Work Text:
The audience pulsed with energy, singing and screaming and waving light sticks more or less rhythmically. Hinata, as usual, somehow surpassed their enthusiasm, pushing himself to jump higher, stretch farther, and shine brighter, especially now, during their most acrobatic number. Yuuta grinned at his brother with just a hint of “whoa there, settle it down Bessie” in his eyes, and tossed him into the air. He was supposed to spin and twist in the air then land with a roll. Perfect in practices dozens of times. This time, though, whether from excitement or an unfamiliar stage or the disorienting flashing from cameras and lighting, he over-rotated and touched down onto one foot before the roll. Yuuta heard a soft crack and a gasp.
“You okay?” he called around his grin.
Hinata popped up from his roll and flashed a thumbs up, still lip syncing with their track.
He was maybe a little more mechanical the rest of that number, but the audience screamed as loud as ever when they bowed and skipped backstage, Yuuta subtly dragging Hinata by the arm.
“We're not supposed to leave the stage yet,” Hinata said once they’d ducked behind the curtains.
“Let me see your foot.” He squatted down, reaching for the foot his brother wasn't putting weight on, but he shuffled away.
“It's fine.” Hinata snagged the first aid kit hanging on the wall. “Here, I'll wrap it real quick just in case, but you need to get out there and stall.”
“I can improv the dances solo.”
“Come on, I'm fine! I'll be up with you in like two minutes. Do that trick you've been practicing.”
“You sure? It's just going to take longer to heal if you—”
“Yep! I'm sure! Go go go!”
Yuuta trotted back on stage to cheers from the crowd. Hinata sat on the floor and tugged off his shoe. The producer, today doubling as stage manager, slipped out of the shadows and crouched beside him.
“Are you actually okay?” Anzu asked, shining her phone light on his foot. He shifted out of the beam.
“I just twisted my ankle a little. Even wrapping it's overkill, honestly, but I don't mind being on the safe side.”
She frowned and squinted at it. “Looks like it's already bruising.”
“Or it's just dark back here! Look, don't worry. It's honestly not that bad.” He finished and secured the bandage, then hopped up with a grin. “See?”
“I think you should—”
“Give me a minute to banter with Yuuta, then we're set for Symmetry!”
He darted past the curtains and loped to his brother, waving at their fans.
“Heart Prism Symmetry” went smoothly. Matching poses and shifting into interesting shapes together always flowed easily, meant to give them both a breath after their higher-energy songs.
“Three left,” Yuuta whispered afterwards, as they regrouped into the starting pose for the next one. “You okay?”
“Yeah! Let's do this!”
Not okay, Yuuta thought. Something in his brother's voice sounded tight. But the spotlight clicked on, and they began the piece.
Thirty seconds in, Yuuta received yet another piece of evidence, adding to his mental file already bursting at the seams, that Hinata was a lying hypocrite who should never be trusted. They had a series of hops and kicks planned, and right there, the very first one, Hinata hissed in a breath.
… That was all, and admittedly, anyone else might not have found it significant, but Yuuta had made that sound from his own lips before. To hear it from his twin was jarring—he was definitely hurt and trying to hide how much.
For the rest of the song, Hinata danced with a tinge of stiffness and switched feet on some of the steps, but when they made eye contact, his smile was sparkling and genuine. That was concerning in other ways, but Yuuta couldn't let his own stage persona drop, so he just winked and watched even closer.
The real decider came at the end, when they lifted one knee for the final pose of the number. Hinata wobbled. Hinata’s balance and core strength were impeccable, better than Yuuta’s would ever be. He never wobbled.
“Just do arms for the next one. I'll move around you,” Yuuta said into his mic, on their private channel.
“No, needs both of us.” Hinata bounced across the stage, waving at their fans and trying to catch his breath. “‘N like I said, I'm fi—”
“Shut up. No you're not.”
“I'm fine.” Finally, his panting settled. “Let's just do it like always.”
Yuuta gritted his teeth, and as the front row of lights turned to them, he pulled Hinata’s hand and whispered in his ear. “Please.”
Hinata smiled, gentler than belonged to the performance. Quickly, however, he snapped back to well-practiced enthusiasm, responding to the audience's cheers.
Yuuta caught his leader pausing and side-eyeing him in the moments before the lights would turn off. Hinata shifted onto his right foot, then onto the left, lips twitching. With one more glance at his brother, Hinata nodded, flipped his jacket inside out to show the teal side, and positioned himself centerstage—behind where the choreography had most of the action.
