A little orange | Haikyuu x Male Oc

Chapter Two

House of memories

Shin exhaled contentedly as he burrowed his head and reacquainted himself with his old bed.

His old room before he had left for America when he was just seven was still there, not a thing changed and it was kept clean. (Though they should probably buy a new bed. His seven year-old self's bed just wouldn't sustain Shin's ever growing legs that were currently half-hanging uncomfortably at the ends.)

Half an hour ago, just when Shin greeted his grandma at the door he was immediately smothered with affection as Atsuyama Ayumi excitedly led her grandson inside the house, with Shin clumsily taking his shoes off at the genkan.

The cold hardwood floors greeted his feet as he let his grandma drag him. It was a comforting feeling as Shin settled on the old green couch in the living room, while Ayumi shuffled inside the kitchen to prepare some tea.

Familiar clutter surrounded him, some candles here and there with varying shades along with small potted plants decorating the whole area.

Books were piled up in random places and a full bookshelf was placed just a shy away from the TV cabinet opposite to Shin.

A coffee table just in front of the couch with treats and magazines piled in it's different compartments ready when in time to entertain guests.

On the walls were old pictures of his grandma and their family: family photos, silly ones, photos taken from different trips and hiking escapades and a bunch of them were just of tiny Shin smiling brightly.

Shin looked fondly over at one picture placed on a small extra table beside the couch with some small flowering plants decoratively placed beside it.

It was an older one, taken back when he was still three. Together with his grandma and grandmother, Ayumi and Chihiro respectively, the three of them were covered head to toe with dirt and leaves but still beaming at the camera holding up the plants they had potted and the vegetables they harvested.

Humming, Shin stood up and navigated inside the house like he never left at all and found himself standing in front of a small wooden door.

Bracing himself, he slowly slid the door open to a dimly lit room with another door at the end of it that led to the gardens at the back of their home. It was spacious with little things inside. Clicking on the light switch, he went in.

At one far corner sat a small two-story shelf, reddish-brown in color and was clearly well cared for. The bottom shelf had books of different literature (with poetry dominating the selection), looking worn and old and especially loved. On the shelf above those and on the left side was a soldier cap displayed beside a letter and to it's right was a beautiful purple vase filled with fresh sunflowers.

And on the very top of the mahogany shelf were three photos, and though they were distinctly divergent all three of them shared one common theme; they were all smiling.

Shin sat on the clean wooden floor under him so that he could be within eye level of the shelf and examined all three familiar photos.

The first picture was a young man, looking a year or two older than him. He was in uniform and along with his stiff posture created an awfully cold demeanor, yet it was pleasantly contrasted by the soft expression on his face. A smile ever so soft, full of adoration and love towards something just behind the camera.

It was clearly really old with its black and white coloring and different tiny blotches dotting it in random places. There were distinct areas of the picture that had seemingly faded out of constant rubbing, most prominently near the charming young man's smiling face.