#i am sooooo bored tonight it's unbelievable

[garyfuckingking]

“I see your time in the dungeon has made you no less graceful, Loki.”

[kinetic-elaboration]

October 20: Mr. Robot 2x12

Watched the finale of Mr. Robot S2 tonight. I... was probably too tired to really appreciate it, but here are a few notes anyway. Mostly about Dom and Darlene lol.

Seeing Elliot as Mr. Robot is so weird. Rami as Mr. Robot, I guess I should say.

So either Tyrell also recited the red wheelbarrow poem to someone else, or, and I assume this is right, Elliot passed it on to Dark Army. I feel like that’s the biggest immediate hint that this takes place in the past--later obviously they’re not at Coney Island but sometimes it’s hard to remember things from one scene to the next imo.

I don’t know if I have the brain for this.

Darlene. :(

What an intro, though. Great resolution to the cliffhanger of who died (not that it would have been really realistic for Darlene to die this early but like...anything is possible).

Santiago trying to be the bad cop. The Patriot Act doesn’t negate the Constitution for citizens like talk like you’re the smartest person in the room all you want Constitution > statutes is still how it works.

All these USA references--imo probably not what will age best from this show. “Characters like you aren’t welcome here.”

“We’re going to be best friends.” Well....she’s not entirely wrong, timeline aside.

I completely forgot about this whole Scott Knowles pretending to be Tyrell thing. Sooooo boring.

Maybe it’s supposed to be another personal thing that has greater implications politically but...idk he’s really only fucking with Joanna, who is boring and unimportant. I guess it could be a double fake out meant to make the ending more suspenseful. A lot of people had been arguing since s1 that Tyrell was another personality, something I always thought was batshit insane and unbelievable. However, just because he’s real in S1 doesn’t mean he’s still real. So, you have Elliot convinced he’s dead and Joanna convinced he’s alive, and then apparently proof he’s alive--you see him--and then a hint he may be dead--all of the evidence he was alive has been thrown out.

Doesn’t make Joanna any less boring though.

Back to the good stuff.

“Babe.”

“Just two crazy, wacky Jersey girls.”

Cisco might have been the love of her life :(

I feel like Darlene may finally be, if not Dom’s match, at least someone interesting for her for once. Some kinda challenge at least.

Dom has some physical evidence here and there but mostly she’s building her case by just breaking people. Flipping person after person after person. Fingerprints can be wiped off but everyone you encounter who remembers you...

“This is Olympus! We are Prime!” Ugh Tyrell stfu so boring.

On the one hand, that’s pretty dumb of them, putting all the paper records in one place. On the other hand, yay for print saving the day as I always say it will. (Well, almost saving...)

Santiago is trying so hard not to let Dom get anywhere. Too bad for him he’s up against the only actually smart person in the FBI.

“I know her. I am her.”

This scene is so good: the slow, unhurried pacing; the flickering lights; the music; the dramatic hallway walk; all the people amazed that Dom caught Darlene and is gonna show her everything; Dom’s speech; Darlene’s face; how the audience should have seen all of this coming but (at least in my case!) didn’t at all; the Romero reveal; the board itself. A masterpiece!!

And yet for all that they were so wrong about Tyrell. He really was not ever that important.

Trying to parse this convo between the hacker and Mr. Robot. Kinda...makes it sound like the hacker created the big picture and then created Mr. Robot in order to iron out the details and deal with the unpleasant stuff. Or assigned him that role. Mr. Robot who is perhaps farther from the real Elliot than the hacker is?

The stay in your realm thing...he has a certain role he was created to play, and now he’s trying to overstep those bounds.

I love how Elliot thinking Tyrell isn’t real and then being proven wrong is like this big joke on all the people who thought he was always a personality lol.

“I’m the only one who’s real” is literally a psychopathic thing to say.

I also like the subversion and twisting of S1′s finale. Instead of Elliot possibly shooting someone else, he is himself shot, and instead of the big reveal being that another character is his alternate personality, it’s rather that another character is NOT.

