Sunshine...?

2

"Shoyo!" You opened the door to your best friend's classroom, a big smile on your face. To anyone that turned and saw you, you looked as bright as the sun.

Hinata turned to you, after packing his school bag. He stands up and starts walking over to you. "Hey. Whatcha doing here?"

You tipped your head to one side, your smile never faltering. "We're going home together, right? I came to get you so we can ride our bikes back home."

He blinked a few times, forcing a smile onto his face. "Oh, thanks, but I need to go check out the volleyball club. I might not be able to go home with you tonight." Or ever, if I get hit by something on my way home tonight.

You rub the back of your head. "Oh. Well, I guess I can't barge in on club activities if I don't join. I'll walk home with the friend I made in my class, then. I'll see you tomorrow morning. We will be heading to school together, right?"

The ginger nods, making sure the smile never leaves his face. "Yeah. I'll text you, to make sure that we can come to school together tomorrow. Don't worry about me. I'll let you know the moment something happens, or if something just suddenly comes up last minute, like if there's going to be morning practice that I'll have to go to. Go ahead and head home without me. I promise to see you tomorrow."

You nod, walking with him through the halls. You take out your phone and send a quick message to Yachi, asking her to wait for you at the bike rack so you two can walk home together. "Well, alright then. Good luck with volleyball. I'll see you tomorrow, Shoyo!" You part ways with your friend outside of the main building, heading over to the bike rack. You easily find Yachi waiting for you, and wave to her while calling out to her. "Hey, Hitoka! Ready to go home?"

She nods. "Yeah. Why'd you ask to meet you at the bike rack, though?"

You walk over and get your bike. "I ride a bike to and from school, so I needed to get it. I'll walk you to the bus stop you say you use to get home, then I'll ride my bike to my house. You won't need to worry about me. I can handle being by myself. I was just worried about you being on your own since you have anxiety."

Yachi chuckles. "Thanks. I really appreciate it. What about your other friend?"

"Oh, he has volleyball club things to do. I probably won't be able to see him until tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll get to ride bikes with him in the morning, but I might not be able to if something comes up for volleyball."

"I see. Oh, we turn down this way." Yachi starts leading the way down the streets, making sure you know the route she takes everyday.

Back on school grounds, Hinata stares with wide eyes at the sight before him.

The short boy points to his rival while standing in the doorway of the volleyball gym. "What are you doing here?!"

Kageyama's attention gets taken off of the volleyball he tossed up, looking right at the boy in the doorway. The volleyball falls, hitting the ravenette's head. "Ow."

And so, a huge commotion gets created within the gym. It ends up with Hinata and Kageyama getting kicked out, not being allowed to join unless they can somehow work together. The boys remain outside of the gym until, finally, they make a deal with the team's captain. Everyone comes to an agreement that there will be a three on three match over the weekend to decide the fate of Kageyama and Hinata. After they pass the ball back and forth for a while on school grounds, the two different boys part ways and go home.

Hinata rides his bike up the mountain. He stops outside of your house, debating whether or not he should stop in to talk to you. No, I'd just be a burden. It'll be better for Y/n if I go home. I can just call or text her to let her know what happened, or wait until tomorrow during lunch. No, I need to tell her about what happened. It would be better to explain it all to her, so she'd understand why I won't be travelling to and from school with her.

Before he could move, the door to the house opened, light flooding onto the street.

You blink a few times, standing in the now opened doorway. You smile the moment your eyes land on your friend. "Hey, Shoyo. Would you like to come in? Your mom and Natsu are over for dinner, and we still have plenty so you can eat."

Hinata slowly walks up to the door, leaving his bike outside the house as he enters in with you. "Thanks. We have to talk, something happened with the volleyball club. I don't know when I'll be able to go to and from school with you."

You lead him into the dining room, where there was still food laying out. "Ok. You can tell me as you eat. Everyone else already ate, and they're currently in the living room. Natsu wanted to watch a movie, so our parents went to pick a movie out and watch it with her." You sit down at the table next to your friend.

He sighs, but ends up explaining the situation he got himself into. When he finished, she shoved food into his mouth, a frown resting on his face. He didn't bother to look at you the whole time, just stared at the plate in front of him.

You hum, tapping your chin with your index finger. "I see. That's quite the predicament you got yourself into. I wish I could help with that, but I think the best I could do is just support you from the sidelines. I know how much you love volleyball, and I feel bad that you can't join the team immediately. Do you think you can win while working with Kageyama?"

He shrugs, swallowing the food currently in his mouth. "Dunno. I want to win, but I don't know anything about the other first years that will be joining the team. And it'll take a lot of work to get our team to function well. We might be able to do it, but I'll have to work extra hard on the fundamentals of volleyball. Not to mention, I'm going to have to get along with Kageyama, but he's just a jerk. I want to play volleyball, but I don't think I can do it so easily. I barely have any experience compared to everyone else. I need to catch up and get better than my opponents."

You smile brightly at him, your face heating up slightly as your heart increases the pace it beats at. "Even if it'll be a lot of hard work, you're determined to put in the effort. You're so amazing, Shoyo. I'm so proud of you." You lean over in your chair to wrap your arms around him, but not preventing him from eating. "I'll root for you every step of the way. If there's anything I can do for you at any time, let me know. I'll always be here for you. All you need to do is reach out to me."

You don't even realize how deep those words sunk in, how hard they hit Hinata. He knew he could always go to you, and he really wanted to go to you. He wanted nothing more than to spill all of his secrets to you.

But he doesn't. He can't. He refuses to upset you. He doesn't want to burden you with all of his problems. And so, he keeps everything to himself. Once again, the short boy bottles everything up and just shows you his fake smile.

Inside, he already wishes that he was dead.