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The sun blazed its fiery rays onto the school of Toritsu Nakoma. It was especially hot inside the gym building, as it housed many sweaty volleyball players. All the movement caused the warm air to be infuriatingly humid. Inside came from different schools and prefectures. At one corner held the flightless birds that recently spread their wings. After recruiting two freaky individuals whose skills rivalled even the best. Another kept the felines whose coach invited everyone there, right next to them. The owls, emitting a wise aura except for their captain who seemed to be ruff housing around with the black cat. A very common occurrence whenever the two captains were together. There were many other schools, but they weren’t like the big three.
On that specific day, some of the players felt a craving for snacks. Strawberry Pocky, pudding, anything to satisfy their hunger. They knew they weren’t allowed to go outside, but no one would notice. At least, as long as they got back before the teachers find out. So the tangerine alongside the black kitty, the snowlike haired boy, and the ebony setter went out to a nearby convenience store. Sugawara with a wallet in his pocket to pay for the treats.
“Suga-san, what are you gonna get?” The orange boy asked, a bright sparkle in their eye, which made no sense due to the cloudy weather, and it was getting so dark.
“Oh, I’m probably gonna get whatever. Maybe some drinks. What about you Hinata?” He didn’t need to ask such an obvious question. After all the times they went out to eat, Hinata would buy the same thing every time.
“Meat buns!” The four players chuckled, just as they came up to a small store. The lights from inside illuminated the area around it.
A woman sat next to a lamppost, which had yet to turn on. She tried her best to stand up, gripping the pole with both her hands. Her long hair covered her face, and she seemed to be in pain. Suga saw her first, and his friendly side kicked in. Like a hero, he ran towards the woman. Stuffing his wallet into his pants as he hooked his arm around the other.
“Are you okay, miss?” He kept his knees bent as to imitate the woman’s initial height, then slowly straightened.
“I am, thank you, young boy.” She finally stood up, basically Suga’s height but just a tad shorter. She let her hair part from her face and using her finger to brush it over her ears. “I had broken a heel, very unfortunate I must say.”
The pale boy took a few silent seconds to just stare at the woman. When he finally processed her face, her eyes, her terrifying smile. He backed away forgetting his manners. He raised his hands to his mouth, holding his breath. The other three finally caught up enough to find Suga staring grimly at a woman who seemed very confused. While Kageyama raised his eyebrows, puzzled at the sight. The other two feared the person they accidentally ran into.
“Mama…” Hinata whispered.
“Child, are you okay?” She questioned, raising her hand to brush Suga’s hair to the side. Suga froze, daring not to move from his position. The contact got him out of his trance, and he repositioned himself. Squirming away from her touch.
“I apologize, madam, I found your appearance to be very familiar but I was mistaken.” She smiled at his politeness and retracted her hand as she nodded.
Hinata and the black cat sneaked their way to Suga, Kuroo pinching onto his white shirt. Then pulling him backwards. Hinata wrapped himself around the pale boy’s arm. Clutching onto it for dear life.
“You three, look so familiar. Just like my children.” “That hurt to hear, and stung the trios chest. The memories they’ve tried to shut away from their heart, but it seems they’ll haunt them for life. They would’ve run away if they wanted to, but they weren’t children anymore. It wasn’t like back at the orphanage where they were powerless against her. They’re older, and a lot stronger than they used to be. They want to deal with this problem head-on.
Mama’s
grin widened, seeing them all together. Their physical beings disappearing from her sight, and being replaced by her children, Emma, Norman, Ray. The smaller kids whom she only wished to see once again. Her eye’s teared up, needing to wipe it away using her sleeve.
“I’m sorry. You three look so similar to my children, I couldn’t help myself.” The trio turned their heads to look at one another unsure as to how to approach this situation any further. Til Kuroo spoke up.
“It’s okay miss, but I hope you feel better. It’s getting late for us, and we need to get back soon. Is there anything else we could help with before we go?” Of course, they knew how rude it sounded to just leave like that. They didn’t care, they wanted to get away from her as fast as possible even if it meant being disrespectful to an elder person.
She shook her head, keeping her smile and ignoring the rude tone in his voice. “It’s okay, I’ll be fine on my own. Farewell, you three!” She headed off in the opposite direction, not looking back once. Just as she left, all three fell to the floor. Their legs felt weak, and their chests hurt from the rapid heartbeats. Kageyama who’d been watching from afar quickly speed down to the three when he saw them fall. Worried about their physical health. However, they all laughed awkwardly. Hopefully lessening the glum mood. It was all fine, they didn’t get caught. They escaped from the prison that was the farm. Now they could finally be normal children again. Play volleyball all they want, eat as many sweets as they wanted, and live normal lives.
As the four ran back to the school, night had already fallen in the sky, they finally reached the front gates. However Lageyama fell back in the run, his shoelaces had untied themselves. So he had to stay back for a minute with the snacks. The others wanted to get back as soon as possible and did so while keeping in mind Kageyama in the back. All the running caused their lungs to burn, their legs which were already weak from the incident before felt like noodles at that point. The cricks of the crickets nearby filled the silent air, but another noise dominated that. The wind that swaying thick fabric. At first, neither of the boys noticed it, but when they looked up. It became the only thing they could hear, alongside the words that could’ve made even the buffest man tremble at their feet.
“Emma, Ray, Norman. I’m so happy to see you again, why don’t we catch up with a warm cup of tea?”