Thanks to @kaimuyaki for suggesting!
Asahi glanced at the clock for the third time in two minutes. And that was being generous. He had been on the couch watching some random show and the hours had just...gone by.
No doors opened.
After another hour, Asahi decided to actively search for him.
He didn't even have to walk out the door. He was right there.
Nishinoya was sitting in a ball in front of the door, looking pretty beat up. Had he gotten into a fight or something? Asahi didn't care as he scooped the boy up, and however much Noya protested laid him on the couch to get a good look at him.
After making sure nothing was broken, he asked, "What happened?"
Nishinoya was reluctant to reply. "I...someone was talking bad about you and I stood up for you and...it turned into a small fight...and then I got home but I didn't want you to see me like this because then you'd feel guilty and I didn't want that so I waited outside the door for an hour and a half and I was about to call Tanaka but then you opened the door."
Slightly winded from the explanation, he took a deep breath.
"But you probably were really worried about me anyway."
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry-"
His voice cracked and tears began to form in his eyes.
"It's okay," Asahi said, "Just don't do it again."
It turned out, Nishinoya wasn't very badly hurt, just a few bruises. Asahi insisted on having Noya stay in bed the next day though, probably just to calm his nerves.
But it was okay, because they spent basically the whole day snuggling.