I feel like the hacker is already getting to this place where he’s....becoming too dominant. Overstepping his bounds and purpose.

Mr. Robot blinking out but Tyrell staying the same because he is, louder for those in the back, real.

“You did this to yourself.” But not literally. Iconic.

So the ending originally kind of made me wonder if Angela had been a double (triple?) agent the whole time, and ALL of this was in service of whiterose...but I don’t think so. I might have tried to follow the thread of that theory once but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t track. I think she was turned by hypnosis in part 1 of the finale, and then the Dark Army got her number to Tyrell, but he’s never met her before and doesn’t know who she is, other than another contact he’s supposed to trust.

Extra scene! I really was 100% convinced that they were talking about time travel when I first saw this lol. I feel utterly played but not in a bad way. It’s like..the show is smart and so you have to try to think of things in a complicated way. But sometimes they just aren’t that complicated! There isn’t always a conspiracy. Tyrell wasn’t sending secret gifts to his wife. He also wasn’t a hallucination or extra personality. Romero wasn’t shot by the Dark Army or the FBI. Time travel is not possible--or even on the minds of some of these characters. Angela wasn’t a double-triple-super-secret-agent-spy: she was trying to get justice for her mom, genuinely, sincerely. You’re primed, just as the characters are, to see conspiracies, to see complexity, to believe everything and everything, but some things just are as they appear on the surface. It’s never knowing which is which that fucks you up.

At any rate, I’m taking a break to finish the 3% before watching S3, which  have seen before, but don’t remember very well. Very excited for the 3% though!

[saikostories]

HAIKYUU - The Dark Spots on the Sun pt2

As Shoyo had expected, the day had dragged on longer than he thought. It was excruciating to sit through Maths, and even worse to watch the teacher ramble on about god-knows-what in History. However, what Shoyo did slightly look forward to, was his free period. He wasn’t in a place where he wanted to see Hoshi per se... It was more that he felt good about studying for this test. He had really concentrated during English as to write as many notes down as possible. The more I write down, the easier it will be for Hoshi- Nanami... to teach me. That was the thought pattern that was going on throughout his head. So when it came to that free period, Shoyo was quite happy to see that his work in class had payed off. Maybe it was because he actually concentrated... or perhaps it had something to do with Nanami’s teach style... either way, it further heightened his belief that for once in his life, Shoyo could actually pass a class that he didn’t enjoy.

“Thanks for all your help Nanami... I’ll try to get the work that you set me done tonight ready for our lesson tomorrow.” Shoyo said, slinging his bag over his shoulder. The good thing about this free period meant that he only had one more class and then it was volleyball. After that, it was homebound to make sure Natsu was okay and food was on the table

“No problem! Your notes being colour coded will help a lot to memorise the important parts... though you already have that covered thanks to Yachi-san!” She said taking a step forward towards Shoyo and putting her hair behind her ear. She was slightly taller than Shoyo was but what made him uncomfortable was the proximity between them. Shoyo took a step back and smiled slightly.

“Yeah... Yachi is really good with that sort of stuff. She’s also a really good manager too.” Nanami frowned a bit at that. But it disappeared shortly after.

“Well... Maybe I could come watch you after practice? It would be nice to see how good of a volleyball player you actually are...” Shoyo gulped and nodded.

“S-sure... I mean, we’re just doing drills today but we might have a practice match so if you want...”

“Great! I’ll come watch after class!” She waved as Shoyo ran down the hallway to get to class.

Yachi’s a good manager huh?

-

Nanami stood at the door of the gym, slowly peering through to spot the usual colour of Shoyo’s hair. Upon spotting it, she smiled and waved.

“Hey is it just me... or is that unbelievably cute girl waving at us?” Noya said to Tanaka, causing him to spin around and open his eyes wide.

“Oh my god... I spy an angel! What is she doing here?” Tanaka said. Tsukishima raised an eyebrow and tutted.

