Eclipse

+1

I feel like I kinda just forgot about Kenma and Lev at the end, so here's a little something I decided to write with them. It'll mostly be backround about their friendships, but then it'll come back to after Hinata wins.

--

Kenma and Lev both had difficulty making friends as they grew up. People tended to steer clear of them, but for completely different reasons.

Kenma was quiet. Too quiet. Everyone around him seemed to just assume he didn't want to make friends, and that was why he was so quiet, so they avoided him. And his long dark hair that seemed to creep them out probably didn't help his case any.

When he met Kuroo, he was, surprisingly enough, the more social one of the two. But they eventually became friends. He would never admit that he was glad he had the Nekoma Volleyball Team, lest it go to their head, but he didn't think he could have chosen a better team.

Hinata had been an enigma since the beginning, but that was what Kenma had liked about him. He didn't care about a person's outside, he cared about who they were on the inside. It sounded cheesy, but Kenma appreciated it.

Lev had always struggled with the opposite issue. He always scared people away with his willowy limbs and tall stature. His loud and brash way of talking only served to make it worse.

His sister had always been there for him, and he loved her for that, but he needed friends outside the family. Especially ones that actually spoke Japanese. So when he joined the Nekoma Volleyball Team, his prayers were answered. Not only were they not put off by his height and personality (not entirely, anyway), but they found a way to put it to use. Then he met Hinata. A short little firecracker who wasn't afraid of him (at least, not after he had finally introduced himself). What's more, the boy knew Japanese and Russian, and was completely willing to teach him the latter.

That's why they both cared for the boy so deeply. He was one of the few friends they had outside of their own team.

When Lev's parents demanded to meet his friend that was teaching him Russian, Hinata had been more than willing to stop by. Despite being surrounded by an entire family of giants, he somehow blended perfectly with them all. He managed to speak perfect Russian with his parents, and he was pretty sure they were talking about how bad he was at actually speaking it, but he let it slide. He even became pretty good friends with his sister, which, admittedly, wasn't all that difficult, but he was still impressed.

When Kenma's mother had demanded to meet his friend that he texted almost religiously, Hinata had come by without even waiting for an okay from his friend. His mother, having a completely opposite personality from Kenma, hit it off instantly with the boy. She had not been expecting such an energetic boy to be best friends with her son, but as long as he was happy and safe, she didn't quite care. She had laughed for quite a while when Hinata recounted the story of how they met. She told Hinata that any other meeting would not have been able to catch her son's attention.

Soon enough, the group became closely knit. So much so, that Kenma was not afraid to yell at the tall boy when his receives were shit, or his blocks were weak. Nor was Lev afraid to tease Kenma every time one of his tosses was off or he couldn't run quite as far as the others.

"Come on, Kenma. You can do it. Just a few more blocks and we'll be done." Lev called, shortening his stride to meet that of the shorter boy.

"Says the guy with a stride twice as long as mine. Your long-ass legs give you an unfair advantage." He was breathing heavily, and it took everything in him to retort.

Despite all their bickering, they pushed each other further.

When Hinata was challenged, Kenma and Lev took it as a challenge to themselves. Hinata had talked about his past with them, not leaving out the temperamental Yurio.

As he trained, they watched him on the ice, his entire being thrust into his jumps and glides. Both of them were a bittersweet cocktail of emotions. They were glad to see him so happy. They were sad at the thought of losing one of the few friends they had.

When he won, they all went out and celebrated together, without anyone else, just the three of them.

"Look, I don't have many friends outside of the team, so I'm glad you stayed." Lev said, reaching over and stealing a piece of food from Kenma's plate.

"Yeah, I, um, I don't really either. Plus, if you left, I'd be stuck alone with this idiot." He pointed to Lev with his chopsticks.

"Hey, I'm not that bad."

"Yes you are." They both turned to him and said at the same time.

They all laughed at that, even Kenma joining in with a small chuckle of his own. This was what they all needed, this was what they wanted. A nice night out without any distractions. A night to relax from the stress of the competition just hours ago.

As they quieted down, Hinata finally spoke.

"I have to go soon, the bus leaves tonight." His eyes dulled a bit at the thought of leaving his friends before a hand was on his shoulder.

"We'll always be here for you." It was Kenma with a soft look on his face.

"Yeah," Lev added, his voice just a bit too loud, "Plus, We still have to kick your задница at nationals."

"I'd like to see you try."

And soon enough, they were headed back to the school so Hinata could get on the bus to leave. They didn't want to go, but they knew they would see each other again soon. Karasuno would make it to nationals and play against Nekoma.

It was destiny, after all, and they all believed.

---

TRANSLATIONS

задница = ass/butt