#sugawara is at least a great boss though

[kaibutsushidousha]

Artbook Data - Development Team Interview

For context, here’s the tutorial for Salmon Fishing.

Interviewees: 

Shun Sasaki: V3′s director. His main roles included mediating all the development teams and managing the schedules. Additionally, he will also talk in this interview about his own personal project: the bonus modes.

Taichi Kouno: One of the developers. A DanganRonpa fan who joined the team for Ultra Despair Girls. In V3, he was in charge of the Class Trial scenes and its minigames. 

Takahiro Suzuki: Joined the V3 production as a developer and handled the non-Trial parts and the e-Handbook. Like Kouno, he was a DanganRonpa fan who joined the team for Ultra Despair Girls.

Fans become members: the style of the DanganRonpa team

Interviewer: Please tell us what parts you did as a developer.

Taichi Kouno: I built the entire game system for the Class Trial and also did the minigames for the daily life part. Other than that, I got to do some work on the Academy map, blueprinted the base and produced the data the graphics guys need to draw.

I: I see how about Suzuki?

Takahiro Suzuki: I was almost completely focused on setting up the dialy life/investigation parts. And the system for the e-Handbook.

Shun Sasaki: I supervised Kouno and Suzuki’s work (although the final decisions were by Kodaka) and managed the schedules. Then I focused myself on the bonus modes. Thanks to Kouno and Suzuki’s good work, I was able to make the bonus modes as I wanted.

I: You couldn’t have implemented the bonus modes without their support, all right. You said that one handled the Trial parts and the other handled the non-Trial parts, but can you be more specific about what you did?

TK: The Class Trial has not only the usual dialogue, but also various minigames, like the Nonstop Debate, the Panic Debate, etc. My job was to think how would this be presented on the screen, where it would be implemented and how the player would interact with it. To actually make the interfaces I had to go over with the designer team, but I can draw, so it was easier because I could send a drawing of the screenshot I wanted. It’s much easier to explain myself when I can just go there, show a drawing and say “This interface represents this, it’s going to move like this and I want it to have this functionality”. I even started making extra drawings for whenever I wasn’t being illustrative enough.

I: Oh wow, I didn’t think you would also give ideas for the visuals, not just the system. And how about the non-Trial parts?

TS: The basics are the same. I look at the general conversation and the ideas Kodaka sent me and build the visuals from it. In most cases, I received the bases necessary from the programmer and designers. Since DanganRonpa is a series, I try not to wreck these bases, so the fans of the previous games won’t get confused. That said, keeping everything exactly the same is boring, so I’m very conscious about what I have to emphasize or improve. Being more specific, “Keep this set identical to the previous game but improve this aspect here” or “Change this interface to this”.

I: I see. So you’re the one who made multiple characters appear on the screen at the same time.

TK: That was decided from the start, but it was hard to leave it the way it is now.

TS: VERY hard (pained laughter). We used to display the character as 2D sprites, artificially placed in a 3D map. This time we placed 3D character on the 3D map but displayed in 2D.

TK: We started displaying multiple characters in dialogue scenes because we made this system of using multiple cameras to show many characters at the same time for the Panic Debate. If we could do it for the Panic Debate, we could do it for normal dialogue.

I: So basically, there are all the character in a 3D map and each of them has a personal camera to display them?

TS: Yes. Each character is their own camera in pre-established positions and we keep switching cameras to match the flow of the conversation.

I: This sounds like a lot to adjust.

TS: It was difficult to choose where to place each character in the 3D map, since we were giving each of them pre-established positions. Depending on where they were, the could be covered by the scenery or cause a slow loading.

SS: We switched hardwares, so it feel like we gained as many new hardships as we gained new possibilities. Increasing the number of characters on the screen was hard, but this time we could place characters side by side or in front or behind each other, making the group shots look a lot better than before.

TS: That said, we almost couldn’t make it for the Vita...

I: Yeah, that’s a lot less potent than the PS4.

SS: Yes, but we want to perfect V3 as a game that could be enjoyed equally in both the PS4 and the Vita with dropping any functionality idea, since the DanganRonpa series started as portable series, on the PSP.

TK: We could stop hearing that “It’s not impossible, you can find a way” (pained laughter)

I: Like a sports coach (laughs). When did you start working as developers?

SS: As I answered in the Direction Team interview, we started working on V3 while we were making DanganRonpa: Another Episode. Kouno and Suzuki started working in a different project immediately after they finished their roles in DRAE. I added the two to the V3 team as soon as Kodaka finished structuring the plot for V3 and we started making the game’s system and other elements.

I: Is this the first time you two work on a DanganRonpa numbered title?

TS: Yes. I was just a player before.

TK: I was just a fan too. My first time on a numbered title.

I: Which means you already thought about what you want to change or fix from a fan perspective, right?

TK: Of course I did. The one thing I really wanted to implement for this one was the Voting Time. I never got over the fact that it ended without me voting when I played 1 and 2... In V3 the story’s ending was about synchronizing the player with the character’s feelings, so I thought could make this happen by finally implementing the voting system. 

I: I agree, by participating in the voting yourself and sending a student to die, V3 made me feel more responsible for it than the previous games.

TK: That’s exactly what I aimed for. I want the players to feel responsible for what was happening. I thought making the Voting Time playable was necessary to make reinforce the experience of “This character died because you chose it”.

I: I see. And how about you, Suzuki?

TS: Since our specs were increasing, I took care of ironing out the visual style as far as I could. Also, those are just minor QoL updates, but I added more shortcuts to the maps and adjusted the icons to be more easy to identify. That said, I didn’t go too far to maintain the game’s DanganRonpa identity. 

I: And you had Sasaki making these decisions?

SS: No, Kodaka was making all the final decisions. If we made things too functional, Kodaka would come over and say “no”. Not because it would be too convenient, but cause it would generate too much loading and the menus would look weird. Many people in our team don’t like this. I personally the loading screens and like the menus, so in many occasions I thoughts “Are we really not having a function this convenient?”

TK: Some took issue with it being too convenient too. For example, if the map has too many shortcuts taking you absolutely anywhere, what would be the point of walking?

TS: That’s why I instead increase the movement speed to make it more comfortable to go around in that huge school.

I: That’s something you wouldn’t consider back when you were just a player. How did you decide who would handle each part when the development started?

SS: Oh, this? The role where just split with nothing special to say about it. As I said in the beginning, I just asked Kouno to do the Trial parts and Suzuki to do the non-Trial. And that I would do the bonus modes, counting on their help later (laughs).

I: What’s the first thing to do after deciding the roles?

TS: Pitching ideas for the game, of course.

TK: We get a lot of time to pitch ideas. We all read Kodaka’s entire script before discussing anything, and it has some vague annotations, like “I want this game to have more minigames than before” or “it would be nice to have a minigame where you can answer with images”. First we have to do what Kodaka is asking there before we can start thinking about what we want. Then in the business meeting, we polish and adjust our ideas. 

SS: And then discuss it with Kodaka and Sugawara, and they tell if we can or can’t insert each of our ideas.

I: And what is more important for their decision? If it’s fun or it fits the lore/worldbuilding?

SS: Good question. There are sometimes when ideas are fun but we don’t find any good place to fit them in the story, so we have to cut them, with tears in our faces...

I: Did you have to give more ideas for this game, since it’s much larger than the previous ones?

SS: Until now, Sugawara and I were the only developers, but this time this became too much work for just the two of us, meaning we had to hire Kouno and Suzuki to help. 

TS: I was so happy when I got called. I was goint to be on a numbered title.

TK: So was I. Unbelievably happy. Another Episode was also an amazing experience, but I only joined the production halfway through. This time I was there right from the start and most of my ideas where implemented. Being a developer is no fun if I’m not getting things my way.

I: The DanganRonpa team all looks very motivated, from the sounds of this interviews I’m making. 

SS: Making a game is still hard, though (pained laughter). But when we were implementing any component, I don’t remember anyone saying it would be impossible. Every member did what they could to include everything they wanted.

TK: Saying it’s impossible is easy, but then what next? Saying it’s impossible makes me feel defeated, so this get more motivated to find a way.

TS: The programmers all feel the same way when working, so it’s very easy to be a developer like this. Thanks, guys. Every time I say the idea I gave them is too difficult, they mock me and show me that they can do it (laughs).

The secret origins of the Death Road of Despair, the minigame that brought many players to despair

I: Kouno, did get involved in the Death Road of Despair? It’s not in the Class Trial part, but you said you were in charge of the minigames.

TK: I did. It was my part.

I: I heard from Kodaka he asked you to “make a crappy game”.

TK: Kodaka told me to make a game like Dragon’s Lair. When he actually played it, he couldn’t make any progress. “What the heck is this game!?” (laughs)

Everyone: (laughs)

TK: So, I tried to analyse Dragon’s Lair and come up with my own game where you die in places it doesn’t look like you’re supposed to die. And the  Death Road of Despair what the result of me throwing in every idea and trick I could, as far as the time and budget allowed. 

I: The characters are all slippery and hard to control. And the students behind you just keep dying.

TK: Yeah, in the request they told me to think about how Luigi slips more than Mario. I absolutely loved that unrealistic inertia. (laughs)

I: You probably have a lot of experience in being told to make things easier, but not as many opportunities to make a game utterly unplayable. 

TK: That’s Kodaka’s style for you. I was really motivated to reach his style when I was building this, so I want to see the platformer experts out there doing their best to reach the goal. It is possible.

I: Did you beat it, Kouno?

TK: I can’t. I just used the debug mode to assure all obstacles are clearable. One guy on the debug did manage, though. He said took him 1 or 2 days and he only beat it by a miracle. 

I: I saw some videos of people doing it.

SS: Everyone in the office was talking about them.

TK: I cried tears of joy (laughs). There’s even one guy who posted a No Damage Run.

I: A No Damage Run!? In that long of a stage? I’m impressed that they didn’t make any mistakes.

TK: So long that the background changes 3 times. By the way, at the end of the sewers area there is a set of bombs spelling “CLEAR”. I always wanted to do that. Sidescrollers always have those parts saying “CLEAR” not even close to the end. I absolutely wanted to recreate it (laughs).

I: (laughs) Speaking of minigames, there are a lot of them in the Class Trial. Were there any beta ideas for them?

SS: Not many, as far as I remember.

TK: As we said before, there’s the Mind Mine deal. “We should have a game where the player answers with images”. From that basis, someone suggested the minigame they wanted to make.

I: What minigame did you want to make, Kouno?

TK: I want to make a minigame like DR2′s Logical Dive. First I suggested a minigame where you controled a jet, but Kodaka said “A car is better” and so was born the Psyche Taxi minigame.

I: The Psyche Taxi’s world is quite unique.

TK: Kodaka said the world should look like Hotline Miami, so we settled with that.

I: Last but not least, the Hangman’s Gambit 3.0. As usual, it’s completely different from its predecessors.

TK: DR2′s Improved Hangman’s Gambit was harder as a puzzle game, in my opinion. But for this one we already added Mind Mine as a puzzle game, so we decided to tone down all the puzzle elements on from the Hangman’s Gambit and focus more on the action part.

I: I see. Kouno, did you come up with this game’s newest addition, the Debate Scrum, too?

TK: The Debate Scrum was already an idea before the project officially approved.

SS: We had already decided we wanted to do a group vs group debate, but we didn’t have anything concrete besides that, so we exchanged ideas as usual. 

TK: The Debate Scrum was a challenge. The pre-approval images looked awesome and Kodaka loved the idea, but I couldn’t for the life of me decide what to do with that... New tasks kept piling up in the meanwhile and things were starting to look bad, so I had to pass the bucket to Sugawara, since the Debate Scrum was his idea to begin with (pained laughter).

SS: Hold people responsible for their own ideas, people (laughs).

TK: But leaving it to Sugawara was the right idea. The “negotiating” between the character are one of the the Debate Scrum’s charms. This setup is difficult to make if you’re not a writer as good as Sugawara.

I: Sounds pretty tough to have to come up with all these minigames styles in parallel. Sasaki, you said you made the bonus modes all by yourself. What was the hardest part?

SS: Nothing really, the bonus mode were just me doing whatever I wanted. I could choose the genres by preference.

I: The bonus modes are all linked together, adding a lot of replayability. Was this all planed from the start?

SS: It was. I planned it to be played in a cycle. I said the dungeon would have 50 floors, but I ended up making 100 floors for it.

TS: I also liked how the bonus modes used the characters from the previous games. I knew people would love to see the V3 characters interacting with the ones from 1 and 2.

SS: I absolutely had to but the past game cast in this, since I made it a story where we could have characters from anywhere.

I: The bonus modes are really well polished.

SS: But there are some pieces I regret not being able to implement. For example, the Dangan Salmon version where Akamatsu is the protagonist... Chapter 1 has Free Time, so we prepare 2 events per character to use with Akamatsu. For the Akamatsu Salmon Mode, we want to fill up her pieces all the way to end. But as you would expect, the project was too big, so we left it aside.

TK: There was also the idea of choosing to play with Saihara or Akamatsu.

I: I see, if you make events for Akamatsu, the workload would double... So, after the work in the bonus modes was done, Sasaki moved back to the main game. Was that it?

SS: Yes. I finished the bonus modes pretty fast, so I could focus all my attention to the main game afterwards. For the main game, we were expecting a delay down to the last minute (pained laughter), so I did what I could to finish the bonus side fast.

I: In the director team interview, you said many new elements were added for chapter 6.

TK: That was 3 months before the remastering, wasn’t it? We decided to add a lot of new stuff to chapter 6 and everyone started going “We’re doing it like this now?!”.

TS: I recall something to that effect.

I: You said you had to come up with how the chapter 6 scenes would work from the scratch, based only on Kodaka’s script.

TS: Yup, from scratch (pained laughter). The script wasn’t too detailed about it and I had no indications as to how to makes everything flow together. But that part of the story was filled with scenes and twist everywhere, so we 3 were at our wit’s ends, weren’t we?

TK: Kodaka came up in the middle of our work and said some very unfortunate words. “I’m writing chapter 6 right now, but the sequences are turning out too similar to DR2, so I’m considering making Ki-bo destroy the school”. At the time I thought “Destroy how exactly? Do we really have the time to make new models? I don’t think so.”, then when I read the finished script, so much of it was different...

TS: Yeah, the Ki-bo video cutscenes were added.

I: I remember Kodaka saying he was amazed at his own creation (laughs).

SS: Sometimes things work (laughs).

TK: Kodaka often suggests the first random thing that comes to mind. That’s actually where he’s at his best. He makes people motivated to pull it off.

A game system that only managed to be this unbiased because the love Danganronpa

I: Now I’ll ask each of you about your favorite parts of the system.

TK: Mine is the Perjury system for telling lies. Lies are one of the themes of this game, so it’s not bad to be able to lie in-game. And since we’re making the players lie, I want them to feel corrupt about it. I also made the Perjury visual very much my style. The thing with all the eyes appearing was my idea.

I: Because you like everyone eyeing you when you’re lying?

TK: Yes. You never know what can happen if you’re caught in your lie, so you get anxious and alert. You feel like everyone is looking at you, and that’s what I want to represent with those visuals. Also, I didn’t want people being easily able to lie, so I made the lying command into a long and tedious button hold, that slowly drains your HP. You recover HP when the lie is succesful, so that’s both the bad feeling you have when you lie and the good feeling you have when you get away with it, both well put down into gameplay. 

TS: You’re praising yourself a lot (laughs).

I: What elements do you like, Suzuki?

TS: The e-Handbook. Since we wouldn’t have the pet-raising minigame from DR2, we added the dress-up element so you can change improve its appearance.

TK: People loved the e-Handbook backgrounds.

SS: Really? I actually found the dress-up function unnecessary and was against it. But Suzuki and the designers were very intent in doing it, so I gave the ok just because.

TK: I was also against it at first, but once I started to actually play with the backgrounds and see their individual animations, I really enjoyed them. It also increased the prize count for the casino, so it’s good that we did it. 

TS: Though I think we made the designer team suffer with each new background we had them make. It was only going to be the e-Handbook changing colors when the protagonist spot switches from Akamatsu to Saihara. But we thought that if we’re changing once, why not change a few more times? It would be fun. Another thing, the reactions on the novel parts. 

I: By reactions you mean the interjection cursor that appears in the novel when you move the right analog stick?

TS: Yeah. Nothing happens when you do it though (pained laughter). I just thought it would be a good support system to make V3 more immersive. 

TK: But it really does nothing. It would really be better if the character lines changed if you did an specific reaction at an specific moment.

SS: Oh, we really should have done that.

TS: We can do that next time... Aside from the reactions, another really minor element I like is slapping away the chair and tables and whatnot.

I: The game really makes you want to slap the things. Whenever I got to a new place the first thing I did was always checking for what I could slap.

TS: It changes how the scenery looks like and it gives you Monocoins, so yeah, do it. 

TK: It’s a plain way to earn Monocoins, but it’s still money. The Monocoins can be exchanged into Casino Coins so there’s no downside for getting many.

I: Finally, Sasaki, what elements do you like?

SS: Number one are the bonus modes, but after that, I liked Panic Debates. It easy to experience how much the Class Trial evolved and there’s a pretty well done job in to making it look chaotic.

TK: Really? That was my idea.

SS: Good job.

I: Kouno is getting a raise today (laughs). What idea gave birth to the Panic Debate?

TK: I always wanted to add a new debate to the Class Trial. In the project meeting, we had to think of situations we never did before, but I couldn’t say with anything. After the meeting was ending, our small community started talking, everyone at the same time. That’s where I the idea came to me. 

I: And this epiphany became the Panic Debate.

TK: We never had this situation where multiple students spoke in the Class Trial at the same time, so I thought this could work. 3 characters filling the same screen, multiple Weak Points appearing, none of this was never done before, so I’m glad we managed to implement it.

Even the Game Over lines!? The playfullness the devs incorporated

I: Can you tell me what did you do to make the game more accessible to people not good with action games?

TK: By setting Skills according the action parts you’re bad at, it gets significantly easier. You can get Skill by exchanging Bond Fragments or in the Casino shop. Many of the Skills available with Bond Fragments make minigames easier, so I recommend using those. The casino Skills, on the other hand, are better for increasing your score. Try using those when you’re already used to the game and wants to get the best score you can.

I: That makes it important to talk with other students.

TK: Not to mention all Skills obtained from maxing a character’s affection are very strong. The more you talk to get Skills, the easier the game gets.

I: Tell us some useful gameplay secrets that only you know.

TK: Ok, me first. You can get a rocket start on Psyche Taxi. It works if you hit the gas the exact moment the GO appears. Give it a try.

TS: A lot of minigames have little secrets. Like how the tutorial for Salmon Fishing is a poem....

TK: Not a poem, but a reference to a famous song from a popular band. That’s why Saihara says “That was quite the poetic explanation...” after reading through the whole thing (laughs).

I: I completely missed it (laughs).

TK: One more thing about the Casino. For the slot machines, their reel patterns change depending on the machine you use. The one with the green nameplate is the more balanced one and the one with the red nameplate is the high risk high return one. The one with the blue nameplate is a more tricky machine. If you hit Scatter, you’re more likely the get WILDs and land a huge profit in one go.

I: The blue machine sounds the best to roll. Suzuki, do you have something for the non-investigation part?

TS: Let me see. You can talk to the Monokubs in the Salmon Mode and each of them has multiple different lines. Even for the silent Monodam, we gave him a line with 3% appearance rate. You can get Casino coins from talking to them, and getting the special Monodam line gives a lot of them. I don’t think people will get to see this a lot, since you can only talk to him once per day. But I’ll be glad the interested people would try it out.

I: 3%? Yeah, that’s very special alright.

TS: Also, character birthdays. All of them have special meanings, so speculate to your heart’s contents.

TK: Lastly, I have a few secrets about the Class Trial. First, we have multiple different Game Over dialogues. For example, if you time without picking anyone on Voting Time, you get a unique game over.

I: You mean Saihara’s thoughts change?

TK: It’s not that Saihara’s thoughts changes, you get a new conversation with Monokuma. Every chapter has 2 different Game Over dialogues, except for chapter 1, which has one more for Akamatsu, and chapter 6, which has 7 different unique game overs. You change characters in chapters, so we had to add new Game Over dialogue for all of them and then one shocking final Game Over for when you vote. Game Overs asides, you also have unique dialogue for the mistakes you make, so you can enjoy all different scenes.

I: That’s a lot of hidden details.

TK: I remembered one more thing about the Class Trial! In chapter 1, the first Nonstop Debate with Saihara as the protagonist has the exact same cameraworks and word movement patterns as the first Nonstop Debate from DR1. Since that debate is when Saihara finally becomes the real protagonist, we thought it would be interesting to make it identical to the first one. If there’s a video comparing the two, you can really tell it’s the same. 

I: I want to watch this video now. By the way, was this parallel planned from the start?

