Skater Boy | h.harem

【10】

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I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! Hinata shouted in his mind, skating at lightning-fast speeds toward the school. It gave him a sense of deja vu. Kageyama's going to kill me! So is Coach! I'm so dead! In all honesty, it wasn't his fault.

He forgot to factor in the time it took to doctor his tattoo, so he and Natsu left the house later than usual. It didn't help that he was low on sleep thanks to a weekend project his teacher assigned the class.

Okay, so maybe it was his fault. At least a little.

Not bothering to take his skates off, he took hold of the railing and leaped through the open doors of the gym, panting heavily as he quickly undid his skates. "I'm so sorry I'm late! It's been a really busy weekend-"

He was interrupted by loud footsteps heading his way. "What happened to your arm, Dumbass?!" Kageyama shouted, though his eyes were filled with concern. "Hinata's hurt! Someone call an ambulance!" Sugawara yelled in desperation.

"Who did this to you!? I'll make sure they pay!" Tanaka slammed his fist into the other, rage filling his whole being. "Guys, please! Calm down and I'll tell you!" Hinata held his hands up defensively, backing into the wall.

Or what he thought was a wall.

"Whoa, so you're the other first year! Ryu's told me all about you!" The male behind him said enthusiastically just as the gym quieted down. "Um, I'm Hinata Shouyou. It's nice to meet you..."

"Nishinoya Yuu! The Guardian Diety of Karasuno! I can tell we're gonna be best friends!" Nishinoya leaned closer to the ginger's face, looking both ways as if someone was spying on them.

Not like the whole volleyball team was.

"Maybe even more than that, hehe~ Oh!" He pulled away suddenly, putting a hand up to Hinata's head, then to his own. "You're shorter than me! Not by much, but you're definitely shorter! This-This is a dream come true..."

It appeared that the little gremlin was crying as he clutched his heart. Now concerned, Hinata placed a hand on Nishinoya's back. "It's okay, Nishinoya-Senpai. I've never once met someone my age that was shorter than me, so I understand how you feel," he sympathized.

"Anyway, tell us why your arms, bandaged, Hinata. This won't affect your practice, right?" Giggling, Hinata shook his head at Daichi's words. "It's a tattoo!"

"..."

"What!?" Seemingly everyone shouted, bombarding him with hundreds of questions. The noise made his head spin, and he reached out for something to steady him, the closest thing being Tsukishima's sweater sleeve.

"Oi, don't-" The glasses-wearing male cut his sentence short, seeing Hinata's confused, exhausted face. He didn't understand why he was so dizzy, but once it subsided, he stood straight and apologized to Tsukishima, who seemed to be the only one close enough to catch it.

"I'll show you guys tomorrow. That's when I'm planning on taking the bandage off. It doesn't hurt, so I'm sure I can play at my best!" The team swallowed his words easily because the smile on his face was so pure and full of trust, it was impossible not to.

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School was going to be let out in about ten minutes, so Hinata left the classroom, waving bye to the teacher on his way. Mrs. Yamara texted him and said the cafe was rather busy, so Natsu was going to have to stay in the gym with him this time.

While he was away, the team, though incomplete, was chatting in the club room. "Guys, doesn't Hinata seem a bit tired-looking lately? I hope he's getting enough sleep," said Sugawara suddenly, pulling his school blazer off of his shoulders.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that. What are his parents thinking? He has to take his sister to and from school every day, then come to practice, and go all the way back home! If he's not tired, I'd think he was some sort of monster!" Tanaka laughed out, removing his shirt.

"Actually, if you add in the time it takes for him to make his way from his house, to the daycare, to the school, then all the way back in the afternoon, we could figure out how much time he spends in total traveling to and fro," Tsukishima smartly added, taking a marker and bringing it to the board.

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"That's too much for a 16-year-old to handle. How does he do it every day? It's no wonder he's so athletic..." Nishinoya muttered, staring at all the math on the board with a shocked face that matched everyone else's.

"Seriously, I think we need to get in touch with his parents. They shouldn't let him shoulder so much weight like this." They weren't aware that they were looking at only half of what Hinata shouldered on the daily, but that was information they had yet to learn.

"Hurry up in there!" The coach yelled through the door. "Practice is going to start soon!" Quickly erasing the board, the volleyball players finished changing and ran to the gym.

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"You can go sit with Kiyoko-Senpai and Yachi-Kun, okay?" Hinata patted Natsu on the head, thankful that he already changed into his practice clothes. "Hey, Hinata!" Nishinoya waved from the court, receiving another one of Kageyama's serves effortlessly.

"Hi, Nishinoya-Senpai!" he gremlin's heart leaped at the honorifics that he has yet to get used to. "Is that his little sister?" He asked Tanaka, taking a gulp from his bottle of water once the coach called for a break.

"Yeah, oh, dude, watch this!" Tanaka bumped Nishinoya with his elbow, pointing to Hinata, who was stretching his arms over his head. "What is- Holy fuck!" He whisper-shouted, covering his reddened cheeks with his hand.

"Right! He can go low-low!" The bald male said, not taking his eyes off of the ginger. Once he was stretched and warmed up, the team watched as he made his way to the coach, advisor, and managers and apologized.

He always did this when Natsu had to stay at the gym.

"I already told you, squirt! It's not a big deal! Sh- Stuff happens. Now, get to practicing!"

After thanking them, Hinata went over to his team, waving viciously.

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