“She’s a first year in the Class 1. Yachi’s friend I think...” Yamaguchi said. “Nanami Hoshi.” At the mention of her name, Shoyo turned to face the doorway and smiled back. The rest of the Volleyball players watched with open mouths as Shoyo ran up to her to say hello.

“Hey Shoyo! I came to watch like we said.” She put her hands behind her back ad twisted her body side to side. Shoyo nodded and pointed to the bench that was currently being occupied by Kiyoko and Yachi.

“Hey Nanami! I was right, we did some drills and we’re just about to start a practice match if you’re interested in watching.”

“Oh you know me.... I’m always interested in watching you play Shoyo-kun!” Shoyo felt his face heat up again as she batted her eyelashes and took a step forwards. Behind him, he could also sense every single pair of eyes from his team mates pinned onto the back of his head.

“Did I just hear that right? Somebody is actually interested in that idiot?” Kageyama scowled, annoyed that Shoyo was wasting time talking to a girl.

“What are you jealous that the most popular girl in school likes that hyperactive child over you?” Tsukishima mocked.

“Yeah I don’t know if you were insulting Kageyama or Hinata on that one...” Kinoshita deadpanned. Yamaguchi laughed awkwardly as they watched the setter scowl even more. “Oi Kageyama, you know if you keep scowling like that your face is gonna be stuck like that you know!” The team laughed as a loud Shut Up! erupted in the gym. Shoyo jogged back after Nanami had taken her seat on the bench, just in time for the whistle to blow.

“Right! We’re gonna be doing another 3 on 3! We’ll have Kageyama, Hinata and Tanaka on one team.... Followed by Sugawara, Asahi and Nishinoya on the other. The rest of you will be practicing passing and setting  in pairs outside.” Coach Ukai said as Kyoko and Yachi got out the score board. As the teams took their places on the court, Shoyo smiled at Nanami, happy she was there to watch him. It felt weird that the most popular girl in school had taken an interest in him... but nonetheless, it pushed him to do well.

The game started and went how any normal game should go. Shoyo would try his best to hit every spike, receive and serve that he could. Especially since Nanami was paying close attention. For some reason, he felt the need to impress her. Not because he had any interest in her or anything... but it still felt exciting and thrilling to be the centre of one’s attention. Especially since there was a significant lack of it at home.

Eventually, Shoyo, Kageyama and Tanaka had one 25-23. Nanami stood up and clapped hard, surprising everyone on the court. Shoyo blushed and smiled a little at her enthusiasm.

“That was amazing shoyo! You were jumping and running and catching.... It was like a huge... orange... blur!”

“Really? you weren’t too bored?” Shoyo asked nervously. Nanami shook her head.

“Not at all! I totally get why you love it, I mean you’re sooooo good! I hope I can come watch you when you play again.” Shoyo nodded and took a sip of his drink.

“That’s sounds great... I’ll uh let you know when we next have a match....”

“Hinata! Hey idiot! We gotta practice! Stop flirting and get over here!”

“I’m not flirting bakeyama!” Shoyo yelled whilst blushing nervously. “I... I gotta go but um... I’ll see you tomorrow? For tutoring?” Nanami nodded eagerly.

“I can’t wait! Good luck on the rest of practice!” She said as she walked away, waving. Shoyo smiled back and watched her walk away.

Even if she wasn’t someone that Shoyo was interested in... She’d be a nice friend....

-

“Hello? Anyone home?” Silence. Looks like she’s still at work... or She’s passed out from drinking too much. Shoyo walked around the house, peering into the different rooms to try and see if Amaya had gotten home. If she had, it meant that Shoyo was in for it again tonight. Nanami had caught up with him after volleyball practice, which, thanks to Noya and Kageyama... had run late. Again. “Natsu? You here?” Slowly, the sound of a door opening sounded and a tearful Natsu tiptoed over to her brother. Shoyo knelt down and pulled her into his arms. “Hey... are you okay?” Natsu nodded and Shoyo sighed quietly, happy that she had yet to fall victim to her mother’s abuse. “Come on. I’ll get dinner on. I think we have some rice and chicken left over from the other day. You hungry?” Natsu nodded and wiped her tears away.