TK: Originally, chapter 1 wasn’t going to have any debates as Saihara, until Kodaka suddenly said he wanted to add it...

SS: He wanted to use Saihara’s BREAK cut in there already to make everyone sure that Saihara was the new protagonist. So we added debates.

TK: And this new debates were asked to be made at the very last minutes, so we had no idea what to do. Once we were out of good ideas, we thought repeating the first Nonstop Debate ever would be a valid idea. The fans who notice would find it clever and we could just copy-paste the program scripts, so two birds with one stone. Except the program was written completely different, so we couldn’t just copy the script. 

SS: You had to copy it by manually typing it?

TK: I copied it by eye. 

TS: It wasn’t much more time consuming.

TK: But that was because having ideas is hard. I’m glad we could get away with this.

I: Now that I think about it, having to come up with a new camera work and text movements for each Nonstop Debate sounds hard. 

TK: Don’t even start. Especially now that our platform has been greatly improved. Everyone was thinking “Let’s make this animation”, “Let’s add this text placement”. We went through all the possibilities. And from this game on, we became able to move the text in 3D and gained some new fonts. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. I thought the person typing the program would suffer a lot with it, so I did most of it myself... I’ll only say it took forever.

I: That’s a tremendous workload...

TK: Naturally, we must come up different animations for every debate. We created multiple patterns of font and lettering, and even needed to match the text’s colors to its contents. When someone was being accused, we pay attention to how our color work makes this character stand out.

I: The chapter 6 animations were the biggest highlight. Did you come with those, Kouno?

SS: Sugawara was in charge of the 6th Class Trial. 

TS: And so was the first.

 TK: Sugawara was in charge of the parts where we change characters. At first I was the one coming up with them, but partway through I was forced to admit it was too much for me... I asked around who could help and the answer was “There’s Sugawara!”.

I: The same twist as the Debate Scrum story (laughs). Sugawara is always reliable, like your last line of defense.

SS: He is. We’re glad we have him.

TK: It comes as no surprise. He is one of the creators of the Danganronpa franchise. Since we had him handling the animations for chapters 1 and 6, those turned out a level above the rest.

The developers’ thoughts to make a better game

I: Last question, tell me how you feel about the game now, and what would you want to update in the next game.

SS: How do you two feel about the game now ?

TK: I’m extremely happy with all the reactions we got, both positive and negative. I feels like a lot of people were strongly impacted from playing V3.

SS: It’s great to see opinions about it. There have been a lot of different takes on it, even some people who felt challenged by the ending. As developer, seeing this many different opinions make me feel more blessed than I deserve. Thank you all very much for it.

TS: Seeing reactions from people enjoying the new elements we created as much as we wanted them to makes me glad I could implement everything right. 

TK: One more, a little bit more personal opinion. As its developer, I’m very glad for the surprising amount of people who tried hard on the Death Road of Despair.

I: You thought there would be less of them, Kawano?

TK: I thought the challengers would assume it’s 100% impossible and give up halfway through. I readjusted a lot of things to make it clearable, but I still would be satisfied with 2, 3 people in the entire world beating it. But a lot of people showed up clearing it. As the person of handled every balancement detail of this minigame, along with my thanks to everyone who took so much of their time to beat it, I also want to say “wow, you’re awesome”.

SS: You just can’t stop praising yourself (laughs).

TS: The Death Road was made under the premise that at least one person out there was going to beat it. So we prepared not only a Saihara version to the ending, but also an Akamatsu version, and even made a bonus e-Handbook wallpaper for it. It’s made in a way you can do it if you try hard enough. But we were not crazy enough to tie an Achievement to the Death Road of Despair.

I: Yeah, you wouldn’t be able to get a Platinum without beating the Death Road. Ok, now tell me what do you want to improve or be careful about for the next game.

TS: For the VN part, I want to improve the visuals, adding animations and lightings to the characters. I’m quite used to the gameplay as it currently is, so I don’t fell much need to change it. I feel that what we must do now is to strenghen the visual part, making smoothly moving sprites to make the game even more immersive. Also, the current VN part has a lighting setup that shadows the characters you’re not talking to and I want to improve on that function. 

I: On that note, if the game were a PS4 exclusive, could you have more than 3 characters on the screen?

SS: The hardware allows it.

TS: Adding more than 3 characters to the same screen is not the priority. I’m just thinking about how I can improve the presentation to make the Danganronpa story more enjoyable. 

I: I have high hopes for it! And you, Kouno?

TK: A thing we need to more careful about, yes. We need to pay more attention to what we show in PVs and official material.

I: Did anything go wrong with a PV?

TK: I swear I was paying attention when I was making the PVs, but I had to do some rushjobs when I had no time or resources. I couldn’t check out all the finer details in time. Rantarou Amami was not there in the first revealed Class Trial picture, his “And why would he be in the library” line from the first PV was unvoiced, so people started suspecting that he would be the first victim. 

I: Oh no, their suspicions were precisely on point...

TK: I made an inexcusable blunder, both to the dev team and for the fans. We should have recorded some dummy lines. 

SS: If I had just a little more time available, I could have noticed it beforehand. It’s my job as the dev leader to check every detail... Another struggle was because we didn’t Debate Scrum resources for Amami.

TK: Oh yeah. Amami doesn’t participate in Debate Scrums, so we didn’t make any material in advance. That’s another thing we should have done...

SS: The only Amami material we had for the Scrum Debate was his dead portrait. For obvious reasons, we couldn’t just put that out there for promotional material. A problem so easily solved if we had just made an image of Amami facing sideways beforehand... 

I: And how did you deal with Amami’s face?

SS: Coincidentally, Amami’s expression sheet just happened to contain a lot of sprites where he faces sideways. We were at a point where using that was the only option, but once we looked more closely, all other students had proper centralized looks while only Amami was looking directly to our faces (pained laughter). When we made it, we were worried that the fans would figure it out. 

TS: And surprise, surprise, they did.

TK: If people noticed the unvoiced line, of course they would notice only one person looking directly at them.

SS: Good thing we can laugh at it now.

I: Oh yeah, now that I see the picture, Amami looks very off.

SS: By the way, an Amami’s Debate Scrum Illustration was made exclusively for this artbook. It’s very rare Amami content, so I hope you enjoy it.

I: Thank you for this precious conversation. Give one final message to our readers.

TK: Being a game developer is hard, but fun and rewarding. If reading this interview made you interested in becoming a developer, go ahead! Also, my Twitter @ is taichikono. I’d appreciate your follows, if you’re interested.

TS: You sound like an ad (laughs).

I: Your turn, Suzuki. If you please.

TS: I’m happy and grateful to everyone played our game. We still don’t have anything planned, but I truly want to give you the next title, in whatever shape or form it may be. Keep looking forward to the Danganronpa series.

SS: Are you sure you tell your Twitter @?

TS: I like to live away from the limelight... I couldn’t handle a big follower count (laughs).

I: I get it (laughs). Last but not least, the final comment, from our director.

SS: I’m always doing Danganronpa interviews with Kodaka and Terasawa, but Kouno and Suzuki form quite unique trio here, since those two are from the side of the staff that usually doesn’t talk to the public. Every Danganronpa is very colorful on its own different way, so we from the development team would appreciate if you would play them all again, thinking about what kind of people made it.

[milks-writings]

Hey hey heyy! 👋🏻 Can I request a hcs with Kuroo, Akaashi, Hajime, Suga, and Kenma where the reader (she) is a spy and so are they but the reader is tasked to kill them yet they have feelings for the reader? can it be angst to fluff? 😊 Thank youu have a nice dayy! ❤️

✿.｡.:*☆.:*:.☆*.:｡.✿.｡.:*☆.:*:.☆*.:｡.✿.

☆*.:｡.✿ 𝕡𝕒𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘: Tetsurō Kuroo x Fem!Reader;  Keiji Akaashi x Fem!Reader;   Hajime Iwaizumi x Fem!Reader;   Kōshi Sugawara x Fem!Reader;   Kenma Kozume x Fem!Reader

☆*.:｡.✿ 𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤: swearing, mention of murder, mention of blood

☆*.:｡.✿ 𝕒/𝕟: This is the shit I wanted to get into my inbox after opening my requests again 🥴✌🏻

Thank you bub for sending this request in, I hope you have a great day too! ❤

These are not really good but yeah----

☆*.:｡.✿ 𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥

☆*.:｡.✿ Headcanons:

Kuroo, Akaashi, Iwaizumi, Sugawara, and Kozume spying on the Fem!Reader and needing to kill her, but they catch feelings for her:

KUROO:

Ok ok I am so excited to do that omg 😭

You two are spy’s, and he got the task to kill you, while you got the task to find out what they had planned (yk his company n shit)

You two meet at a café, everything is chill n shit, you get to know each other and like,,, you two are actually interesting?

Like, you two did not know that you two were acting at first, but slowly you warm up to each other,

But damn, Kuroo has to kill you ://

He fell for you, you even exchanged numbers, and you both were totally whipped for each other, that the act soon dropped and you two just felt comfortable around each other

But one day, Kuroo was tasked to kill you, well, he was already tasked before to kill you but today was the day he had to do it

So inviting you over to his House seemed like the best thing he could do, maybe you would have at least sweet memories, maybe you would have at least good memories before you would die.

He couldn’t even manage to think about killing you, his heart already felt heavy every time he looked at you

Every time he looked at you he had to fight his tears back

He had to kill his beloved Y/N

After you would arrive at his house, he would be already in tears and looked at you in pity

And you were to confused like????

“Kuroo are you-”

“Y/N, I am so sorry” he can’t bring it over his heart to kill you

He just started rambling about what happened and you are like

“Woah slow down juicy boy”

“Eye--- what”

“You literally gotta slow down boi”

He just nods and looks at you with googly eyes

“We can figure out how to not make you kill me… besides, I also had to spy on you”

THE SMIRK, THE GOD DAMN SMIRK

“Nevermind please just kill me”

“I didN’T EVEN TALK???”

N e way, you two figured that it would be smart to clear up both companies about what happened and in the end they were just “ogge” so you could live together happily

Btw while clearing it up hE JUST STRAIGHT UP CONFESSED HUASDFND

“I really like her and I would feel awful to kill her”

OMG HE CONFESSED IN FRONT OF ALMOST THE WHOLE COMPANY INCLUDING YOU???

So, after you finally got out you were like “I like you too” and he was so shooked, like, he didn’t think you would like him after that all but still, he was glad to hear those words

That’s how you got a couple <3

Also, he teased you sm after you finally got a couple about how stupid you were to not figure out his task hsodfsd

AKAASHI:

He probably is a sly and smart mf so he just somehow managed to get something to slip out of your hands without you noticing? And then he picked it up saying “sorry ma'am, that’s yours”

That’s how you met

He barely acted, just made sure that you did not get too close, but soon, soon enough he saw himself getting closer to you without noticing it

So in the next days, he caught himself staring at you more and then he went like oh fuck I am in love with her ://

But I have to kill her----

He is really conflicted what to do and thinks about everything very good, but he didn’t let you get to know any of his worries, in any way

Let’s be honest, Akaashi would handle this situation better than Kuroo, idk why I just have this strong feeling because Akaashi seems to be more organized and more responsible than Kuroo is, even if it’s just a little bit, in such a situation it is very much

though, most of the time, he would mostly think about how you feel and now how he feels

So after inviting you to a café, to start off with something very chilly and also calming, he starts to explain you the situation

And even a few tear drops left his eyes, but damn, he fought back most of the tears so he only cried a little.

He didn’t want to seem weak in front of you?? Yk

He said that he got the idea of not killing you so smart omg and instead would talk it out with you

Like he starts off with explaining the things he feels to you, how much he likes you and doesn’t want to loose you

But soon he gets lost in his own rambling that he did not notice you crying until you would sob

Like you were in tears of his so sweet speech and he would just beam you a smile, take your hand and tell you that everything will be fine <3

“Listen, I will make sure we both are happy, just please trust me, I know that you might not trust me much after that, but-”

“No no its okay Akaashi, I will trust you” You reassured him with a smile and he just nodded with a smile “I won’t disappoint you, princess” eye---- 🥺🥺 I love him pls

In the end he really somehow managed to somehow not have to kill you, and in the end, you even were allowed to date <3 But your boss was of course a little mad at you, and so was his, but thanks to Akaashi they somehow got at least friends

IWAIZUMI:

Oikawa had literally helped him to meet you

Like, no, he planned it, so it was not a coincidence that you met, but Oikawa helped him to make it look like coincidence

But you also kinda planned on making it look like that, since you figured out that he would go to this place too

Oikawa literally kinda made you dump against Iwaizumi and you apologized but you started to conversation

And things went so well from there on

You figured that Iwaizumi is actually really funny and nice, and he figured that you are actually really nice and caring, unlike his company described

He felt much faster than he thought he would, like one blink and he was already in love with you

And not even faster than he thought, but also harder than he thought. He kept on thinking about you day and night

But probably because he had to kill you, and not because he loved you, at least that’s what he kept telling himself

And he didn’t want to kill someone so nice and sweet like you, so he kept thinking about a way how to tell you, or just do the task, he really couldn’t think normally about it with his mind being messed up

So one night he called you suddenly, asking if you wanna go into the park with him and have a walk

Of course, you agreed

He really thought that if he would kill you now he would regret it less but after seeing you he knew that he would regret it even more

He broke down in front of you, not in tears but in regret “I am so sorry so so sorry really I apologize I am sorry” he kept on mumbling those words and after he knife felt beside him you immediately figured

But how could you be mad? He literally just exposed himself so you reassured him that it was okay

“Iwaizumi, it’s okay, I also had to spy on you, please don’t be sorry, we can find a way out, a way how we both are happy” you kept on telling him while patting his back

He is baby

And you two soon found a way how to convince your bosses to not do that all anymore

Like you said that you exposed accidentally yourselves and that you two seem to have no bad intention so you lied to your boss a little but he accepted it

In the end, Iwaizumi was glad that he had the knife with him because that way he had to tell you nothing about it

He also confessed after that and told you that he really didn’t want to do that n so on

Even after years, he would apologize for you to it, but slowly the regretting feeling was fading and he started to forgive himself as well

SUGAWARA:

This baby probably did not plan on killing you even though he didn’t know you

But he agreed to do it somehow :/

He met you on the train and offered you his seat since no seats were free

You, of course, thanked him and recognized him then,,, it was Sugawara

So you started to talk to him “Sir, may I ask for your name?”

He was so sweet, you literally had no idea why you had to spy on him or how comes that your company hated him

But he is a little stupid and couldn’t hide the fact that he had to kill you

You were mad about the fact, but honestly, somehow you also couldn’t be mad because you were literally in love with him already

And he was too,,, he really liked you and would love to keep talking to you, like forever but fate was so nice and gave him the task to kill you

So he planned everything so well out, while literally crying the whole night

Poor baby had to act like everything was fine after he called you and asked if you wanted to go on a walk in the forest

And you already knew what he planned

But you couldn’t say no you wanted to ask him so many things, tell him so many things which you never ended up asking or telling him because your mind just went blank and you only had this one question on your tongue then,,,

After arriving there he was already there, and for a moment you could see the sadness and regret in his eyes.

So you just brought it up yourself “You are here to kill me, right?”

He was so taken back, but nodded only a little “I am really sorry but-”

“We can somehow stop this all” you told him with a small frown “We both don’t want this, we can just not do it” you told him and damn you were right

So you two made a plan and at the end of the day he just confessed “I really like you, and you may not like me back but-” “I like you too” OMGAO SFHD RIP SUGAWARA HE DIED ON SPOT

The plan you made was simple, just rebelling against your two companies until you would get kicked out and you two found then a job, even bought an apartment since it was much cheaper to share than living alone

After that, he was 10 times sweeter to you and kept on making jokes about how stupid he was and couldn’t cover the fact up that he had to kill you jsdfsd

KOZUME:

He is so lazy holy shit---

N e way

He is so lazy, instead of trying to meet you he just found your all your social media, first started following you, then liking a few pictures and then texted you, just so it wouldn’t be weird

He even made sure to ask you things he knew about, to make it less suspicious about the whole spy thing

Honestly? He had no idea why he was tasked to kill a girl, but at the same time, he got money for that, so he didn’t question it farther

But after a few texts and finally a meetup, he figured that you were actually really chill, and nice, also not very annoying like the others had been

So he had found liking in you, also in your gaming and the way you were talking

Something was very appealing about you

He soon started to drop the act, because he thought that it was not very necessary anyway, but the day he had to kill you was coming closer

But he was like ‘screw it’ and literally told you the whole thing his boss told him after you came over to his house again

He really trusted you much already, and so he just told you the whole plan his boss had planned for him as his task

And after you told him that you had a similar task, just without the killing part, he was kind of relieved but also shooked as well

Relieved because you two had no more secrets and shocked because he never figured it out, even though he was so smart?

“Oh? I really didn’t know that you are also a spy” He mumbled while looking at his game “Well I didn’t know it either that you were one. We probably were tasked to spy on each other because of that?” He only shrugged and nodded then “Yeah might be” honestly, he was pretty sure that it was because of that and luckily this plan would work even better with this information

He also noticed that he liked you after that, he never figured out because you both were blinded by love :(

Kenma also told you what he had planned to do to not have to kill you

After that you two just played video games yea;;;

N e way

After you did his plan on how to convince your bosses to make you leave the company without getting into trouble it actually worked?

And after you two were telling it  each other it somehow slipped you out that you liked him

But thank god he liked you too, and so you two started to date and always play video games together <3

[heartsywritesthethings]

Karasuno Secret Santa 4

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Kageyama slurped on the milk carton straw. Last week’s game against Nekoma went relatively well, even without their ace or libero for a good part of it. It was great practice for him and Hinata though. Even when Nekoma thought that they had gained the upper hand, Hinata was always just a few steps ahead of them. It did put a smile on his face to remember how competitive both teams became when it came to the torment of Hinata. Some players from both teams wanted to take Hinata down a couple of pegs, while others were attempting to carry him away to safety. It was unfortunate, but it seemed like so many players on both teams got a chance to give Hinata small little tickles as he was passed around. Well, everyone got a chance except for Kageyama. It would definitely be his time today, after the practice game he would jump on that little half pint.

The practice game…

Kageyama took one last sip of his milk before squishing the carton with one hand. The possibility of having to play against Aoba Johsai made Kageyama’s stomach turn uncomfortably. He took a deep breath before tossing the empty carton away in the nearby trash bin. He had been extremely nervous last week too, just before learning about their surprise opponent. It felt like a breath of fresh air to see those dark uniforms. 

“Kageyamaaaaaaa!” Hinata yelled as he raced across the school grounds and over to where Kageyama was standing. The Karasuno school setter smirked, wiggling his fingers at his sides in preparation. Maybe he wouldn’t have to wait for the end of this dumb practice game. It would definitely help with his nerves.

A firm hand settled on his shoulder and Kageyama looked up to see his captain staring down at him. While Daichi was smiling, there was something else behind his eyes that made Kageyama freeze.

“Don’t you dare tire him out before the game,” Daichi said, looking pointedly at Kageyama’s hands. With a small pout, Kageyama crossed his arms over his chest.

“You guys are no fair. He got one on me,” Kageyama said right before Hinata tackled him to the ground in a huge bear hug. 

“What’d you get on the test, Kageyama?!” Hinata asked, perched on top of him like an excited dog. 

“The…test?” He asked, rubbing the back of his head. He wasn’t hurt from the fall, but it definitely wasn’t comfortable.

“Yeah, dummy.” Hinata laughed.

“Don’t call me dummy….dummy.” Kageyama retorted before shoving Hinata off of him with a grunt. Hinata just laughed. He took out a piece of paper and shoved it in his face. That bastard had gotten a 41 on their last test. Hardly anything to brag about, really, but Kageyama felt a pang of jealousy. He had only gotten a 40.

“Great job, first year.” Daichi said, ruffling the red head’s hair fondly. Hinata began performing a victory dance, waving his test paper around as if it were the winning lottery ticket. Kageyama had to force himself not to smile at him, especially not in front of Daichi. 

“Who are we playing today, captain?” Kageyama asked as the captain helped pull him to his feet. Daichi just shrugged.

“Dunno, but–” He began before Hinata jumped in between them and held onto Kageyama’s shoulders.

“But it doesn’t matter, because we are going to win!” He said with a smile so bright and brilliant, that even the stubborn Kageyama had to smile back. The little bastard’s enthusiasm was contagious to put it lightly. 

“Alright then, let’s go warm up,” Daichi said with a soft chuckle.

“Last one in the gym is a rotten egg!” Hinata yelled and began sprinting over to the gym. Kageyama was quick to follow. 

When Daichi arrived at the gym, Hinata and Kageyama were stuck in the doorframe, each too stubborn to let the other one get ahead. Both insisting that they had won. Daichi put a hand on both of their backs and shoved them both into the gym. It didn’t matter which one of them hit the ground first, they were both losers. The pair landed in a heap on the floor.

