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It all started in front of the Shimada Mart. And really, it all started with these two. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi.
A few days ago, Shimada Makoto, the very happy and proud owner of the one and only Shimada Mart, was hanging onto dear life to his cup of coffee, hoping it would be enough to wake him properly. It was 6.30 A.M., and the delivery truck was supposed to come in less than an hour. Then, he’d have to sort everything and stock the shelves. Truth be told, as boring as it was, he oddly liked it. It was a repetitive task for sure, but it had a soothing effect. Well, save for his back.
He was still rubbing the sleep off his eyes when it happened. He saw Tsukishima and Yamaguchi walking across the store, both still as sleepy as him. They were probably going to morning practice, but it was odd that they’d do a detour around here before going to school. Shimada observed them, intrigued. Both teenagers quickly got to one of the power poles. Shimada sipped more coffee, still wondering what they were doing.
Yamaguchi showed his friend one of the posters in particular, but it was too far for Shimada to see what it was. Tsukishima seemed a bit more fidgety than usual. Shimada couldn’t hear them either, obviously. But Yamaguchi managed to make his friend laugh at some point. A genuine laugh. Huh. So that kid was capable of laughing. Well, that was comforting. Shimada briefly wondered whether Akiteru would be mad at him if he told him he saw his adorable, grumpy baby brother laughing like any other kid, and poor Akiteru wasn’t there to witness it.
But any thoughts of bragging went out the window when he saw what happened next. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi both took out a Sharpie from their bags before… scribbling all over the poster? Shimada cursed his eyesight. He had no idea what they were doodling, but it must have been hilarious, as the two teenagers kept giggling to themselves. Once they were done, they simply high-fived before running away. Either because they were aware of their childish prank, or because they didn’t want to arrive late for practice. Knowing how frightening Ukai, Daichi, and even the little teacher could be, it was a perfectly valid hypothesis. Still. How odd was that?
Once he was sure the kids were gone, Shimada quickly left his store, approaching the recently disfigured poster on the power pole. He hadn’t paid any attention to it before, and now, it was nearly unreadable. He could see that Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had used pens of different colors. The one who had the green Sharpie had added some squiggly lines over the silhouette of the person on the poster. Along with some other colorful words and doodling of flies. The one who had used the purple Sharpie had crossed out all of the information on the poster, such as the name of the probable artist presenting their show. Shimada could almost feel the anger of the purple Sharpie owner seeping through the poster. It was almost mangled and ripped because of how much force he used to scribble. There were also words written in purple, but Shimada couldn’t read or understand them. It was in a foreign language, but he couldn’t even say which one. All he knew was that it was written in the Latin alphabet, whereas the green words were in kanji and hiragana. Curiouser and curiouser.
Shimada shook his head as he trotted back to his store, having heard the delivery truck. While he unpacked and stocked everything, he kept wondering if he had put something in his morning coffee that would have made him hallucinate. Because he genuinely had no other rational explanation as to what he had just witnessed. It was so odd and so out of character for both of them! Yamaguchi was a sweet, nervous boy whose most “spiteful” actions were to giggle and enable some of Tsukishima’s mean and sarcastic comments. And as for Tsukishima, well… Alright, fine, Shimada didn’t know him that well, as the kid was incredibly guarded and always kept to himself, but Shimada was sure that he must have had some good sides. And he didn’t look like a delinquent or a punk who would degrade and damage public property. He knew the kid had excellent grades, was smart, and, if Akiteru’s stories about him were true (and he had no problem believing they were), Tsukishima was mostly a huge nerd. A bit childish, sure, but an absolute, irrecoverable nerd with a fondness (or rather, specific interests, to use Akiteru’s terms) for dinosaurs, sea creatures, and insects.
Really, he did not understand why they would do that. What if they had been caught!? They could have gotten themselves in trouble! Worse, it could very well hurt the image of the volleyball club. They were underfunded; they often relied on people’s solidarity. If people thought they were a bunch of ne’er-do-wells or disrespectful brats, they could stop donating money, and then the club would be in trouble as well. Should he say something? But to who? Ukai? Takeda? Or should he talk to the kids himself? If it were just Yamaguchi, it wouldn’t be a problem for him, but Shimada didn’t feel close enough to Tsukishima to talk to him about it. And really, despite what he saw, Shimada didn’t want to make them uncomfortable. Ultimately, they were good kids. They must have had some good reasons to do something like that. Right?
