Chapter Text
Takeda walked into the classroom to the herald of a chalkboard eraser hitting him squarely in the face. The classroom instantly quited as the eraser fell to the floor with a puff of chalk dust, leaving him with a powdered yellow face and a light dusting of chalk on the shoulders of his sweater. He stared at the class full of previously unruly students, who now had the countenance of angels plastered so firmly on their faces that halos seemed to glow over their heads.
“Okay, who threw this eraser?”
No one spoke for what seemed like hours, then a tiny boy with brown hair spiked up on his head and a single tuft of his cowlick dyed a bright blond jumped to his feet and pointed at a redhead next to him, equally as short.
“He did it!”
The redhead also shot up with an affronted gasp. “Don’t blame me, Noya! I won’t get in trouble for you again! He threw the eraser, Sensei!”
“Did not, Shouyou! You threw it!”
“No, you!”
“You!”
“You!”
“You!”
“Alright, alright!” Takeda finally managed to shout over his quarrelling students. “I know it was one of you two boys. Now, is one of you going to confess, or am I going to have to send you both the principal's’ office?”
The threat scared the boys enough to sit back down, but both of them remained as tight lipped as ever. With a sigh, Takeda made his way to his desk and pulled a hand wipe from a drawer and used it to wipe the chalk dust of his face. Occurrences like these were common enough that he had enough reason to keep them stocked there in ample supply.
With a sigh, Takeda threw the now filthy rag into the waste bin. That was probably most of it, at least. “I’m waiting, Hinata, Nishinoya. Is one of you going to confess?”
The two boys exchanged a single glance, then both of them looked back down at the floor quickly. Seeing as there was nothing more to be gleaned from them, Takeda turned his attention to the other occupants of the room.
“Anyone else have something to say?” When no one responded, he singled out a student in the back row. “Azumane. You’ll tell me, won’t you? Who threw that eraser?”
The student Takeda had called on had been keeping his head down as best he could, not that that was very easy considering his taller than average height, but now he jerked into an upright position. “S-Sensei?”
“You heard me, Azumane. Who threw the eraser?”
Asahi flinched as the entire class turned around to look at him, trying to sink down into his chair, though that was an impossibility considering the extra five inches added to his stature as opposed to the average of the room. He had long hair that he had a penchant for tying back in a bun with a headband to keep the wispy strands out of his eyes, and although he looked like the toughest hardened criminal in the class, Takeda knew from experience that he was the most kind-hearted student in perhaps the entire school and couldn’t tell a lie on principle, which was why he had asked the glass giant instead of another student.
“Azumane?” He prompted, and the boy jumped again.
“Well, um, I wasn’t really… I… ah…”
In the face of Takeda’s level stare, Asahi shrunk further in on himself.
“It was Nishinoya…” He whispered and then almost immediately afterward hid his chin down in his collar as Takeda turned his stare on Noya.
“Nishinoya Yuu, did you throw that eraser at me?”
Noya immediately stood up, though the action actually diminished his height. “I’m really sorry, Sensei! It was an accident!”
Hinata jumped up as well, though being a scant few inches taller than Noya, he was actually taller standing than sitting. “It was my fault, Sensei! I bumped into him when he was cleaning the chalkboard! He didn’t mean to throw it!”
“Don’t be stupid, Shouyou, it was my fault! I’m the one who was trying to clean off the board for Sensei before he got here!”
“But you were just trying to be nice and I was messing around! It’s me who should get in trouble, not you!”
“No, me!”
“No, me!”
“No, me!”
“No-!”
“Boys!” Takeda shouted over the din. “Please, just stop. I get that it was an accident. Just try to be more careful next time, okay?”
The two gave such exact nods of agreement as they sank back down into their chairs with identical smiles that Takeda had to remind himself that they weren’t actually twins, just best friends who had a habit of finishing each other’s sentences and at once blaming the other for mistakes they had made and blaming themselves for mistakes the other had made. He wondered briefly if they planned scenarios like this one ahead of time to get out of the office visit they had been heading toward, but then he decided he didn’t want know the answer to that question, especially if it were true.
“Now that we have that out of the way,” he announced to the class, “I have an announcement. As it says on your syllabus, today is the day your final project for this class is being assigned.”
“What’s the project again, Sensei?” Noya shouted without bothering to raise his hand.
“I was just getting to that,” Takeda said tersely. “Your final project is partner project of a topic of your choosing, as long as it pertains to the class. And no,” he added as soon as he saw Hinata open his mouth, “You can not choose your own partners. I have already chosen them. As this is a physics class, you will be required to take a concept from physics we have learned throughout this semester and prepare an experiment around that that concept. The Project will consist of an experimental proposal, your experiment, a lab report, and a presentation in class. Are there any questions?”
Noya raised his hand, though he might as well not have because he asked his question before Takeda called on him. “Can Shouyou and I work together?”
“The pairs have already been chosen-”
“But have we been chosen to work together? Can we convince you work together? Can we switch partners to work together? Can we-?”