“Looks like the other team hasn’t shown up yet,” Sugawara said, popping in the door just a moment after Daichi had. 

“Maybe they just got scared and ran away!” Tanaka yelled, leaping over the two first years on the floor and tearing off his own shirt.

“Please put your shirt back on, Tanaka,” Daichi said, his eyebrow twitching.

“Oh my god, who killed the first years?!” came Noya now, kneeling next to Hinata and Kageyama. “Why do the good have to die young?!”

“We could always tickle them and see if they’re still alive,” Sugawara said mischievously, reaching down with wiggling fingers. Both Hinata and Kageyama jumped to their feet, bumping into each other as they did so.

“You’re alive!” Noya announced, pulling the two of them in a group hug. 

“Noya, would you leave those two lovebirds alone for two seconds? I need to practice my serves.” Asahi sighed, waving for Nishinoya to follow him to the court. 

“The other team is here,” Tsukishima announced as he walked in with their remaining team members and managers. Captain Ukai wasn’t too far behind as well.

“Who are they?” Kageyama asked and though he tried to keep his nerves under control, he felt the anxiety bubble in his stomach again. Hinata looked at him up and down for a moment before resting a reassuring hand on Kageyama’s shoulder. 

“Aoba Johsai,” Tsukishima replied, his eyes narrowing at Kageyama. He was trying to read the setter’s reaction.

It wasn’t good. Most of the color drained from Kageyama’s face and he felt a chill run up and down his body. He could still remember that day that he was almost struck by Oikawa. A player that he had looked up to (and maybe…maybe something more) had raised a hand to strike him. The pure hatred in Oikawa’s eyes haunted him to this day. Who knows what would have happened had Iwaizumi not been there to stop it?

“Hey,” Hinata’s voice said, piercing through Kageyama’s spiralling thoughts. Kageyama looked at him. “This isn’t going to be like when they were on your team. I’ll always be here to hit your tosses, no matter where you set it to.”

Of course that’s what Hinata thought it was, which was certainly a part of it even if not the main concern. Kageyama couldn’t help but smile slightly, trying to put their prized decoy at ease. It was a kind gesture on his part to try and make him feel better, even if he could only guess at what the cause was. 

It was true, two of Aoba Johsai’s volleyball players used to play with Kageyama, further adding to his nerves. They had dubbed him the “King of the Court”– a nickname that Kageyama was proud of… until he learned the true meaning of it. It meant that no one trusted him, no one even wanted to play with someone with such tyrannical sets. 

The combination of Oikawa’s strike against him and his former team leaving him…it had left Tobio Kageyama feeling as if he could never trust anyone again. Though, truthfully, he felt as if he had gotten better with the help of the other Karasuno players–especially Hinata.

“Well, if it isn’t the high and mighty King of the Court.” Came that sickly sweet voice as the Aoba Johsai setter strutted into the crow’s gym. Kageyama immediately tensed up, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.

“Kage–” Hinata began.

“Let’s go, guys. We’re winning tonight,” Kageyama said, pulling away from Hinata’s grasp and walking over to the bench. 

“That is some mighty big talk, your majesty. Are you going to be bossing everyone around to get your way again?” Oikawa continued, smiling over at him. Kageyama averted his eyes and picked up a stray volleyball from the court floor. He wanted to scream, to yell, to tell Oikawa to just fuck off already. His focus was solely on Oikawa today, the rest of his world seeming to just warp around him. 

The warm up drills, the coach’s talk, all of it seemed like it was happening from far away. Kageyama was just scowling, either at the floor or over at his rival, Toru Oikawa. Honestly, he felt sick just being in the same gym as him. Just knowing that he was there. 

Then, before he could even properly register anything, the game was beginning. The net was up, Tekada stood as the ref, and Kiyoko and Yachi stood by the point board. It was Asuhi first up to serve with Daichi and Noya also in the back row with him. Kageyama was up front with Tsukishima and Hinata, ready to block or send over spikes whenever they were able. 

“How are you feeling, your majesty? You look a little pale.” Oikawa said from the other side of the net. Kageyama tried to distract himself, watching the ball instead of Oikawa. Suddenly, a hand was flying towards him.

Kageyama flinched.

Hinata stared at him, his hand still up in the air for a pre-game high five. They looked at each other for a moment longer until Kageyama weakly smacked Hinata’s hand in return. Then, Asahi sent over a serve. The rally went on for a while, the ball bouncing from one side of the court to the other. Hinata kept throwing concerned glances over at the setter. That sort of reaction was…concerning to say the least. 

Kageyama sent over a set to Hinata, the ball flying higher than usual, but Hinata adjusted and slammed the ball down on the other side of the court. To anyone else, it looked just like their regular quick attack play. 

Oikawa frowned, looking through the net to glare daggers at his former apprentice. 

“Hey, Kageyama, is everything–?” Hinata tried again, but Kageyama just waved him off. It was Asahi’s turn to serve again since they had won the point. 

“Don’t get too comfortable in your throne, King of the Court.” Oikawa said, crouching down in a defensive position again as the ball flew up in the air. 

The rally went on for longer this time, Noya saving them more than a few times as Oikawa set up multiple balls for his spikers. Kageyama felt as if he were moving through honey, the world around him going too fast for him to keep up with. Tsukishima tugged him close to block a ball, purposefully grazing his side. Kageyama didn’t even blink. When they jumped, he was face to face with Turo Oikawa. Oikawa smiled as he hit the ball, and Kageyama flinched again. When he touched the ground again, it seemed as if his legs just gave out from under him. He fell on all fours, his palms stinging as they struck the hard gym floor. 

“Tobio-chan, you don’t have to bow down to me just yet, I still have a whole set to beat you.” Oikawa laughed, crouching down so as to be on Kageyama’s level.

To beat you.

“You alright?” Daichi asked, kneeling in between Kageyama and Oikawa, blocking their view of the other.  Kageyama looked up, feeling dizzy.

I have to win.

“I’m fine. Just landed wrong,” He explained, getting back up to his feet. Daichi looked concerned and Kageyama could tell that if he messed up again, Daichi would insist that Sugawara replace him on the court. 

No, I have to prove myself to him.

“Let me know if you need to rest,” Daichi said, patting Kageyama on the head before heading back to his position. 

Everyone is staring at me.

One of Aoba Johsai’s players set up for a serve. Oikawa inched closer to the net, close to where Kageyama was.

“Hey, hey, King Tobio.” Oikawa whispered.

Stop it. Stop talking.

“Still want me to teach you how to serve?” Oikawa continued. Kageyama gasped, looking up at Oikawa with wide eyes. All the upperclassman did was smile. An evil smile.

“Kageyama! Net ball!” Noya yelled.

Kageyama looked up to see the ball slowly falling right at the net. Kageyama jumped, reaching to push the ball over the net and gain the crows another point. He glanced over and saw

Oikawa’s hand going straight for him again.

This time, it’s going to land! There is no one here to save you! Duck!

Kageyama brought his arms up to his face to shield himself from the incoming slap. Nothing. Oikawa lightly tapped the ball over and it bounced harmlessly on the floor.

But Kageyama didn’t notice. He was on the floor yet again, but this time, it felt as if he would never move again. He was shaking hard, his breath quickening in his chest. 

I can’t breathe. I’m not safe. I can’t breathe. I’m not safe.

Kageyama squeezed his eyes closed as tears began to fall. He couldn’t seem to breathe properly. He could barely hear as Oikawa laughed, taunting him and saying that he had never grown out of his crown. Calling him a sore loser over just one point. Daichi was with him again, kneeling next to him and rubbing a comforting hand on his back. Hinata was yelling at Oikawa, but Kageyama couldn’t make out what. Coach Ukai was yelling now, pointing and waving his arms around. Oikawa was whining about something, arguing back.

Everything is so loud.

Daichi scooped up the crying first year, carrying him over to the nearest safe place that he could–the utility closet.

“Tobio. I need you to breathe, okay?” Daichi said, sitting with his back against the wall and Kageyama cradled in his arms. Honestly, he had no idea what he was doing. All he knew was that Kageyama felt as if he were in danger and that loud environment was not the right place for him. Asahi stepped into the closet and walked right to where Kageyama was. He took Kageyama’s hands and looked at him straight in the eyes.

“Hey, man, I don’t know what Oikawa did to you, but he’s gone now. You’re safe. He’s not gonna hurt ya, okay?” Asahi said calmly. With how often Noya had panic attacks and nightmares, Asahi had plenty of practice calming people down. Even if he didn’t know what exactly the trigger was, he knew that he needed to make the panicking person feel safe. 

“He’s gone. You’re okay. We’re here. Kageyama, breathe.” Asahi said, taking deep breaths himself. Without really realizing it, Kageyama began mirroring the breathing. Sugawara was the next one in the closet, with a towel in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. He set them both down before stepping out. Daichi saw a glimpse of Hinata, Tanaka, and Noya trying to see what was going on. 

“Focus on me, not them,” Asahi said, trying to grab Kageyama’s attention. Apparently he had noticed the three loudmouths of the team trying to get inside. Kageyama used his shirt collar to wipe at his tears hurriedly. 

This was a little embarrassing. Not only did his entire team see him break down, but Oikawa had as well. 

“You’re okay, man. Really.” Asahi said with a smile. He pat Kageyama on the head lightly and Daichi awkwardly pat his back. Kageyama took a deep breath and took a sip from the nearby water that Suga had dropped off. 

“Sorry for tanking the game,” Kageyama grumbled, pulling himself up and off of Diachi. Daichi got up as well and cuffed the back of the setter’s head.

“You know none of us care about that, right?” Daichi said, raising an eyebrow.

“But you all want to stay on the court for as long as possible. And I ruined that after two points.” Kageyama grumbled.

“Kags, are you serious?” Daichi asked, shaking his head. “It was a practice game. We care more about your injury than we do about the game.”

“My…injury?” Kageyama asked. Daichi poked him in the head.

“I think that the captain is trying to say,” Asahi chuckled. “Is that your mental health is just as important as your physical health and you gotta take care of yourself.”

“But…I’m not injured. I’m fine.” Kageyama insisted. The two third years stared at him and Kageyama huffed. “Okay, I get it.”

“Good. Now, I’m gonna tell Kiyoko to get the projector and Yachi needs to spray this closet. It smells so gross.” Daichi said, giving Kageyama’s shoulder one last squeeze before heading out of the closet. 

As soon as the door opened, Hinata burst through and lept onto Kageyama. Thankfully, Kageyama was standing right in front of Asahi and the Ace’s strong body stopped him from falling over. Hinata clung to Kageyama like a koala to a tree, arms wrapped around his neck and legs latched around his waist.

“I’m so sorry that I didn’t know! Kageyama! You gotta tell me next time! We were right in front of  him too! You’re so brave!” Hinata wailed, being over dramatic as usual. Sugawara grabbed Daichi and whispered something in his ear.

“Oikawa tried to do WHAT?” Daichi yelled “Is that punk blue bastard still here?”

Kageyama watched as the captain of Karasuno stormed out of the gym, yelling about how they would never have Aoba Johsai back in the gym again.

“Uh, what happened?” Kageyama asked, shifting his weight so that he could hold Hinata better.

Wait, why am I holding him again?

Kageyama dropped Hinata and the orange-haired spiker dropped to the ground before immediately springing back up on his feet. It was like he was a ball or something. Always bouncing back.

“Well, after you fell, Oikawa was saying stupid stuff and then a bunch of us started yelling. Oikawa was being a huge dick, and I thought that maybe he was just trying to be competitive and mean, but he was just being mean. And then Coach Ukai came in and he was all like BAM and then Oikawa went ZOOM–” Hinata rambled, waving his arms around for emphasis. Kageyama chuckled, watching the little guy try and retell something fairly simple.

“In proper terms,” Tsukishima said, pushing his glasses up his nose “Oikawa kept calling you names while you were in your panic attack. Hinata, Noya, and Tenaka had to be held back. Iwaizumi told us the…incident that happened in your middle school. Then, Coach Ukai chased Aoba Johsai out.”

“My version was better,” Hinata grumbled.

“Your version didn’t make any sense,” Tsukishima retorted. “Next time, try and use some proper words and maybe breathe in between your sentences.”

“So, what are we doing for practice time?” Kageyama asked, seeing Tanaka along with the other second years putting away the net and the stray volleyballs. 

“Kiyoko and Yachi are getting the projector and some blankets so we can have a movie night!” Hinata said excitedly, throwing his arms up in the air. Kageyama looked at how everyone was working together in the gym.

Even after an incident like that…even though everyone here loved the game, loved volleyball…they were all willing to drop everything to make sure that he was feeling better. It really made him think that this team was really something else. It was more than just a volleyball team. 

It felt like a family.

(I think 4/25)

Ga!babe

[daisahi]

overtime | tadashi yamaguchi x reader

Summary: y/n and tadashi are co-workers, but they barely know each other and they both have to work through the holidays.

Words: 2,109

a/n: first tadashi scenario so please keep in mind I’m not that familiar with his character yet I hope you enjoy it!

Working at the nearby ramen shop wasn’t bad, it was quite decent really. You enjoyed the quietness and how kind the people were, they often left more money than what the bill said. In japan, it would seem offensive to other people if they tipped you, yet you didn’t find anything bad in it. Of course, you declined telling them it was okay they shook their heads each time and instead paid for a meal for you to have. 

You didn’t work alone, there was another person here that has worked much longer than you have. His name is Tadashi Yamaguchi, he was kind and had a smile on his face when customers came in. They always told him hello and sparked up a conversation with him. He was truly a kind person, you both exchanged some hellos and respected each other but weren’t really close. For you, it was fine as long as he was kind that was all that mattered but you did wish you could treat him like a friend. 

“Good morning!” the owner exclaimed as he walked in through the door, “Morning sir.” you responded smiling softly. “It’s good to see you again sir.” Yamaguchi said. “You both are always on time that’s why I would like to ask you a favor.” his voice turned serious as well as his facial expression “Is everything alright?” your coworker asked as he went to the front of the counter, you then followed right after him. 

“Everything is fine don’t you worry!” he exclaimed chuckling as he folded his arms in front of his chest. “I actually wanted to ask you if you can work during new year’s eve assuming if you can.” 

You turned to look at him wondering what he might say, Yamaguchi, did the same thing seeing if you’d agree. “I-I don’t mind really...I can spend the next day with my family.” 

“Same, I don’t mind working we don’t have plans except just eating food so.” you responded chuckling lightly, he then clapped his hand together beaming with happiness. “Great! I promise you will get extra pay, I will need to leave this to you though. Do you think you’ll be able to handle it?” 

“Do you have somewhere urgent to go?” you asked, “My flight got changed earlier and I need to head back home to visit my family. I apologize for not asking earlier.” 

“Don’t you worry sir! We have everything under control.” he laughed noticing Yamaguchi’s enthusiasm. 

‘Maybe this might help for the two of us to get to know each other better.’ 

-----

The day then came, your boss explained to you how to lock up and make sure everything was turned off. Once that was done Yamaguchi and you waved goodbye to him as he got in the taxi. 

“Well let’s get to work for today.” he said, you nodded following him inside. Your job was to wash the everyday knives and spoons along with the forks to make sure they were sanitized. Yamaguchi was sweeping and cleaning the tables, although it was cleaned from last night it was a routine for you to get everything ready. 

It was silent no customers have come in yet making you the only two people there. He turned around watching as you occupied yourself with your cleaning duties, all this time he had been wanting to get to know you more but he didn’t know how to begin a conversation. 

You turned your head feeling someone staring at you to your surprise it was him. Light pink dust began to cover cheeks, making you aware of how you moved. “I-Is there...something I-I um can help you with...Yamaguchi?...” 

His cheeks then turned red as he looked off to the side, his finger lightly scratched the spot near his lips. “N-No...I-I...um it’s just I was wondering if you probably had plans to go see the temple today...” 

You tucked a piece of hair that was covering your eyes, “Yeah...it’s a tradition for me and my family to go around midnight to see the fireworks display.” you began to wonder why he all of a sudden began to ask but it was nice that he decided to start the conversation. 

“What about you?...” you questioned placing the piece of cloth on the table, “Yeah I was supposed to go there with a couple of my friends from volleyball our coach even offered to take us too.” 

“That must be nice going there together with your friends. I didn’t know you played volleyball...what position do you play?...” his eyes looked down to the brown floors, “I...I don’t really have a position right now...I don’t suck at volleyball but I’m not that good at it either. I have been practicing though! My serves are getting better...I hope to play in a game soon...” 

“Talent doesn’t happen overnight.” you said, “If you are dedicated as to how you are sounding to be then you’ll be an excellent volleyball player...it’s not easy having to improve ahead of everyone because someone will always be better...but giving up is not an option either.” 

He didn’t know what to say, he was afraid to reveal what his position was. His skills didn’t compare to his captain’s or the two dominant players, Kageyama and Hinata, not even Tsukishima. Yamaguchi was about to respond when two customers came in. 

“Welcome to ramenlicious! Happy New Year’s Eve!” you exclaimed bowing at them in a respectful manner, they smiled responding with “hello happy new year’s eve to you too” he stood by watching as you smiled happily to them. From a different point of view, you were a mystery as so was he but he wanted to know more at least to become friends rather than just coworkers. 

As the day went by more people kept rushing in, it wasn't only because of the famous noodles your boss created but you were pretty much the only restaurant open during New Year's Eve. Music was playing in the background, Yamaguchi wanted to make the atmosphere more enjoyable. You couldn't help but look at him from time to time, he was kind with the customers and those around him. Often making you wonder why you hadn't approached him before, sometimes being shy was such a curse.

"Can I get some more beer please?" a customer asked, "Right away!" you yelled as you finished getting the customers order. "I'll get it don't worry." Yamaguchi said as he held the tray with food, "Thank you!" you smiled softly sighing in relief. The shop was packed with foreigners and local people making it a busy night for both of you.

Since then you haven't been able to speak to him only smiled softly at him when you passed by. The shop was bound to close soon, he hoped you both would have time to sit and talk after such a busy day. A sound was then heard coming from the door, you both turned around to greet a group of boys dressed in sports uniform. "Welcome to ramenlicious! Happy New Year's Eve!"

"Tadashi? I didn't know you work here." a man with a bandana and blonde spikey hair spoke, "C-Coah Ukai! What are you guys doing here?" Yamaguchi asked, "We heard from Tsukishima that you were working today so we decided to visit you!" a short red-headed guy exclaimed as he smiled widely at him. "O-Oh! You guys didn't have to come." said feeling embarrassed, "It's New Year's Eve we made a plan and we're not going to leave you alone." someone else said, "Thanks Tsuki."

"Is this your co-worker Tadashi?!" you jumped a bit back feeling shy that they were talking about you now. "You're scaring her a bit Nishinoya!" Yamaguchi exclaimed you shook your head "N-No! It's okay I'm okay Yamaguchi." you smiled softly at how caring he was. "The names Tanaka you're so pretty!" he suddenly said, "I-I uh thank you."

"Calm down Tanaka you're going to freak her out." a silver-headed said, "Sorry about him he's a lot kinder, I'm Koshi Sugawara." he said bowing and in result making everyone from the team bow down with him as well. "I'm (y/n) (l/n) it's very nice to finally meet Yamaguchi's teammates."

"Can I please have shio ramen without seaweed please?!" the red-headed exclaimed making you laugh, "Of course! Choose where you'd like to sit and I'll take your order."

"I'll get the order don't worry." Yamaguchi said, "Are you sure?" you asked and he nodded following the group. Another customer then called you over grabbing your attention. You went over and kept attending the rest of the customers.

---

The night was growing colder by the minute, most of the customers were already gone. Since it was New Year's Eve you both decided to leave the shop open in case customers decided to come in. Yamaguchi's teammates stayed for the rest of the night, laughing and talking about their future games. He had insisted that he'd help, you denied his offer and let him enjoy his time with them. From time to time you went over and they sparked up a conversation asking different questions about you. Yamaguchi was kind enough to make you feel comfortable about answering them.

Once the last customers left you began cleaning up the tables. "Hey have you gotten something to eat?" you turned your head to see Sawamura the captain of the team. "I haven't yet but I will once I finish-" he shook his head and took the tray from you, "Get something to eat first, we can help with whatever you both need to do. You deserve a break (l/n)." Yamaguchi then looked over at the both of you, he nodded at Daichi and he stood up. "I can make something for you what would you like?"

"How about I help you?" you said, "It would be rude to not help you." he shook his head "It's the least I can do I enjoyed my time with my friends thanks to you." you finally gave in he then went into the kitchen and began to prepare your dish.

"Is he a good co-worker?" Asahi asked, "He's very kind, we work well together." you said, "But are you guys friends?" Hinata asked as he ate his leftover ramen, making you chuckle. "Eat Hinata or else you're going to choke." Sugawara said sighing. "We do talk but I don't know if we are friends...I'm a bit shy so it's kinda hard for me to spark up a conversation."

