𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧 ☼ 𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚

X

     "tobio, what are you doing?"

     "looking out the window."

     "is there something super magical out there that only your gifted eyes can see?" shōyō mumbled, the words raspy in his throat as he draped himself across tobio's back.

the morning was new; the sun was stretching its arms and wiggling its fingertips above the trees in the neighborhood, greeting the day after a good night's rest.
     tobio tends to be an early riser and shōyō is a light sleeper, so when the boy with the messy midnight bedhead gets up and pads around the house in his socks, the other stirs awake.

     the ginger wrapped his arms softly around the boy's shoulders, burying his face in the warmth of tobio's neck and huffing softly. "is something bothering you?"

     "nope. just thinking."

     "about what?" shōyō quizzed, resting his chin on the taller boy's shoulder and peeking around his face only to be met with a dreamy, distant look.

     "a lot of things. my mom, my life, you,"

     "good or bad?"

     "good. definitely good. i'm just... feeling content, i think. grateful. i woke up and i felt calm. it's been a while since that's happened."

     shōyō slithered his hand around and pinched tobio's cheek before getting up and making his way into the kitchen. while pouring a cup of coffee with heaps of sweet creamer, he felt his heart fluttering like a child's as he watched his boyfriend stare out the window with such a small and kind grin. it was impossible to not be so unbelievably head over heels- everything shōyō does, he does one hundred percent, especially when it comes to loving someone.
     and when it comes to his tobio, he can't do anything other than fall helplessly at the feet of his emotions.

     "i feel you staring."

     "good!"

     "you know, shō, i'm really happy we met."

     "i think your mom met natsu and they pushed us towards each other in that cemetery. so nosy, those two."

     "my mom has good taste."

     the sun was fully awake now, lighting the house on fire with its morning glaze. the coffee was warm, and the couch was comfy, and the world was finally shifting to a better place again.
     every day has been a battle since they lost the people they held most dear; but, with time to surface their wounds and each other to heal them, the boys have found comfort together, and even with the pain and seemingly unending memory of their lost ones lingering, they have managed still to press on and live for another day- an undeniable feat, truly.
     loss takes the wind out of you and never fully returns it. the lights turn off and make the room too dark, or the blanket is a bit too warm, or the food is just a little less flavorful than you remember, and none of those mundane little pleasures will ever feel the way they once did before someone left for good. but, with every loss there is a gain, because the world cannot exist without balance. tobio kageyama lost his mother, but found shōyō hinata in return.
     maybe there is an afterlife- one where all is good, and where those who have passed on watch over us still. from there they can push us in the right direction, give us luck, show us life. the idea is so beautiful, isn't it?

     "tobio, you handsome devil, stop staring into space and come hug me."

     "you're so needy."

     "oh, you love me!"

     "oh, yes i do. more than anything."

     they're never truly gone when they die, tobio thinks. as he crawls over and presses himself against his love, he feels shōyō grab his hand and squeeze it three times in a row. he hadn't yet told him what it meant, but he knows he doesn't have to now. with a knowing glance, shōyō proved to tobio that when someone leaves, they live on through someone else.

     his mother always loved him, no matter what. she promised him that she would never leave his side, and if he ever felt lost, he should do as the beatles say: follow the sun.

     now, with his personal little beacon of sunshine beside him, he can finally find his way back home to the both of them.

☼

THE END.