pet shop ✰ kagehina

it was hard

not to fall deeper and deeper into shōyō everyday.

summer break was coming to a close, and they'd been with each other every day without fail; with only two days left, tobio was let off work to go back to school by the owner of the shop. the old man promised him a job when school was over, and he was thankful.

both of them had passed their entrance exams to karasuno, and no one in the world- or so it seemed to them- could be happier than they were then.

"tobi-oooo!" shōyō whined, trying to fight off the grin tugging at his lips.

"what?"

"i don't wanna go back to school!"

"neither do i, but volleyball season is coming back! we're gonna get on the team and we can play together and it's gonna be great!"

"yeah, but," he huffed out in frustration, "homework."

"oh, shut up. it's gonna be fine."

shōyō grew little quieter as the two walked down the sidewalk towards the park, and tobio noticed the change; he squeezed his hand softly, asking, "hey, what's the matter?"

"i just don't want to deal with the bullying again, tobio."

if hearts could truly break in half, his did.

"i don't really know what happened with all of that in the past, shō, but i do know that i won't let it happen again. i promise i'll protect you."

"it was so bad, tobio, so, so bad."

the boy's breath caught in his throat, and he tried to breathe through it, but tears began to break the surface in his eyes and soon enough he found himself clutching onto tobio for dear life and sobbing into his chest.

"shh, shh, it's okay," the taller boy rubbed circles into the nape of the smaller's neck, "everything's gonna be okay."

"t-they called me st-stupid and ugly, an-an' th-they told me i was worthless an-an' they hit me everywhere," shōyō admitted through muffled sobs against the warmth of tobio's chest.

"who?"

"the boys at my middle school," he answered, lifting his head up to meet tobio's sad eyes with his tear-strained own.

"oh, shō," tobio pulled him back in, placing his chin on the top of the peach cloud on his head, holding him as close as he could.

they just stood there for a few moments, ignoring the odd glances from the passerby; this was what they needed, what shōyō needed- and tobio would give him anything he needed, no matter what.

those eyes tobio fell in love with stared at him, admiration spilling over the edges and making the boy tingle from his cheeks to his fingers. he reached up and grabbed tobio's raspberry cheeks, rubbing the pads of his thumbs against them softly, and mumbled, "thank you for being here."

and tobio fell in love with everything.