pet shop ✰ kagehina

he began to really feel it

as he sat in the grass with shōyō at dinner time. they'd met at the park an hour after they'd left the shop; the peachy boy changed into the same yellow hoodie he wore the day tobio cleaned up his cuts, and the taller boy felt his heart flutter at the sight of him in it. he bought it- it wasn't meant to be oversized- but the sleeves came down to his knuckles and the hem fell just above the start of his thighs, and tobio believed that if anyone could make a fitted hoodie look better he'd have to see so himself.

tobio laid down in the grass, feeling the itch of it crawl through the thin fabric of his t-shirt. he sighed and stared up at the slow sky, watching its crystal blue fade one shade darker.

"so, where are you gonna go to high school, tobio?"

"well, i wanted to go to aoba johsai,"

"for volleyball?" the boy interjected excitedly, those big eyes glittering with recognition.

"mhm," tobio chuckled, "but i took the entrance exam, and i failed. so that's out of the picture."

"oh."

"yeah. so i did some more looking, and i think i want to go to karasuno. they used to have a great team, maybe it'll be great again next year."

shōyō's already huge eyes somehow grew inhumanly larger at the mention of that name. a small smile crept onto his lips, but this one was a new one, one tobio hasn't seen yet. it was sincere, not so overjoyed like usual. it was his genuine, real, no-strings-attached smile.

tobio fell in love with it.

"really? karasuno?"

"well... yeah."

"that's where i'm going!"

"you're serious?" tobio shot up from the ground, and if anyone who didn't know the two had seen them together, they'd have thought tobio was the excitable one.

"yeah. i wanna be like the tiny giant one day," shōyō sighed dreamily.

"so, we're gonna be in high school together, huh?"

"mhm."

"i can't wait to beat you at being the better volleyball player, hinata," tobio sneered, scrunching up his nose tauntingly.

"shut up!"

"hi-na-taaaa!"

"i hate you so much." shōyō crossed his arms, turning his head away and pouting like he'd never get the chance again.

"i hate you, too! how nice!" tobio laughed.

"how will i ever survive high school with you around?"

"more like how could you survive without me. who'd clean your mysterious cuts?"

"hopefully i won't have any by then..." shōyō trailed off, his mood shifting darkly.

"hey," tobio scooted a little closer to the boy, "you don't have to tell me about it, but no one's gonna bother you in high school."

shōyō looked into his eyes, noticing a new, more protective aura within them. he felt his strength waver as he asked, "how do you know?"

"because i'll be there to stop them."

it was silent, and the sky stopped bleeding red for just a moment; even the wind halted its course to hear what would come next.

"tobio, i'm really glad i met you."

"i am, too."