Framed Sunset

+ Frame Four +

Hinata was jarred awake by the blaring sound of his alarm. He grumbled and moved his hand around his bedside table until his fingers found the proper button, refreshing silence filling the room.

    He sits up and stretches his arms. He finds his dog at his side, giving Koujimi a quick belly rub and kiss on the head. Deciding he needed to get ready to see Asahi, he went and got ready for the night.

    Asahi Azumane. Hinata's social worker, the man who got Koujimi for Hinata. Hinata has received help from the same organisation since he was born, and they gave him his three service dogs. Akita and Taro were his previous dogs, given to him by a different worker. Asahi was a newer employee and closer to Hinata's age than anyone would expect at first glance.

    Seeing as Hinata is a full adult, these days his meetings with Asahi are more like check-ins to make sure Hinata is leading a happy life, his health isn't worsening, and that him and Koujimi are still working well together. Despite the fact that it was Asahi's job that brought them together, the two always saw each other more as friends than as the assistant and the assisted. In Asahi's opinion, Hinata was one person he worked with who deserved everything in the world to make up for the unfortunate hand he'd drawn at birth.

    The night was always slow to start for Hinata. He located Koujimi's vest, dressing the dog before himself. Instead of worrying about patterns and colours, Hinata located his drawers of strictly-black clothing, grabbing the first pair of denim pants he could feel, fresh underwear, and a random long sleeve shirt. Once he was dressed, Hinata made his way to his bathroom. He freshened up, brushing his teeth and locating a comb before getting on with his daily fight against his fluffy, thick hair.

    Once he was put together, Hinata set about getting breakfast for him and his dog. The human Hinata received toast whereas the dog Hinata got a nice bowl of kibbles, the ginger drinking his usual cup of tea at his kitchen counter. The two finished their respective meals almost in sync, Hinata gathering his things for his meeting and his next night at work while Koujimi waited patiently by the door.

    The ginger took about one step outside the apartment before he got stopped.

    "Oh, Shouyou!" Called a familiar voice from down the hallway. Hinata's face turned toward the noise, his expression breaking out into a smile. "Did you get our cookies?"

    "Takeda!" Hinata chirped, Koujimi sitting at his feet. "I did, thank you. How is Ukai?"

    The older man, one of the two neighbours Hinata actually spoke to, sighed. He approached quietly, rambling as he strode toward his charming young neighbour. "He's grumpy, I think he ran out of cigarettes for once in his life. Are you going out to work this early?"

    Hinata shook his head, unconsciously squeezing Koujimi's leash. "I'm going to visit Asahi at his home before work. What about you, are you on your way somewhere?"

    Takeda leaned forward mischievously. "No, of course not, I was actually about to knock on your door! I wanted to see how you were doing..."

    Hinata groaned mentally. Here it comes, he thought, sighing to himself as Takeda's familiar words filled his ears.

    "...And if you finally got a boyfriend!" Takeda squealed, chuckling as the ginger grumbled under his breath.

    Hinata ran a hand through his hair, a rueful smile on his face. Ittetsu Takeda and Keishin Ukai were his forty-something neighbours. The two were married long before Hinata moved into his own apartment, and a friendship blossomed between the three of them in seconds. The two husbands were firm supporters of Hinata's radio broadcasts, and ever since first hearing him and Nishinoya's banter, they pressured Hinata about getting a boyfriend. They weren't assuming his sexuality either; Hinata was very clear when they first met that he could relate to them because he was into males as well. Ukai, personally, didn't care who Hinata went out with while Takeda was a firm believer in Nishinoya being Hinata's future sweetheart.