Haikyuu imagines

Monster- Tendo

(y'all are kids in this)

I found him behind the gym.

Knees pulled up, arms wrapped tight around them, head buried like he was trying to hide from the whole world. The sun was setting, warm and orange, but he looked so small in the middle of it-like even the light didn't know how to reach him.

"Satori?" I called softly.

He jolted like I'd scared him, eyes going wide and red. He must've been crying, though he was trying really hard to pretend he wasn't.

"Oh-hey," he said too quickly, pasting on a crooked smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Nothing to see here! Just, y'know, chilling. Totally normal post-practice behavior."

I stepped closer. "I heard what happened."

He froze.

I could see it-his whole body going still, the way his hands tightened around his sleeves. He tried to laugh again, but it broke halfway through.

"Kids say stuff," he muttered, brushing off dirt from his shorts even though he wasn't actually standing. "It's whatever. I mean... monster's not even that creative, right? Couldn't they come up with something cooler? Beast? Demon King? Something classy-"

"Satori."

He shut up immediately.

Very slowly, he turned his head away from me.

His voice, when it came, was soft. Cracked. Almost scared.

"I didn't want you to see me like this."

My chest tightened.

He wasn't talking about the tears. Or the shaking. Or the bruises on his arms from blocking drills.

He meant the look in his eyes. That hurt. That heartbreak. That fear that maybe... maybe they were right.

I sat beside him without asking and bumped my shoulder into his. Not hard-just enough to let him know I wasn't going anywhere.

He swallowed. His lower lip trembled before he bit it.

"They all look at me like I'm weird," he said quietly. "Even when I do something good. Especially when I do something good. Like it's wrong. Like I'm wrong."

I felt anger spike in my chest. "There's nothing wrong with you."

He shook his head. "You don't get it. When I block their spikes, it's like... they hate me for it. Like I'm some freak with long arms and creepy timing. And maybe I am. Maybe it'd be easier if I just-"

"Satori," I interrupted, placing my hand on his forearm. "Stop."

He blinked at me, startled.

"You're not a monster," I said firmly. "You're talented. You're smart. You're annoying sometimes-"

He let out a tiny snort.

"-but you're kind. And funny. And you work harder than all of them combined. They're scared because they know you're good."

His eyes shimmered.

"Really?" he whispered.

I nodded. "Really. And even if the whole world called you a monster..." I squeezed his arm. "...I'd still choose to sit right here beside you."

For a moment he stared at me like he didn't know what to do with that.

Then, very quietly, he leaned his forehead against my shoulder.

"Thank you," he murmured. "Just... don't tell anyone, okay? That you saw me like this."

"I won't."

He let out a shaky exhale, relaxing just a little.

"...But I'm not going anywhere," I added softly.

His fingers curled weakly into the fabric of my sleeve-like he was holding on.

"Good," he whispered.

And for the first time that day, he didn't try to smile. He didn't hide. He just let himself be held