[Artwork is not mine! Credit to Evil-usagi]
Requested by: Absolutely No One
Word Count: 4,569
Warnings and/or Pre-Notes:
- Borderline Sibling Incest
- Brother X Sister
- Unhealthy Co-Dependent Relationship
- Man Handling
- Co-Sleeping
- Anger Issues
- "Dumbie"———————————————————————
"I - ah... I..."
My voice stumbles, the words caught in my throat, and the gears of my mind suddenly un-oiled. My hand jumps up, cupping the back of my neck that's somehow both covered in goosebumps and feeling like holes of flames are being burnt through it.
I don't have to glance over my shoulder to know it's my brother, the waves of his anger filling the classroom is enough to tell me that. Still, I peek at the door, stealing a glance at him. I instantly regret the decision, his storm cloud of a mood only intensifying now that he knows I'm aware of him.
Tobio's hands are balled at his sides, his fingers wrapped tight enough that his knuckles are going pale. His jaw is set too. I know if I was standing next to him, I would be able to hear the ticking of his bones pressing too tightly. His eyes are slit as he glares in my direction, the ice of his irises aimed at the boy standing in front of me, asking me to sit with him at lunch. His head is tilted down a bit, mostly because of the height difference between him and my classmate. The slight change in his posture flutters his bangs over his eyes, cutting off small slivers of his glare.
The fear of my brother snapping, of picking another fight during the first week of school, twirls its way around my tailbone and makes quick work wrapping further and further up my spine.
"I promised my brother I would eat with him," I whisper, my fingers jittery with the need to soothe Tobi's anger.
He's been wound tight since Club Applications yesterday. He's having issues with the volleyball team, something about upsetting the Vice President and then the Captain threatening to bench him as a setter. I haven't had a moment to glance through the team handbook to figure out if the team Captain can do that, so I'm sure it's been eating at him all day.
"So? I don't think it'll kill him if you skip out on lunch," the boy answers, his voice light with amusement at my nerves.
No, but it might kill you.
The thought makes my nerves bounce higher, my fingertips burning the longer I stand here instead of soothing Tobio.
This is how it's been for as long as I can remember; Tobi lacks control of his anger and I flutter around him to help rein it back in. Usually, volleyball is his trigger, but I've always been a close second to his mood swings.
Grandma always says that it's a "twin thing". She has a twin, a younger brother - by two minutes, just like Tobio and me. Just like my brother, she is super protective of her sibling too, especially after their Father died. I guess that's her way of saying Grandpa's death a couple months ago is why he's been so attached.
I don't think that's why Tobi has been acting up. He's always been a little weird. Never liked anyone, especially boys, near me. Always antsy and upset when we're apart for too long. Being a little too rough with me when I can't calm his temper. Snapping at Miwa when she makes suggestions or comments about me - or us - that he doesn't agree with.
A few big fights blew up between them once we graduated middle school. Miwa had quite a few suggestions, one of which was me applying to a school other than Karasuno. The only plus side of that argument was that Tobio was so relieved that we'd be going to the same school that at the time he wasn't upset about us being in different classes. I don't think that gratefulness has stretched into today.
"I really should have lunch with him," I murmur, glancing over my shoulder again. The heat of anxiety grows when Tobi starts moving forward, his strides long and fast as he storms across the room.
"Come on, Cutie," the boy pushes, oblivious to the fight brewing because of him.
"She said no," Tobio's voice booms, my body jerking from the volume and closeness of it. My classmate jumps too, his neck craning as he looks up to meet my brother's eyes, uneasiness flickering through his features.
"Sorry."
The word is barely out before I'm being dragged away. Tobi grips the collar of my school shirt, wrinkling the new material that just got in last night, using his hold to yank me away from my classmate. My back slams into his chest, my feet not given the grace of time to steady before I'm being turned toward the door.
"Tobi?" I call, trying to keep my voice soft, airy, and calming. He ignores me, his hand falling from my collar to my hip as he continues shoving me forward, herding me out of the room. "Tobio?" I try again once we're in the hallway buzzing with chatter and students rushing around.
"You're a moron," he grumbles, his fingers tightening on the waistband of my skirt, balling it in his fist to strengthen his hold.
"You're a moron," I repeat, a slow simmer of my own anger forming. I didn't do anything, so why am I being called a moron? It's not like I was trying to ditch lunch with him. I was doing the exact opposite, actually. Tobio grumbles, mumbling curses under his breath that I can't fully hear, let alone care to hear. I didn't do anything.
Soon, even his whispers end, leaving silence between us as he leads me through the winding hallways of our new school. My eyes trail the wall, ghosting over the large windows that are exposing snips of nature just out of reach. My fingers slide against the smooth paint of the wall, the ledge of the windows chilled with the hint of lingering spring weather. It would be a pretty memory if it wasn't for the teasing snap of Tob's anger, the roof threatening to give out over the smallest of issues.
My brother drops his hold on me, the sudden lost weight snapping me out of my thoughts and lightly dusted daydreams. Automatically, my head tilts backward, looking at him for directions on his wants.
The lost weight isn't gone for long, his hand knotting in mine as he takes the lead. My fingers easily rest between his, chunkier than Tobi's thin digits, but smaller in length. He had a growth spurt over the summer, shooting up like a weed in the height department. Grandma insists he'll have another one, that in the future he'll inherit Grandpa's broad shoulders. Seeing how stick-like his thinness is, I doubt that'll happen.
The squeaking of hinges pulls my attention away from our laced fingers, my eyes settling on the off-white door my brother is shoving open. I'm tugged forward, just as tough as before, so Tob can filter us out of the school.
