Kindergarten Bully [Oikawa Tooru] | ✔

Suffering in Silence

We are never so defenseless against suffering as when we love.

— Sigmund Freud

xXx

A ball slammed into the wooden floor of the gymnasium.

"Nice kill, Tadashi!" Makki slapped Tadashi's back, grinning. "Told you it would work. You just need to trust Yahaba a little more, 'kay? He's no Oikawa but he can adjust the ball just as well as he can."

"I've got your back," Yahaba said earnestly. "Even with that eye of yours—"

"Which is super fantastic!" Makki slapped a hand over the young setter's mouth. "Makes you look badass as fuck."

"Like a pirate," Mattsun chimed in. "Sorta. If you squint."

Grumbling, Yahaba removed Makki's hand from his mouth. "I was thinking more on the lines of a samurai warrior."

"I vote for space pirate!" Oikawa called from the other side of the net before rolling the ball to the opposing team. "Your serve again, Mad Dog-chan!"

Kyotani served again and the ball spun through the air, landing in Iwaizumi's waiting arms. Thanks to the spin that Kyotani had put on the ball, it swerved away from Oikawa and to Kindaichi, who bumped it upward for Iwaizumi. The ace, who had been positioned in the back row, ran up and spiked a cut shot that flew through the arms of the blockers.

Once the practice match was over, the team went their separate ways, with some going out for ramen while others made their way home. Naoko, of course, was waiting at the school gates for Tadashi in some casual clothes.

"Nii-san," she said in lieu of greeting when her brother arrived. "Let's hurry. I have a shift with Umeko tonight."

They walked home, Naoko asking Tadashi how he was doing on the team, which he answered with enthusiastic replies.

"I'm glad you're happy," she told him, staring blankly ahead. "I don't know your teammates well but..." She paused before eventually settling for, "They're different."

"They are," Tadashi agreed, his voice barely above a whisper. Especially Oikawa.

His heart skipped a beat as he returned to memories of long ago. Of the taunting, the teasing, the mercilessly bullying—

"Nii-san?"

Naoko's voice snapped him out of his daze.

"Oh, er, sorry."

"What's wrong?" she asked coolly, fixing her gray eyes on him. "Tell me."

"Nothing," he lied, feeling a pang of guilt hit is heart. That's all in the past. I bet Oikawa doesn't even remember. He could never make it up to Oikawa for his actions in the past. It was best to just start fresh, which was what he had done.

Naoko kept on staring at him, studying everything about him. Then she turned away. "You're allowed to have secrets too, I suppose."

It was a surprisingly considerate thing and Tadashi smiled ever so slightly. "Th-thank you, Naachan..." I'm sorry. I'm sorry. For everything. I ruined our lives. Everything is my fault, not yours. You just have to suffer in silence because of me.

xXx

Come Sunday morning and the voices of the Oikawas could be heard in the autumn air.

"Stop hogging it all to yourself, Takeru!" Oikawa scolded, reaching for the boy's third watermelon slice. Scowling, Takeru took a gigantic bite out of the slice before Oikawa could even touch it. Then, to tick off his uncle even more, he licked the entire thing. Oikawa gave him a look of thinly veiled disgust. "Oh, real mature!"