"I see, he doesn't bite though he is shy too." Tsukishima said, "Overall if you want to talk to him just do it even a hello is enough."

"Yeah...but he's just so kind and I want the conversation to keep going. I would like to get to know him better." you mumbled, "W-Well...that's how i-uh I uh feel the same way...I know I can be awkward but I'd like to get to know you better." your cheeks flushed a light pink hearing his response, he placed your food down. Daichi moved to the side and sat down next to Kageyama so Yamaguchi could sit next to you.

"Well since there aren't any other customers why don't we clean up boys?" Ukai said, everybody then got up leaving you both alone. You took a deep breath and smiled softly at him, "Thank you for the food." he gave you a nod making him smile softly.

The food was delicious, it melted in your mouth so well. All the flavors from the chicken and seaweed made it even better, "This is really good Yamaguchi."

"I-...ah thanks." he chuckled rubbing the back of his head, "Is ramen your favorite food?" you nodded smiling, "Ever since I was a little girl it's been my favorite dish my dad used to give it to me when my mom was off working it would be our own secret. I have many memories and believe it or not it was the first food I tried when I was little...well uncooked."

"You didn't get food poisoning?!" he exclaimed you chuckled lightly "Unfortunately I haven't had a stomachache since then."

"Well that's something you don't hear every day." he commented, "Yeah weeellll..."

He then chuckled at your reaction, you couldn't help but giggle along with him. Never did you think this day would come. After working for a year here progress was finally made maybe it was your new year's eve wish coming true. You hoped that this newfound friendship would be cherished. You for sure would thank the guys with free food next time, if it weren't for them this wouldn't have happened.

[pointy-hat-witch]

Title: Elevator Series: Leap of Faith Show: Haikyuu!! Pairing: Daichi/Sugawara Summary: Office AU in which Daichi and Suga get stuck in an elevator late after work. What possibly can go wrong after this? :D A/N: wrote 85% of this at 2 am in three different nights, please bear with my self-indulgent writing! Don’t take my second hand knowledge about media design at face value haha

You can read it on AO3 if you want to! :)

The day started out great. He woke up refreshed, had a small but nice breakfast and he didn't need to run to catch his train. The weather was pleasantly chill, the winter cold was finally letting go to the soft warmth of spring, so Suga didn't have to wear 4 layers of clothes in which he would start to sweat as soon as he was on the train anyway.

Work wasn't slow in the least, but he loved the rush. Phone calls came ringing in by the minute, documents were thrown on his desk, meetings were called last minute and Suga was thriving in his element. It was known by everyone and he was praised often enough for being so level headed especially in times when everyone else was being caught by the rush and feeling overwhelmed. 

His way too late and way too short lunch break consisted of some hastily thrown together sandwich and an overly sugared coffee. He took some deep breaths in the break room, enjoying the few moments of silence before he sprung to his feet again to jump right back into the office.

So, when he was done with all his work and was about to leave in time, which was a small miracle in itself considering the stressful day, his supervisor beelined into his vision. Brown hair waved by his movement and a dazzling smile on his lips.

"Suga-chan." he sing-songed and Suga knew in seconds, his evening was fucked.

"Oikawa-senpai." An equally dazzling smile found its way to his lips. "What can I do for you? I was just heading out." He knew Oikawa didn't really care or would consider his hidden request but it was the least Suga could do to show his displeasure.

"I know, I know. And I am so, so sorry." Oikawa huffed dramatically, "but I really, really need this asap." Oikawa handed him a few sheets of paper and with a glance Suga scanned the information he was about to put in a presentation.

His smile didn't waver once. "Of course, Oikawa-senpai. I wouldn't want you to stay behind since your cats would miss you greatly."

"Rude!" Oikawa puffed his cheeks but Suga already plopped down on his chair again, opening his software program. 

Oikawa left the office a few minutes later, waving him goodbye in an overeagerly way which Suga decided to ignore. He wanted to leave as soon as possible but wouldn't give Oikawa the satisfaction of throwing together some half assed presentation because they both knew, Suga would do an amazing job.

After another few agonizing hours, his software crashing about two times, leaving Suga in a fit of exasperation and curses, he finally shut down his PC at around 10 pm, effectively ruining his evening for good. 

Suga grabbed his suitcase, threw his jacket and scarf over his shoulder and shuffled to the elevator. The counter indicated that the elevator took his sweet time from one of the top floors towards his floor and with a soft ping the doors glided open.

Suga was about to step in, one hand holding his suitcase, the other slightly losing his tie when he was face to face with another person. At this hour, it was the least he expected. The last of his functioning brain cells even reminded him, that the elevator came from the floors from above, which means this other person was one of the top tiers.

Well, besides being top tier in being hot.

Suga's breath hitched for a fraction of a second and he stepped in, eyeing the buttons to his right and noticing that the button for the ground floor was already pressed.

He stepped to the side, staying side by side with his boss, to some extent.

Neither said a word when the door closed again. Suga was a little put-off, both from the other man and himself. He prided himself at always being polite and considerate but after today he didn't feel like saying something just because it was the right thing to do. Not that the other man was doing something different.

Suga finally allowed himself a longer glance at him. He stood tall, in one hand an equally big suitcase but obviously fancier and the other hand in his pocket. The suit looked tailor made and brought out his wide shoulders. His hair was cut short and his piercing eyes were aggressively focused on the ground, almost as if he hadn’t notice Suga yet. Or just chose to ignore him.

If Suga wasn't so exhausted and if the other man wasn't his boss and if they were anywhere else, Suga would have probably hit on him. But these were a lot of ifs. 

Suga's eyes wandered back to the door in front of them, exhaled with a soft hum and he pushed his hair back. He was so looking forward to his bed.

Apparently, this sound and action brought his neighbor out of his trance and his head snapped around so fast, Suga was afraid he got whiplashed.

"What the fuck?" His voice was deep, even more so at the low growl. His eyes were narrowed and fixed at Suga who wished they were trained back at the floor. He wasn't in the mood to deal with another superior.

Suga put on his trademark smile and turned his face ever so slightly to acknowledge the other's outburst.

"Late night, huh?"

"Whatever." 

Suga blinked. His smile frozen on his face, he inwardly rolled his eyes. Do not, he told himself, I repeat, do not engage. This isn't worth anything.

"That bad, huh." It rolled from his lips without his consent and Suga had to bite the inside of his cheeks. His brain must have been fried even more than he thought.

"Exactly." It was hissed with venom and menace that Suga could even hear him say talk to me any more and you'll regret it.

It was late, Suga was spent and he wasn't about to start an argument with some unfair hot guy in a constricted room. His eyes found their way back to the numbers above the door, yellowish on the black screen counting down. 

"Ever thought about why there isn't any music in elevators anymore?" 

Apparently, Suga did have a death wish. Or at least wanted to get fired. He didn't even care anymore. He just wanted to get out of his misery.

The man turned almost fully to him, eyes blazing burning hatred. 

"Can you please just shut the fu-"

His last syllabus was caught by the abrupt halt of the elevator. For a second, they both stared at each other in disbelief. Their eyes snapped to the door, which remained closed and the number above it. It showed the lower half of the number "11" and the upper half of "10".

Suga let out a shaky breath. This was just impossible. Shaking his head, he walked over to the dashboard littered with buttons for each floor and a few others.

"What are you doing?" The voice had dropped its hatred for the world and everybody in it.

"Trying to get out of here?" Suga said incredulous, ending on a high note as if asked a question. He pushed at a red button and a blaring alarm echoed through the small space. Suga winced.

They waited for a few seconds. Nothing happened. 

Suga pushed the button one more time, a little longer not without noticing the disapproving look from his side.

Another 30 seconds past in silence.

"Seriously? What is even the point of this thing?!" The man drove a hand through his short hair and his eyes jumped from one corner to the other at the ceiling searching for something.

"Probably just for during the day, so someone can hear it." Suga answered nonchalantly. His eyes wandered to the other buttons. One of them displaying some sort of speaker. He pressed it and a green light flamed up.

"Excuse me? Hello?" Suga leaned forward as if there was a speaker near the green light. 

There was some uncomfortable silence until the light turned red and static noise filled the room.

"You alright, guys?" A rough voice jarred through a hidden intercom.

Suga sighed in relief and heard his newfound roommate do the same.

"Could be better", he chuckled. 

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that." There was some more static noise. "I'm already trying to get the maintenance service on the line to get that thing rolling again. If worse comes to worst, I call the fire department."

Suga nodded despite not knowing if the other one can see him. "Sounds good. Thank you."

"I'll keep you posted." And the room was silent again.

Suga leaned back against the door facing his companion who was leaning at his exact opposite unbuttoning his blazer. There was some awkward silence when their eyes met, and both averted their eyes. 

Suga bit his lips. 

"Sorry about earlier. I don't even know why I said that." Suga swallowed. A lump formed when there was no immediate answer.

"No. I am sorry. I shouldn't have vented my anger at you." The voice was still deep but was dipped with genuine remorse.

Suga looked up and their eyes met again. His eyes were a deep brown and Suga couldn't help but smile.

"I'm sure whoever got you to stay behind deserved your wrath. My supervisor sure does."

This earned him a chuckle and he felt his cheeks warm up.

"Yeah, probably." The other said with a smile.

"Sugawara Koushi." Suga blurted. The other man’s eyebrow popped up queryingly. "My name is Sugawara", almost falling over his own words, adding "but everyone calls me Suga."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Suga." And, oh hell, did his name sound good on his lips. "Everyone calls me Daichi."

Suga's smile was back, this time with even more enthusiasm. "Nice to meet you, too, Daichi. Even though the circumstances could be better."

Daichi shrugged. "Could be worse."

"How so?"

"Your supervisor could be stuck with us, for example."

Suga snorted. "Oh god, please no. That would be torture for everyone involved."

Before Daichi could say something else, static noise interrupted him.

"Got a hold of 'em. They will be here in 'bout 20 minutes. Can't fix that remotely, so they have to come to do it manually."

They both let out a breathy groan. 

"Thanks, Ukai." Daichi piped up this time.

"Oh? Sawamura-san, another late night?"

Daichi chuckled slightly. "Yeah. And here I was hoping for a night coming home before midnight."

Suga didn't get the rest of the small exchange, white noise filling his head. He was stuck in an elevator with the company’s boss’s son. Which he annoyed just earlier. In an elevator. Which was stuck. With said person. 

Suga let go of his suitcase and buried his face in his hands with a groan. This just couldn't be happening.

He snapped out of it when he felt one hand on his shoulder and another one prying his hands from his face away. Daichi leaned over into his personal space with furrowed eyebrows and concern written all over his face.

"Suga! You good?"

Suga nodded frantically and forced his hands back to his side. "Yes, uh, sir. Never been better."

Daichi's eyes darkened. "What's with the 'sir', huh?"

The lump was back in his throat and Suga had to swallow a few times. "I, uh ..." Well, so much for eloquence.

Daichi sighed and took a step back, leaning against the opposite wall again with slightly hunched shoulders. Suga could punch himself. Since when did he care about stuff like that so much? Maybe since he was stuck with the second most important person in his workplace in an elevator. 

He leaned his head back against the door with a quiet thud and sighed.

"So, do you know why there is no music anymore?"

Daichi's head perked up again and just blinked a few times until his gaze softened and a smile played at his lips. "No clue. Care to enlighten me?"

"How would I know?" Suga shrugged and his lips stretched into a sheepish smile causing Daichi's eyes to widen in surprise.

A second later Daichi burst out laughing and Suga followed suit. Suga hugged himself and leaned forward as a wave of laughter bubbled out of him and Daichi pressed against the wall with one hand covering his eyes. The laughter bounced back and forth in the small room and it rang in their ears. 

Suga heaved and wiped away a single tear, still giggling when he caught his breath. Daichi huffed out the aftermath of his outburst and shook his head.

"Are you always that smooth at ice breaking?" A soft chuckle followed the last word and Daichi coughed. Suga got enough air back in his lungs, still holding his middle and grinned.

"Only when I risk losing my job by getting on the nerves of my boss." 

"And getting stuck in an elevator right after?"

"And that, yes." Suga took a deep breath to even out his breathing and shuddered. The elevator was getting cold fast, so he took his jacket and lay it over his shoulders. Daichi had pocketed both his hands and hummed at him.

"How does this normally end then?"

Daichi cocked his eyebrow and Suga was sure that for a second there shone something like a challenge, but it could be just his imagination and he had to bite his lips to blurt out the first thing that came to his mind.

"Getting fired." He deadpanned. 

Daichi snorted. "Aren't there easier ways to get fired?"

"But where would be the fun in that?" Suga asked, dramatically putting one hand to his chest. 

"This is your kind of fun?" With an incredulous huff, Daichi played with the buttons on his blazer. Suga eyed the white dress shirt which seemed to be rather tight around Daichi's chest.

"Uh huh." He hummed.

There was some unrestrained silence until Daichi took a deep breath and Suga snapped out of his trance to look at Daichi who stared unfocused at the panel of buttons. 

"So, what is your position?" His face still turned to the panel, his eyes wandered over to Suga and their gaze met.

Suga straightened his shoulders a little. "Do you ask so you know where to look for me so you can fire me?"

"Wouldn't you tell me then? With that being already your plan?" 

They snickered at each other. 

"Design department. Doing all this fancy stuff for your presentations, graphics, and layouting."

"Huh." Daichi nodded in thought. "Always wondered who had the time to put everything together like that." 

Suga snorted. "I didn't study that shit for someone calling it "having the time for something like that". Graphic design is my passion." Stone-faced he looked at Daichi who burst in another laughter, making Suga's stomach doing a backflip. 

Daichi was still catching his breath when static noise filled the elevator again.

"You don't goin' crazy, do you?" Ukai chuckled.

"I'm not so sure on Daichi's part." Suga leaned forward near the panel, putting some effort in sounding panicky.

Ukai barked out a laugh. "I think, for this one, all hope is lost already." Suga huffed. 

"The maintenance guys just arrived and are now working on getting that thing working again. So, sit tight, shouldn't be long anymore."

Suga thanked Ukai for letting them know and leaned back and grinned at Daichi with a smug smile. 

"So, you already lost your marbles and didn't let me know?"

"Where would be the fun in that?"

Suga blinked once before registering his words getting thrown back at him. A giggle bubbled out of his chest, laughing wholeheartedly. It was some time ago, that he could banter with someone this freely. Where had Daichi been all this time?

When their eyes met again, Daichi was smiling at Suga with just a small smile but it was radiating a warmth Suga felt deep in his core. Suga opened his mouth to retaliate something but was interrupted with his own rumbling stomach.

A deep red crept over his ears to his cheeks and Suga swallowed a nervous chuckle. Daichi tilted his head to the left and looked at him queryingly.

"Lunch was a little way ago." Suga finally admitted. In his defense, he was planning on getting some well-earned dinner and maybe a glass of wine and having a relaxing evening. He maybe should have planned on staying late but he could never had thought about getting stuck in an elevator. In one of the most prestigious marketing companies in the city.

Daichi kneeled down in a squat to open his suitcase and retrieved a small paper bag from it, holding it up towards Suga.

Now it was Suga's turn to look at Daichi queringly. Daichi rolled with his eyes.

"It's what is left of my lunch. There were enough meetings with snacks and a sudden meet up over dinner, so I'm stuffed anyway."

After some hesitation, he accepted the paper back and gave Daichi a small pout.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it must be so hard getting all the good food all day." Suga peeked inside the bag and saw two neatly cut sandwiches. His stomach growled again as if to answer the sight. 

Suga sighed into the bread when he took the first bite. It was just a simple sandwich, cheese, salad, tomatoes, cucumber, and some mayo, but it felt like a 5 stars restaurant-worthy meal right now.

Daichi observed him with an upward tuck on his lips. "Tasty?"

"The best." Suga almost moaned with his mouth full. 

"Aw, shucks, maybe I should have opted for the sandwich instead of the restaurant dinner, then." Daichi couldn't suppress a smug smile.

Suga glared at him and just shoved more of this god forbidden tasty sandwich in his mouth. All too fast both were gone, and his stomach was just barely satisfied but at least it was not growling anymore. 

Suga sighed and crumbled the paper bag in a small ball and tucked it away in his pocket to throw it away later.

"Thanks, Daichi. That saved my life." Suga looked back at Daichi, folding his hands in front of him and gave him an earnest smile.

Daichi looked at him, lips slightly parted as if to say something, but nothing came out. The silence was, yet again, interrupted with static noise.

"Hey, uh, guys?" Ukai cleared his throat. "Don't wanna ruin your evening any more, but ..." He broke off at the end and Daichi furrowed his eyebrows.

"But?" he promoted Ukai to continue.

"Well, the thing is, the maintenance guys kinda, uh, short-circuited some of the cables and, yeah, the whole thing has to reboot, and the cables have to be replaced." Ukai cleared his throat again, helplessly waiting for some confirmation.

Suga groaned inwardly, leaning his head back against the door again and counted to ten. 

"And that means?" Daichi gritted through his teeth. He didn't look any happier than Suga.

"They say it takes about another 20 to 30 minutes for that to finish?" Ukai raised his voice as if to ask a question.

Daichi sighed defeated and slumped down to the ground, stretching his arms over his knees. Suga waited for a second and mirrored his action but tucked his knees tight to his chest and folding his arms around them.

"Sorry about that." Ukai said meekly and the static noise was off again.

An uncomfortable silenced stretched between them, nothing to say to their predicament for the moment. Suga let out a heavy sigh and skidded to a more comfortable position, facing Daichi directly.

"Nothing to do about that." It sounded empty even to him, but he meant it. Fretting about how the evening got worse and worse wouldn't change anything. So, Suga tried to think positive and to make the best out of it.

Daichi raised his head to look at him, blinking at him just so defeated it almost broke Suga's heart.

"Hey. You alright?"

Daichi threw him a hint of a smile and huffed. 

"I just ..." He bit his lip and stared at the floor in front of him, their feet could touch each other if they would push them both out.

Suga didn't say anything, giving Dachi the time he needed to sort his thoughts or whatever he was doing. 

"Today wasn't a good day and I just wanted to go home." Daichi finally mumbled. One of his hands balled to a fist which the other hold as tight, pressing them at his forehead. 

In a sudden burst of confidence, Suga pushed himself up and with one big step sat down next to Daichi, nudging him with his shoulder.

"Wanna talk about it?" His voice dropped in volume, sounding way more intimate than intended. 

Daichi either didn't notice or decided not to say anything about it. His hands were still clasped at each other but rested a little more at ease between his knees. His eyes were focused at some point on the ground.

"Or I could tell you about my good for nothing supervisor, so you should reconsider firing me and rather thinking about firing him and promoting me." Suga chuckled and warmth filled him when he got an equal chuckle in response.

"Well then, knock yourself out." 

"Oh, boy", Suga leaned back and stared at the ceiling, "he is one of those self-infatuated people. His hair has to be perfect or else his day will be ruined. His coffee has to be right on time and with way too much sugar and cream or else his day will be ruined. Every commission, task, job, whatever, has to be on his desk, before he comes in, so he knows exactly what is going on, or else his day will be ruined. Everybody has to greet him as enthusiastically as himself or-"

"-else his day will be ruined." Daichi snorted. "I think, I got that part."

Suga puffed his cheeks in a mocking pout but soon smiled sheepishly. 

"Well, yeah. Everything about him is just so infuriating." He tossed his hands in the air before crossing them in front of his chest. He huffed. 

"Just yesterday, we had such a good run with this god awful poster and don't get me started on the customer", Suga shook his head, "but we finally managed to get their approval about the layout and started to get the last clearance from the printing department, when", Suga paused dramatically, "when Mr. I-need-everything-perfect-or-else-my-day-will-be-ruined, what a mouthful, decided he didn't like the hue of the blue in the background. The fucking hue?! Pretentious as fuck. So, he called the customer and convince them to change their mind. So, we had another extra hour to argue about a different background color. And guess what?" Suga turned to Daichi looking at him with a blank look.

"In the end, it was the same. fucking. color." Suga groaned into his hands. "What a waste of time." He mumbled.

Daichi awkwardly patted Suga's shoulder in an attempt for consolation. Suga's hands fell down and gave Daichi a weak smile.

"But if he hadn't pointed out the wrong color we wouldn't have noticed an error in the color model of the file. Like, they were RGB instead of CMYK and if we gave it for clearance, the poster would be printed all wrong." His eyes were unfocused at the spot at the door he sat before.

"Oikawa needs everything perfect and because of that, he pushes us to do the same. With him our productivity increased significantly, jobs get done faster, most of the time. Customers are more satisfied overall thanks to him." Suga concluded with a deep exhale.

"You know", Daichi said quietly, "you're doing a pretty bad job at getting him fired and earning a promotion." 