My shoes squeal against the laminate floor, my body forced off center as I'm situated against his side. He settles his arm over my shoulders, my hair caught between his elbow and my back. I grip the back of his school uniform as I'm continually led forward, balling the material to help steady myself. "Tobio," I hiss, trying to rip apart the hold he still has on my hand.
"Dumbie," he murmurs, his fingers tightening around mine, our fingertips dancing across my chest because of our little war.
"You can't keep manhandling me," I snap, giving up on separating our hands so I can focus on stabbing my finger into his spine.
"I can, so I will."
The answer is simple, simply stroking the flames of my annoyance with him.
"The least you can do is give me some space."
"Why would I do that?"
My head jerks to the side, glaring at his profile. His jaw has loosened and most of the anger has melted off his face, leaving his usual nonchalant expression. His eyes are focused forward, occasionally glancing around us before focusing ahead again. Occasionally, the sun hits his irises just right, turning the usual dark color into a sky-worthy blue. The natural light affects his hair too, turning it into an almost flowing black, reminding me of the ink Grandpa would use with his feather pens.
In certain situations, like when the sun hits just right or Tobio is calm enough or while he's focused on a game, I can understand why my friends find him attractive. My brother certainly isn't an ugly man. He's handsome like our Father is and like Grandpa was.
His eyes slowly fall to land on my face, curiosity hinting at the edges of their coloring. "Why would I do that?" He repeats, forcing our hands up long enough to caress my jaw before he lets them fall again, resting against my chest like before.
"We look weird," I answer, snapping my eyes away from him. I'm not sure why I feel embarrassed by being caught looking at him. Tobi stares at me all the time. Grandpa used to say the only time he wasn't looking at me was when he was staring at a volleyball.
"I don't think we do."
"I do."
"How do we look weird?"
I shrug, finally taking the time to look around us. Cement slabs are under our feet and a ceiling is above us, held up by metal poles with material between them. Every few steps the half-walls aren't in place, forming an opening in the man-made path. "This is how couples walk together," I barely audit the words, more embarrassment tingling across my skin at the realization.
Tob stays silent for a handful of steps, my skin growing warmer with every passing second. "So?" He finally asks, stopping our footsteps next to a pair of vending machines at the edge of the covered path. The gap between the path isn't large, about three or four steps before it's covered and framed again, only stopping when it clashes with what I assume is a gym. The volleyball gym, probably.
"So, it's weird."
"I don't think it's weird."
"You don't hold Miwa like this when you walk with her," I point out, taking a step away from my brother when he lets go of me.
"I don't like Miwa. She's a bitch."
I shake my head at Tobio's bluntness, crossing my arms over my chest to further show my unhappiness. Would it kill them to get along? "She's not a bitch."
"Ya, she is," he counters, glancing at me before focusing on pulling the cash out of his wallet.
"Why is she a bitch?"
"Because she didn't want us to go to school together." His answer is paired with the buzz of the machine taking his dollar, Tob straightening his posture once the money is fed through.
"You already got over that," I point out, eyeing the options in the vending machine before focusing on the machine next to it. "If you're still mad at her, it's about something else."
Beeps fill the silence between us as he chooses a few drinks; three milks - one of which is strawberry, for me. I know it's for me, Tobio insists there's too much sugar in it. He stays silent as he slides to the next machine, feeding more money into it before picking out yogurt for himself and a tray of rainbow sushi for me.
Finally, he turns towards me, holding out my food as he answers. "Miwa told Grandma that she thinks we're too old to share a bed anymore. She wants us to try and break our co-sleeping alone before she gets involved."
My weight shifts between my feet as my eyes flicker between Tobi's face and the food he's still holding. It makes me anxious, thinking about sleeping alone, but we are in high school now. Most of my friends don't even share rooms with their siblings anymore, let alone beds. "It's just the bed, right? We'll still be in the same room so it won't really be that different."
Tob shrugs, glancing around the space before giving his full attention back to me. "She recommends that one of us move into the guest room. She says we 'need our own space to grow' or whatever."
My stomach drops, nausea settling in the back of my throat, egged on by my anxiety. It was nerving enough without the added bonus of him being on the other side of the house. "What does Grandma say?"
"She told Miwa to give us some time. Said 'So many changes all at once wouldn't be good' or something like that. She also told her that she shared a bed with her brother until he left for college, after that Miwa started yelling so I left."
Grandma has always been a little weird, the same way Tobio is. Anytime her brother has come over since Grandpa died, she gets snippy with me, telling me to cover up and that I'm coming off as flirty, which she 'doesn't appreciate'. Our Uncle always pats her hand and promises that I'm not stealing his attention so she'll calm down.
Now that I think about it, she and Tob act a lot alike. I guess that's why he's always been our grandparents' favorite. That's alright because I'm both my brother's and my sister's favorite. I'll never say it because it would hurt Miwa's feelings, but my brother is my favorite too.
"Stop worrying, Dumbie. I'm never leaving you."
"Not even when your volleyball career takes off?" I tease, a bit of a giggle underlining my question.
Tobio shrugs, his eyes off me long enough to thread his straw through the milk carton. "I'll take you with me."
"You can't do that."
His head snaps up, his expression tugged tight with anger, and possibly a hint of worry, as he glares at me. "I can, so I will."

ESTÁS LEYENDO
Haikyuu!! Oneshots
FanfictionJust some random one-shots that have been rolling around my head. Also, goes without saying but like 80% of this - characters, major events, settings, etc - are credit to Haruichi Furudate Also, also, with all this stuff going on with Ao3, don't be...