“Shoyo... mom picked me up and she didn’t say anything. She hasn’t said anything at all since she got back. She just shouted at me and told me to go wait for you to come back...” Natsu whimpered as more tears fell from her eyes. Shoyo hushed her again and pulled her back in for another hug.

“Where’s mom now? In the kitchen?”

Natsu shook her head and pointed to where the lounge was. Quietly, Shoyo could hear the soft buzz of the TV, signalling that Amaya had indeed fallen asleep. Shoyo stood up and got the left overs from the fridge, whilst Natsu rambled on about her day. Slowly, she was starting to stop crying. Shoyo always loved it when she talked about how her day went. She rambled on about her friends, her teachers, the school pet that they recently got and how they all agreed to call the new goldfish “iki”. He also felt happy when Natsu showed him the drawing that she had done in her art class. It wasn’t a masterpiece by some famous painter... just a simple drawing done by a six year old. Though Shoyo couldn’t help but think that it was the best drawing he’d ever seen. On it was a small boy.... and a much smaller girl holding hands in front of a house under water. Hovering just in between their heads, was a tiny goldfish rightly labelled Iki. Shoyo took it and slipped into his pocket. If he showed Amaya this, she’d most likely just rip the thing up.

“Where the hell were you today?” Shoyo widened his eyes. He was hoping that he could get Natsu to go into her room before their mother woke up. But now that she had, they were both stuck in the kitchen.

“I’m s-sorry mom... I got a flat tire so I had to stop at a friends house to-” Shoyo couldn’t finish the sentence before he felt a large thump to the side of his head, knocking him on the ground. This time, he hadn’t anticipated the beating. Normally, it would be done after dinner.

“Don’t lie to me! I know you stayed late at that stupid volleyball club! How many times have I told you to quit it!? I don’t care if you have to leave early but you will get home, you will cook food and you will do as I say! Is that so hard to do!? Or do I have to beat it into you again!?”

“N-no mom-” Shoyo’s breath caught in his throat as another punch to his face sent him flying to the ground. As he tried to get up, a foot slammed onto his back, knocking him to the ground again. Amaya crouched down and twisted his arm around his back. The pain from the unnatural position made Shoyo wince out loud in pain and a tear threatened to fall.

“What is wrong with you? Why are you such.... a dissapointment....” Shoyo opened his eyes and looked into his peripheral vision. Natsu stood staring, eyes wide at the scene in front of her. He wished that he could tell her to go away, to run into her room and not come out until he said it was okay like they always did. But instead, he could only cry out as Amaya pushed on his back again, causing his head to his the ground hard. What am I going to do? How can I get her to stop?

“I’m sorry mom, please, I won’t be late again... I promise...” Amaya tutted and stood up, whilst taking another swig from the beer bottle she had placed on the table.

“I don’t care what you do. Just remember for next time or else I won’t be so lenient, go it? You’re a disgrace... You should have just died when your father did. Better yet, you should have died in his place. Pathetic, useless and forgotten.” Amaya snatched the bowl of rice from the table, a new bottle of beer from the fridge and stormed into her room. With a slam, Shoyo pleaded that this was it for the night. Amaya hadn’t been lying. Compared to her usual beatings, this wasn’t half bad... However from what Shoyo had gone through the night before, plus not eating breakfast nor lunch for two days in a row, throwing of course two, two hour sessions of volleyball a day....

He felt like he had been hit with a sledge hammer.

He couldn’t move. Every fibre of muscle in his body screamed in agony. How long can I go like this? Before I eventually break?

“Shoyo?”

“I’m okay Natsu... Why don’t you go get ready for bed? I’ll be right there....”

“But Shoyo...”

“I said go to bed Natsu.”

...