“We'll do it,” he whispered onto his mic, just to his twin. “It's all you, Yuuta.”
Yuuta, a professional, did not look back or let his expression change… much. He couldn't stop his eyes widening just a little, or the tiny lift to his smile.
“You won't regret it. You're gonna be amazed.”
His mind raced as the song began, spreading a massive web of possibilities for every beat. What would flow, what would look good with just one dancer, what would impress his brother? His body moved without too much conscious decision, thankfully, though he wasn't going to admit it was a result of years of trying to keep up with Hinata's constant improvising.
Yuuta snuck a peek at him right after an elaborate trick. Their eyes met, Hinata’s shining just on the edge of tears, world’s proudest smile shining as he made a graceful arc of an arm to show off Yuuta’s talent.
He was surprised, though. He thought his twin's obvious pride and awe would be the confidence boost he wanted, but it was the audience response that filled him more. The crowd was screaming louder than ever, ecstatic at the unexpected new choreography for an old favorite, and every time he winked or blew a kiss, or threw in a gymnastic move with a seductive twist, they surged stronger. The satisfaction of captivating their fans with only his own individual charisma made a tingle rush up and down his spine, electricity prickle across every nerve, fire roar in his chest. Nothing was better than this.
At the final phrase, Hinata dropped to one knee and thrust both arms towards the star of the show, presenting Yuuta for applause. The audience practically blew apart the ceiling with their cheers and screams.
Yuuta was pink and out of breath, but his grin had never felt so real. He laughed, grabbing Hinata’s hands and pulling him up into a side-hug.
“Hey, you're all sweaty,” Hinata complained into his mic. “Worth it though, getting a hug from the most talented idol in the country! Am I right? Of course I am! You're so cool, bro!”
“Oh my gosh, stop embarrassing me in front of so many beautiful people!”
“You know, the best idols have the prettiest fans, so there's your proof! You're obviously at the top!”
“We are, you mean. Anyway, thank you all for your support! You're incredible! We're gonna wrap up with our final number in just a minute, so stay safe tonight and remember us—”
“The two-in-one idols, 2wink! Thank you guys!”
They jogged backstage, ripping off the top costume layer and switching into holographic tanks in seconds. They added their color-coded armbands and, before anyone could question him, Hinata was skipping back on stage. Yuuta followed, still on a high from the solo.
A handful of bars into the song, their eyes met, and Yuuta's elation disappeared as he remembered why he'd suggested the solo in the first place. The muscles of his face tensed with pain, in the mirror that was Hinata. The smile would fool most people, but not his twin.
Especially since when they landed symmetrical spinning jumps, Hinata let out a sharp breath, followed by a desperate grunt with the push off that foot into the next sequence. He kept mouthing the lyrics, expressions so well-rehearsed that they cycled naturally onto his face, but Yuuta knew.
He almost fumbled a few steps, too attuned to his twin's performance. It took an unchoreographed eyebrow raise from Hinata to jolt him back to concentration. But whenever they faced each other, Hinata seemed a little paler, arms a little shakier. Near the end, he flipped across the stage as planned, but unlike the plan, his ankle gave out on the final jump into place. This time, the snap was horrifyingly clear, though the gasp was muffled. Yuuta’s eyes, wide and green, darted to him. Somehow, Hinata dropped into a slide that ended in his final spot, though it wasn't quite right—he was on one knee, back foot lifted slightly.
“Solo,” he mouthed, grinning and pointing at his brother. Yuuta ripped his attention away and turned to the audience, improvising a routine through sheer force of muscle memory. He managed to finish mirroring Hinata.
The crowd exploded in a torrent of excited noise, the boys smiled and waved, Hinata jumped up to perch on his twin’s shoulders, and Yuuta jogged off stage with the audience oblivious.
The instant they were out of public view, he dropped his brother and punched his shoulder, hard.
Hinata yipped, hopping lightly to catch his balance. “Dude! Ow. What the heck?”
“You—there were a dozen things you could've done, but you just went all out anyway and now you're really, really hurt! I think I have the right to be mad at you!”
Already there, Anzu and one of the stage crew pushed Hinata onto a bench and tugged off his shoe. Yuuta wormed his way through, gently swatting them away. He crouched by his twin's feet.
“Bring ice,” he said. “I'll take care of him.”
“I can call an ambulance,” Anzu offered, pulling out her phone.
“No thanks!” Hinata plucked the phone out of her hand. “We super can't afford that! Plus seriously, this is like, a little baby sprain.”
“Pretty sure it's worse than that, Aniki.”
