painting the galaxy was harder than we thought.

Stamina

Summer came quickly, a brief moment of bliss before the terror that was high-school began. Satori had never planned on finishing school, nor did he plan to even make it past his third year of junior high. Semi seemed to be the only thing keeping him grounded, which he was thankful for.

His hair had grown longer, it was now long enough to be put into a small ponytail, the ends sticking out somewhat like a palm tree. When it was down, Satori's hair was a deep, almost cherry-like, red, that had a natural shag to it. Sometimes Semi's younger sisters would braid his hair, adding small butterfly clips to the braids as they went.

"You've got pretty hair, Tori!" One of Semi's younger sisters squeaked as she weaved her small hand through it.

"Why thank you, your highness." Satori gave a fake bow, hands pressed behind his back. This gesture made the girl giggle and squish his cheeks.

Semi walked into the room where Satori and his little sister were playing, "Sakura! Mom made you onigiri, go eat."

"Okay Semi!" Sakura jumped up and sprinted down the stairs.

Semi sat down on the floor next to Satori, who was fixing his hair. He smiled at Semi and ran a hand through the hair that had been pushed into his face.

"Scholarship exams are next week. You should come try out." He said, crossing his legs.

"Maybe, I don't know, Karasuno seems pretty legit." Satori laughed, Karasuno hadn't been a powerhouse school in a long time.

Semi smiled, but his voice remained serious "I'm being genuine, you should try out. You're crazy tall and you can block almost anything."

"Ehh, I mean, what's the harm." Satori shrugged his shoulders and Semi hugged him in response.

Semi hadn't hugged Satori before, so he flinched in his spot, nearly throwing the boy off of him. Memories of Satori's father hugging him just as gently as Semi did, but increasing his tightness around him so he couldn't breathe. Satori could hear his father's faint whispering.

Shh, go to sleep Satori, shh, go to sleep.

"Shoot, I'm sorry, Satori, it was my fault." Semi backed away and knelt back in his spot on the carpet.

"It's fine, really not a problem, it felt nice anyways." He shrugged and looked down at his lap.

"I'm really sorry I should've known, it was my bad, really." Semi hid his face in his hands.

Satori grabbed both of his wrists and moved them away from his face, scanning the expression of guilt that had been plastered on. Semi's bottom lip quivered, and he blinked through long brown eyelashes.

"I said it was okay, don't worry." He pulled his face forward and kissed Semi on the cheek, squeezing the wrists he was holding.

Semi nodded and sniffed, sitting up and placing his hands back in his lap.

____

Scholarship tryouts were tiring, even for Satori who seemed to have an endless amount of stamina. Even in raging heat, he barely broke a sweat. The physical education uniform the group had to wear for tryouts was an awkward length between shorts and pants, and the shirts were far too stained to be considered new.

Some powerhouse of a school.

He stayed by Semi's side most of the time, only moving when he was called to be an example for blocking. The coach took quite an interest in him, his height dominated that of the other people trying out, and his blocking skills were far better.