“Okay...” Shoyo waited until he heard the soft click of Natsu’s door shutting before he curled in on himself and fully embraced the pain that he felt. He stayed like that for a couple of minutes, until eventually he grew bored and pulled himself up. Limping his way to the bathroom, he made sure that the light from Amaya’s bedroom was truly off. That must mean she’s finally asleep. Good. Once he got into the bathroom, he gasped a little. The bruise that he had gotten yesterday had reformed and darkened to a blackish colour with yellow around the edges. He also had another bruise on his forehead that was starting to form. He reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it up. There, he found a cluster of bruises appearing on his ribs. Nothing permanent but a little bit or arnica cream certainly wasn’t going to make this go away. What was he going to tell the team? That he fell of his bike again? That he walked into a door? He winced as he stretched to get the cream... only to land on a smaller bag. He reached a little further and pulled it out.

Mom’s makeup bag.

He had never used any obviously... But he started to wonder if he could potentially use this to cover up some of the bruising? His mom had roughly the same colour skin tone... so perhaps if he watched a tutorial or something he could figure out a way to put some on. Opening it up, he grabbed what looked like to be what he needed... a small tube labelled ‘concealer’. Sounds about right. I’ll use it tomorrow when Mom leaves. She won’t notice it’s gone that way. He puts the bag bag to where he finds it and heads to the kitchen to make lunch. Thankfully, there was enough for lunches for the both of them tomorrow. If he missed another day then he wasn’t sure he’d be able to survive on the same energy. Plus I still have to do that homework Nanami set me. Damn it. After lunches for tomorrow were made, Shoyo tiptoed to Natsu’s room and knocked in the same pattern he did every night. When he heard nothing, he opened it slightly. Sure enough, Natsu had fallen asleep. Shoyo creeped in and gently sat down on the bed as to try and not to wake her up. She looked so peaceful... yet the frown on her face and the way she scrunched the covers up in her hands told him otherwise.

“I’m sorry for worrying you Natsu...” Shoyo whispered softly. “I promised you I’d be the best brother in the world.... Well I don’t think I’m doing that good of a job...” he gulped and took a shaky breath. “I’ll protect you Natsu.... I swear it. She’ll never lay a finger on you okay...” he bent down a gently pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll never leave you alone with her okay?”

-

Shoyo couldn’t sleep well that night. When the morning came, he snuck in to the bathroom and did his best with Amaya’s makeup to hide the bruising on his face. It didn’t cover them up completely but it did make it look way better than it had before. Natsu had taken her lunch already... in which she smiled when she found the meat bun that Shoyo had been given fro, Kageyama and therefore not eaten. Amaya had not said anything when she left. She didn’t even spare a glance at her son nor her daughter. So far... if Amaya was to be like this the whole week... He wondered if she would still go on that business trip. For Natsu, it was imperative she went. Shoyo had already planned ahead too. Natsu was to stay at a friends house for the week. This was actually better for her, because not only did she have a friend to hang out with than her brother, but it gave her a chance to have real meals. Like pizza and fish and meat. Stuff that usually would be too expensive to buy on Shoyo’s allowance.

Shoyo sat on the steps of the gym. He had left slightly earlier, claiming he had to meet with his teacher about a school project. The truth is, he had no energy for Kageyama’s usual racing. He wanted a morning where he would walk to school peacefully... giving him time to think of a backup plan if Amaya came home early. And to do the homework Nanami had set him. Soon, he heard the loud thumps of feet on the ground come to an abrupt halt in front of him. Shoyo however, didn’t bother to look up. His head still heart from yesterday.

“You’re already here.”

“Yeah.”

“Have you been waiting here long?”

“No.”

“What’s with the short answers? Too lazy to act all hyper?” Kageyama teased with an eyebrow up. Shoyo shrugged and lifted his head to finally look at Kageyama. The setter frowned at Shoyo’s face, clearly noticing the bruising and the badly applied concealer. “Oi idiot. What happened to your face? Fell off your bike again?” Shoyo smiled weakly and shrugged again.