“Please at least let one of the agency staff take you to the ER, alright? And I need my phone back.”
“Jeez, everyone's freaking out too much!” He started their post-performance stretching sequence on the bench, Anzu’s phone still in hand. “I'll go to the agency's doctor tomorrow, okay? Whatever I did to it, it's not gonna kill me overnight. And if we go to the ER and they send in some out-of-network doc and do X-rays with an out-of-network tech—which, you know, we have no say in—we're out at least a few thousand extra.” He turned to Yuuta, legs stretched straight to both ends of the bench while he bent sideways over one of them. “You know what our budget's at.”
“I guess, but—”
“And we've handled way worse on our own, right?”
“Well, yeah, but—”
“And I would way rather eat something and watch anime on the couch than sit on a hard chair in a waiting room for six hours. So hungry…”
Yuuta groaned, his own belly gnawing at itself. “Ugh, fine! Fine. Doctor first thing in the morning, okay?”
“Deal!” He finally handed over Anzu's phone. “Ice would be great though, not gonna lie.”
She pressed her lips together, but Yuuta nodded and she sighed and speedwalked away.
Yuuta began his own stretching. “Sorry for hitting you. I just… I get angry when you hurt yourself on purpose.”
“I mean, it wasn't on purpose.”
“Yeah it was. I'm good enough to adapt on my own, I think I showed that pretty clearly, but you went and did the finale like that.”
“Performers dance with broken bones all the time and it really wasn't that—”
“But we're two-in-one. You shouldn't have to.”
“That's exactly why I did have to, though.”
“And if it were me? If I hurt myself halfway through a show? I'm supposed to keep going like nothing's wrong?”
Hinata's shoulders curled in, and he sat on his hands. “It's—situational.”
“No, you're just a hypocrite who never thinks about how I feel when you do stuff like this. Look, you made Anzu worry too.” Chewing her bottom lip, she came jogging towards them with an ice pack in a towel, and Yuuta took it with a nod of thanks. Kneeling, scowling, he propped his brother's calf up on a box. But he was gentle, despite the anger in his jaw, as he unwrapped the too-tight compression bandage and laid the ice over the ankle.
“Don't move.” He snagged his teal jacket from where he'd abandoned it and tucked it under Hinata's leg. “Okay. We're keeping the ice on for fifteen minutes, and then I'll ask Shinobu to pick us up.”
“No, don't bother Shinobu,” Hinata complained. “I already owe Ryuseitai too much.”
“He's my best friend. We're not the only ones we can rely on, you know?”
“He's your friend, yeah. He doesn't think of us as the same person, right? So he isn't gonna want to go through a bunch of trouble if it's for me, not you.”
Yuuta groaned and dragged on his own cheeks, smearing stage makeup. “Oh my god, just let people help you! I get that you don’t trust me, because you think I’m too emotionally weak and incompetent to handle any kind of real problem—”
“No no, that’s not it—”
“Really. Every single thing you do says otherwise.”
“That’s… how it feels to you?”
“That’s how it is! You think I’m some fragile child who’s gonna break if I hear any bad news or have to deal with anything hard.”
“No, that’s really not it! I just want you to be happy, you know? If there’s a problem I can solve myself, why stress both of us about it?”
“Because I care about you? I want to be your equal, not your dependent? I want to be someone you can respect?”
“I do, though—”
“Doesn’t seem like it. It’s pretty obvious you don’t see me as a competent peer. I’m like, a pet to you, some stupid little animal that has to be protected because it can’t do anything itself. A little kid you indulge, but you don’t trust with anything important.”
“I—no, it’s not like that, I know you’re smarter than me—”
“Whatever. It’s pointless talking about it if you’re not gonna change anything. I’m calling Shinobu.”
Despite ongoing protests from Hinata, Yuuta made the call.
“He'll be here in ten minutes. Keep icing it for now.”
Hinata sighed halfheartedly. “Okay.”
Yuuta felt like there should've been more stubborn, self-sacrificing commentary, but it seemed Hinata’s post-show adrenaline had worn off. His arms were straight and back hunched, whole body shivering at intervals. Yuuta was starting to feel the chill of drying sweat, too, and rummaged through the costumes they'd tossed to the side until he found their street clothes. His sleek teal jacket, Hinata’s puffy gray one he’d found by a dumpster years ago and refused to replace—Hinata gave a fake smile and thanks, slipped it on, then kept sitting, staring at nothing on the floor as soon as Yuuta walked away. He forcibly perked up whenever Anzu came to check on him, but sagged even deeper once he thought he was alone again. Yuuta watched, hidden behind a rack of someone else’s costumes.
