insouciant || ON HIATUS

𝕃𝕚𝕗𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕎𝕖𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤

Sugawara's face was flushed, and he held a hand to hide the lower portion of his mouth. "M-Mamoru, you don't have to..."

Mamoru tilted his head, unknowingly giving the setter the eyes he couldn't resist. "I'd like to give it a try, Sugawara-san. If you don't mind?"

Sugawara avoided his gaze and nodded his head, ears tinged pink. "Then I don't mind..."

Mamoru nodded and knelt down slightly.

A cool hand slipped behind his knees and Sugawara buckled down. He collapsed into Mamoru's other arm while Mamoru lifted the boy, bridal style. "Hm, you're not as heavy as you said you were."

Sugawara covered his whole face, hearing the amazed "oohh!" from the team. Nishinoya gawked. "Carry me next!"

He barely had time to set down Sugawara before Nishinoya bounded up to him in a koala hug. He grunted under the sudden weight, but he had no problem carrying the libero. Nishinoya cried. "I feel so tall!"

Hinata let out an impatient noise. "I want to be tall too!"

So Mamoru let Nishinoya down and carried Hinata on his shoulders so he could feel tall. "Wah! Is this what everyone sees?!"

Mamoru huffed a laugh. Not everyone was as tall as Hinata was right now (except for Murasakibara), who was hovering about 8 feet something inches in the air .

When Hinata finally clambered down, Mamoru caught Tsukishima's eye. Tsukishima gave him a withering look as he took a step back. "Don't even try it."

Mamoru tried it.

But to his surprise, Tsukishima was a lot stronger than he seemed for his lanky frame. Tsukishima swept up Mamoru faster than Mamoru could carry him. The white-haired boy yelped, an arm snaking around his neck to keep him from falling. Tsukishima snickered, "Did I scare you?"

"You surprised me," Mamoru corrected, staring at Tsukishima. He stopped breathing momentarily, his gorgeous blue eyes even closer like this.

Daichi waved him over after Tsukishima set him down quickly, trying pointlessly to hide the rising flush in his ears.

Mamoru's mouth twitched after giving the captain a quick glance. "I don't think I can carry you. You have a lot of muscle."

"That's why I'm carrying you." Daichi carried him bridal style before he could protest, hefting him up with his arms, beaming. "You're pretty light too."

"Thank you."

"Can I try?" Asahi asked, scratching his cheek bashfully. He ducked his head. "If you don't mind, Mamoru-kun."

"I don't mind," Mamoru said truthfully, being set down. He stood close to Asahi, letting him slip his arms under his knees and back, holding him up.

"Oh, you're really light," he realized, surprised. Mamoru gazed at the gym, also surprised.

"I feel even taller." Is this how Murasakibara-kun sees all the time?

The entire fiasco started when Ennoshita tried to carry Tanaka away from Kiyoko, who seemed on the verge of slapping him with her clipboard. Mamoru thought he'd help and lifted Tanaka right off the ground. Somehow, it turned into a "can Mamoru carry you?" spectacle.

And then it turned into a "if Mamoru can't carry you, you can carry him" spectacle.

When he'd carried all of his team or his team had carried him, Mamoru glanced at Kiyoko. "Would you like to participate, Kiyoko-san? You don't have to if you don't want to, but I didn't want you to be left out...."

Kiyoko's pretty face dipped down, black bangs hiding her face. She held a hand to her mouth, muffling her answer (and her blush). "I'd...like to be...carried."

Tanaka and Nishinoya screeched loudly, hopping up and down. "I'll carry you, Kiyoko-san!"

But Kiyoko walked over to Mamoru, timidly standing in front of him. Carefully, Mamoru slipped an arm under her legs and behind her back, easily lifting Kiyoko. She rested her hands on her chest, slightly surprised.

"You're light as well. Are you eating enough, Kiyoko-san," he asked softly, setting her down since she looked a little uncomfortable.  Kiyoko only dipped her head, cheeks flushed lightly.

Kinoshita and Narita gave it a try, though Mamoru ended up carrying both of them since he was a little heavier than they anticipated.

Yamaguchi wanted to try to carry Mamoru since they looked to be around the same size, but Mamoru ended up carrying him since he had more muscle mass.

Surprisingly, Kageyama could actually pick him up, though it took some effort. Seeing Kageyama pick him up, Hinata exclaimed he wanted to give it a try. Hinata wrapped his arms around Mamoru's torso and gave a mighty pull.

Mamoru felt the back of his heels lift (he gave him a little bit of help) and he awkwardly patted Hinata's head. "Please don't strain your back."

Hinaat pouted but let him go, grumbling about how Kageyama could lift Mamoru right off his feet.

The door slid open, and Ukai and Takeda entered the gym. "Okay, let's start prac-"

"Coach!" Nishinoya exclaimed, looking excited. "Can we try something!"

"Eh? What is it?"

Daichi tapped Nishinoya's head, looking annoyed. "Oi, don't bother him."

He ignored Daichi in his haste to ask. "Can we see if Mamoru can lift you?"

Ukai raised a brow. "What?"

"We're testing to see who I can lift apparently," Mamoru explained, clearing his throat softly.

"You can try," Ukai said dubiously as Mamoru made his way behind the coach. "But I'm a full grown adu — WhOa!"

He almost dropped his clipboard, feet lifting a few inches off the ground. Since they were both the same height, there wasn't much he could do unless he wanted to lift him from his legs, which was a little uncomfortable.

Mamoru set Ukai down gently, dipping his head. Takeda pointed at himself. "Should I participate too?"

He could almost see the pointed dog ears and wagging tail, eagerly waiting to be called on, so Mamoru threw him a bone. "If you don't mind, Takeda-sensei."

Mamoru easily lifted Takeda off the ground and set him down gently.

Extra

"Moru-chaaaaaan! You should try carrying me!"

"Shut up, Oikawa!"

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Sorry for the long wait! If you were waiting for an actual chapter, sorry for the disappointment. There's too many depressing things going on in my life right now and I needed something happy.

Updates are gonna be sparse due to college too. Whoever through college was all fun and games, it's not. In all honesty, though you don't have class everyday all day, it's A LOT of WORK so I'm a little stressed out right now.

Azurawashere (spotify name) created a lovely playlist!  I know I said no to someone making a playlist for the book, but you could make a playlist for yourself and share it in the comments.  I plan on releasing the official spotify playlist later.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6zW8KvKrEwWHnDv6zdFjgf?si=dHKmofT6RE6D7B5j1jZ0sw

Thanks for reading and being patient, guys!

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