to greater things beyond the unknown||RK96000||

Chapter 11: Eventualities

ao3 - RK96000

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"I don't know, that's all," Shouyou says for what feels like the thousandth time- Kunimi's disapproving stare turns even more harsh at the words, making his breath catch in his throat before he reminds himself where he was. "I don't want to bother you or your family any more than I already have."

Despite his words, Shouyou doesn't split apart from Kunimi when their paths should part- stays walking beside him even as Kindaichi waves and bids them goodbye after the long volleyball practice they'd had this Tuesday.

"It would only be for a few weeks," Kunimi tells him persistently, as he had been the entire day. "My parents really wouldn't mind."

Shouyou shrugs despite the bitter taste in his mouth at Kunimi's words.

Accepting a few weeks of domestic bliss only to have to go back to his mother and their empty apartment (and the underlying terror forever lurking underneath his skin)- it feels almost cruel of his friend to dangle it in front of him when he'll snatch it away in just a few weeks' time.

"I don't know," Shouyou dutifully echoes and shrinks away from the frustration growing in Kunimi's gaze as they near his house.

Kunimi frowns, turning his gaze away as he glares.

"I won't let you go back to her," he says. "I can't."

Something in Kunimi's tone makes Shouyou pause in his steps- it isn't anger, like he'd come to expect, nor is it sadness or even sympathy.

No, Shouyou realizes.

It's fear.

"I'll stay," Shouyou blurts out and holds back a grimace as Kunimi glances at him, shock clear on his face before it melts away and the slightest hints of relief lay there instead- (when his own fear leaves him suffocating underneath the weight of his terror, an iron grasp clenching his heart so tight it felt as if it could burst, how could he condemn his friend to anything even remotely similar?).

"Okay," Kunimi says, and his voice trembles. His hands shake as he unlocks the door and steps inside his home. "Good."

The instant relief from alleviating his friend's fear disappears as quickly as it came, though, and then, the only thought on his mind is that he wonders if his mother has even noticed he was gone (and worse, it's the knowledge that she would never call his school or the parents of his friends to know if he was okay- the knowledge that on most days, he was the furthest thing from his mother's mind).

"Hinata!" A familiar voice calls out in the middle of a yawn- entering as carefully as he can, Shouyou makes sure to copy all of Kunimi's movements exactly (two steps further inside, remove shoes, place on shoe rack, enter-) before he blinks and remembers someone had said his name.

"Hello!" He shouts back, recoiling a little into himself when his volume is louder than he intended. "I'm Hinata!"

Then, he weeps a little on the inside- sometimes his friends joke he only has one brain cell, but going off of Kunimi's deadpan stare and his own inner judgement, he thinks that he often doesn't have any at all.

"It's nice to see you again," Kunimi's mother says instead of pointing out his obvious blunder, sitting at the dining table with a tired smile on her face. "Curry is on the pot on the stove if you want dinner."

The thought of homemade curry is genuinely thrilling- Shouyou has been living off of the most bare essentials for the last few weeks (mostly plain rice or spaghetti with a pound of parmesan cheese dumped on top) and it hasn't exactly been enjoyable.