Shinobu came rushing in minutes later with two taller boys on his heels. “We arrived with utmost speed! Where is Hinata? We're here to lend our aid!”
Yuuta ducked out from behind the costume rack and offered Shinobu a fist bump. “Thanks for coming so fast. Over here.”
Hinata looked up when the group approached. “Brought the whole crew, huh? Sorry for making you do this. It’s really not that bad, but sometimes my cute little Yuuta overreacts when his big brother messes up.” He laid aside the cold pack and tucked both feet under the bench, several pairs of eyes trying to track the injury, while Yuuta retorted.
“Okay, first of all, I’m not ‘your cute little’ anything, I’m not overreacting, and it’s not that you messed up, it’s that you hurt yourself and it’s actually pretty bad!”
“So that was all ‘first of all?’ This is gonna be a long lecture. But I’m always ready to listen to my favorite brother!”
Yuuta flung his hands up. “Look, I’m trying not to punch a cripple again, but you’re making it real hard, Aniki.”
“‘Again?’” Tetora whispered to Midori. The green one shrugged. It seemed on-brand enough for the twins.
Shinobu—and by extension, his entire unit—had gotten the call as they were changing after commercial filming. It went like this:
The ninja hero was wiggling out of his jumpsuit when his phone buzzed. And kept buzzing, while he more and more frantically and less and less effectively tried to get the costume off. Midori sighed and peeled the sleeves off his friend's scrawny arms.
“Thank you! Thank you! Ah, just—hello, Shinobu speaking.”
The voice on the other end was loud enough for the whole team to hear. “You didn’t see my name on the caller ID? It's Yuuta.”
Shinobu turned it on speaker. Ryuseitai all chorused their hellos, and there was almost a smile in Yuuta's voice when he continued.
“Hey guys. You're done with your shoot, right? Do you have time to drive us to the store and then back to the dorms?”
“Where are you? Which store?”
“Someplace with first aid supplies and painkillers. Aniki hurt his foot really bad during our live—we're still at the venue.”
Simultaneously, the entire unit chimed in.
Chiaki: “Tell him to rest, and use ice, compression, and elevation properly! A hero has to heal fully to be at their max!”
Tetora: “Hinata?! What happened?! Is he okay?! Milk! Milk is a manly drink that'll help with recovery! I have some in the fridge that I'll bring over as soon as we're back!”
Kanata: “Ohhh, it is that he hurt his foot, hmmm? I have been told that doctors are good at healing. Do you have a doctor there?”
Midori: “I can't believe he'd be that unlucky… Hope he's not in pain right now. He's, uh, doing okay, right?”
Shinobu, finally squeezing through the cacophony: “Of course I'm willing and prepared to drive, but is there not a responsible official from the agency who should be made aware and summoned?”
“They'd legally have to take him to the ER or whatever, so it's better this way.”
Shinobu frowned at the phone, finally escaping the last of his costume. “Um, should your brother not be brought to the emergency room?”
There was a tense silence on the other end for a second, then, “I'm taking him to the company’s doctor when they open tomorrow.”
“Are you sure? The injury is not severe?”
“It's bad, but it's not going to get much worse if we wait twelve hours. Probably. I guess. We'll load him up with painkillers and ice on and off overnight.”
“If you say so… I’ll come to you as quickly as the laws of the road permit!”
The call ended, and the previous light buzz of a post-event high rose to a frenzy.
“But with the twins, only three of us will fit in my car!” Shinobu cried. Kanata efficiently pulled the shirt over his junior’s head while Shinobu held his arms up.
Chiaki just as efficiently stripped the uniform off Midori, who made an offended little noise. “Don’t worry! Kanata and I leave this mission to you, with full confidence that you’ll save the day!”
“You three are their very close friends, yes?” Kanata gave Shinobu a suspiciously smug smile, tying his shoes for him. “You will take good care of our little otters. And Chiaki has to do boring talking with the director anyway.”
Midori, already fully clothed again thanks to his leader, rummaged in his duffle. “Harrassment. I swear, Chiaki. Anyway, Hinata should eat to keep his strength up, and I did bring a lot of food from the shop, so…”
“And I’m going to help no matter what! A man doesn’t leave his injured comrades on the battlefield!” Tetora, who had managed to get dressed all by himself, was already gathering up the others’ gear.