Suga laughed out loud elbowing Daichi in the arm. Arms packed with muscles he registered subconsciously. 

"Shut up." 

Daichi gave him one of his small but warm smiles again and Suga felt his ears getting hot again. 

"So, you don't like your boss very much but recognize his hard work?" Daichi stated after Suga had scratched his cheek in embarrassment.

"Yeah, something like that." Suga hummed. It was hard to pinpoint his standing with Oikawa. Sometimes he could be your very best friend who listened to you in the dead of night while you cry your heart out and other times, he was the devil in person, not letting you go until he saw you beg for mercy. 

"I just think, we don't really fit work wise together but as a human being he isn't the worse." Suga put one hand to his chin and nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe we could have even been friends." 

"Huh." Daichi leaned his head back and watched Suga from the corner of his eye. "So, you don't normally befriend your boss?"

"You're an exception." Suga's eyes widen as he blurted this out without thinking and clasped one hand of his mouth. Daichi just laughed.

"So, we're already friends, huh?" He turned his head towards Suga with a slightly serious expression. "I'd like that. I could ...", he hesitated, averting his eyes, "uh, use a friend." Making himself bashful he rubbed the back of his head and when he finally met Suga's gaze again, his breath hitched.

Suga's head rested against the wall behind him, a smile so bright it shone like the sun and his eyes glistened like marbles. 

"Yeah, I'd like that, too." he whispered, again dripping with some form of intimacy. Daichi slowly exhaled, consciously focusing on it so it didn't shake. For a moment they looked at each other with contempt as if their predicament was just non-existent.

"For what could you use a friend?" Suga asked quietly as if to not startle Daichi but without pressure for more.

Daichi huffed, eyes wandering back to the ceiling. His fingers found a loose thread at his sleeve and twirled it between his index finger and thumb.

"My father", he began almost too quiet for Suga to hear, just almost, "wants to set up a miai for me." 

Suga's heart stopped for a second and his chest froze so suddenly he had to suppress a shiver. He remained silent, giving Daichi the time if he wanted to continue.

"We had lots of arguments for last month. Well, actually for years but since he brought up the miai it's almost daily." Daichi closed his eyes defeated. "It's as if I talk to a wall. He just wants so desperately an heir, so the company stays in the family without even thinking about what I want. Or who I choose." The last words were just mumbled at the end. His eyes were lazed with sadness, hurt and frustration when he opened them again. 

"It's not that I chose to be like that. I just-" he ran one hand over his mouth, "I just wish he could accept me for who I am, y'know? And I can still come up with a solution for an heir or something. But he doesn't even try to understand even less accept that I just don't want to marry a woman just for the purpose to bear a child. Maybe I will fall in love with a woman. Maybe I will marry one. Maybe I get a child and they can be my heir to this god forsaken company. But maybe, maybe I will fall in love with a man." Daichi let out a heavy sigh. His head snapped up when he felt a hand on his arm, squeezing him. 

Suga looked at him with such warmth and understanding, something inside Daichi just broke. He pushed both heels of his hands against his eyes and a sob escaped his mouth. Startled by that he couldn't suppress the ones that followed, and he felt the wetness from his eyes dripping down his hands. It was just too much. He couldn't talk freely about this because his father didn't want any negative publicity for his company, caging his only son in the process. And because of this sheltered upbringing, Daichi never found it in himself to talk to his friends about that. But here, in this stuck elevator with a stranger, Daichi felt as if they were far from reality, some different plane of existence where he was allowed to be just him. In every way.

Two arms wrapped around his head, pressing him against a firm chest. Daichi didn't have to think, he just grabbed at the shirt in front of him, pressing his face against Suga's collarbone. His body shook with every sob, but the soothing hand caressing through his hair prevented him from hyperventilating. 

It took a few minutes until Daichi stopped sobbing, just silently shedding a few more tears until his breathing finally evened out. He took a deep breath, his nose was filled with the scent of fading men’s fragrance, and he pushed his head away from Suga, rather reluctantly, he admitted to himself.

Suga's grip loosened from Daichi, but his hands remained on Daichi's shoulders, kneeling between his legs. His eyes roamed Daichi's face with a hint of concern and rubbed with his sleeve the last tears away. He then grabbed Daichi's face with both hands and looked him right in the eyes, determined and furious.

"Never ever let some else define who you are. If you make someone uncomfortable just because of who you are, that's their fucking problem, not yours. Make them regret being assholes to you by being the happiest person in the world the way you want to be."

Daichi's eyes widened as he stared at Suga. He didn't realize he stopped breathing when he inhaled sharply. He nodded. 

"Good." Suga exhaled and a warm smile grazed his lips once again. His thumb caressed his cheek for just a second before he let go of Daichi's face. He plumbed back to the wall, this time nearer to Daichi so that their shoulders were pushed together.

"Thanks." Daichi croaked with a hoarse throat. Suga just hummed in response. 

They sat in comfortable silence, Daichi composing himself, Suga giving him space but reassurance by pressing his shoulder against his. When Suga shot a careful eye at Daichi and deemed him relaxed, he offered quietly:

"And if you want me to punch your father, just say so."

Daichi snorted. 

"You really are on a mission to get fired." 

"If that what it costs to make my friend feel better, in a heartbeat." Suga declared with too much honesty than necessary but it was worth by the smile he got in response.

"Thank you." Daichi repeated more firmly this time.

Suga beamed at him. "My pleasure." 

After a few seconds, Suga tilted his head a little and hummed thoughtfully.

The shoulder next to him nudged him to speak up. 

"Well, I was just wondering, why not meet up with your miai partner? I mean", Suga held up both hands, "I totally get why you don't want to. But maybe you're both in the same boat? And you could bond over shitty parents who only see profit and stuff?" His voice trailed off, unsure if he overstepped some boundaries but Daichi just shook his head.

"Nah, I know who she is already." His fingers found the loose thread again. "Met her a few times over business meetings and parties. We're fundamentally different." First, he sighed and then his expression formed a grimace. "She is very much like my father. Or could be his daughter. She is determined to do anything for her company, even marrying the son of the rival's company." 

"I'm sorry you have to deal with all of that." 

They both leaned into each other's shoulders, content with the silent of each other. Daichi felt like a huge burden lifted from his chest and he could finally breathe again. If he knew talking about this would feel this good, maybe he would have done that a long time ago. But maybe, it just had to be Suga who he needed to talk to. He closed his eyes, relaxing into the warmth by his side. Huh, wouldn't it be great to always feel it next to him?

"Holding up alright?" Ukai's voice hollered through the silence, making both of them jump.

"Y-yeah." Daichi stumbled to his feet, leaning closer to the intercom.

"Good news, those guys finally fixed the cables and all this stuff, the system is almost rebooted. Should be around 5 more minutes until this thing will move again."

They both sighed and Suga pushed himself up as well. 

"And don't get startled, when the system reboots, the lights will go out for a little bit. But then everything should be fine."

"Thanks, Ukai. See you soon I guess." Daichi chuckled and the line went silent again. He leaned back at the wall next to Suga and rolled his shoulders.

"Do you have a long way home?"

"Hmm", Suga weighed his head back and forth. "About 40 minutes." 

"Do you", Daichi buried his hands in the pockets of his slacks, "need a lift or something?"

Despite his cheeks burning, Suga cocked his eyebrow confidently. "Well, yes? After the first date, you're kind of obligated to drive your partner home, duh." Suga credited his bold flirting due to their predicament and he was basically starving, and sleep deprived. 

Daichi's ears were dusted crimson and he averted his eyes for a second. 

"Well, then I just have to." He mumbled bashfully. He took a deep breath and grinned. Suga was just almost too much for him. Just, almost. He leaned down to get his suitcase and when he stood back up, the light went out.

Even though they were warned, Suga jumped a little at Daichi, grasping for his hand. Their fingers slotted into each other without a hitch, as if meant to be. 

Suga was so surprised, he wasn't even embarrassed to grab for Daichi's hand. Especially not when Daichi squeezed his hand. Neither of them said a word, when Suga just ever so lightly felt a pair of lips at his temple, ghosting a kiss to it.

Then they were gone and Daichi let go of his hand. The next moment the lights went on again and Daichi was grinning at him. Suga responded with a wide smile.

The elevator jerked and then started moving, a quiet ping indicating that they arrived on the next floor and the doors glided open as if nothing ever happened. 

Suga grabbed his suitcase when they both bolted outside. They just drove down to the next floor but neither of them wanted to stay inside the elevator any more than necessary.

Suga groaned pleasantly at his new-found freedom, spreading his arms left and ride, turning around himself and laughing. 

"I never thought a stuffy hallway can be this liberating." 

Daichi huffed in agreement.

They heard footsteps approaching in a hurry and then two figures came bolting around the next corner. They both wore black jumpsuits with an orange embroidery on their chests. One of them tall with a buzzcut, the other pretty small and a blonde streak in his black hair, styled upwards.

They came to a screeching halt in front of them and without catching their breath, they bowed deeply before them.

"We are so, so sorry for this inconvenience. Please do not hesitate to- don't stop- We are so sorry!"

They stumbled over their own words, interrupting each other through their apology and snapped their mouths shut. 

Suga blinked once, twice. And then laughed. Daichi joined him a second later and they both heaved, trying to catch their breath. Suga wiped away one happy tear, his other hand waving at their apology.

"Everything's fine, don't worry." 

Daichi nodded in agreement, patting the shoulder of the smaller one. His eyes squinted for a moment when Daichi's hand almost pushed him down further. 

"Are you ... are you sure?" He asked hesitantly. It was late at night and they just trapped one of the most influential people in the city in an elevator by mistake.

"Sure thing. I just want to go home, you two should do the same." His face got serious and his voice lowered dangerously. "But if this is going to happen again, I will make you regret the day you were born."

They nodded frantically and bolted away the way they came.

Suga chuckled. "Was that really necessary?"

"I at least must maintain my pretense of unquestionable superiority." Daichi crossed his arms loosely and nodded to himself.

"Uh huh." Suga hummed. "Then pretend away. I, for one, learned that you're a big, old softy." He winked daringly and pushed the door open to his right, leading to the staircase. Daichi followed with a pout.

"I, uh", they walked down in an unhurried pace, "You wouldn't, uh, y'know ... you keep that a secret, right?" 

Suga bounced down two steps to turn around right in front of Daichi. 

"What is it worth to you keeping my mouth shut?" Mischief dripping through his voice while his eyes pierced through Daichi's daringly, borderline audacity.

Daichi stopped for a second, then took a step forward, standing just one step away from Suga and leaned down to him, their faces so close, Suga could feel Daichi's breath.

"What does your silence cost?" Daichi's voice was low. His eyes pinned Suga with an equal amount of boldness. Suga's cheek flared up and for a moment, he let himself imagine what it would feel like to lean in, brushing their lips together, pressing himself against Daichi's broad chest. 

But Suga knew, Daichi was so much more worth than just a kiss in the spur of a moment, possibly ruining their barely-even-there relationship. Even if Daichi looked like he wouldn't mind.

Suga swallowed. "Staying with you." Hardly a whisper, his breath ghosted over Daichi's lips.

Daichi's eyes softened. Every glimmer of boldness was gone, just warmth as he looked down at Suga. A smile tucked at his lips.

"I'd like that. I'd really, really like that." 

Suga mirrored his smile. For a while, nothing existed except them, staring into each other's eyes. In a wordless agreement, they parted and descended the rest of the stairs in silence.

When they arrived in the wide lobby, glass covering almost all of the front wall, a door opened from a small compartment to their side. A middle-aged man with dyed blond hair stepped out and waved at them.

"Not riding the elevator down, huh?" He gruffed, voice deep from smoking.

They both shook their heads chuckling.

"I'll pass. Probably for the next few weeks."

"You sure, you're up for walking up 20 floors every day, old man?" Suga smirked at Daichi, earning an elbow to his ribs. 

Ukai barked out another laugh. "At least you two seem to be fine. Now, hurry up and go home. You'll be here again soon enough.

Suga groaned. "Don't remind me." A look to his watch told him that he no way in hell will get enough sleep.

"Don't worry, that's the plan. Have a good night, Ukai, and thanks for your hard work." Daichi held up his hand, Suga bowed his head slightly in agreement and they walked outside.

The sky was dark but illuminated by the lights of the city that was still buzzing with life. Daichi led Suga to the underground parking garage, stopping in front of the only car on this floor. 

As soon as they sat down, Suga sighed closing his eyes. This felt like heaven. The seats were softer than his overpriced chair in his office, damnit. He heard Daichi pressing some buttons, fastening his seatbelt and the radio turned on, playing a low tune of classical music.

Suga blindly grabbed for his own seatbelt and fastened it. He felt the car moving, or rather hovering by the absence of noise and how smoothly it drove. They hadn't even left the garage when Suga's seat started to heat up. Suga hummed as he melted into his backrest. That was the car of the CEO's son, for a fact. 

"Where do you live?" Daichi spoke quietly, so he didn't startle Suga. 

Suga blinked outside the window and saw that they stopped right in front of the street. His head lolled to the other side, his eyes needed a moment to focus on Daichi's face. He mumbled his address and waited for a nod from Daichi in confirmation and then closed his eyes again.

Suga wouldn't deny the possibility that he fell asleep at some point. He opened his eyes again when he felt a light tap against his arm, looking at warm, brown eyes.

"We're here." Daichi hummed.

Suga had to blink the sleep away a few times and startled up. "Oh." He breathed out. That was fast. Disappointment spread in his chest, but he pushed it away.

"Uhm, thank you, Daichi. You really didn't need to." He scratched his cheek, remembering how bold he demanded this ride. 

"Don't mention it. I would have insisted anyway." 

"Alright." Suga swallowed again. He kind of dreaded exiting the car. That would mean it was over. Not that he knew what "it" was, but it felt like this ... thing they had, this spell would be broken. But he wasn't someone who would linger too much.

"Have a safe trip home, Daichi." A lazy, but heartfelt smile formed on his lips. "Even though I could imagine better ways to spend my evening, I", he chuckled, "I had fun. I couldn't think of anyone better to get stuck in an elevator."

Daichi chuckled in agreement. "Same here. Not that I want a repetition of this, but", he played with the keys still stuck in the ignition, "if you're up for it, we could ... hang out again?"

"I'd love to." The words floated out without thinking, making his ears heat up for the nth time this evening.

Suga nodded again, more to himself, reaching over to squeeze Daichi's forearm and opened the door. 

"Good night, Daichi."

"Good night, Suga." Daichi watched Suga leaving his car, walking up to the apartment building and entering it. His eyes lingered for a few seconds more and then started the car again, rolling off the parking space. This day started out a lot worse than most days and Daichi thought it would even end the same way, but Suga came into his life like a hurricane and turned this day upside down. Probably, most likely even, not only this day but the following days as well. 

Daichi hummed in tune to the low music, smiling to himself.

[projectanimes]

time’s up ; nishinoya yuu

mafia!nishinoya yuu x civilian!reader

- - - - - - - -

Idiot. Idiot. Idiot!

Nishinoya curses to himself, his eyes flashed with a mixture of anger and worry. Due to his job, danger lurked everywhere for him and his wife and so, Nishinoya would constantly make sure that his beloved [Name] was safe at all times.

However, their small, minuscule arguments slowly built up to a fairly large fight in which [Name] stormed out of the house and into the streets. He was so blind with rage that he didn't even think of chasing after her.

Once regaining his senses, Nishinoya immediately pegs it out of their shared home. Although he's still angered by her words, his worry for her is ten times larger. He also curses at her for being an idiot and leaving the house, out into the dark. Anything could happen at any time and [Name] knew that as well. She knew she had to take precautions once she agreed to marry him.

With each minute passing and [Name] not in sight, his anxiousness increases. He searches all the places that he knew [Name] liked to go, calls her friends and family. Nothing.

She can't leave him now. No, their lives together had barely begun. He had said some hurtful words to her and vice versa and he'd be damned if they were the last words to be ever said between each other.

His phone calls to her remain unanswered, texts unseen. 

"[Name], please. I don't care how pissed you are at me right now. Just let me know you're safe," Nishinoya begs, hoping that she'll at least hear his voice message.

His mafia family also helped him in searching yet it was as if [Name] disappeared without a single trace. Two hours of hopeless searching, he returns home in hopes that [Name] would miraculously reappear but of course, that didn't happen.

Deep in his gut, he had a feeling that one of his enemies had taken the chance to get her but he didn't want to believe it. He couldn't. Yet his mind can't help but go through the worst case scenarios and it's turning him insane.

"We'll find her, Yuu," Tanaka places a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort the shorter male. It doesn't work.

He can't stand the thought of [Name] with even a hair out of place. His hands are shaking and he balls them tightly into fists, shoving Tanaka's hand off his shoulder and punches the wall beside the door.

"Shit, fucking shit"

- - - - - - - -

The phone rings three hours later and Nishinoya nearly jumps at his phone. 

[Name] calling

"[Na-"

"You've got quite a beauty, Nishinoya. You sure know how to pick 'em"

The deep voice sends a shiver down Nishinoya's back. 

"Give her back to me," He growls.

The man on the other side of the line lets out a laugh.

"Where's the fun in that? I mean, after all, you killed my wife. It's only fair that I get to toy with yours," Nishinoya can practically hear the smirk in his voice.

This can't be happening. This is all a joke. Yes. It's all a jo-

"Y-Yuu..."

Nishinoya freezes at the voice. She sounds broken, scared and Nishinoya wants to hug her and protect her but he can't. Because he's the reason why she's in the situation in the first place.

"Yuu, I'm scared, please help me, Yuu, please," Her cries pierce through his heart. He wants to assure her that everything will be okay but he can't. The male voice returns before Nishinoya has a chance to even speak a word.

"I told you," The man says, "I swore revenge against you since that day."

In the background, he hears her screams and frantic pleas. 

"I'm the one who killed your wife," Nishinoya states through his gritted teeth. His heart is in agony from hearing [Name]'s wails, "Kill me instead"

"Kill you?" The man lets out a scoff, "Please, you're really going to take the easy way out? Don't make me fucking laugh"

"Don't you fucking touch her"

"Too late. Do you know how hard it is to see your wife, the love of your life, in a pool of her own blood? Well, I suppose you'll know soon, won't you? But, I am feeling somewhat generous right now. How about we play a game?"

"I don't have time for your fucking games. I will find you and I'll make sure you will have a slow and painful death," Nishinoya threatens. If his phone wasn't his only means of contacting the man holding his wife captive, it would have already been thrown against the wall.

"Tsk, I don't think you're in a position to be threatening me, Nishinoya. Though if you keep that big mouth of yours shut, I'm sure you'll be interested in my little game"

Nishinoya doesn't respond and the man takes this as a sign to continue.

"We're at the Tomokonai Docks. If you can find which container, dear little [Name] is hiding in, you can have her back. Though you only have until midnight, though. I suggest you start searching now, there are... quite a few containers to check"

"I'll find you and I'll fucking murder you," Nishinoya snarls.

"I'm sure you will," The man drawls out, "But before she dies or after? Guess we'll have to see then, huh? Don't worry, my men and I will take great care of [Name]-chan"

The call drops and Nishinoya's almost out the door before he's blocked by the other members. He glances at the clock that reads 10.24PM before glaring at Tanaka.

"Move aside. Now"

"Yuu, man. You have to tell us what he said so we can help you," Tanaka pleas, he understands that his friend wants to rescue his wife as soon as possible but he's not going to let him go alone. Nishinoya lets out a harsh sigh.

“Some bastard has her. I’ve only until midnight to get to her before he kills her,” Nishinoya says, attempting to leave but is stopped once more.

“Wait, what else did he say? You know you can’t rush into these things or you’ll just be wasting more time,” Sawamura tells him. As the head of the family, he has to look after the safety of his family.

"I'll be wasting time by talking when I could be on my way right now"

A hand is placed on his shoulder, keeping Nishinoya rooted in the same spot. “Yuu, calm down. We’re all trying to help you here. Did they give you an exact location of where [Name] is? Or would you just be driving around recklessly, driving further away from where [Name] is. Are you even sure that he’ll keep to his word and wait until midnight? For all we know, it could be a trap to kill the both of you,” Sugawara explains.

Nishinoya sighs, knowing that both Sawamura and Sugawara are right and tries to calm himself down. He has to think before taking action. He can't let his dark thoughts cloud his judgement.

- - - - -

Upon reaching the docks, the family splits up and Nishinoya races through each container while praying for [Name]'s safety. 

Time was running up and Nishinoya's nerves only grew.

I'll find you, [Name]. Hold on for just a little bit longer. Our life together has barely started.

Each container he opens is wrong. He curses his luck and only speeds up his search process. It was 7 minutes 'til midnight when Sawamura yells out to Nishinoya. At the sound of his name, he races to his boss' destination only to find Sawamura staring at him with pity.

Why are you looking at me like that...?