“You are not working together and that in final! I remember far too well the last time I allowed that to happen!” Takeda exploded, and Noya fell silent with his mouth hanging open. With a sigh, he fell down into his desk chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Please be quiet while I read off the pairs for this project. First off is Hinata Shouyou and Kageyama Tobio-”
“I have to work with Bakageyama!” Hinata shouted, and the aforementioned dark-haired student across the classroom gave him a baleful glare.
“Believe me, it’s not the ideal situation from my point of view either, Shrimp.”
“WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME-?!”
“What did I just say about being quiet while I announced the pairs!” Takeda roared over the din. “Now be quiet, both of you, before I send you to the principal’s office for the fifth time this month!”
The two boys quieted, but still cast glares at each other out of their peripheral vision. Takeda sighed and went back to reading off his paper. Those boys were going to be the death of him, he swore. “Next pair is…”
After a few minutes, the entire class was paired up, and he only had one group left on his list. “And last but certainly not least, Nishinoya Yuu and Azumane Asahi.”
Noya, predictably, jumped up from his seat again. “I have to work with Asahi? Please let me switch, Sensei, please! Shouyou and I will do a good project this time, we swear, just let us work together!”
“The pairs have been chosen and will stay like that,” Takeda said, folding the piece of paper and placing it in his desk with no room for negotiation in his voice. “You are to work with your assigned partner and no one else.”
“But I don’t want to work with Asahi! He’s scary-!”
Takeda was on his feet before Noya could finish his sentence, the shattered hurt in the gentle back row giant’s eyes galvanizing him to action. “Nishinoya! Do not speak to your fellow classmate that way! Apologize to Azumane at once!”
“But-!”
“I said, apologize!”
The steel normally not present in Takeda’s eyes must have convinced Noya, for he slumped in his chair and muttered a quiet, “Sorry, Asahi.”
“Dismal, but passable.” Takeda sat back down at his desk. “You may take the rest of the period to decide what concept you want to explore and what you want your experiment to be. A rough idea is due by next class, and your experimental proposal is due the class after. Remember, your proposal has to be approved before you can start on your experiment.”
“Yes, Sensei,” the class chorused, and as one got up out of their chairs and started chatting, some about the experiment and some not. Takeda had given up trying to contain them, so he just let them do as they pleased. If they didn’t get the work done by the end of class, that was their own fault.
“So, Asahi…” Asahi looked up to see a familiar face decorated with a blond tuft of hair in the center of his forehead smiling ruefully down at him. “Looks like we’re working together, huh?”
Asahi remembered all too well the argument that had culminated with his most hated insult, but he just nodded dumbly as Noya sat down opposite him - sitting in the chair backwards, with his feet dangling on either side of the seat and his chin resting on the backrest - and continued chatting as if he hadn’t made any kind of response at all.
“Sorry for making a big fuss earlier, but Shouyou and I really wanted to work together. We already had it all planned out and everything. We were going to make something that exploded! We weren’t positive what yet on how it would fit into the curriculum, but we could have figured that out later. It would be awesome! Say, I wouldn’t be able to convince you to make something that blew up with me, could I?”
Asahi found himself shaking his head desperately before his mind caught up with his body. Noya looked disappointed, but he at least had the decency to concede and not force his point after such an abject refusal.
“Oh, well. It would have been fun, though. What have you been thinking about, then? Got any good project ideas?”
“Um…” Asahi looked down at the piece of paper in front of him that he had been taking notes on. Some of them were possible project ideas. He shoved the paper at Noya so he wouldn’t have to read it out loud.
Noya picked up the piece of paper and scanned it. “Ooh! These all sound cool! Calculating coefficients of friction - ha, we could make cars skid around for that!”
Blanching, Asahi tried to reach for the paper back, but Noya didn’t notice his hands and kept reading, and Asahi didn’t have the courage to pluck it from his grasp.
“Pendulum stuff… spring stuff… hey, Asahi, these are all building projects. Do you know how to build stuff?”
Noya’s eyes met his over the top of the paper, and it took Asahi a few seconds to react to the fact that he had just been asked a direct question. “Um… yeah, I’ve taken shop classes before.”
“Nice!” Noya flashed him a grin that almost made Asahi forget the insult from earlier as Noya clearly had. “I bet that would come in handy. I can do the artsy stuff and you can do the hardcore stuff. Perfect combination!”
Asahi didn’t bother to correct him that his area of expertise was actually in the more delicate aspects of decorative woodworking.
“We should definitely build something, then. But what? Maybe-”
Before Noya could finish his sentence, the bell rang and whatever he was going to say was lost to the shuffle of chairs as the school day ended. Noya himself jumped up and gave Asahi a salute before running out the door, Asahi’s notes still clutched in his hand.
Asahi waited until the classroom was almost empty before he stood up and walked to the front of the room where Takeda was sitting at his desk. “Sensei? Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Looking up, Takeda’s gaze softened when he saw who it was, though his gaze was still drawn to the paperwork on his desk. “Of course, Azumane. What is it?”