“Ahhh.... there you two are. Didn’t race today?” Daichi appeared around the corner with the locker room’s keys in his hands. “Seriously... I ought to just give you the keys... saves me having to get up in the morning.” He laughed slightly and unlocked the club room. Kageyama as usual came barrelling in to try and get changed first. Seriously.... everything’s a competition with you right? Shoyo thought to himself. Daichi looked over at the middle blocker and raised his eyebrows. “Woah Hinata you’re already changed. Guess you can help me put up the net whilst we wait for the others.”

Shoyo had thought ahead. If he had gotten changed at the locker room, the likelihood that the team would see his bruises on his ribs were probable. This he didn’t need. He’d probably get changed in the toilets later, or pretend that his uniform was in the wash and not wear it today. Anything to make sure they didn’t notice. Shoyo nodded and followed Daichi out. Kageyama however had eyes fixed on his team mate. Something to him... wasn’t right. Somethings off. He’s acting way too different. Shoyo followed daichi silently. When he started setting everything up for morning practice, he still stayed quiet.

What am I going to do if mom comes home early? What do I do with Natsu? What do I do if she founds out I’m not there?

“-ta. Nata. HINATA.” The sound of someone yelling shook him out of his trance and Shoyo’s head snapped up. He had completely forgotten he was supposed to act normal. Yet here he was overthinking things and not saying anything.

“Y-yes?” Shoyo stammered as he looked up. Huh? Coach Ukrai? Since when did he get here?

“Are you listening to me?”

How long have I been spacing out for?

“Y-yeah... sorry... I ugh... well I was just...”

What the hell are you doing!? Speak normally for God’s sake!

“Anyway... We have two days exactly until we leave. For those of you who have exams tomorrow... good luck! It will be a shame if you have to miss out. Dismissed.”

I wasn’t focusing for the entire practice!? What the hell!?

“Hinata. Can I talk to you for a second?” Shoyo nodded as he walked up to Takeda. For some reason, Shoyo felt like his heart was in his throat. That entire morning practice had been an blur to him. One minute he was helping Daichi... the next he was finishing morning practice. He couldn’t remember a thing. Was I really that occupied with thinking up a plan for mom?

“Mr Takeda... I just want to let you know that I...”

“Hinata are you okay?”

Huh? Shoyo froze in place. Please don’t tell me after all that my cover was blown!

“I’m only asking because it doesn’t seem like you’re yourself lately. You’ve been spacing out all practice. Like something is on your mind...”

“W-well I just...”

“If it’s about your exams don’t worry... I’ve been keeping an eye on your report card and apparently you’re doing very well in English. Your teacher is really happy that you got yourself a tutor... plus you seem to be really concentrating in class...” oh right.... the exam.... I forgot about that... “I just want to let you know that it’s okay to take a break. Studying 24/7 is not good okay?” Shoyo nodded. So he thought I was just stressed.... I can go with that.

“Don’t worry sir. I’m perfectly fine. Tomorrow I have a good feeling I’ll do really well, and I’ll be able to go to Tokyo with you all.” Takeda smiled.

“I’m glad, just know that as your teacher... I’m here to talk about anything if you need me okay? Now go. Get to class.” Shoyo nodded and ran towards the school history department.

Yeah. I’ll be fine.

Natsu will be fine.

Everything... will be fine.

-

“So basically you have to look at the ending form of the verb and decide whether that should be in the imperative form or the conditional.” Nanami had been helping Shoyo out more and more... not just in English but in all sorts of subjects... Maths, Japanese, history. She had been a big help to him lately. At this rate, Shoyo even thought he could move up a class. “It’s really good Shoyo, I think you definitely can pass this test tomorrow...” Shoyo nodded as he packed his books away and stood up ready to go for lunch. He was happy he finally got something to eat this time. Even if it wasn’t much. He was also happy that Natsu hadn’t noticed the extra sandwhich that Shoyo had slipped in to her bag. Normally, she’d be the one to pass him some of her lunch, saying that they made cookies in food tech so she was okay. Shoyo didn’t really believe her... but he hadn’t had the heart to call her out on it. Nanami followed Shoyo until they reached his class. At one of the desks, sat Kageyama, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, who waved as they waited for Shoyo to sit down.