Don't tell me that-

"I'm sorry, Yuu," No...No!, "They lied"

Sawamura steps away from the door yet Nishinoya remains frozen in his spot.

"Boss, this isn't funny," Nishinoya tells him, hoping, praying, that his boss lets out a smile and tells him that he was only joking.

Yes, he's only messing. I'll walk in and I'll see [Name] alive, right?

Sawamura remains silent.

It feels as if almost an eternity had passed when Nishinoya finally gained the courage to walk towards the opening. His flashlight shakes in his hand.

The light flashes to the wall on the other side and there's two words written in red. The boxes cover the ground and he walks closer to view what's behind the boxes.

At the sight, he drops his flashlight. It rolls into a puddle of blood and hits a pale hand.

Time's up.

[bentenharuki]

Haikyuu Chapter 300 - the unexpected roll

So... in the end I had picked up to color so many panels from this chapter to do a roll was the only thing to do, as a collage wouldn’t have been enough to store all images.

My feelings towards the general flow of this match vs Nekoma hasn’t changed in the slightest tho.

It’s the most predictable game ever and it cannot end in any other way than with a win from Karasuno over a disjointed Nekoma, giving Kenma a reason and the emotion to fight from there onwards in a more passionate way (of course Furudate will reach all of it with some special and absolutely not realistic superpowers from Boku No Hero Karasuno... the main reason I am gonna hate this game for...)

But let’s taste some greatness before all goes downhill (and it will):

I loved already last time to catch Eikichi witnessing our overpowered Volley Lord *.*, so to see him again makes me happy.

He had been so nice to the Lord and his “little” social bluntness at the beloved National training Camp that I would love to say “ehi, man, SURE the Lord remembers you and your details!”... but it’s almost assured he doesn’t.

Lord Almighty of Volley only remembers the worthy players’ names. In fact at that camp he knew already the worthiest ones’ names before even meeting them (READ: SAKUSA... his fated partner forever. He reckoned him even before stepping into the gym... awwwwww! It’s DESTINY!).

But good job, Chigaya. You were still a first year among the crop of the National Youth Camp, so you’re talented enough maybe to have the Lord remember your name after you trained five days along him.

Let’s be hopeful ;)

Now, everybody, look at that perfect upper body and the wide shoulders of the Lord as he impacts the ball ^.^

So beautiful and THICK.

Gorgeous...

The little trick our immense Lord is attempting to pull off needs some registering yet...

And by the way, the man who inspired Lord Kags’ attempts here had some trouble in registering his own serve too, some months prior.

Did any ever doubt Kageyama could have NOT tried something Oikawa had done, after witnessing it?

You dream.

The Lord has one senpai to look up to, and it’s definitely not Sugawara, whose ability stands next to Kageyama as a grain of sand compared to Mount Everest.

Not that Oikawa can be either a match to the Lord, but at least Oikawa is DEFINITELY someone the Lord feels pushed and stimulated by, because he has enough talent on his own to constitute a worthy adversary for him (or a worthy model, which works better).

Look, this was chapter 144...

Guaranteed, Kageyama will serve Kai his demise, with his own SPINNING version of the former Oikawa’s bomb serve, just let him have a lil bit of time (this before Furudate will kill volley and probably make the Lord injured, just to give the abhorrent Orange Midget some miraculous spotlight).

Look how the Lord is replaying the action in his magnificent volley vision to adjust for next serves rounds...

He’s truly the prodigy of volley.

And sports prodigies, who do exist in real life of course, are my esthetic always, in the normal world, and in 2D world as well.

I wrote what I had to in the panels already... let me just say I can’t resist to the Akane + Alisa’s combo.

Considering beside Saeko, who’s super badass, the only female figures we used to have presented in Haikyuu are the extremely beautiful, but extremely boring and narcoleptic Kiyoko, and the utter failure of a human being Yachi (so unimpressive and basic I feel offended as a female to have her as a guest protagonist in a manga about my fav sport...), to have a lil kid so fired up and knowledgeable as Akane, and someone as beautiful, cheerful and curious as Alisa feels like the most needed breath of fresh air in  the female ranks of this project.

I expect Furudate to ruin them soon.

It can’t be helped... Furudate has a knack for ruining things I love, so he will also with Akane and Alisa for sure.

Look my baby Tanaka being all up to the fight like the mofo and wonderful guy he is!!!!!

Here you have a proud Tanaka supporter since the very start so any time he does these things I squeal. But of course... well... nobody is a match for THE ONE & ONLY.

Look how the Lord shows once more to the world what to be a prodigy means.

sigh... he excites me properly.

No kidding.

I colored the panels on a swimming pool border as I was tanning and my friends around me where asking me why I was sighing as I was holding the Apple pencil.

My bae’s just told them “She’s getting excited because she’s coloring Tobio Kageyama. My life is hard sometimes...”

*.* Sorry babe. I know. I can’t help it... but you be good and you will have your reward later ;)

Here I couldn’t erase the midget’s face so I... operated a lil change to his ugly mug. That still count as an improvement of his regular face.

Back to the panel, the excitement kitten Kenma shows up there IS FOR BOKU NO HERO KARASUNO.

All of this game which sets Kenma in overdrive ONLY has to do with the Annoying Orange.

Also the final panel... Kenma has only ONE target this game. Defeat Hinata like he is some videogame boss. The rest of Karasuno is just a side trouble for him.

(THIS pitiful plot is the reason for I will happily ditch Haikyuu as soon as the horrifying midget gets a spot only a fairy tale for brainless simpletons could pass for a good storyline in volley. I am sorry, but I won’t stomach that fictional midget no more than it’s strictly necessary, and the story of his Kenma’s molding most definitely is out of my spectrum of enjoyable reading).

Bonus: Yaku being so good.

Yaku is really good. I mean, he’s not darling Komori Motoya, but he is REALLY good.

Can I have a lil Nekomata on my shelf? You know for me Ukai is a treasure, but although he wants a type of game play which is not really my taste, Nekomata sensei’s love for the game is intoxicating to me. He’s so fair and so into volley... I cannot have but ENDLESS LOVE for him.

I also like the mood of open appreciation the two teams have for one another.

After all, they are playing one against the other since a year.

And now, see how the awkward, lovely Lord tries to be communicative with his teammates.

I always laugh at his attempts. He’s gotten better, but he still hilarious when he tries to convey his vision to others (actually, I long to see how he will do the same with the only one who can push his buttons exactly when he tries that communicative mode, and that’s my Tsukki... with Tanaka is easy, Lord... Tanaka is willing to cooperate but Tsukki... Tsukki will try to resist ;)).

Grade: C for the effort, Lord.

Well.

It’s canon.

Nobody is at Kageyama’s level, nor anybody can hope to get there (though we don’t know about Sakusa’s stats yet. So I hope HE CAN, to create the most perfect future combo ever...), but it always makes me shiver when the whole universe just acknowledges the fact.

From the Universe, of course one gotta part the only scrub who cannot figure in it.

I mean, I erased his repulsive face because he makes me puke, but it’s just as canon as the fact Kageyama is (by far) the BEST the way some fictional scrub midget will do his worst to have baseless hopes he could one day become nearly as good as the Volley Prodigy Lord.

I mean... sure Furudate can make the Orange Curse develop even more his not possible superpowers, but the fact is in REAL life, somebody like Hinata simply cannot exist on a volley court.

But be hopeful, Orange Scrub: certainly to praise your brainless army of simpletons supporters, Furudate will upgrade you in a minute with some skill real players (with talent, a thing you have not) use years to perfect and master.

Gosh.

How this makes my stomach convulse...

So, before Furudate taints this game with some Hinata upgrade and he makes the Lord have some “disgrace”, let’s keep enjoy for a while more a game sanitized from the Scrub... (whom I erased happily once more, but anyway he was useless in all these actions anyway so...)

Yaku and Kuroo’s resilience is amazing.

It happens sometimes in games to meet THAT kind of team, the one like Nekoma. So solid in their defensive stances you really get frustrated and agitated.

I am more for attacking than defending, but it’s a golden rule in volley there’s no game if you can’t defend well first.

And then Nekoma has Kenma... so it’s not like they only defend (more on this later).

Why didn’t you close the panel with the Lord’s FULL and perfect face, Furudate?

His perfect eyes... 

sigh.

You will pay for your sins, Furudate.

Even though you have done this well overdue panel where everyone just states the mere truth, singing the Lord’s choruses of praise, like it’s normal and logic it happens. 

Bonus: Daichi helping Kuroo getting up :) :) :)

Awww. They are so cute *.*

I REALLY like the face Kuroo has while he sings Lord Kageyama’s praise.

That is the face of a human acknowledging the miracles of Nature.

And prodigies ARE a Nature’s gift to humanity after all, whatever kind their talents are.

Also, I love how Nekomata says the other truth: when you witness talents, you should not be getting scared, or envious (like the scrub midget), or disheartened. 

You should be grateful and excited to confront yourself with that talent, because that’s the way you will progress.

That’s the way you will get pushed, inspired, confirmed in your sport love path.

Instead we have a “fandom” all keen at trashing and diminishing the purest source of volley in the manga, just because, like the “protagonist” they blindly feel connected to, they can’t get the blessing of talent, nor appreciate and celebrate its existence.

Well... Kuroo CAN.

With that beautiful face he makes here.

The clarity of admiration in his eyes... it’s exactly my same one, when Kageyama does volley THAT good.

Now it’s not like Lord Kags is the only talented setter on court though.

Of course, he is THE MOST TALENTED character in the manga BUT (what I used to love Haikyuu very much for, before the way Hinata became started to disgust me), he is not the only talented setter at all.

There are MANY other talents there, and SURE, kitten Kenma is one of the most interesting ones.

I DEARLY love Kenma.

I wrote about this already here:

https://bentenharuki.tumblr.com/post/171958285486/this-is-a-kenma-kozume-appreciation-post-see-i

And if I wouldn’t know once he gets involved, it means Hinata will come erasing all fun and believability in this game for me, I’d surely like to see what this image forecasts for the future...

But as I said, this game has to show the Orange Curse winning over Kenma so that Kenma gains a willpower and a fight insistence he currently lacks.

So there’s no way what lays ahead for this game is going to be appreciated by me, despite the amazing mind Kozume has which is for sure a source of great plays in nuce ahead.

Too bad Hinata exists, because I would have liked to follow the dynamic of the Lord facing the Mastermind Kitty, and see which ways a further confrontation with Kenma will increase Kageyama’s volley spectrum (he has already learnt from him the eye feint, after all).

But if I have to stand Hinata along this process...

NOPE.

Thank you.

I’d look from VERY afar at everything which is gonna happen, but no way I will come to stand more of the Orange Midget Scrub.

I am allergic to fictional mediocrity for mediocre readers, and I won’t let this space of mine being poisoned with Furudate’s foolishness aver Hinata any more.

See ya.

[ssho25]

Accidentally in Love

I believe I am allowed to post this now so this is a gift for @katawosu. This is inspired by my headcanon/au that if Suga was a doctor, Daichi would use Asahi as a crash dummy instead of injuring himself to get into the hospital. I hope you like it! (Also available on AO3). 

On a cool, summer night, the kitchen lights in The Crow’s Nest café were on even though it had already closed for the day. In said kitchen, three men hovered around an orange cake, all of them in deep thought.

“Hmm…”

“It’s…kind of there?” Kuroo said.

“…But also missing something,” Oikawa finished.

Daichi scratched his head. “Yeah, but what?”

“Maybe it could use a little more sugar?” Oikawa suggested.

“Wouldn’t that make it overly sweet?”

What if you used buckwheat flour to change the texture?” Kuroo chimed in.

“Maybe, but then I’d need to make a lot of adjustments to balance the taste.”

“How about you make it a tart instead of a cake?”

“I already made a new tart the last time.”

“Why not use apples?” Kuroo asked.

“You think everything needs apples,” Daichi accused.

“What’s wrong with apples?”

“We’re making new items for the store. Not something you can bring back to Kozume.”

“Hey! No fair! If Kuroo gets to bring pastries to Kenma, why can’t I bring some home to Iwa-chan?” Oikawa whined.

“That’s just your excuse to get free pastries.”

“I work here. I already get free pastries.”

“You won’t anymore if you don’t help me.”

“I am helping! I’m giving you suggestions, aren’t I?”

Daichi sighed as he buried his face into his hands. Clearly, they weren’t about to make progress any time soon. He, Kuroo and Oikawa had been working on a new baked treat since Monday last week for the café; however, nothing seemed right. He had even closed the café early today to give them some more time to test recipes, but to no avail. He didn’t want to say it, but he may have hit a slump.

“And why do you need a new dessert anyway?” Oikawa continued as he folded his arms, “What’s wrong with the ones we already have?”

“Because it gets tiring seeing the same stuff over and over again. It’s nice to mix things up a little.”

“You’ve been ‘mixing things up’ since we opened two years ago! It won’t kill you to slow down.”

“Oikawa’s got a point,” Kuroo agreed.

“And what happens if I slow down and never pick back up?”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Sawamura. It’s just a lack of inspiration. Give it time, and something will eventually come to you.”

“And when it doesn’t come?”

“We can deal with that when we get there.” Kuroo gave Daichi a firm pat on the back. “Let’s just go home and call it a day. We can come back tomorrow. New day, fresh start.”

“That’s what you said yesterday. And the day before that. Pretty much since I started on this new dessert.”

“And one of these days, that fresh start will come in handy and you’re going to thank me for it.”

“…Alright, fine.” Daichi reluctantly sighed in defeat. “Start cleaning up, I’ll just be in the washroom.”

“You got it boss,” Oikawa saluted, Kuroo copying him.

Once Daichi locked the staff bathroom door behind him, he gripped onto the rim of the sink and sighed again, his head hung low. Ever since he had started the café, he had never taken so long to create a new dessert. Last time he struggled this hard was back in culinary school when he couldn’t decide on majoring in Japanese cuisine or becoming a pastry chef.

Making a new recipe every few months was a great idea when he first opened the café. It gave people something to talk about and helped spread the word. Only problem was it was too effective and now people were waiting for his new desserts. The constant asking of, ‘When is the new dessert coming out?’ and encouraging, ‘I’m looking forward to the next one!’ put pressure on Daichi he didn’t anticipate. More than maintaining the popularity of the café, he just didn’t want to disappoint anyone.

Daichi looked in the mirror and noticed the bags under his eyes were getting worse. The more he stayed late working on his new creation, the more stressed he became. The more stressed he was, the harder it was to fall asleep and he’d stay up jotting down notes for new ideas to test when he went back to the café. It was a vicious cycle and definite signs were starting to show. No wonder Kuroo was so adamant he turn in for the night. He turned the knob for cold water on the sink and splashed some onto his face to help wash away at least a little of the tiredness. The last thing he needed was to fall asleep on his way home.

As Daichi approached the kitchen, he saw Kuroo washing the dishes but Oikawa was nowhere to be found.

“Hey Kuroo,” Daichi called out. “Where’s Oikawa?”

Daichi never got a reply. All he could remember was a sudden, sharp pain coming from his head before he blacked out.

Daichi slowly opened his eyes only to be assaulted by the blinding lights hovering above him. He narrowed his eyes and blinked a few times to help adjust to the new found brightness. Once his eyes were used to the lighting, he scanned the area, trying to get a better idea of his surroundings. His head was still a bit groggy, but there was at least one thing he was certain: he was not in the café.

Daichi was lying in an uncomfortable bed, next to a large window that spread from one wall to the other. The pitch black of night from the window made a stark contrast to the white walls and ceiling of the room. A light pink curtain was drawn out, effectively cutting off any visibility of the rest of the room, but it didn’t block out the IV bag peeking out from the top. Recalling the numerous sports injuries from high school, he figured he must be in the hospital.

Suddenly, the curtain was shoved to the side to reveal a concerned Oikawa and Kuroo. The rustling noises he made must’ve alerted them to his awakening. “Sawamura!” Kuroo exclaimed.

“Sawamura, are you okay?” Oikawa asked.

“Wh…what happened? Ah!” Daichi flinched as a sharp pain emanated from his forehead. He reached up to find a bandage was wrapped around his head. “Why does my head hurt?”

“Well, when you left to use the washroom, Oikawa was putting away the flour in the pantry,” Kuroo explained. “You came back at the same time Oikawa opened the pantry door and it knocked you out cold.”

“I swear it was an accident!”

Daichi gingerly touched his forehead, feeling a slight bump on the right side. That definitely wasn’t going away any time soon. “How long was I out for?”

Kuroo pulled out his cellphone from his pocket and turned on the screen. “Almost 11. So…about a half an hour?”

Daichi groaned as he tried to sit up, but the suddenly movement increased the throbbing in his forehead.

“Easy there,” Oikawa said. “Here, let me help.” He reached for the remote next to the bed and pushed a button. The upper half of the bed began to raise up until Daichi was siting in an upright position.

“Thanks…so, how much longer do I have to stay here?”

“Probably not that long. The nurse who spoke with us in the waiting room said it was nothing serious.”

“We should probably tell her you’re awake now so she can call the doctor.”

“Hello?” A gentle knocking on the door accompanied the soft voice. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”

When Daichi saw who the voice belonged to, he froze. His light grey hair and soft brown eyes matched the gentleness of his smile. There was an air of playfulness to this man that countered the clear mature allure he gave off. His fair skin and slender build made the impression that he was delicate, fragile even, but there were definitely signs of muscles and a toned body if the taut dress shirt and visible forearms were anything to go by. Daichi had never thought to use the word ‘beautiful’ to describe a man before, but right now ‘beautiful’ was the only word that fit.

“Hello there, I’m glad to see your awake,” the man said. Daichi was so entranced, he didn’t even notice that the man had walked across the room.

“Uh…”

“I’m Sugawara Koushi, the new doctor here.”

“…”

“Shimizu let me know you should be awake soon, so I thought I’d just drop by and check up on you before I let you go.”

“…”

Sugawara’s face filled with concern. “Sawamura-san? Are you feeling alright?”

“Sawamura,” Kuroo whispered as he nudged Daichi.

Daichi shook out the spell Sugawara put on him. “Huh? Oh! Yeah, yeah! I-I-I’m good!”

“Are you sure?”

Daichi—not trusting his words—nodded his head, but the quick and rapid movement made his head throb. “Ow…” He brought his hand up to the bump again.

“Hmm…maybe you should stay here for the night just to be sure.”

“Oh, he’d love to,” Oikawa interjected.

“No!” Daichi shouted. He cleared his throat before continuing in his normal tone. “I mean, no. It’s fine. Please, I need to be on my way.”

“Ok then,” Sugawara-sensei began as he sat down to be eye level with Daichi, “You feel alright? No dizziness or double vision?”

“No.”

“Nausea?”

“No.”

“Please state your name, and occupation.”

“Sawamura Daichi. I’m a pastry chef and café manager at The Crow’s Nest.”

Sugawara-sensei pulled out a small flashlight from his coat pocket. He shined the light at Daichi’s eyes and quickly turned it off as he turned it on. “I’m going to move this flashlight around and I want you to follow it with your eyes, but don’t move your head. Okay?”

Daichi gently nodded and Sugawara-sensei proceeded to slowly move the flashlight around, all the while continuing to ask simple questions to which Daichi provided answers. Daichi was amazed at his concentration when there was a literal angel in front of him.

“Okay, we’re all done. You should be all set. Just try to take it easy for now.”

“Thank you very much sensei. I will.”

“Just remember: if you ever need help, you know where to find me.” Sugawara flashed another blinding smile that was turning Daichi to mush.

Daichi just prayed that his legs didn’t give out on him as Sugawara waved goodbye from the hospital front doors.

“…chi...Daichi…DAICHI!”

“Huh?”

“I think you have enough flour now,” Asahi said as he gestured towards Daichi’s chest.

Daichi looked down and was welcomed to a nearly overflowing bowl and rushed to turn the bag up right. He inwardly cursed at himself for being so careless.

“You okay Daichi? This is the third time you’ve spaced out today.”

“I’m fine Asahi. It’s nothing to worry about.”

“You sure? I mean, you did say you went to the hospital last night. Maybe it’s more serious than you think.”

“Asahi, I—”

“What if you have a concussion? What if you’ve lost your memories and you’re just pretending that everything’s fine? What if—”

“Asahi! Calm down. I’m fine, okay? You’re just overreacting.”

“Yeah, he’s just malfunctioning because the hot doctor from yesterday gave him a boner,” Oikawa said as he passed by.

“Wha…bu…I…,” Daichi babbled incoherently.

“Aw, Daichi-kun has a crush,” Kuroo teased.

“I don’t have a crush!”

“Oh please, you were straight up swooning,” Oikawa chimed in as he passed by again.

“I wasn’t swooning.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say lover boy.” Kuroo winked before walking away, snickering to himself.

Daichi tried to shrink and hide the colouring in his face as he flushed red in both embarrassment and anger.