Asahi bit his lip, contemplating the best way to say what he wanted before he just decided to go with it. “Please let Nishinoya work with Hinata!”
“What?” Now Takeda gave Asahi his full attention. “Of all people, I would not expect this from you, Azumane. Are you two having some kind of problem?”
“It’s just…” he faltered, then gritted his teeth and foraged ahead. “Nishinoya had his heart set on working with Hinata, Sensei. He won’t be happy working with me. Please, I can work with Kageyama instead, or even by myself, I don’t mind.”
“Are you sure that’s your only motivation?” Takeda asked pointedly.
Flushing under his teacher’s knowing gaze, Asahi muttered, “He makes me… uncomfortable. He’s too loud. And he called me…” he let the sentence trail off into silence, knowing that his teacher would be able to fill in the blanks for him.
Takeda’s eyes were kinder as Asahi met them in surprise when he reached out and touched his shoulder. “I understand, Azumane, but you’re going to have to work with people who make you uncomfortable your entire life, and high school is only the start of that. I can’t make an exception for anybody, not even you. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to continue the project with Noya, and that’s my final word on it.”
The door to the classroom creaked, and both Asahi and his teacher looked up from their discussion to see Noya standing there, a slightly subdued expression on his face that said he had heard at least some of the conversation that had just taken place. His expression soon brightened to the level it had been at before, though, leaving Asahi to wonder if he’d just imagined the flickers of hurt dancing at the corners of his eyes.
“Hey, Asahi! I just remembered that we needed to meet up before the next class so we can finish deciding what our project is going to be, and then I realized that I didn’t even have your number! Can I see your phone for a minute?”
“Um…” Asahi didn’t like the idea of the hyper boy a full two heads shorter than him handling his phone, but he handed it over anyways under the watchful eye of his teacher. “Here.”
Noya quickly tapped his screen a few times, then handed Asahi back his phone before the technology-clumsy giant would have managed to navigate past the home screen. “There you go! That’s my number. Text me sometime tonight so we can figure out a time to work together this weekend!”
Asahi barely had time for a nod before a second bell rang, and Noya’s eyes widened. “I’m going to miss my bus! Text me; don’t forget!” Then he ran out of the room again, leaving behind a stunned and slightly terrified Asahi along with his amused teacher.
“Now that doesn’t look like someone who is against being your partner,” Takeda said, the corners of his lips twitching as he tried to hide a smile.
Shrugging, Asahi slipped his phone into his pocket and took a step back from the desk, bowing to his teacher. “I understand, Sensei. I’ll work with Noya. See you next week.”
“Yes, Azumane. See you next week.”
Asahi went back to his seat to grab his backpack and headed out the door of the classroom, unable to bear the knowing gaze of his teacher on his back any longer. Unlike Noya, he lived close enough to walk to school, so he didn’t have to worry about catching a bus, and they were pulling out of the school driveway when he unhurriedly made his way out of the building. A single tuft of blonde hair caught his attention through one of the bus windows, and he was reminded of the new number sitting in his contacts list.
So he wouldn’t forget to do it later, Asahi pulled up Noya’s contact on his phone and sent him a single text message.
This is Azumane.
Noya was play-wrestling with Hinata on the bus when his phone buzzed, distracting him and allowing his sparring partner the upper hand. It was an unknown number. As he unlocked his phone to read the message, Hinata grappled him into a chokehold, then loosened his grip upon realizing that the other boy was no longer responding.
“What is it, Noya?”
“Text.” Noya’s eyes skimmed the message quickly.
The message was short, simple. This is Azumane. Noya quickly sent the unknown number a message back.
Awesome, thanks! We’ll talk later tonight about when we want to meet up this weekend to figure out what we want to do, okay?
The response was not quick in coming, but it eventually overtook the three dots blinking on his screen for what seemed like an eternity. Okay.
It wasn’t much, but it was enough to set Noya’s heart fluttering. In truth, he hadn’t been scared of Asahi himself when he’d protested their being put together for the project. He’d been afraid that the gentle giant would discover the size of the humongous crush he’d had on him for the better part of a year.
Noya had first been drawn to Asahi for his intimidating stature and the dark, badass aura he seemed to carry around him, but as he slowly observed him more, he came to realize that the heart that lurked within was much softer than the skin he had been born into. That dichotomy only made him more interested. It smarted a little that he’d heard him trying to get their partners switched, but Noya supposed he couldn’t blame him considering the fuss he himself had made on the subject. He would just have to try harder now to convince Asahi that they could work well together on the project… and maybe more in the future. Trying unsuccessfully to hide his grin from Hinata, Noya took the unknown number and programmed it into his phone.
“Who was it, Noya?”
Noya pushed his friend’s face away from his phone, just in case he caught sight of the nickname he’d given Asahi. “Just my partner for the project.”
Looking back down at his phone screen, he verified that the change had saved, rereading the last message his partner had sent.
Asahi ♥: Okay.