It happened again. Only this time, the protagonists had changed. So did the scenery. But the crime remained the same. The following day, Takinoue, who was about to close his own shop, saw Hinata and Kageyama bickering across the street. Up until here, nothing unusual. He watched them yelling and pushing each other, as it was a bit entertaining. But then, they suddenly stopped onto their tracks. Their relatively small attention span had been grabbed by something on the wall. Both hyperactive teens were suddenly standing still. For a few seconds at least. Then, they seemed to be deep into bickering again, gesticulating towards… a poster on the wall? Both Kageyama and Hinata were acting weird…er than usual.
Eventually, Hinata took out his phone, pressing it against his ear, while Kageyama watched him intensely. Takinoue stopped sweeping, intrigued. After a few seconds, Hinata started to nod vigorously, before hanging up. He talked some more with Kageyama and then they both rummaged through their bags. They put their bags back on their shoulders. Each teen had a Sharpie in his hand.
“What the… What. What are those two idiots doing!?”, muttered a bewildered Takinoue. Hinata and Kageyama were shoving each other while scribbling and writing all over the poster. What had gotten into their heads!? Takinoue was too stunned to do anything. Before he knew it, the two teens had stopped, looked at each other, high-fived, and… ran! Takinoue got out of his shop, but not fast enough. Hinata was driving his bike, and Kageyama was a rather fast runner. They clearly didn’t see him. He crossed the street and looked at the poster. It was completely destroyed now. And in two colors! One orange, and one blue. The orange Sharpie had drawn an ugly beard on the person’s face… Well, whatever little was still visible on the face, as the blue Sharpie had nearly recovered it all. Same went for the name of the person. It was illegible. Takinoue remembered seeing the ad before, but he didn’t remember the name of the artist. He knew it was for a… A concert, maybe? And if his memory was correct, it may even have been a foreign artist. Huh. Why would the kids do that!?
Takinoue went back to his shop, still puzzled by the whole thing. Kids nowadays man, they were weird…
They say good things come in three. Yeah. Well, weird things also came in three, apparently. It was the following day. Ukai was yawning and sweeping, sweeping and yawning, a lit cigarette in his mouth while listening to Takeda’s rambles about the next practice matches. It was late at night, but not so late that their night hadn’t begun yet. Once Ukai closed the store, they’d go to the bar. Takinoue, Shimada, and Saeko (and probably Akiteru, as these two had been joined at the hip lately) were waiting for them. It was a Friday night, which meant only one thing: a hangover for the next day was not only allowed but encouraged! Both his old high school friends had been weird on the phone. Supposedly, they needed to ask them something about the kids. The 1st Years, in particular. Ugh. What did those meddling kids do again!? Ukai and Takeda both loved the whole team to death, but man if they weren’t a handful. Both men were going to have grey hair before too long because of them!
Ukai was done sweeping and Takeda was mostly done rambling when they heard something… strange. Compromising.
“Yachi, you don’t have to do it”. They both looked at each other, puzzled. It was Tsukishima’s voice. Except it was less salty than usual. Not that it was that surprising. So far, he had never been mean or even sarcastic with Yachi. They didn’t know if it was a restraint on his part, or if he simply didn’t see the point of teasing her. They both got closer to the back of the store. The voices were coming from the street.
“Yes, Yachi, don’t force yourself. You shouldn’t do it if you’re not comfortable”, Hinata added. Okay, what was that all about!? Was Yachi in trouble?
“Oi, Specs. Should we intervene?”, Ukai whispered to the teacher. Takeda looked at him, his face all scrunched up from overthinking.
“Hm. Let’s wait, maybe it’s just a misunderstanding”. Ukai nodded.
“Yachi, they’re right. Just because we did it doesn’t mean you have to”, Yamaguchi said. Okay. Now that was even more worrying. What on Earth were the kids talking about!?
“No! I want to do it! I’m ready!”, Yachi said, her voice wavering.
