When the Sun Stops Shining

Chapter Nineteen: Cigarette Lips

Predictably enough, Kageyama was by the sheds, smoking his menthol cigarettes. Despite the sniper smoking more than he should, Kageyama was able to avoid many of the ill effects of smoking, like the yellow skin and the yellow teeth. Well, his back teeth were beginning to yellow slightly, although he'd never confess that to anyone.

"Hey." Tsukishima walked out, hands shoved in the pockets of his prison trousers. Kageyama nodded in response and puffed out a long stream of smoke.

"You've got work duty. Gardening, right?"

"Took a break." Tsukishima smirked. "I'm here to check on your stupid ass."

"I'm fine. I just want a smoke."

"That's one smoke too many." Tsukishima plucked the cigarette out of Kageyama's hand, much to his annoyance. "Yamamoto told us. Six boxes a week? That's a hundred and twenty, idiot. You'll suffocate on these tar sticks."

"Well, I enjoy my tar sticks." Kageyama snatched it back and placed it inbetween his lips, now wearing a dark glare on his face. "If you're here to give the standard smoking is bad speech, then piss off."

"No. Weirdly enough, it suits you. All you need is one ear piercing and you're set."

"Yes, because I'm really going to get a prison piercing. I'm not trying to catch an STD, Tsukishima." Kageyama raised his eyebrows at Tsukishima while puffing out yet another stream of greyish smoke. "Are you done?"

"What will it take for me to get you back to normal again?"

Kageyama was slightly shocked by the question. He took his cigarette away from his lips, let his hand drop to his side and then looked back up at Tsukishima. "I was never normal. You should know that, Sadist-sama."

"Sama? Hmm..." That smirk was appearing on Tsukishima's face once again. "I like the sound of that. But, I digress. I'm saying that you need to stop avoiding all of us and start eating lunch again. You're meant to be in the middle ordering Kunimi to get you yoghurt every two minutes, not in your room listening to depressing metal shit all day."

"Avoiding?" Kageyama blinked at him. "I'm not avoiding anyone. I'm just staying out the way."

"For fuck's sake." Tsukishima slapped his forehead. It seemed like everyone was doing the face-palm these days. People did it so often that it could've been classed as a dance move, like the nae-nae or the dab.

"What?"

"You don't still think we're blaming you for what happened, right?"

"Well..."

"You're an idiot, Kageyama. We knew that. If anything, we're lucky that it ended with you throwing us all under the bus. If you hadn't, chances are that our sentences would've been even worse. I'm honestly surprised I didn't get life, considering what I've done." Tsukishima let out a chuckle. Strangely enough, it sounded sweet coming from his lips. "I got sixty-nine years, seven of which I've served, a fan base and my own movie. I've got it pretty good."

"Wait. Why do all of you have different sentences?" Kageyama narrowed his eyes. "Are you telling me that what I did had nothing to do with the sentences?"

"Hell no." Tsukishima snorted. "You threw us under the bus, but it's better than you being under the bus with the rest of us. You have a really, really bad habit for telling the truth. If you'd gotten caught with the rest of us, we'd have all ended up with life sentences. We're glad you did it."

"Why didn't anyone... why didn't anyone tell me?" Kageyama was already beginning to think back to the event. That day when everything fell apart; when everything went wrong...