“Wow, he sure left a lasting impression on you.”

“Asahi, please don’t.”

“But maybe it’s a good thing.”

Daichi raised an eyebrow. “You just told me I’ve been spacing out all day like 5 seconds ago.”

“Yeah, but I meant a good thing for you. We all know how stressed you’ve been. It’d be nice for you to just relax a little.”

“Yeah well, that’s not going to happen.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t know anything about him and have no way of contacting him. The end. Fairy tale over. Now please, can you get back to work?”

Asahi had no problems resuming from where he left off, but Daichi’s mind was still a mess. It was a miracle he even made it through the morning without any major accidents, although the people would think otherwise if they had a look at his kitchen. He was thankful the café had quieted down, giving him time to clean up the mess of broken eggs, spattered batter and other various foods on the walls and floor.

Oikawa heaved a heavy sigh and snatched Daichi’s wrist, dragging Daichi along with him.

“Ow! Hey, let go!” Daichi tried to fight back, but Oikawa’s grip was a lot stronger than he anticipated.

Oikawa finally let go long enough to shove Daichi into the pantry and close the door behind him. “Okay… normally, I’d poke fun at you for as long as I can with Kuroo, but you’re love struck attitude is making it really hard to get anything done.”

“I’m not…! I wasn’t…! You’re just…!” Daichi scrambled for words, but eventually sighed in defeat. “I know.”

“So? What are you going to do about it?”

“I just…I don’t know.” Daichi ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “I want to see him again.”

“But you don’t know anything about him except that he’s a doctor and he works at the hospital.”

“Hey, not everyone has the luxury of falling in love with their childhood friend.”

“Don’t blame my successful love life for your lack of one.”

“…I was actually talking about Kuroo, but congrats man. You finally wore down Iwaizumi?”

“Oh, thank you. It took 8 long years but yeah, I finally—hey wait! Don’t change the subject!”

“What? I can’t be happy for my friend?”

“You can, but deal with your own problems first.”

“So what do you want me to do? Waltz into the ER with a bouquet of roses?”

“Yes, that’s perfect…if your goal is to let him know how lonely and desperate you are.”

“You just told me to fix the problem!”

“Yeah, but you don’t just charge in with the last resort move! Do you want to scare him away?”

“Is that how you got Iwaizumi?”

“Maybe…but you can’t just walk into a hospital for no legitimate reason. It’s a freaking hospital, they kind of have more important things to do.”

“People are allowed to visit hospitals, right?” Daichi asked optimistically.

“Not to flirt with the staff!”

“That just means I need to create the opportunity.”

“And how exactly do you plan to do that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well it’s not like you can just give yourself a black eye to get into the hospital.”

“…”

“…Are you kidding me right now?”

“What?”

“Did you honestly just consider giving yourself a black eye?”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“But you were thinking it!”

“…Do you think it would work?”

“Ignoring the fact of how stupid that is, it’s a hospital! People go there when they have serious injuries or are really sick. Not when they’re horny.”

“I’m not horny.”

“Yeah. You also didn’t just think about giving yourself a black eye because you want to flirt with a doctor.”

“Sawamura! Oikawa! Get out here, we need help!” Kuroo yelled.

“We’ll be right there!” Oikawa shouted back over his shoulder. “This conversation isn’t over,” He whispered.

“Yeah, yeah,” Daichi replied as he followed Oikawa towards the door. “It doesn’t have to be me you know.”

“For what?”

“The injuries. What if you accidentally open the pantry door on me again?”

“Oh please. I’m not dumb enough to make the same mistake twice,” Oikawa retorted as he shoved the pantry door open, only to feel resistance and hear a ‘thud’ that followed. Daichi turned to Oikawa who had his eyes squeezed shut, praying for what he thought happened didn’t actually happen. But no such luck. When Oikawa gently pushed the pantry door open, he and Daichi were welcomed to Asahi lying unconscious on the floor and a worried Kuroo hovering over him.

“…This proves nothing.”

“There,” the nurse stated as she finished up wrapping the bandage around Asahi’s head.

“Thank you, uh…”

“Shimizu,” said the nurse.

“Thank you, Shimizu-san,” Daichi repeated.

“It’s no problem at all, I’m just doing my job,” Shimizu replied. “However, it would be best if you and your employees were more careful in the future.”

“R-right…,” Daichi answered, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

“I will go inform Sugawara-sensei of Azumane-san’s condition. Please wait here in the meantime.” Shimizu gave a small, polite bow before exiting the room, leaving Daichi alone to his thoughts.

Calling Daichi nervous was a light way of putting things. His eyes wandered around the room, his leg kept shaking, he drummed his fingers on his thighs. All to ignore the racing of his heart. He did want to see Sugawara again, but this was too sudden and he wasn’t ready at all. Maybe he’d be lucky and Shimizu-san would call in a different doctor.

“Hello again. I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon.” Daichi turned to see Sugawara standing in the doorway. He couldn’t tell if was extremely lucky, or incredibly unlucky. “I’m mean it’s nice to see you again, really it is. But as a doctor, seeing patients returning to the hospital isn’t something generally celebrated.”

“Though I appreciate your concern, it’s my friend over here that needs help,” Daichi answered as he gestured to an unconscious Asahi.

“Yes, Shimizu did mention that. So, how do two people suffer the same accident back to back? Please do tell.” That little amused smirk on the end of Sugawara’s sentence was a clear hint that Daichi was getting teased. The worst part was that he was fully aware of it and yet his heart still fluttered.

“While I could poke fun at Asahi to make you laugh, let’s just say Oikawa has some crazy upper body strength and leave it at that.”

“Well,” Sugawara chuckled, “Looks like that was just as effective.”

“At least I did something right in the past 12 hours.”

“Give yourself some credit. You weren’t the cause of either accident.”

“But I did hire Oikawa.”

“Oh…well that one’s on you.” Even Daichi had to laugh at that.

Daichi found himself staring at Sugawara, but took it as a good sign when Sugawara stared right back. He used this chance to really look at Sugawara’s face. Though Daichi’s eyes were brown and similar to Sugawara’s, it felt like Sugawara’s eyes had a certain brightness to them, the kind that made Daichi feel warm on the inside. He also noticed the small mole by Sugawara’s eye. It was just a dot, and yet Daichi couldn’t help but think it added to the beauty that was Sugawara Koushi. He couldn’t believe he was so infatuated with a person he barely knew and had just met. It scared and excited him all the same.

“Ugh…”

Daichi and Sugawara flick their heads over to Asahi who finally awoke from his state of unconsciousness. “Looks like I need to get back to work,” Sugawara said as he stood up and approached the bed.

Daichi knew the well-being of his friend should’ve been his number one concern right now, but the ‘freshly-showered’ scent Sugawara-sensei gave off as he walked by was more distracting than Daichi thought it would be.

Damn it…he was swooning.

Daichi didn’t know what was worse: the fact that he was actually contemplating injuring himself on purpose, or how he had spent the last hour seriously thinking of ways he could do it.

Daichi had arrived at the café early that day, fully intending to do some housekeeping before opening. Somewhere along the way, he found himself sitting on a stool in deep thought, hands folded and brows furrowed at the pantry door that started all of this, wondering if it was believable to see the same accident three times in a row.

Daichi’s staring contest was interrupted when he heard the opening of the back door and two familiar faces appear in the kitchen.

“Good morning Daichi-san!” Hinata cheerfully greeted. Asahi who was behind him opted for a modest smile and small wave hello instead.

Daichi nodded at the two and looked over at the clock only to realize it was 10 minutes to opening, meaning he had spent the past 20 minutes glaring at a door. So much for coming to work early.  He sighed and began rolling up his sleeves, but stopped when he saw Asahi clock in.

“You’re not actually thinking of working are you? You were just in the hospital.”

“And?”

“Asahi, you don’t have to come to work. You should take some time to rest.”

“The same thing happened to you and you still came to work.”

“It’s my café, of course I’m going to come.”

“Daichi, I’m fine. I’ve already been away for 2 days. I’m starting to get anxious from doing nothing. Besides, it looks like you didn’t get the cleaning done, so you’re going to need some help today.” The conversation was stopped short when the two of them heard the bell of the front door ringing. “Welcome!” Asahi said as he waved to the customer and ushered them to an open seat.

“Wai-Asahi!” Daichi called out, but it was already too late. He just shook his head and reached for the coffee beans to start grinding them.

“Morning,” Kuroo called out.

“Morning.”

“Woah, I thought you were going to clean when you got here,” Kuroo said looking at the ground. Daichi followed his gaze and saw the tracks of shoeprints all around the kitchen floor. If the floor out in the café was this bad, then boy was he glad he chose dark flooring panels.

“I was a little…preoccupied.”

“You want me to do it?”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll find some time to do it later. Just get ready, people are already coming in.”

“You’re the boss,” Kuroo replied before heading to the staff locker room to change into his uniform.

“Daichi-san!” Hinata called out.

“I know, I know. The floor’s dirty, I got it okay?” Daichi snapped.

Hinata jumped back, a little startled by his outburst. “Oh, no. I was just wondering what you’d like me to do.”

“…Oh. Right, sorry. I’m just a little jumbled up right now. I need to make coffee, I need to make more cakes, I need to clean the…actually Hinata, could you do a little mopping for me?”

Hinata looked confused. “But I thought you said—”

“Hinata…,” Daichi’s ominous voice interjected as he placed a hand on the younger man’s shoulder, “Are you arguing with me?”

“N-n-n-n-n-no sir! Right away sir!” Hinata saluted and dashed off to get the mop and bucket.

As Daichi watched Hinata go, he made a silent prayer in his head. Asahi, I’m sorry.

In the hospital room, Daichi stared at Asahi’s bandaged foot as they waited for a doctor. Hinata had left the floors too wet when he was mopping and as a result, Asahi had slipped and fallen.

“Does it hurt?” Daichi asked.

“A little, but the ice is helping.”

“Hinata feels really bad about it. Kuroo says he won’t stop apologizing and praying that you don’t die.”

“Well, he is known for overexaggerating,” Asahi chuckled. “It’s just weird, you know? I thought we told him not to mop anymore because he always leaves the floor too wet.”

“Yeah…right…” Daichi hoped that it wasn’t too obvious he couldn’t look Asahi in the eye.

“I wonder why he did it.”

“Maybe Kuroo asked him to? Since I didn’t do it that morning?”

“Maybe…it’s just strange.”

“Guess it’s just one of those unsolved mysteries.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen people visit the hospital this frequently,” Sugawara-sensei’s voice called out. “I wasn’t aware baking was so dangerous.”

Daichi nervously chuckled. “Well, you know. Sometimes you just get too invested into work.”

“That’s a bit of an understatement,” Sugawara replied, pointing to Asahi’s foot. “Well, lucky for you Azumane-san, it’s just a sprain. Your foot is going to swell, so remember to keep it raised. Cooling packs and ice bags will help with the throbbing from the inflammation. Okay?”

“Sure thing sensei,” Asahi said.

“Good. Let me just get the nurse to give you some crutches and a fresh bag of ice. Then you can be on your way.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“Perfect. I’m sorry I can’t stay to chat,” Sugawara said turning to Daichi, “But I have a few more patients to check up on so I’ll be on my way.”

“Oh no, that’s okay. Don’t apologize,” Daichi answered. “We’ll be fine. We appreciate the help you’ve given us these past few days.”

“Just doing my job,” Sugawara said before heading towards the door.

Daichi dreamily stared at Sugawara’s shrinking figure when Asahi’s voice broke him from his trance. “Daichi? Weren’t you going to give him those?”

Daichi looked down at his lap and saw a to-go box from the café. “Oh! Right, thanks! Sensei! Sensei, wait!” He jumped up and chased after Sugawara. Luckily, he wasn’t too far up ahead and Daichi easily caught up to him.

“Yes?”

“Here. This is for you…and Shimizu-san,” Daichi said holding out the box. “I meant to give this to you earlier, as thanks for your help.”

“Oh, wow!” Sugawara exclaimed as he accepted the box. “What’s all in here?”

“Just a few tarts and cakes that I baked,” Daichi replied as he embarrassedly rubbed at the back of his neck. “Nothing special.”

Sugawara opened the box and Daichi loved how his eyes lit up. “These look amazing! You made all these?”

Daichi nodded. “I wasn’t sure what kinds of sweets you liked so I just took a guess.”

“Well you guessed right, because red velvet is my favourite. And fruit tarts remind me of home. I love my grandma’s raspberry tarts. Thank you very much!” Sugawara’s bright smile was back and Daichi’s heart was running a million miles an hour.

“You’re more than welcome, sensei.”

“Suga.”

“Huh?”

“My friends call me Suga,” Sugawara said extending a hand.

“Oh, well my friends call me Daichi,” Daichi replied, accepting the handshake.

“Then thanks again Daichi. Hopefully next time I see you, it won’t be in the hospital.” And with that, Sugawara started to walk away again, waving a final goodbye as he rounded a corner. “See you, Daichi!”

“See you…Suga.”

“This is amazing!” Oikawa exclaimed.

“See? We told you could do it!” Kuroo threw an arm around Daichi’s shoulders. “And you thought you were in a slump.”

“Thanks guys. I’m just glad it turned out better than I thought it would.” The café was quiet and Daichi had used the opportunity to have everyone try out his new recipe.

“This cake is the best for sure, Daichi-san!” Hinata chimed in.

“So how’d you come up with this one?” Asahi asked.

“…How did I come up with it?” Daichi parroted.

“Yeah. What was your inspiration?” Oikawa continued. “You spent 2 weeks agonizing over this damn dessert. Then suddenly you hide yourself away in the kitchen for 3 days whipping up this thing.”

“Yeah, and it’s not even similar to the cakes you’ve been trying up till now,” Kuroo continued. “What gave you this idea, Sawamura?”

“Well, I…” Daichi was interrupted by the front doorbell ringing. “…Will tell you later,” he finished and turned his attention to the door. “Hello! Can I…” Daichi rubbed his eyes a few times to make sure they weren’t playing tricks on him.

“So this is the café I’ve heard so much about,” Sugawara said turning his head this way and that to take everything in. He turned to Daichi and waved. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Suga…”

“Those treats you gave me were so good, I just had to come for some more.”

“Here! Try this one!” Hinata shoved the new dessert in front of Sugawara. “Daichi-san just made this one!”

“No, no, no! Not that one!” Daichi waved his hands like a madman.

“Why not?”

“Because…because it’s still in the experimental phase. It’s not ready yet.”

“You have 4 stamps of approval right here,” Oikawa interjected.

“And what better way to tell it’s ready for the customers than an actual customer?” Kuroo added.

“I don’t mind testing out a new cake. It sounds interesting,” Sugawara finished. “Besides, it looks really good.”

Daichi had no legitimate reason to not let Sugawara eat the cake and so he sighed in defeat. “Go ahead.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” Sugawara said before digging into the cake. Sugawara’s eyes lit up. “It’s red velvet!” Daichi nodded his head. “And is that raspberry I’m tasting?” Daichi nodded again. “This is delicious! You put together my two favourite desserts! It’s like this was made for me! I can’t believe you almost didn’t let me try it.”

Daichi loved how happily Sugawara ate his dessert, but could also feel the stares of revelation coming from his friends.

“…Was it made for him?” Asahi asked. Innocently or not, Daichi couldn’t tell.

“…Kind of.” Everyone looked expectantly at him, so Daichi proceeded to explain, his embarrassment increasing with every word. “The inside is raspberries and red velvet cake, which are Suga’s two favourite desserts. The outside mousse is cookies and cream because it’s a light gray colour and fluffy in texture like Suga’s hair…plus it best suited the flavours of the cake. And then I put it all on top of a sugar cookie because Suga…sounds like ‘Sugar’.”

Everyone had shocked looks on their faces. There were even a couple of jaws that dropped. Daichi had never blushed so hard or felt more uncomfortable in his life.

“So you can design a cake after me, but you can’t ask me out on a date?”

The attention quickly shifted from Daichi to Sugawara, but no one was as shocked as Daichi. He thought his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets from going so wide. “What?”

Sugawara pouted and folded his arms. “You heard me. How long are you going to take to ask me out? Or are you really only going to see me when you come to the hospital?”

“Uh…”

“Smooth, Casanova,” Oikawa stepped in. “If you’re free tonight, he’ll pick you up at 6.”

“I have work tonight, but I’m free right now,” Sugawara suggested.

“Perfect,” Oikawa said as he shoved Daichi towards Sugawara, “So is he. Now you two have fun, we’ll take care of everything.” He proceeded to untie Daichi’s apron and push the two of them out the door, locking it behind them.

“Hey! Oikawa!” Daichi pulled and banged on the door, but Oikawa just shrugged and walked away. Daichi face was a bright shade of pink; he couldn’t believe what was happening.

Sugawara slipped his arm around Daichi’s bicep, getting Daichi’s attention quite effectively. “Does ramen sound good?” Daichi could only nod in reply. “Great. I know this little shop a few blocks away. And after that, my place or yours, Daichi?”

[tooriu]

your hands and lips still know their way around

word count: 4.8k status: oneshot summary: 

it must be true about what they say about liquid courage, because kageyama suddenly speaks up. “why didn’t we work out? we were so good together, and then….and then nothing. why—” his voice cracks, and he takes a moment to focus on not breaking down. “why did you have to leave?”

or, the au where kageyama sees his hinata at daichi and sugawara’s wedding and decides that maybe he doesn't want to be hinata’s ex anymore.

ao3

The invitation to the wedding comes in a crème colored envelope edged with gold details, his name and address written across the front of it in calligraphy kanji so fancy that Kageyama barely recognizes it as his own. It’s classical and elegant, printed on a thick sheet of cardstock, and he thinks with an almost imperceptible smile that Sugawara-senpai must’ve been the one to choose it. A smaller sheet of paper falls out with the invite, and Kageyama hesitates for a moment before picking it up. It’s handwritten in black ink in a messy scrawl he hasn’t seen in a long time.

Hope you’ll be able to make it, Kageyama-kun! It’s been awhile since the all crows have gotten together. -Kōshi

Kageyama turns the paper over, hoping to find answers to the questions flitting through his mind at a mile per minute. The one that seems to recur most often, however, is one he already knows. Will Hinata be there? Because of course Daichi and Sugawara invited Shōyō to their wedding. The more rational side of Kageyama tells him that it’ll be an awkward affair filled with his longing glances and Hinata’s attempts to ignore him, that it’ll end like their relationship—with the both of them hurting and in tears.

With a small sigh and a pang in his chest, Kageyama puts the card back inside of the envelope, lays it on his kitchen counter, and leaves for volleyball practice.

“Uh….Hey, Kageyama?” Hinata says, his eyes pointedly looking at the clock above Tobio’s head. Then at the school building’s brick wall. Then at the grass underneath their feet. Really, anywhere except for Kageyama.

He waits for a few seconds for Hinata to start speaking again once it’s obvious that the orange-haired ace of Karasuno has Kageyama’s attention. Then, after the silence stretches longer than necessary, he clicks his tongue. “Tch. Just say it, baka.”

“Do you, uh, wanttogodosomethingtogetheronFriday?” Hinata asks, eyes wide with excitement and his palms sweaty with the anticipation of rejection.

Kageyama blinks. With the way Hinata had mumbled the last part of his question together, the setter hadn’t been able to fully understand what he’d said. But if Hinata had said what Kageyama thought he had….

The red flush on Hinata’s face gradually gets more aggressive with Kageyama’s silence, and he shakes his head. “Actually, you know what? Nevermind. It’s nothing. Forget I—”

While he’s never been particularly lucky in games of chance, Kageyama plays one of the biggest gambles of his life. He smashes their lips together, and he can’t help but think that Hinata smells like oranges and tastes a little bit like the donut he’d had earlier. It’s awkward—their noses keep bumping into each other, their teeth collide more than once—but it’s perfect because it’s Hinata.

“Hell yeah! You owe me a hundred Yen, Ryu. I told you it’d be their second year.”

With a start, they break apart and find Nishinoya and Tanaka standing nearby with matching shit-eating grins. Or rather, a disgruntled Tanaka handing cash over to his best friend while Noya smiles with a sort of giddiness that’s akin to one the libero wears when eating Garigari-Kun.

“Really guys?” Tanaka sighs, though it’s obvious there aren’t any real hard feelings by the way his lips are slightly upturned. “You couldn’t have waited until next year?”

Kageyama’s face burns, but Hinata bounces with joy and says, “Sorry guys, but we have to go. I have a date on Friday!”

Playing on Japan’s national volleyball team was both an exhilarating experience and an exhausting one. With the coach’s grueling training menu and the odd hours, it was demanding, and if Kageyama Tobio didn’t enjoy playing so much, he might’ve quit long ago. However, his love for volleyball didn’t cancel out the fact that he definitely still had bad days and people still pissed him off.