“But you’re shaking like a leaf, Yachi”, Kageyama remarked.
“No! I mean, yes! But I want to do it! Please!”, Yachi said, her voice still shaky and uncertain. For a few seconds, there weren’t any noises besides something… squeaky? It was hard to tell. Ukai nudged Takeda again.
“So? What should we do? Surely, you don’t think they’re like, I don’t know… Doing drugs or drinking, right?”. Takeda looked at him, both horrified and amused.
“I highly doubt they’d do something that stupid”. He was about to add something when Ukai’s phone rang. The noise must have alerted the kids, because they were suddenly shouting and scrambling, obviously panicking at the idea of being caught doing whatever it was that they were doing.
“Yeah?”, Ukai answered his phone.
“Hey, Keishin. Y’all coming soon? ‘Cuz we really need to talk about your baby crows”, Shimada slurred on the phone. Welp, apparently, the party had started without them. How nice.
“Yeah, yeah, dude. Said baby crows are behind my shop, and I don’t know, they’re being all weird and secretive”. Takeda acted quickly. He opened the back door of the shop, startling the kids, making Yachi drop… a pink Sharpie? Their fight or flight responses were about to kick in when Takeda said in the calmest voice possible:
“Kids. Don’t even think about running away”, a gentle smile on his face. Poor Yachi was near tears. Until Tsukishima stepped in front of the group, putting himself right in the line of fire.
“Sir, please don’t punish them. It’s entirely my fault”. Takeda’s eyes widened as he stood there, his hands behind his back. Tsukishima was the tallest of his kids, having a solid near thirty centimeters on him, he also had a rather… colorful personality, and yet, the kid had never looked so small and so young to the teacher. He looked behind them. A poster. Scribbled all over. In green, in orange, in blue, in purple. And in pink. Huh.
“Hey, Specs, it was Shimada. He said that he caught Tsukishima and Yamaguchi doodling over some posters. And Takinoue said the same thing, but about Hinata and Kageyama”, Ukai said, following him, before realizing that all the culprits were still there, looking all nervous and guilty.
“Huh? Aww, kids, what the hell!?”. He rubbed his temples before lighting up another cigarette. See what he meant when he said the kids were going to age him prematurely!? Takeda smiled again.
“Kids. Why don’t you follow us?”, he suggested nicely, his tone showing without a doubt that they had no choice.
“Huh? Really, Specs? You wanna bring them into a bar?”, Ukai asked, a crooked grin on his lips.
“Now, now, Ukai. It’s also a restaurant. Come on, kids”. As they started walking, the kids following them with worry in their eyes, Takeda turned just in time to see Tsukishima squeezing Yachi’s hand, as a sign of apology. She smiled at him reassuringly, never letting go of his hand until they arrived.
Meanwhile, at the Osuwari Restaurant, the party had already started. Shimada and Takinoue were the first to arrive. The first to drink. And the first to talk. Obviously.
“Soooo… I saw the strangest thing, a couple of days ago”, Shimada started, gulping his drink away. He needed that.
“Tell me about it. I saw the weirdest thing yesterday!”, Takinoue said after a shot. They looked at each other, gauging what the other one had to say.
“Tsukishima and Yamaguchi”, Shimada started again.
“Hinata and Kageyama”, countered Takinoue.
“Were scribbling over a poster in front of my shop!”, they finished at the same time. Shimada put his face in his hands, groaning.
“Uuuugh. What’s up with them!? Are they in the middle of a teenage rebellion!?”.
“Eh? Who’s rebelling?”. Both men whipped their heads towards the voice. Tanaka Saeko was standing there, her usual grin spread across her face. And standing next to her was Tsukishima Akiteru, holding hands with her. Aww. They were a cute couple. And annoying, like a constant reminder for the rest of the group about their single statuses. Anyway. Moving on, no need to dwell on it. And more to the point, Akiteru may know what was going on in his little brother’s head and those of his friends.
“Two beers, please!”, Saeko ordered as she and Akiteru sat down.
“Same for me!”, added Akiteru. Oh, to have the stamina and alcohol tolerance of two college students, Shimada thought for a moment. Then he realized he would have the livers of two college students, and he’d actually rather not.
