Man of the Match | DaiSuga

Chapter 23

Sugawara POV :

It had reached around 5am, when I was finally beginning to calm down from my fourth breakdown of the night. I unlocked the bathroom door, and walked out in some fresh pyjamas that were in the cupboard under the sink. I was freezing cold after taking a cold shower in an attempt to ground myself and stop the anxiety, the make myself externally numb to try and wind my feelings back. As I stepped out both my parents and Rei were stood there worrying. "Sorry." I mumbled, not wanting to meet any of their gazes. It pains me that this is something I had put them through previously and I knew it was playing on all of their minds. 

The bullying had started again, and I was beginning to lose any sense of the word stable. Last time this happened, we ended up in the hospital and then moving to the middle of nowhere. "Don't be such a dickhead Kosh." Rei pulled me in to a tight hug resting his chin on my head. I hate how weak I am. "Look, you point out that little shit and I'll knock him into the middle of ne..."

"REI!" Mum yelled over whatever threats he was about to make. Everyone had their own weird way of showing support and it was comforting, but it didn't change anything. "I'll get the heated blanket, why don't we all watch a film or something? Or I can make you a hot chocolate." She suggested before darting off to get the heated blanket. Rei was still suffocating me in a hug, I hate having people worry like this over me. I suppose having panic attacks and consistently crying since I coming home hasn't raised anyone's spirits. Rei looked ready to kill Daichi, my dad had his phone in his hands, as if he was ready to call a doctor or paramedic in case I had never left the bathroom, and mum - well she was keeping herself busy darting around to do what she could. 

I had become the centre of everyone's attention and not in a good way. "I won't do anything stupid." I offered everyone a reassuring smile, which none of them bought. Rei finally loosened his grip on me, stepping back and glancing me over. Even though he was my younger brother, he still managed to pull his shit together from time to time. 

"Rei I'm ok, wanna play a video game?" I asked, hoping he would return to his less worried, normal, insulting self. He wasn't buying what I was selling, he had never been very good at hiding his feelings - his face usually giving it away and spilling his secrets to the open. His nose had scrunched up and he had raised an eyebrow at me. He continued to glance me over, even going to far as to turn me around a couple times. "Can you stop that?" I asked attempting to swat him away. Finally happy with his assessment he let me go and began walking to my room to turn on the TV in there.

He pulled out my Nintendo switch before sitting it on the docking station, "Sure but if you make me play Animal Crossing, I'll set pitfalls all over your fucking island - got it?" I nodded as I went into my room and sat on my bed, Rei coming and sitting beside me with the joy-cons. "Mario Kart?" He asked scrolling through the downloaded games, again I nodded trying to regain my mental strength before speaking. As the game began to load we sat in a comfortable silence, just watching the light of the TV in the now dark room. Mum appeared shortly after chucking the heated blanket over us both before ruffling both of our hair and leaving. 

"Koshi, why do you have to scare us like that?" I don't think he intended for it to be that blunt, but it took me back a-bit. I didn't know how to respond, I couldn't formulate words and in my silence he just took it upon himself to keep speaking. "You know, looking back you should be fucking proud of how far you've come, I know what I say doesn't matter much because, well, how could I ever understand right?" He offered a glance in my direction before continuing, a split second to check boundaries before continuing. "I know it won't be an overnight job either, so don't pull the it ain't as easy as it sounds crap - I know that. But looking back at us as kids, you should be proud of where you started and how far you've come." He was casually scrolling through race courses and trying to pick a character - as if the conversation wasn't anything of importance. 

I saw his demeanour drop slightly showing his sincerity. "I - I'm proud of you Koshi and I guess I just want you to be proud of you too." He offered me another side-glance, part of me thinking he was just revelling in the fact he held the room for once. "Also remember that American exchange student, what was her name?... Becky..." He began but I cut him off.

"Don't pretend you don't remember her name, if I remember her fucking name then you obviously do!" I pitched in, he can't pretend to be so manly all the time. "And how could I forget her, the first person I hated more than anything. She screwed you over big time, and then expected the sympathy, what a gross worm!" He laughed at my choice of insult.

"I think that was the first time you properly stood up for me." He grinned reminiscing. 

"Errr... yes it was and rightly so! Little bitch had it coming." I growled, remembering her smirking little twelve year old demon face as if it was yesterday. It was back when I'd just started at Karasuno and Rei was the new kid in Junior High over here. Being the new kid starting in your third year isn't easy and well it turned sour fast. Rebecca was the epicentre of it going south, and I punched her - hard. "Pretty sure I got a bad rep at that school after that." I chuckled to myself, for giving the exchange student a broken nose. 

Rei started laughing, a little too loud, "Oh and remember when we were at Junior High in Tokyo and you totally had that guy protect your ass!" He giggled, "I just ran and found the scariest looking high schooler I could from nearby and dragged him over when you were getting beat up, he stormed over like some rooster of the night..." He was in a laughing fit.

"I'm sorry, rooster of the night?" I was joining him in his chorus of laughs. 

He was clutching his stomach in tears of joy, "Shush, he had the hair of a rooster and it was black, what else do I call him?" His cackle must have carried around the house and down the street twice. "And when he scared off the bullies and helped you up, I introduced you as my big brother you pulled this sort of face..." His laugh stopped abruptly as he turned to me with puppy dog eyes, a fake pout and his index fingers pointed together. His second long impersonation soon died before he broke out laughing again.

"I did not UwU at a stranger!" I yelled in defence hitting him up the backside of the head. "And it was the first time you'd referred to me in public as a guy, you seemed to proud of me and I had just been laid on the floor getting kicked." I laughed awkwardly, "Wonder what Mr Rooster of the Night is up to." I laughed using the title assigned to the stranger that I would probably never meet again. 

"Anyway, wanna do a couple races then sleep? At this rate we won't be sleeping until the sun is up." He asked, sounding indifferent on his game but we had gone to the effort to set it up so may as well have a game or two.