“Thanks again Nanami.” He was just about to leave when she grabbed his arm, surprising him a little. He winced as she held on, remembering the bruises Amaya had caused the night before. She doesn’t let go though.

“So listen... I was wondering if you wanted to go grab coffee or something... You know... after school next week?” Shoyo’s arm was aching a little bit more now. He nodded slowly.

“Sure I uh... I have a week training program in Tokyo next week but I’m sure we could afterwards?” Nanami’s eyes widened happily and she finally let go of Shoyo’s arm.

“Brilliant! It’s a date! I’ll call you Shoyo-kun!” She cried as she ran towards her class in the hall. Shoyo sighed and rubbed his arm, before walking over to his teammates to sit down. They each raised their eyebrows in suspicion.

“So you and Hoshi huh? That’s fun....” Yamaguchi asked innocently as he started eating his way through a bag of chips. Shoyo shrugged and opened his own paper brown bag.

“Hm... i think she expects more from me though... I’m not really looking for a serious relationship.” Shoyo internally winced as he looked down. His sandwich he had prepared had fallen apart to look like a jumbled mess in his lunch bag. He sighed and picked up the banana and threw the rest away in the bin. Looks like I’m not eating that much again today.

“Hey Shoyo!” Shoyo turned his head to see the familiar faces of both Tanaka and Nishinoya entering his class. He smiled and waved a little hello, whilst gesturing for them to sit down. Tanaka looked over to what Shoyo was eating and tutted. “Seriously you’re not eating again?” Kageyama frowned at that.

“Yeah Shoyo... you can’t just eat fruit all day and nothing else. I mean I know it’s healthy but your need to eat way more if you want to have enough energy for practice...” Noya added. Shoyo smiled his usual fake smile and shook his head in protest.

“I’m fine seriously! Nanami made me a muffin earlier so Technically I already ate.”

“Okay... I just don’t want to clean up a dead Hinata from the volleyball court because you haven’t had anything sustaining. Here take this.” Tanaka passed him a pack of biscuits. As much as Shoyo wanted to say no... he was getting reeeeaaaally hungry. It was starting to really affect him. He nodded a Thankyou and took the food.

As they group talked, Shoyo would stare out of the window like he usually did in class. Tomorrow was his test. He had to do well. If he didn’t, then he could Kiss Tokyo goodbye. Plus, with the extra classes he’d have to take, it would surely mean that he wouldn’t get home on time. That out Natsu in danger. What did I do if she does come home early? Either way it’s not going to be good for me at all. A hand on his arm snapped out of his thoughts and he turned to see a worried Yamaguchi peering at him.

“Shoyo... are you okay?” He blinked a couple of times and checked the clock. What? Two already? Did lunch really go that fast!? I literally just sat down though! Have I been spacing out that long!?

Shoyo couldn’t find the words that were stuck in his throat. It was getting too hot in this classroom. Too stuffy. He couldn’t breathe for some reason.

“I-I’m fine... I was just thinking that’s all...”

“That’s dangerous...” Tsukishima replied under his breath but loud enough for everyone to hear. He frowned when Shoyo didn’t react. Instead, he pulled his arm away from Yamaguchi and took a step backwards.

“I-I’m sorry.... I... I have somewhere... I need to be.” Shoyo didn’t even let any of them mutter another word as he grabbed his bag and ran to his next class, taking a detour and going the long way. He was panicking, he was overthinking the whole business-trip situation. He just needed to relax and act normal.

“Did I say something wrong?” Yamaguchi asked the group. Noya and Tanaka shared a glance. Something wasn’t quite right with their underclassman.