“So, what were you two talking about?”. Shimada and Takinoue looked at each other before nodding in agreement. Yep. They needed to talk about it.
“Well, hum, it’s just… We saw the kids doing weird stuffs, lately”, Takinoue started, uncomfortable. He didn’t want to sound accusatory or anything like that. Akiteru was a sweetheart, but that man had a slightly blinding love towards his brat of a baby brother and was fiercely protective and defensive of him.
“The kids? As in ‘our’ kids?”, Saeko asked, puzzled. Their beers arrived and the couple started to drink them quickly, as though they were scared they’d evaporate if they weren’t fast enough.
“Err… Yeah. As in the first years”, Takinoue sheepishly admitted, still wondering how they could break the subject in a diplomatic manner.
“Did they have a fight again?”, Akiteru asked. It was no secret that Tsukishima, Kageyama and Hinata would often bicker and provoke each other, but it had seemed that lately, the first years (including Yachi) had been closer and were finally getting along.
“Err… No. No, it wasn’t a fight”, Takinoue answered. He shot a glance at his friend, waiting for him to lend him a hand. Instead, Shimada did another shot, before ordering some more, and taking out his phone.
“I’mma call Keishin. Keep talking, Taki, you’re doing am, amaziiiing”, he said, stumbling a bit.
“Damn, he really needs to work on his tolerance, he’s weak”, muttered Saeko. Akiteru nodded. “So, my bro isn’t involved then? Just his?”, asked Saeko, before pointing to her boyfriend. Takinoue nodded, nervous. What if Saeko had become just as protective of Kei since she started dating Akiteru? Not that he was afraid of her. He wasn’t afraid of her. He was terrified of her. Distinction without a difference, but it was important. Akiteru chuckled.
“Hey, man, relax. I love Kei, but come on, even I know he can be a lot to handle”, Akiteru said, waving his hands. Saeko cackled loudly.
“Ha! Yeah! But that’s why he’s so freaking cute! I mean, c’mon, the kid is salty, but he has dino figurines on his shelves and plushies in his bed? And he loves the Minions! He still calls you Nii-chan but tries to use Aniki in public ‘cause he’s embarrassed, he can’t swear to save his life, like, he’s just the cutest!”, she gushed, starting on her second (really? Only second? Takinoue was starting to doubt that) beer. Oh. So, Saeko really liked Kei now. Hm. Better thread carefully.
“Anyway, what did they do this time?”, Akiteru asked, also attacking his second drink, easily matching his girlfriend’s pace. The secret was, as long as it was beer and not sake, he’d be fine. Takinoue toyed with the unrolled poster in his hands.
Shimada stumbled back into their booth, bringing more booze to their table.
“Keishin and Takeda are coming. Apparently, the baby crows were also causing trouble next to his store”. Takinoue’s eyes widened.
“Really!? They’re doing this a third time!?”. Shimada guzzled his drink and shrugged.
“Guess so. He didn’t say what they were doing, all he could hear was something about Yachi feeling pressured to do something? So, I guess even Yachi did it now”, Shimada said, shaking his head. “Ah, youth”.
“Guys, what did they do?”, Saeko asked, resting her chin in her hand, eyeing Shimada and Takinoue. They exchanged another nervous glance. Shimada unfolded the poster scribbled by Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, while Takinoue unfolded the one tagged by Hinata and Kageyama. Akiteru’s demeanor changed immediately. He leaned backwards, slouching a bit more, a twitching grin toying on the corner of his lips. His eyes told another story. Usually, they were kind and warm, but for a second or two, they turned cold as ice. For a brief moment, Shimada and Takinoue finally saw the resemblance between Akiteru and his aloof younger brother.
“The one doodled in green and purple was”, Shimada started, his words slurring a bit less as he tried to focus.
“Kei and Tadashi’s doing, yeah. I know”, Akiteru interrupted, before sipping his beer. “And I’m guessing the poster covered in orange and blue’s from Hinata and Kageyama”, he added. He stayed quiet for a bit, his eyes veiled with worry and maybe even… Anger? Akiteru sighed, pushed his beer and started to fiddle with his fingers. A nervous gesture Kei did quite a lot. Saeko put her hand on his arm.
