyo looked, well, upset. "Sho?" He tapped his shoulder, causing the boy to flinch. "What's wrong? You're zoning out."
The ginger let out a small whimper and shook his head. "Nothing's wrong, don't worry about it..."
He raised his eyebrows. "That's a lie. You always whimper when you lie." He sighed. "Shoyo, I've known you all my damn life and you know full well I'm not stupid so just tell me what's wrong." He looked at the boy, staring at him as he recoiled away and mumbled something under his breath. "What was that? I can't hear you." He mumbled again and Kei sighed. "Whatever. Talk to me when you're ready..." He pushed his chair back, stood up and left.
"Tsukki! Wait up!" Yamaguchi got up and ran after him because of course he did. They were friends now. Shoyo was just the awkward childhood best friend who Kei no longer wanted around but didn't have the heart to let go of just yet. Yeah, that's right. He was nothing but a burden and he knew that full well. Staying here and bothering Kei like he was doing was just selfish. Why didn't he just back out of his life now before the blonde actually got mad and pushed him out himself? Yeah, that's the plan as of now. It'll hurt but it's for the best. Besides, he has Yamaguchi now so he'll be fine.
~~~
"...Tsukki?" Yamaguchi poked his head around the corner, noticing that his friend was standing there with his head resting against his locker. He furrowed his brow and walked around the corner, sauntering up to him. "What's the matter? You left pretty suddenly back then." He leaned against the locker, folding his arms and looking at Tsukki. "If it's about Hinata, maybe you should just tell him. I doubt he wants to upset you, you know."
"Yeah, I know that..." He didn't even look at Yamaguchi, staying with his forehead pressed to the cold metal of the locker. "It's just... I don't know how to explain this but he's been acting really distant for a while now. It's like he's trying to push me away but he's too scared to outright say he wants nothing to do with me... or something..." He sighed and turned around so his back was to the locker, folding his arms and looking up at the ceiling. "Maybe I should talk to him about it but... he's started to flinch and shy away from me when I talk to him and I hate it when he does that... so maybe not..." Did Shoyo hate him now? Did he do something wrong? Did he upset him? He knew that he wasn't exactly the nicest person but Shoyo knew that he was only joking around, right? He'd never actually insult him. He loved the kid, platonically, with his whole damn heart and he didn't want to lose him because of whatever he did. Should he apologise?
~~~
The end of the day rolled around and Shoyo had just got home. His step-dad would be home tonight and he was... well, he was nervous about it. The thing about his step-dad was that he was all nice and kind-hearted while his mum was in the room but the moment she left, everything about him changed. He unlocked the door and went inside. "I'm home!..." He called out to anyone in the house who cared, dumping his backpack by the door and taking his shoes off.
"Shoyo sweetie." His mum walked up to him and kissed his forehead quickly. "Did you have a good day at school?" The ginger nodded, almost hesitantly, but she took that as a good enough answer. "That's good to hear, ginger nut. You can tell me all about it later, I have another hospital appointment. You know how it is with the pregnancy." He started to look sad and she sighed. "Hey... I won't be gone for very long, a couple of hours, maximum. Hitomu agreed to stay and keep you company so it won't be that bad, seeing as you two get on like a house on fire." She laughed and ruffled his hair. "Loosen up kid, it's not like I'm not coming back."
"But mum..." He sighed and looked down, tugging gently at his fingers. "Wouldn't it be better if Suzuki went with you? He is the dad after all so it's only right that he goes to all the hospital appointments with you." He forced a smile, although it looked genuine, and looked back up at her. He honestly just wanted to get his step dad, Hitomu Suzuki, out of the house so he could have just one night of not being ordered around like a slave by someone who didn't even live with him.
She thought over it for a second and then nodded. "That is a good point... but are you sure that you'll be ok alone? You won't get lonely?"
He rolled his eyes and folded his arms. "Mum come on, I'm in middle school now. I don't need constant supervision and I'm fine with being by myself for a few hours."
