Haikyuu One-Shots

Why Him? (Sou Inuoka)

Wizzy: This one's kinda heartbreaking. I feel pretty bad about this one. Inuoka's a big puppy and it's so mean to write something like this for him...

It's always rough when someone you love can't return your feelings. It's even worse if that person's in love with someone else. But if I'm being honest, Inuoka's got the worst end of this situation. The poor guy has to suffer through watching the girl he loves be hopelessly in love with his best friend, who currently is in love with someone else. In the end, it's one big circle of pain.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by one of my classmates tapping on my shoulder. Eyesight wasn't even necessary to know who; only one of my classmates ever talked to me and that was Sou Inuoka. He'd asked me several times if I'd go out with him, but every time I refused because my heart longed for someone else. Though in return for one night of closeness between us, Inuoka promised he'd never ask again until he was sure that I returned his feelings.

"If you're not doing anything else, would you mind seeing a movie with me tonight?" he asked, nervously scratching at the back of his head.

He promised he wouldn't ask... "Sou-"

"It's not like that!" he said, quickly cutting me off before I had a chance to scold him for asking me out again after he'd said he wouldn't. "You see, there's this new movie that I really want to see. But it's a scary movie, so Yuuki won't watch it with me; he doesn't handle scary stuff that well. And no one else will go with me and I really don't want to go alone. You're the only hope I've got."

My refusal didn't stand a chance. Not only did he guilt me into it, but he also gave me puppy dog eyes. Which he is really good at doing that puppy eyes thing even though he's so big. Maybe because he's just like a big puppy.

Of course, I really didn't want to see the movie at all. I didn't tell Inuoka though. Seeing how excited he was, I didn't have the heart to tell him that I really couldn't stand horror movies. Horror anime was fine, but not horror movies.

As the movie started, I tried not to pay much attention to it, but the more you try not to do something, the more likely you are to do it. Soon enough, I was getting really scared of this movie. In fact, I was so scared that I instinctively grabbed onto Inuoka's hand and squeezed my eyes tightly shut.

I must have been squeezing his hand too tightly because he had to pry mine off after a few minutes. But at that point, he had figured that I was scared and moved the armrest out of the way so that he could hold me until the movie was over. Had I not known how good of a guy he was, I would have thought that he'd chosen this movie just so this would happen. But like I said, he's not that kind of guy.

"I'm sorry..." he apologized for the tenth time. After the movie, he'd decided to treat me to ice cream to make up for what had happened. "Yuuki said you liked all those horror animes so I thought you would be okay with a horror movie. I didn't think you'd get that scared..."

I wanted to be mad at him, I really did. But honestly, I could never stay mad at that big puppy. So I sat there and enjoyed the free ice cream. "It's okay... you didn't know..."

Inuoka still looked like he felt bad, but there was nothing that could really be done about it now. It was starting to get late and the sun was starting to set. If this was a date and if I was with someone I loved, it would have been really romantic. Almost instantly, my thoughts started to drift to Shibayama. I know it was wrong to do that when I was here with Inuoka, but I really couldn't help it.

As if he could read my thoughts, he spoke up. "Why him?" His voice sounded like it was on the verge of breaking. It was almost scary since he was always so cheerful. "What does Yuuki have that I don't?"

Well, first off, Shibayama was definitely smarter. He was never pushy. And... well... now that I thought about it, both of them were really great guys. Maybe Inuoka wasn't as smart and could be a tiny bit pushier sometimes, but he was still an amazing guy. Probably even better than I deserved.

"Sou, you-" Whatever I was about to say was lost as my eyes fell on a couple walking a ways away from where I sat now. Shibayama and the girl he loved... what had Inuoka said her name was... Mei. The manager for Nekoma's Volleyball Club. I didn't really know her well, but I knew enough to know that I couldn't compete with her for Shibayama's attention.

Leaning my head on Inuoka's shoulder, there was no need for explanation. He could see them too, I was sure. I closed my eyes and despite how much I willed it not to, a few tears managed to escape. "I hate this..." I whispered mostly to myself, though I knew he could hear me.

Inuoka knew exactly how I was feeling. He wrapped his arms around me comfortingly, but that wouldn't be enough to soothe my aching heart. I knew he wanted to say something, but there was really nothing he could say. If he spoke ill of the one causing me pain, well he'd be badmouthing his best friend. The same went for Mei, who he'd also been good friends with. No matter what he said, it would either deepen the wound or insult those he cared about.

"Sou..." I called out to him, not moving from my position. "Stay with me tonight..."

It was wrong of me to ask such a thing of him, but if I were to be alone in this state, I feared what I might do. Even though this was selfish and like I was using him, I wanted him to stay by my side right now. What's even worse, I knew he would never say no.

Sou... why couldn't it have been you that I fell in love with?