“Babe? You alright?”, she asked quietly. Akiteru eyed the third poster. The one the two other men just unveiled. This one is blank. Untainted. And he can’t stand it. Because all he sees, instead of the childish humor and vulgar words, is that man’s face. His name. His pride, at announcing his concerts. Particularly, the ones in Miyagi. Of all the places in the world, he had to come here, didn’t he? Akiteru let Saeko hold his hands again, grounding him.
“I feel like we’ve said something we shouldn’t have”, Shimada muttered sheepishly. It was clear that the posters were upsetting Akiteru, even though they had no idea why.
“It’s… It’s okay, guys, I’m sorry. It’s not your fault, you couldn’t know”, Akiteru said, a small, sad smile on his lips.
“That man, on the poster. That’s our father”, Akiteru said, finishing his drink, refusing to look at the poster. Now that he said that, Saeko, Shimada and Takinoue realized the resemblance between the man and Kei. The man, an apparently famous conductor, was a middle-aged, visibly tall. He had white porcelain skin, and the same pale blond curly hair as the younger Tsukishima. The same golden eyes as well. The same cold, indifferent expression. Everything in the silhouette of the man commanded respect, discipline. And everything in Akiteru and Kei’s attitudes screamed their hatred towards their father.
“I… I don’t really want to bother you guys with the details. It’s also not just my story to tell. Let’s just say that our parents divorced quite a long time ago, he returned to Europe. He’s from Belgium but I think he lives mostly in France and Monaco, nowadays. He’s sometimes in the Netherlands, where our grandparents are from. Anyway, you get how complicated it is to get hold of him. He’s also on tour frequently. I’m rambling, sorry, I know you’re not here for a geography lesson”, Akiteru said, scratching his hair, uncomfortable.
“If you don’t mind me asking this… Why the scribbles?”, Shimada asked.
“Ah”, Akiteru smiled at that. “It started with Kei and Tadashi. They were still in elementary school at the time. I was surprised, but apparently, my brother told him quickly what kind of man our father had been, to us and to our mom”. Saeko looked at him, worried. Akiteru offered her a sad but reassuring smile.
“He’s… He’s not a good man. At all. Terrible man, awful husband and an even worse father. That’s his resume to us. At best, he’s absent and negligent, conveniently forgetting to pay the alimony and child support. At worst, he’s…”, Akiteru trailed off, his eyes losing focus. Saeko gently brought him back, lightly stroking his hand with her thumb. He didn’t need to continue. It was rather obvious. Akiteru had always seemed overprotective of his little brother. Tall, skinny, snarky Kei, who would back down if the verbal spats could turn physical. Who, at times, seemed to recoil when Daichi or Ukai yelled at the team a tad too much. Maybe it wasn’t just his auditory sensitivity that made him a bit jumpy when that happened.
Akiteru shook his head, like he was shaking away the last remnants of his childhood and teen years. Far, far away from him.
“Anyway, one time, our father and his orchestra came here in the region for the first time since the divorce. Seeing all the ads, hearing everyone praising what an amazing conductor he was, it was just a lot. He always had everyone under his spell, y’know? That’s how he got away with a lot of stuff over the years. It was just painful to see those stupid posters. Like they were taunting us. Like he was still taunting us. Kei wasn’t coping well with that. Having to see it all the time. It made him sick, at some point he didn’t want to leave home, and we had no idea how to comfort him”.
“That’s when Tadashi came up with the idea of drawing over all the posters we’d find. To cover him up, so we wouldn’t have to face him again. Maybe I should’ve put a stop to it, but honestly… I liked the idea. It finally made Kei go out, and more importantly, it made him laugh for the first time in God knows how long. And ever since then, whenever that man would have ads for his concerts here, they’d scribble all over them. I guess the habit stayed”, Akiteru concluded, smiling at the damaged posters. Shimada and Takinoue had gotten rid of the clean one.
