about you, blue | oikawa t. x hinata s.

「青い」

SH𝐎𝐔𝐘𝐎𝐔 PEDALLED HIS bike up the winding mountain path, the late afternoon sun casting long shadows through the dense forest. the rhythmic sound of his wheels crunching over gravel was accompanied by the occasional call of a crow, their black silhouettes flitting through the trees. he had taken this route home from school countless times, yet today, it felt different. the air was thick with memories he couldn't shake off, memories of 𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐔.

the last time he saw the seijoh player was two years ago, just after the former captain graduated. ever since their respective school's first practice, shouyou greatly admired the setter. somehow, that admiration turned into an infatuation and eventually, to love, and their rivalry turning into something sweeter over time. tooru, with his warm brown eyes and unruly but stylish hair, had a way of making his heart race faster than any uphill climb or a perfect set. his favorite color was blue, and the karasuno player could still remember the blue (and white) uniform tooru used to wear, fluttering in a not existent wind as he delivers his monstrous spike serve.

as he reached a clearing near the top of the mountain, shouyou decided to stop and catch his breath. the sun was setting, painting the sky in hues of pink and orange, and for a moment, he was lost in the beauty of it all. the crows seemed to sense his pause, circling overhead before settling in the nearby trees, their dark eyes watching his with an almost knowing gaze.

the little player sat on a large rock, his bike resting against it, and gazed out at the horizon. the sunset reminded him of the evenings he and tooru had spent together, the way they would play volleyball together (in secrecy in order to avoid a clash with kageyama) to catch the last light of day before it dipped below the mountains. shouyou would always ask the older guy for more tosses, and tooru happily complied to it. those precious moments they shared, the laughter, the unspoken bond that grew between them.

"there was something about you that now I can't remember," he whispered into the twilight air, "it's the same damn thing that made my heart surrender," he missed him in the most unexpected moments-in the mornings, when the sun first peeked over the mountains, and on the train rides to sendai, where the short spiker often found himself staring out the window, lost in thoughts of him.

shouyou closed his eyes and let the memories wash over him. he wondered if tooru ever thought of him the way he thought of him. did he yearn for his touch as shouyou yearned for his? did tooru miss him every morning and every time he saw a bike, a reminder of their fleeting moments together? the wind picked up, rustling the leaves and causing the crows to caw softly. shouyou stood up, feeling a bittersweet pang in his chest. he knew he couldn't linger in the past forever, but the memories were a part of him, as much as the mountains and the sky were.

he climbed back onto his bike and continued his journey home, the wheels turning steadily beneath his. the crows followed the karasuno player, their presence a strange comfort. as he rode through the dusk, he began to hum a tune-a melody that tooru had once hummed to him. it was their song, a symbol of their connection, and as long as he could hum it, he felt like a part of him was still with him.

the path led him down to the modest farm where he lived, nestled on the next mountain. the lights from the farmhouse glowed warmly in the gathering darkness, welcoming him home. shouyou smiled softly, the nostalgia and romance of his memories mingling with the melancholy of their distance.

he knew that tonight, like many nights in the past two years, he would dream of tooru. in his dreams, they would be together again, playing volleyball, running through the mountains, racing against the sunset, and laughing as they once did. and in those dreams, his heart would find solace, if only for a little while.