"God you grew up so independent..." She smiled. "Ok, but no friends are to come over and you are not to leave the house until we get back. If anyone knocks on the door, do not answer it. If you absolutely have to answer them you don't open the door, you shout down to them from your bedroom window-"
"Yeah mum, I know the rules." She'd only explained it to him like seven hundred times. Sure he had a bad memory but it really wasn't that bad. "I'll see you when you get back." He grabbed his bag and ran off up to his room, closing the door and locking himself in.
~~~
Another three years passed and Shoyo, Kei and Tadashi were now starting at Karasuno. The past years had flown by like someone had pressed a speed up time button or something like that. They had all ended up on the same volleyball team and Hinata had a new best friend, a boy called Kageyama. Well, Kageyama always said that they were best friends but Shoyo still considered his best friend to be Kei. He didn't mind Kageyama lying though, it was nice to feel appreciated by someone so introverted. Another thing that had happened over the past couple of years was that they had both figured out that they were into men, Shoyo being bisexual and Kei being pan. They both had a mutual crush on one another but neither of them had figured out the other's feelings yet.
They were at volleyball practice right now actually. It was just ending and they were about to go back into the locker room so they could change and go home. Yes, the gym floors had been mopped and they had put all the equipment back in the storage closet. Tsukishima pulled his best friend aside for a second. "We need to talk."
The smaller boy flinched, letting himself get dragged over to the corner of the gym. "Ok fine... what about?" He was slightly nervous. Kei wasn't even smiling right now. He didn't smile often but he always made a point of doing it when he was talking to Shoyo because it made the boy happy. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No, not at all." He stopped dragging his friend and turned to face him, folding his arms. "I just worry about you, that's all. You've been acting really distant recently and you hardly hang around with me anymore. Plus-" And that's when he caught sight of something that looked suspiciously like a bruise on the side of his friend's face, almost completely covered by his curly hair. "...Shoyo?" Looking the boy up and down, he noticed that there were more bruises scattered across his arms, legs and even a couple on his neck that oddly resembled fingertips. "...Oh my fucking god Shoyo, who did this to you?!"
He flinched when his best friend started shouting, cowering away from him and going to cover his ears but stopping himself. "Stop shouting, I don't need the whole damn gym finding out about this-"
"About what?!" Kei was shaking with anger. Luckily everyone other than Yamaguchi had already left the gym and the freckled boy had his headphones on anyway. "You're not answering my damn question Shoyo! Who in the ever loving fuck did this to you?!" The ginger didn't answer so he'd have to really think about it and get the answer out of him himself. That's when something else hit him. "...it was him, wasn't it..." The boy had been talking a lot about his step-dad recently, specifically asking to crash and Kei's house a lot more whenever the man was at his house. Something had definitely happened and he knew for what was basically a fact that his step-dad had something to do with it. He didn't even need Shoyo to answer him. He grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the gym. "Right, get changed and make it quick. Once you're done, you're coming over to mine and you're not going home until its safe for you to be there."
"But Kei-" Shoyo was very tense at the moment. Sure, his step-dad was kind of maybe abusing him but he didn't want anyone to know that. Hell, even his own mother and half-sister, Natsu, were completely clueless. He especially didn't want Kei to know, or any of his friends for that matter. He gently tried to pull his hand out of the other's grip but it wasn't going well for him. "Ok fine... but why?"
The blonde furrowed his brow. "What the fuck Sho? What do you mean why? I'm your best friend, for god's sake!"
He flinched slightly. "I know I know... but why are you offering me help? This isn't any of your business and you don't technically have to involve yourself so why?-"
"Isn't it obvious?" He cut the shorter male off and pulled him into a tight hug, resting his chin on top of his head. "I don't want my future bride to get killed by some asshole who has the damn gall to call him his step-dad."
He tensed. "...you remembered the promise?"
"Of course I did Shoyo." He rolled his eyes. "I love you, dumbass."
He blushed, stumbling over his words as he stuttered out. "I-I love you to-...Kei..."