“I see”, a soft voice said, startling them. How could they let someone else sneak up past them for the second time? Takeda was there, hands behind his back, a concerned expression on his face, matching Ukai’s. But more surprisingly, all five Freshmen were behind them, looking nervous. Akiteru did not hesitate for one second. He stood up, walked to his little brother and, once the latter nodded, he hugged him fiercely. Kei still flinched a bit, but he managed to return the hug, burying his face into his brother’s neck. Akiteru let him disentangle after a few seconds and looked at him. Kei seemed agitated, and he didn’t like that.
"Tu vas bien ?" (Are you okay?)
-Aki, je ne voulais pas attirer des ennuis à qui que ce soit. (Aki, I didn't want to get anyone in trouble)
-Je sais, bonhomme, je sais. Tu penses vraiment que ton prof va vous punir sévèrement ? J’ai pas l’impression que ce soit son genre, non ? (I know, buddy, I know. Do you really think you teacher will punish you harshly, though? I don't think that's his style, right?)
-Je ne sais pas. Mais à cause de moi, tout le monde stresse, surtout Yachi. Et si on a des ennuis avec le lycée et que c’est inscrit dans nos dossiers ? (I don't know. But now, because of me, everybody's stressing out, especially Yachi. What if we get in trouble with school and then they write that in our files?)
-Ouh là, respire, mon grand. Avant d’envisager le pire, et si tu laissais ton prof et ton coach dire ce qu’ils ont à vous dire, hm ? Et après, on verra. D’accord ?" (Hey, hey, breathe, pal. Before overthinking this, why don't you let your teacher tell you what he has to say, hm? And then, we'll cross that bridge once we're near, okay?).
Kei nodded, feeling more at ease, knowing they had a conversation in a language they were likely the only ones to understand at the table. The two brothers had always refused to let their father taint that part of their culture and their heritage. They hated him, but they did like his family. And it was also a part of their identity, something he couldn’t steal away from them, despite everything. It had remained important for them to still be able to speak French. Akiteru ruffled his hair, and when the teen grumbled and blushed a bit, he knew his brother was feeling marginally better.
“Let’s sit here, kids. Are you guys hungry? Have you eaten yet?”, Takeda asked casually, putting his coat on his chair as he sat down. Ukai took place next to him, unsure of what the teacher would say. He’d let him lead the conversation. The kids looked at each other before shaking their heads.
“We, huh, we haven’t eaten yet, sir”, Hinata answered. He wanted to protect the others. He was the oldest; it was his role. And who cared if he was only older by a few months. Shimada sat in front of Yamaguchi. Takinoue took place next to Ukai, in front of Kageyama. Saeko went and sat down next to Yachi, passing her arm around the younger girl in a protective manner, shooting a look at Takeda. And of course, Akiteru sat next to his little brother. Takeda scratched the back of his head, an awkward smile on his lips.
“Oh, my. Now, it feels like I’m the one in trouble”. He sighed.
“Would ramen be okay for you, kids?”, he asked his students. They all nodded, thanking him quietly and he ordered the food before sighing.
“Listen. I’m not mad at you. I’m just surprised that you would do something like that”, he started, before raising his hand to ask them not to interrupt him, “I understand why you did that. And truth be told, I actually find it great that for once, you join forces instead of bickering with each other”.
“It’s because we caught Yamaguchi and Tsukishima scribbling over a poster, on the way to school, and we asked them. And Tsukki told us more about his dad and… And we wanted to do it too, sir! Because, because…”, Hinata said, scrambling to finish his thought. Surprisingly, Kageyama lent him a hand.
“Because that’s what friends do”. He had said this without any hesitation or trace of shame. Matter of factly. “When we saw the poster in front of Takinoue’s shop, we wanted to make sure it was this one. It would have been stupid to tag the wrong poster”, he added. Oh, hence Hinata’s phone call. Ukai couldn’t help but smile at that. Yeah, those kids were really going to be the death of him.
“I REGRET NOTHING!”, Yachi suddenly blurted out, breaking the brief silence, surprising everybody. Takeda’s eyes widened, watching the tiny manager, who sat proud and as tall as she could, despite the slight shakes.
“Yeah, that’s my girl!”, Saeko cheered, banging her fist on the table while the ramen for the kids and the drinks for the adults were being served.
“I can see that. Aaaah, just eat your dinner, kids”, Takeda sighed, a slightly tired expression on his face. Ukai chuckled. Parenting quirky, unruly teens was more exhausting than they thought, huh?
