A Table For One~Kagehina

Hi Mom

Shouyou held his breath, still, like a framed picture.

Kageyama finally got a good look at him after he had cleaned himself up.

He still had a large bruise on his left cheek, and his knuckles looked to have some excess dry blood on them.

He gently urged Shouyou to speak, almost begging him to say something, anything.

"I was kicked out."

It felt like the world had stopped, there was a light ringing in Kageyama's ears as he felt his face drop and tense.

He didn't speak, he didn't feel like he had a right to. It was now up to Shouyou as to what he shared.

"My parents, er- my dad, he found out about some stuff that was happening at school." Shouyou took multiple large and long breaths as he spoke, shakily straying yo form his story.

"I was dating this er," Shouyou looked over to Kageyama then back at his food, "person that he didn't necessarily approve of." He twirled the ramen in his chopsticks.

"So he, y'know, kicked me out," he breathed out, letting down this weight that he had clearly been carrying on his shoulders.

Kageyama made an 'o' expression with his face, trying to come up with the words to explain his emotions.

"That's... not good," Kageyama finally spoke, slightly shaking his head.

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Shouyou let out a shaky breath, trying to laugh but it came out all wrong. He wiped a few tears from his eyes.

When did he start crying? Kageyama couldn't remember.

"When was it he um-"

"Kicked me out?" Shouyou interrupted, still not looking Kageyama in the eyes, "A few days ago."

"I see." Kageyama took a few moments to get her his thoughts, trying to figure out what to do and say. "Your mom?" He finally asked, fearing the answer Shouyou would provide.

"I've been trying to get into contact with her. She lost custody of me a few years back, got to keep my sister, though. So she can't be all that bad." He explained and Kageyama let out a sigh of relief. He knew some kids wouldn't be as fortunate to another parent as a lifeline.

"Why haven't you gotten in contact with her?"

"That's," Shouyou pointed at Kageyama with his chopsticks, "actually why I called you to help," he explained, now allowing Kageyama to put the peices together. "I don't have her number. But.. I know it's kind of old fashioned, but if your parents somehow have a phone book..."

Kageyama raised his eyebrows and let out an audible "oh!" At the boys words. At first, he had assumed Shouyou at called him over because he didn't have a place to stay or something, now it made sense. "Actually, yeah, I do!"

Kageyama took a phone book out from a nearby drawer and handed it to Shouyou. Shouyou began flipping through the pages and dragging his finger across names until he landed on one in the middle of a page.

Shouyou took out his own phone and started typing in a few numbers. Kageyama recognized the area code, which meant that Shouyou's mom must not live far away.

He finally pressed call and held the phone up to his ear. He dropped his chopsticks and began tapping his fingers on the table in anticipation.

Finally, his eyes widened and Kageyama could properly see a few tears well up in Shouyou's eyes.

"Hi mom."