His phone buzzed from inside his pocket, and with a slight frown on his face, Kageyama read the caller ID. Iwaizumi Hajime.

Immediately swiping right, he puts it next to his ear. “Iwaizumi-senpai?”

He could practically see the face Iwaizumi made through the phone, scrunched-up nose and a gathering of wrinkles on his forehead, at the honorific. “Don’t call me that, Tobio-kun. It makes me sound old.”

“I—uh—gomen, Hajime-kun,” he replies, pushing open the door. “What did you need?”

There’s a moment of silence on the other side of the line, and it’s long enough that it makes Kageyama glance at the screen just to be sure that the call hadn’t accidentally cut off. “I just,” Iwaizumi sighs, “wanted to make sure you were alright. The, uh, invitations to Kōshi’s wedding arrived in the mail and, knowing him, they probably sent it to… You know…”

The former ace of Aobajōsai trails off, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what he’d meant to say. It’s the same name that’s been bouncing off the walls of his mind ever since Kageyama had opened that envelope, been in his head ever since they’d split. (It was odd to think of them as separate entities now that high school was over. They’d always been together even if they weren’t together, and he had very few memories that he liked where they weren’t. It’d always been Karasuno’s freak duo, but now Kageyama is all alone.)

“Hinata,” he fills in for Iwaizumi, “You can say his name. It’s not like it bothers me or anything, Hajime-kun.”

But it does, and the feeling of saying Shōyō’s name out loud again feels like a breath of fresh air after running a marathon or a drink of cold water after practice. It’s salvation in the hell he’s been living, and it’s an oasis in a desert. The bittersweet feeling starts low in his stomach and slowly crawls up his spine and down his arms until he’s tingling with the entire sensation.

“Um, okay.” There’s rustling and the sound of a door opening on Iwaizumi’s side, and a loud voice carries through whatever room he must be in. “Sorry, I’ve got to go. Tōru’s home.”

“Hai.”

“You know,” Iwaizumi starts, “he won’t say anything, especially to your face, but Tōru’s been worried about you. We’re worried about you.”

“I’m fine.” It tastes sour, like the prefabricated lie that’s been sitting on the back of his tongue that it is. He owes Hajime more than this, more than half-baked falsehoods, and adds, “I will be fine, at least.”

“Alright. Just, uh, make sure to call if you need anything, Tobio,” he replies, “Keep in touch?”

“Yeah.”

A bright smile on his face, Hinata laughs into the sleeve of Kageyama’s jacket as they walk to school. It was too long, reaching halfway down his thigh and the sleeves drooping over his short arms, making the orange-haired ace look even smaller than usual. Kageyama can’t help the small upturn of his lips when he thinks of a pocket-sized Hinata slotting perfectly inside the palm of his hand.

“You should do that more often,” Hinata says, wide-eyed and serious as he glances at Kageyama’s face from the corner of his eye.

He clicks his tongue, more out of habit than any real exasperation. “What do you mean?”

“Smile,” Hinata replies with a blinding grin, “You look cuter.”

The blush flares on Kageyama’s face, spreading from the tips of his ears and painting his nose and cheeks with an obvious pink. “D—don’t just say things like that, dumbass!”

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Kageyama buries his face further into his light blue scarf, shielding more of his face from the biting winds, and walks the two blocks from his apartment to a tiny café squished between two other department stores. It’s heated, thankfully enough, and well-lit. Several tables litter the interior, arranged in a strict, symmetrical pattern around the room. He scans the room and moves toward the blonde figure sitting near the back.

“Konnichiwa, Yacchan,” he mumbles, unwrapping the pale blue material from around his neck. “How’s work?”

Her face immediately lights up, and Yachi shoots him a megawatt smile. “It’s great! Thanks for asking. My boss is a bit intimidating, but Shimizu-kun says that if I was able to handle you and Hinata for three years, it should be pretty easy in comparison.”

She laughs softly, like a gentle breeze in early spring, and for some reason, it makes Kageyama think of pink cherry blossoms. The ends of his lips quirk up, though he tries his best not to grimace at the mention of his ex. He wonders if Yachi knows how badly they’d both screwed each other over in the end, how sharp the bladed words they’d thrown at each other actually wore, and decides that it’d probably only hurt her if he told.

“Any new designs?” he asks, settling into the padded black armchair across from her.

Yachi nods excitedly, her hair falling into her face slightly with the movement. It was longer than when they’d been in high school but still only brushed her shoulders. “There’s this one where the sleeves are cut slightly off so that— Oh! Here, wait. It’d be easier to show you.”

As the blonde reaches into her messenger bag, one of the waitresses walks up to them. “Konnichiwa! Would you like anything?”

Yachi gets a watermelon bubble tea and some French macarons. Kageyama opts for simplicity instead. “Black coffee, one sugar, please.”

Talking to Yachi is easy, like breathing or setting a ball, and while he smiles and mumbles jokes under his breath that make her crack a grin, it does nothing to patch the gaping emptiness pitting his stomach wide open. It’s not the same. Nothing ever is anymore. And Kageyama doesn’t expect it to be. Besides, there’s probably only one person who could make things alright, and that boy has seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth.

“We’ll still be okay, right?” Hinata blurts suddenly. They’re lying on their backs, staring at the white ceiling from their position on Hinata’s bedroom floor, having long given up on completing their homework. Practice had been tough that day, and the weariness was beginning to seep into their bones. “Like, even if we doesn’t work out, we’ll still be friends?”

Kageyama wrinkles his nose. “Why the fuck wouldn’t we work out?”

“I— Fuck, that’s not what I meant.” He sighs then sits up, pulling his legs to his chest and resting his chin atop his knees. “Just in case, you know? Some weird shit could happen then we aren’t together anymore, and—” Hinata pauses, fumbling with the words that threaten to spill from his mouth in a word vomit. “Promise me. Even if we aren’t together-together, we’ll still be there for each other.”

“Tch.” Kageyama grabs Hinata, pulling him down to the floor again and wrapping the smaller boy inside of a warm embrace. “Don’t be such a dumbass. Of course I will.”

“Thanks, Kageyama.”

“Tobio.”

“Hm?”

“My name is Tobio.”

Kageyama has friends—the kind he’ll meet up with at least once a month, if possible, and spontaneously text to check if they’re alright, albeit disguised under some other reason. He has a group chat with his teammates, and whenever he checks it, there’s always some mix of legitimate strategies and the most recent meme. Hell, he even has acquaintances that he’ll wave to if he ever sees them around town. (But he does not have a best friend or a boyfriend. He lost both of those in the same mistake.)

Kageyama is not lonely by any definition of the word, but that doesn’t explain why he looks around his apartment and feels so utterly alone that the weight of it threatens to make him fall to his knees. He’s had a hard day, and just standing here in the dark without turning the lights on, stillness covering the room and silence stifling the noise, is making everything so much worse. It’s suffocating, and it feels a lot like drowning, like the shadows around him are inky black waters that rush into his lungs. Everything—every day, every face, every movement—is the same as the previous, and there’s a tedious monotony that he can’t seem to escape. Like he’s trapped inside his own personal hamster wheel, damned to run the same course over and over and over until he fades away into nothingness. It’s so hard to just breathe, and the tears slip out of his eyes faster than he can roughly wipe them off with his palm.

“Tch,” he mutters to himself lowly, “don’t be such a weakling.”

But that’s all Kageyama has ever been in all areas outside of volleyball—weak.

“It’s okay to cry, you know,” Hinata says. It’s in a softer voice than Kageyama has ever heard from the ace before, and he’d comment on the obvious pity in the orange-haired boy’s voice if he didn’t feel so goddamn awful. “Feeling sad doesn’t make you weak.”

Kageyama curls further into himself, letting Hinata rub small circles into the small of his back. His voice is like the sun spearing through rain clouds, and Kageyama basks in the warmth of it all. There’s nothing sexual about their position—his head on Hinata’s lap, both of them sprawled across the setter’s bed—but there’s something infinitely more intimate about it. Like he’s baring his soul, everything he is, and asking Hinata to stay despite the barren ugliness of it all.

“I think you’re brave for being able to show this side of you to someone else,” he continues. “Even if it’s only me.”

Kageyama stills. “What are you talking about?”

Hinata snorts, and for some odd reason, warmth floods Kageyama’s chest. There’s something adorable about the face Karasuno’s ace pulls, but there’s self-loathing mixed in his expression too. (That’s the easiest for Kageyama to find. He sees it every time his gaze catches a mirror.) “I’m not much, Tobio.”

“More than me, dumbass,” he replies quickly. He’ll do anything to get rid of the bladed look of introspective hatred in Hinata’s eyes—anything.

When Hinata smiles back at him, it’s small and broken and not entirely healed, but it’s enough for Kageyama. He thinks that his boyfriend is something different, something other than flesh and bone, because there is no way that someone this small could have this much love. There is no way someone human could be this good. Hinata has to be something else, like a lost deity or a shooting star that landed on earth.

(He doesn’t know it yet, but just because something is holy, it does not mean it is whole.)

“Tobio!” Sugawara’s voice is loud in a way that somehow manages to avoid being irritating, waving him over to their table with a bright smile on his face. Daichi is sitting beside his husband-to-be with a look in his eyes that says holy-shit-I’m-so-in-love-with-you. Some part of Kageyama wonders if, had things gone differently, he’d be looking at someone like that. “I’m so glad you could make it.”

He smiles in reply, though it’s small and nowhere near as bright as his senpai’s. It’s easier to smile now, and Kageyama doesn’t look as awkward doing it now as he did when he was in high school. Seasons change, and along with it, so do people. Maybe, sometimes, he thinks bitterly, people change too much.

“Didn’t have practice today,” he says, taking his jacket off and placing it across the back of the chair before sitting down, “Besides, I wouldn’t miss your bachelor’s party, Sugawara-san.”

“It’s just a dinner,” Sugawara says, “Besides, it’s Kōshi.”

It’s hard to break the habit that Kageyama has built up for himself of building walls to avoid getting hurt again. It’s absolutely ridiculous, especially since he’s known Sugawara for nearly ten years, but he still has to make a conscious effort not to do it anyway.

“Oi, Kageyama!” Tanaka hits Kageyama on the back in a friendly display of camaraderie. “Nice to see you.”

He replies with something bland and generic that seems to satisfy Ryūnosuke enough that the baldy turns to excitedly prattle along with Nishinoya, but Kageyama’s eyes scan the filled seats with a bubbling sort of mix between panic and anticipation. But there isn’t any orange to be seen anywhere. (He can’t tell if the fact comforts or depresses him.)

“His plane was delayed,” Sugawara whispers, so softly that no one but the two of them can hear. “He won’t land in Japan until tomorrow, but...he’ll definitely be at the wedding.”

Kageyama blinks. “How…?”

“You had this look,” Sugawara says, a sad and melancholy smile adorning his face, “like you were missing something you haven’t had in a long time.”

There are only three certainties in the universe for Kageyama, the list of it fitting so nicely in his rhetoric that he could practically see it in his mind’s eye. Everything else seems so lackluster and ephemeral in comparison, and he can’t help use the concreteness as a sort of safety blanket.

One — He is a setter. There are very few things that compare to the feeling of the surety of the ball, slipping perfectly into the niche of his palms and launching off his fingertips. While he’ll be in any position in order to play, setter is where he does best.

Two — His personality is abrasive and sometimes outright rude. Oftentimes, he forgets to take others’ strengths and weaknesses into consideration in the attempt to score a point. There was a time when there was no one there to hit his toss.

Three — Hinata will be there. In the end, Hinata is always there.

Kageyama shuffles uncomfortably in his tuxedo, the stifling atmosphere threatening to suffocate him. There are too many people in the shrine, and it’s much too hot with all of the decorations. It’s a nice mix between a traditional Shinto wedding and a more Western one, a compromise between Daichi’s old-fashioned parents and Sugawara’s decidedly more progressive family. Surprisingly, Sugawara had chosen Oikawa as his best man, while Daichi had picked Asahi.

Glancing around, Kageyama realizes that quite a few of the people here are from their high school years. Their Karasuno years. It makes him wonder how strange and different their lives would have been without the sport, how empty.

Every flash of orange makes his chest hurt, his heart clenching in an odd amalgam of desperation and excitement, and he wonders if he’s always been this pathetic. But there’s an empty seat two places to Kageyama’s left, past Tanaka and Nishinoya’s joking laughter, with Shōyō’s name written in fancy calligraphy on a tiny white notecard, and just looking at it opens the deluge of confusion that sits low in Kageyama’s stomach.

“Gomenasai, Daichi-kun, Kōshi-kun. I got stuck in traffic on the way here.”

“That’s alright, Shōyō,” Daichi says, “You’re here now, and that’s what matters.”

Kageyama is so fucked.

His phone rings from its place on the kitchen counter, surrounded by textbooks and paper. The name Hinata Shōyō flashes across the screen in big white letters, and Kageyama scrambles to pick it up.

“Hello?”

There’s a shifting on the other side of the line. “Oh shit. I forgot to ask if you were busy studying for finals.”

“No, it’s fine,” he replies, rubbing the fatigue out of his eyes with the back of a hand. “Just bored out of my mind doing Japanese history. What’s up?”

“I did it!” Hinata exclaims brightly. Kageyama can hear the grin in Hinata’s tone. “I got my acceptance letter for Tokai U! It came in the mail today.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” A heartbeat of silence. “Holy shit. I really did it.”

Kageyama glances to the opened envelope sitting a few feet away, a full-ride scholarship to Tokyo University sitting inside as an invitation to play volleyball for the school. More than 1000 kilometers away from Tokai, sitting all the way in Hokkaido. More than 1000 kilometers away from Hinata.

Something heavy gathers in his throat, and Kageyama tries his best to swallow down that growing feeling of despair as he says, “You worked hard for it. Of course you did.”

“Tob— Er...Kageyama? Is that you?”

He turns around, the sight of orange hair stopping Kageyama’s heart inside of his chest. It’s been five years since they’ve last seen each other, but this is wrong—so wrong. They should have been together here, laughing and holding hands and dodging questions about their own wedding, but instead they’re standing with two feet between them that feel like miles. It could have been a complete stranger for all the nonexistent familiarity between the two of them.

It should have been Tobio, not Kageyama.

“Hey,” he says, lifting a hand in a small, sad excuse of a wave and trying his best to keep his composure.

Hinata smiles. It’s as bright as the sun, and Kageyama’s just the shadow chasing after him. “How have you been?”

The bitter side of him wants to say, You would know if you hadn’t left. But he can’t. Even after all this time, Kageyama can’t bring himself to despise Hinata for the way their relationship had crumbled.

“Good.”

It’s a measly half-truth, but he’s unable to gather up the courage to live in complete honesty. One part of him wants to keep their conversation going in the hopes that even if their relationship hadn’t thrived, maybe Kageyama could get his best friend back. The other part just wants to leave, to run away from his problems like he had before, anything to stop the hurt that pooled in the center of his chest.

“Um...Well, it was good seeing you, Kageyama-kun,” Hinata says, rubbing his arm awkwardly as their momentum sputters out. “I think I saw Yacchan and Kenma-kun over there. I’m gonna go say hi.”

And just like the last time, Kageyama lets him walk away.

When Hinata had first left for Sapporo, they’d called each other every night. Now, they were lucky to get one every two weeks. The work had just steadily piled on, and the strict curriculum and rigorous volleyball practice hadn’t left much time for socializing. The first time they speak outside of the occasional text in over two months is for their break: a planned, weeklong trip for the original members of the original Karasuno team back in Miyagi.

On the last day there, just before they go their separate ways into different cars and planes and trains, Hinata walks up to Kageyama. “Er...Can I talk to you?”

It doesn’t strike him as anything odd, so he says, “Yeah. Sure.”

They walk to a secluded area, Hinata fiddling with his fingers on the entire walk there.

“Listen,” he says, “I think we should, you know…. Take a break.”

“What.”

“Just until the summer,” Hinata continues, his voice soft. As if he were afraid of breaking Kageyama. “We’re too busy at the moment to maintain a relationship. I mean, we’ve barely talked since last April.”

“I guess.”

“Okay.” Hinata nods, something like disappointment shining in his eyes as he leaves but Kageyama doesn’t know why. Wasn’t this what he wanted?

Kageyama knows he’ll have one hell of a hangover the following morning, but there’s an open tab on the alcohol and he’s got a lot of problems he wants to forget.

“Isn’t that your third sake bomb, Bakageyama?” Tsukishima walks up to the bar with his hands in his pockets and his expression questioning, but something like worry lines his all-seeing stare. “You know you’re going to regret this tomorrow, right? No matter how crazy good your alcohol tolerance is.”

“Hmm.”

Tsukishima sighs and sits down at the stool beside him, calling the bartender over. “A shot of your best.”

Kageyama doesn’t question it. Not after the tentative camaraderie they’d formed after all-nighters and bitching about professors together in the library. But even after all of that, they still refuse to move further than a last name basis, like they’re subtly trying to deny their friendship. “What are you doing here, Tsukishima-kun?”

“You looked like you were having an absolute blast standing over here and being an antisocial loner, so I thought I’d give it a try,” he replies smoothly. Despite his acerbic tone, he meaning is something like, I know you saw Hinata earlier, and I wanted to make sure you were okay.

“I’m having the time of my life,” Kageyama tells him with equal sarcasm. Thanks for checking up on me.

“Well that’s absolutely great,” he says, picking up the shot glass and sipping at the vodka. “But just to warn you, Hinata’s walking this way.”

“I think he misses you,” Yachi says over a bowl of ramen, chopsticks flailing around as she waves her hand with every word she speaks.

Kageyama picks at the karaage he’d ordered and feigns idiocy. “Who?”

“You know who, Tobio-kun. He still asks about you.” Her tone is soft, gentle, like Kageyama is an easily-scared animal she’s found in the wild.

“He’s the one that left, Yachi. Not me.”

“Oh! Kageyama-kun,” Hinata’s voice is slurred and his walk slightly swaying as he walks toward Kageyama. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

“You have? Why?”

“Just to catch up,” he says, “What’s going on in your life at the moment?”

“Um, well, we’re training for Nationals.” Dumbass, he thought, Hinata probably was too.

He laughs. “That’s nice.”

The silence that falls on them is awkward and sticky, like a blanket he just can’t seem to quite get rid of. It’s the loudest quiet Kageyama has ever heard. That is, before he decides to break it.

It must be true about what they say about liquid courage, because Kageyama suddenly speaks up. “Why didn’t we work out? We were so good together, and then….and then nothing. Why—” His voice cracks, and he takes a moment to focus on not breaking down. “Why did you have to leave?”

“I—”

“What?”

“I don’t know,” Hinata admits.

“You don’t know,” Kageyama repeats dumbly, too shocked at the confession to say much else. He’s had a broken heart for this long, and all Hinata can say to explain it is I don’t know. Bullshit.

“I was stupid, so stupid,” Hinata says, staring into his glass of whiskey, “and I should have done something other than what I did. I should have talked to you about it or asked you or done literally anything other than break up with you, because I regret it more than I’ve ever regretted anything in my entire life. And I am so sorry for that.”

Kageyama takes a shaky breath. He’s had years to think about what he’d say if he ever got this opportunity again, but he still can’t find the right words to say. “I— I’m sorry too. I should have tried harder to get you to stay. Called, at the very least.”

Hinata raises his glass high up towards the stars, the sheen of it glinting against the light of the moon, and smiles ruefully. “Maybe we were both wrong.”

Kageyama isn’t the brightest or most hardworking student, but after the split, no one could say his sudden academic excellency was undeserved. He’d thrown himself into studying, ignoring the mind-numbing torture of sitting in front of textbooks for hours on end, and got straight Bs. And when he was tired of that, he dove headfirst into volleyball, losing himself in jump serves and giving the spiker a perfect toss.

But eventually even that hurt too much. Because sometimes, when his hands touch the ball, his mind sees a flash of orange and all he can think of are the headlines of Karasuno’s Insane Quick across volleyball magazines. Because the court without Hinata is far too colorless and cold, and Kageyama can’t stand it.

It’s a soft groan and harsh sun that wakes Kageyama up, and his hand shoots to block his eyes from the offensive light that makes his headache worse. The only good thing about it is the warmth, he thinks as he pulls the covers back over himself.

“Watch it, asshole. I need some too.”

His eyes widen, and he immediately sits up. Just as he’d suspected, Hinata lay beside him on the bed, eyes closed and mumbling. Holy fuck. Had they...? No, they were both still wearing their clothes. Running a hand through his hair, Kageyama closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, letting himself live inside this pocket of heaven for just a few more seconds before standing up and making sure he has his phone before he leaves.

“You’re not leaving, are you?”

Hinata has a single eye cracked open, fear and hope all muddled together in that single expression, and it shatters Kageyama’s resolve in a single blow.

He sighs and walks back over to the bed, shifting under the covers and pulling Hinata close. “I guess not.”