“Sir? Again, I would like to reiterate that I should be the only one to be punished”, Tsukishima said, his voice soft and boyish as usual, despite his oblivious stiffness and respectful tone. He was fiddling with his fingers and tried but failed to make eye contact. Takeda smiled. Before he could reassure him, Kageyama, who was happily slurping his ramen, stopped to nudge Tsukishima.
“Oi, don’t take all the credit, beanpole. That was teamwork. If there’s a punishment, it’ll also be teamwork”, he said, before returning to his food, with no care or worry in the world.
“He’s right, Tsukki”, Yamaguchi smiled, eating his ramen, nudging at his childhood friend to do the same.
“Yup! We’re not scared! Uh, with all due respect, sir!”, Hinata declared a bit nervously, before focusing on his food.
“Yes! Again, ZERO REGRET!”, Yachi yelped, nearly saluting. Takeda still noticed the girl’s small hands lightly shaking while she started eating. He sighed again after sipping his beer.
“Kids, if you’d let me finish, you would know that I don’t intend to punish you”. All eyes turned to him. He rested his chin on his hand.
“I won’t tell the principal; I won’t have you in detention or anything else. But you’ll need to stop. I understand why it’s important, but as you know, our club is not very well funded. We rely on the community and their donations just to be able to go to practice and official matches. It could have a negative impact on the club’s image if people saw you. I’m sorry, Tsukishima. I know you found those ads distressing but…
-I understand, sir. We won’t do it again”, he said hurriedly. “Thank you for the food and… and…”. Takeda smiled gently at him. You’re alright, kid, stop worrying, his eyes said. Tsukishima finally joined his friends in eating dinner.
“By the way, guys, what were you doing out so late?”, Ukai asked, curious.
“Oh, we went to the movies! We were gonna stop by McDonald’s when we, huh, y’know. Saw that poster behind your store”, Hinata answered.
“I see. Good thing we stopped you from going to the fast food, then”, Ukai joked.
“Well… I still kinda want to eat a burger and have a milkshake or something”, Kageyama said.
“Don’t worry, King. We can do that tomorrow”, Tsukishima reassured him.
“Oh, yeah. We could order takeout and then we could watch a movie at Tsukki’s!”, Yamaguchi suggested.
“I mean, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t offer MY house without my approval, Yamaguchi”, Tsukishima said, frowning.
“Oops, sorry Tsukki!”, Yamaguchi falsely apologized.
“Wait, that’s a great idea! Can we do that!?”, Hinata asked Tsukishima.
“Yes! We could watch Despicable Me, Yamaguchi said you have the DVD”, Yachi suggested.
“Of course, he has the DVD. I’m the one who bought him that for his Christmas, the year it came out”, Yamaguchi said, oddly proud of that fact. Tsukishima rolled his eyes, but they all see his small smirk.
“Fine. Only because the King’s never seen it”, Tsukishima conceded, acting like it was a big sacrifice. All the adults smiled at the scene. They were good kids, after all. Like Saeko said: freaking cute.
“Oh, by the way, what movie did you watch tonight?”, Shimada asked.
“Wreck-it Ralph”, they answered. The adults nodded. Sure. Sure. They totally knew what movie that was.
“Was it good?”, Takinoue asked.
“Yes”, they all answered, grins on their faces. Hinata then snickered.
“Tsukishima cried when Ralph broke Vanellope’s kart and made her cry”. Tsukishima blushed instantly at that, indignant.
“Not true!”, he said, flustered.
“Yes, you did. You cried, you crybaby”, Kageyama teased, a terrifying shark smile on his face. Tsukishima’s blush deepened. Akiteru had to bite his tongue not to laugh. So did the rest of the gang, in fairness. It was quite a rare sight.
“Well! You cried too! And at that same scene!”, Tsukishima blurted out. Now, it was Kageyama’s turn to blush.
“Did not!”, he yelled.
“Did to!”, Tsukishima yelled back.
And it went back and forth for several seconds until Ukai and Takeda reminded them that they were making a scene at a restaurant. Well. They had been cute for about a minute before that. Small victory, but a record-breaking still.