𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧 ☼ 𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚

II

     it was rainy, very rainy indeed; the sky was a swampy blue, dropping little puddles atop tobio's umbrella as he hastily biked across the neighborhood to the cemetery behind the old church. through the rusty gates he made his way, keeping on the rocky path and admiring the beautiful bushes and flowers adorning the gravestones along the way. this was a wild, overgrown place, but beautiful nonetheless; angel statues dripping with twisted forest tendrils, blooming trees casting shadows over the lost, grass crawling with sparkling morning dew. every inch of it was a warm hug to tobio, a reminder that he'd laid his mother to rest among things almost equally as breathtaking as she.
     as he followed the walkway, though, he saw the boy again. the visitor had the hood of his cotton sweatshirt tugged over his head, but still tobio could see the soaking wet curls of clementine hair poking out from beneath the soggy fabric. he could not tell if he was crying, as the rain was falling harder now, but he could tell that the boy was very cold, because he was shivering as he chatted with the gravestone.

should i say something? tobio asks himself, unsure of whether he has a right to intrude. the boy is visiting a grave after all.

"um, are you alright?"

the orange nest of hair perked up, and from beneath a long, curled pair of brown eyelashes, swirling chocolate irises recognized the attention they were receiving. he smiled a broken smile, one too big to match the lack of blood flow to his cheeks and the raw skin crinkling pink in the corners of his big, buggy eyes.

"y-yeah, i'm okay!" the boy replied. he fiddled with the wet strings of his hoodie, tugging on them to busy his trembling hands.

tobio thought he sounded quite defeated to be replying so enthusiastically. in fact, he looked out of place here. everything here is alive, especially the memories of the loved ones that sleep soundly in the grass, yet here this stranger is, barely breathing enough to stay standing...

"you look cold," tobio called back, lifting his umbrella up and down by the shrug of his shoulders, "my house is down the street, my sister is home. do you want to come over? i can get you some dry clothes."

the boy thought, and he nodded softly. turning towards the small, white chocolate stone, he leaned over and pressed a kiss to the sanded edge. he whispered something before patting it three times- tobio assumed the number was for luck- and he began to trudge over towards the taller boy and his bike.

     "thanks."

     "of course. um, here," tobio handed over the handle to the blue umbrella, "hold this, and we can walk back. i don't mind getting rained on."

     "o-okay," the grave-goer grinned, this one softer, sadder, more fitting. "my name is shōyō, by the way. shōyō hinata."

     "i'm tobio kageyama," tobio stopped for a moment, feeling quite warm under the glance given by the new acquaintance. he pulled the hood of his windbreaker over the pin-straight hair on his head, and with a softer tone he said, "let's get you somewhere warm, 'kay?"