Rigid Crow

The Normalcy of It All

     When the new school term starts in January, Shō comes back, too. Since he can't ride his bike, and it's a trek for me to be running that length anyway, Hinata-san drops us off in the morning on his way to work.
He leans over to hug his son before Shō gets out of the car. They hug each other tightly, a bit longer than most would think necessary. But we know better than anyone that you can't take your loved ones for granted. You have to make every moment count, because we don't know what will come tomorrow.
Stable on his crutches, I walk slower so that Shō can keep up as we go into the school building.
     Miyamoto meets us inside, a wide smile accompanying him. "Hinata-senpai! It's good to see you here!"
     Shō smiles back. He's considered a first year again, even though the year isn't quite over. He had barely begun his second year when he got injured, and since this year will be over in another term, it made the most sense for him to repeat this one and move on from here. He'll be in Miyamoto'a class, so I'm glad he'll have someone he's at least familiar with with him throughout the school day.
He comes to my classroom to have lunch, though, and we eat with Yamaguchi and Tsukishima. Yamaguchi is practically bubbling with joy that this part of our lives is back to normal. Tsukishima tries to act nonchalant, but I can tell that he's appreciative, too.
Shō and I have matching bentos, courtesy of Hinata-sama.
     A few more friends poke their heads into the classroom while we eat.
     "Hinata!"
     "You're back!"
     "It's so good to see you!"
     Kinoshita, Narita, and Ennoshita wave from the door.
     Shō's eyes widen. "Hi!" Crumbs fly from his full mouth.
     "Gross! Swallow." I glare at him, annoyed. But it's good feeling to feel like this again. It's nice to know that he will still be here to annoy, to ask for tosses, to kick his feet around, to talk until he has nothing left to say. He's still here. Life will never be completely normal again, but we'll make a new normal.
     He sticks his tongue out at me. I make a face back. He pulls another one. Soon we're in an all-out war.
     The third years laugh, and so does Yamaguchi. "I missed this," he says.
     Shō scrunches up his nose one last time, then turns away, ignoring me totally.
     "Idiot," I scoff, reveling in the normalcy of it all.
When the bell rings, I try to help him with his stuff, but he waves me away. He wants to do it himself.
After he leaves, Tsukishima snickers. "You should see your face."
Yamaguchi laughs along. "Yeah. You look like a mom watching her kid leave for school on his own for the first time."
"Shut up! I do not!"
Yachi walks past our table, probably hearing the last bit of the conversation. She smiles at me. "You don't have to worry, Kageyama-kun. He's doing very well. And even if he wasn't, he's got a whole school of students to help him out. He's going to be fine."
I nod. "Yeah. You're right. He can take care of himself."
The rest of the day goes smoothly, but all I can think about is practice, as always. The end of the day arrives soon enough.
Once we change in the clubroom, we walk to the gym to find Shō waiting for us. He smiles, and while he's visited our practices recently before, the team is even more excited to see him today.
"Shōyō!" Nishinoya cries, running up to him. Ennoshita has to catch him so he doesn't knock Shō over. "Welcome back!"
As the rest of the team greets him and offer their congratulations, my phone rings from my bag. Strange. I'm not one to receive a lot of phone calls.
I pull it out to see Hinata-sama's name. Why would she be calling? "Hello?"
"Tobio! We have good news."
"What is it?"
"We were able to get a hearing scheduled for the adoption rights. Next week, if your parents confirm the date."
"Already?"
"Yes!" she bursts out, her voice gushing with warmth.
"Wow... That's great."
"I know. I'm so glad. I really hope that it will work out sooner rather than later. I really do think we can make this work."
"I hope so. Arigatō."
"Of course. Now, don't let me keep you from practice. I just wanted to let you know. I love you."
"You, too." I end the call. The guys are looking at me expectantly. I guess they also realize that I'm not usually one taking calls.
"Everything good?" Narita asks.
I nod. "Yeah. I think we're going to have the adoption hearing next week."
They explode in a chorus of whoops. They realize what this means to me. Most of them have been made aware of everything that's been going on recently. I made sure of that after Shō told me I needed to confide in more people. What better ones than my teammates?
Shō's face is an expression of pure joy.
Tanaka lights up. "Eyy! So you both are actually gonna be brothers now? Man, that is so cool!" He slaps me on the shoulder. "Hinata would be the best brother! I'm jealous!" He raises his eyebrows. "So, Hinata, have you decided he has to call you Aniki or Onii-san?"
Shō smirks. It's a repeat of the way he was teasing me when I first moved in.
"Shut uuuup!" I complain.
Kinoshita's eyes widen. "Wait. Does that mean you're going to be Hinata now, too? Dude, that's trippy."
I pause, unsure. "I... don't know. I guess we'll need to figure that out, too."
     "Alright, alright!" Coach hangs out of the gym door. "Enough sappy time. Go on and get warmed up!"
     "Hai!"
     As we begin to warm up, I sneak a look over at Shō on the bench. His eyes are wide and bright. Those aren't the eyes of someone who's content to be watching forever. Those are the eyes of someone determined to play again.