Chapter Text
Aone was on his way to the bus from the library when he accidentally tripped over the young child who was happily sitting on the ground and petting a cat.
He crouched down to meet her eyes and gave her a small bow of apology. When he looked up, she reached out for his hand and placed it on the cats head.
"He likes to be scratched behind his ear right there. Try it!"
He tilted his head at her in confusion. Why did she trust him so much? He was a giant stranger and most adults found him scary and wouldn't sit by him on the bus, but this young child just took his hand and helped him pet the cat.
He moved his hand and scratched behind the cats ear. The cat started purring and rubbing its head on his hand.
The child giggled. "I told you he likes being scratched behind his ear!"
Aone smiled softly. He continued to scratch the cat. The cat continued to purr. The child continued to giggle and watch Aone with the cat.
"You're Aone, right? Mr. The Iron Wall of Date Tech? My brother played against you. He wants to play you again. He said you were a really good player and the Iron Wall was hard to beat!"
Aone nodded. A slight blush covered his face, but Natsu didn't notice it.
"He said you were quiet, but I didn't know you were this quiet. Why don't you talk?"
Aone blinked twice, trying to process the question.
"Natsu!" A voice was calling out and the child perked up at the name, so Aone assumed it was someone they knew.
Aone stood up and reached out his hand, an offer for them to go with him to find the voice. She smiled and took it, dragging him along the sidewalk.
BAM!
Hinata Shoyo from Karasuno was laying back on the sidewalk and already getting up, dusting off dirt from his clothes as he looked up.
"Sorry for running into you, I was looking for my sister- Aone?"
Aone nodded. Natsu wriggled her hand out of his hand and jumped on Shoyo who picked her up with ease, like he did it all the time. He probably did.
"You found Natsu! She has a habit of walking off and getting lost! Thank you!" Shoyo beamed at the tall boy, making his face go red. "We were getting ready to go find the train. We're taking it to the farthest stop and then walking home from there. If you're going that way, we can stick together!"
Aone nodded and gave a slight smile. Natsu laughed and Shoyo kept beaming as he turned around. "To the train station we go!"
The train ride was weird to Aone. When he sat on the train nobody wanted to sit next to him. They all thought he looked scary, but Shoyo and Natsu both sat next to him without an ounce of fear. It was a weird ride, but the good kind of weird. He hoped he could ride the train with his friends again.
He got off at the stop with them. He wanted to make sure they got home safe, and his family was out, so if he didn't go home, nobody would be worried.
"Mr. the Iron Wall, do you live in the mountains, too?" Natsu's voice startled him out of his thoughts. He shook his head.
"Aone, won't your family be worried if you're not home soon?" Shoyo sounded very concerned.
Aone shook his head.
"Are they out of town or something?" Shoyo asked.
Aone nodded.
"Well, you can eat dinner with us! And have a sleep over! Mama won't mind!" Natsu hugged his leg and smiled up at him.
Aone smiled back.
"Natsu's right. We always make lots of food to share with our friends and neighbors! And we can have a sleepover! Mama might be annoyed that there's no warning so she can't clear out some cluttered items, but she'll be okay with it if your family's not in town!" Shoyo was bouncing and very happy at the idea of a sleepover.
Aone smiled and nodded. He'd be happy to spend time with friends outside of the Date Tech Volleyball Club.
It was about an hour later before they got to the Hinata house, and all of a sudden Aone understood why Shoyo had so much energy all the time. Going through the mountains was tough work, even if Shoyo said he normally rode his bike.
Natsu giggled and ran off to her room to get her dino to show Aone.
"Mama," Shoyo called out. "I brought a friend! His family is out of town and I offered to let him eat and sleep here! Is that okay?"
A lady stepped out of the kitchen and nodded. "What's your name, dear? I've made enough to share!"
Aone bowed his thanks.
"This is Aone! He doesn't talk much! He's on the Date Tech Volleyball Club! He says 'Thank you, ma'am'."
"Well, Aone, dear, it's nice to meet you. Please call me Himari. I'll have Hinata get the guest bedroom set up, unless this is going to be a sleepover where you all get out your sleeping bags and set up the tent in the back yard?"
Shoyo beamed. "LET'S PUT THE TENTS IN THE BACK YARD!"
"We're sleeping in the back yard!" Natsu's voice joined the group. She was holding a green, sparkly dinosaur. "This is Tsuki!"
Aone knelt down and petted Tsuki's head. As his hand moved, the sparkles shifted and Tsuki turned into a bright golden orange, just a few shades brighter than Natsu's eyes.
Natsu giggled. "His sparkles do that, but since his tummy is shiney orange and his eyes are orange, and the bottom of his feet are orange, I like it when he's green."
Aone nodded in agreement. Tsuki looked much better as a green and orange-gold dinosaur than an all orange-gold dinosaur.
Himari smiled at the two and Shoyo ran off to go get the tents and sleeping bags.
He arrived a few minutes later. "I got the big one for all of us! It's white with grey dinosaur outlines on it and it's really comfy!"
The guest sleeping bag came with the giant children's tent and was also covered in dinosaur outlines. Aone thought it was cool that his sleeping bag matched the tent.
Natsu's sleeping bag was a light pink with butterflies on it, and as Aone pointed at them, Natsu would name it and give off some butterfly facts.
Shoyo's sleeping bag was light blue with little planets, rockets, space ships, and aliens scattered all about. Aone was surprised, he thought Shoyo's would have volleyball's on it. When Shoyo noticed Aone looking at it, confused, he explained "I think space is really cool!", and Aone nodded.
It was a good night. He knows he'll definitely come back to hang out with the Hinata siblings and their mom.