Level Pair (Haikyuu!! Winged AU)

Level Pair; Day Seven 3/3

I want to take care of people. The maximum joy that I have is when I can create something that makes someone's life lighter, brighter, or better. ~Will Smith

Shouyou hears Noya before he sees him.

The nurses finished their evaluation in solemn silence maybe ten minutes earlier, so he's alone with his mom now, but the redhead tenses slightly. Their mother had been a hurdle but not one he'd been worried about. Noya on the other hand...

Well, I suppose it had to be the toughest reunion first.

And Kageyama isn't here. Shouyou has caught himself turning to speak to the black-haired crow twice already only to remember that he'd left to speak with his father. He really wishes he was here right now; he misses the comfortable familiarity of his abrasive demeanor. He has almost no time to dwell on it, though, before Noya is crashing through the doorway, running into the frame and nearly stumbling in his haste.

"Shouyou!"

He freezes at the sight of him and Shouyou hunches slightly, knowing Noya is aghast at his empty shoulders.

"Noya, really, you weren't supposed to—" Asahi rounds the corner behind him and his words cut off.

Ah. Double whammy.

Shouyou wants to sink through the floor. He knew these two were rarely apart, but he'd still somehow imagined he wouldn't meet them together. His hand unconsciously tightens around Momma Yu's and he pulls a half sheepish smile on his face to meet their wide-eyed stares.

"Hey guys. It's been a while." He says softly.

Noya is the first to break his stupor and he stumbles forward and reaches out to him tentatively with shaking hands.

This is what he hadn't wanted to see, he thinks. He didn't want to see the fear and sorrow cross his friends' faces, the horror and dread slacking their features and blowing their pupils wide. He didn't want to hear the choppy intake Noya pulls in or the staggering silence from Asahi. He didn't want to see their worlds as shaken as his own. But he will deal. He's already lost his wings, so he's been through worse.

Still, Shouyou is surprised at how calm he is. He'd expected this to be brutal but just by looking at these two, he can tell that he's not the one suffering at the moment. He's been living this hell for the last week so he's used to it and built up a tolerance for the emotional pain; they on the other hand have been blindsided. Noya's hands brush his shoulders and pull back as if he's terrified the grounded crow might shatter and Shouyou half-sighs. He's already been shattered and he is through with mourning his loss. He reaches out and pulls the other crow into an embrace.

"It's okay Noya, I can't really break much more." He says with a wry smile and he's surprised that it doesn't hurt to say it. The part that hurts is how Noya is rigid in his grasp and his determination wavers just a moment. But then Noya's hands uncertainly return the hug before he sucks in a breath and crushes him.

"Skies, Shouyou." He says, his voice straining with emotion. "What the hell happened?"

The redhead scoffs.

"I got my ass handed to me, what's it look like." He murmurs and Momma Yu tsks softly in disapproval.

"That's not funny, you idiot." Noya growls but it fails on every level as a rebuke.

"Eh, it's true. Still likely doing better than Kageyama at the moment, though. He's probably going through an interrogation with the Grand King right about now."

Seeing their pain, it's suddenly easy to be light and witty like normal. That was always his strength— to be able to stay up in the greatest moments of down. So that is what he does. He draws both Noya and Asahi in and welcomes them to stay. He chatters away about his and Kageyama's misadventure and insists they tell him everything that's been going on while they were gone. It's harder than normal, but he's able to get them talking.