“I mean, that feels kind of exaggerated, but okay.” Midori pulled two grocery bags out of his duffle. Tetora grabbed it for him, and they both looked to Shinobu, who was hopping from foot to foot.
Chiaki touched Tetora’s shoulder before he could go. “By the way, Hinata’s going to be trying to keep everyone from worrying. Don’t—necessarily trust him about everything.” He wouldn’t quite make eye contact, so Tetora knew exactly where the insider tip was coming from. “Anyway! Go be heroes! Ryuseitaiiiiii!”
So, now standing backstage watching Hinata tease his brother with no regard for self-preservation, Tetora was sure that his act was covering up a bigger problem than he let on.
Shinobu bit his lip and met Tetora’s eyes. Bolder than his team, Tetora walked up and squatted next to Hinata. He gently placed a hand on his knee and squinted under the bench. “It might be okay to wait til tomorrow, if you don’t put any weight on it before then. Can I see?”
“Oh, a foot guy, huh?” Hinata fluttered his lashes. “I charge for that, you know.”
“Hinata!” He scooted backwards, hoping he wasn’t blushing as much as it felt. “I just need to know if it’s really okay to wait until tomorrow.”
“Feeling impatient? My, how forward! And in front of my innocent younger brother!”
Multiple groans chorused, and this time Yuuta did smack him.
Hinata fake-wailed for a few seconds, then brightened abruptly and leaned his forearms on his knees. “Anyway, since you're all here already, I do wanna ride home in your car. I bet there's still fruit snacks between the seats!”
“To the drug store first. And keep your foot elevated, and bring the ice and the bandage.” With a thumbs up to someone in the shadows of the curtains, Yuuta nodded to the others. “The crew is trying to get us out of here to clean up, so I'll wrap it for you at home.”
“Oh, yeah, sounds good! Let’s get going! I'm… really tired.” His smile trembled a little.
Yuuta scowled. “I'm honestly kind of shocked you're admitting that. Doesn't seem like you care about your own health at all, ever,” he snapped. He swung both their bags onto his shoulders. “It's exhausting being the only one treating your well-being seriously, you know. Especially when you don’t even tell me anything.” The hang of his head, and the shimmer of tears that weren't falling, showed it clearer than his words.
“Sorry. I promise I don't mean to be a problem, it just… ends up like that.” Hinata curled forward and stared down at his lap like a sad puppy.
Tetora and his unitmates stood awkwardly, torn between comforting Hinata and agreeing wholeheartedly with Yuuta. Their seniors would have had their strange ways of diffusing the awkwardness, but the younger trio were weird in ways that didn’t provide much social lubricant.
Blessedly, Hinata took mercy on the group and started babbling cheerfully again. They all breathed a silent sigh of relief.
“Oh! Except I did make Yuuta improv two solos tonight and you would not believe how awesome he looked! I mean, he always does great, but you shoulda heard the crowd scream. It was wild. He's got some spicy moves! Show 'em, show ‘em!”
Tetora interrupted before Yuuta could smack him yet again. “Hey, Hinata, let me help you get to the car. Can you climb on my back?”
“Free ride on the Tetsu-taxi!” Hinata cheered and jumped onto his friend, clinging to his shoulders and wrapping his good leg around his waist. The other leg he pulled up against himself, hiding most of it under his coat.
“Oh, you’re light. Hold on good, alright?”
The five trekked back to Shinobu’s old sedan.
In the dim concrete halls under the stage, Tetora turned his head to whisper to Hinata and discovered that their faces were an inch apart, giant green eyes staring at him. He jumped and stumbled into a wall, and they both shrieked. The others looked back.
“It's nothing! Nothing happened! I just—got off balance. You okay, Hinata?”
“Y-yeah! Aaah, haha!”
Crap. So he’d definitely bumped the wrong side of their bodies. Hinata had gone completely rigid against him, digging his fingers violently into Tetora’s shoulders.
Shinobu looked at Yuuta, who rolled his eyes. “Of course he's not okay. Are you guys honestly this stupid? Let's just get to the car, and try to not make things worse, Tetora.”
Shinobu’s quiet warning to be nice was overpowered by Tetora’s “Yessir!” that echoed down the corridor.
Midori fell back into step with Tetora and his piggybacker. “Your brother's a little mean sometimes, Hinata.”
“He's just—mad at me, and it kinda comes out at everybody. Sorry, Tetora. I appreciate the ride!” He gave a little bow and bonked his forehead against Tetora’s spine.
“No, I'm sorry! I'll be diligent from now on! I can't call myself a man if I'm so clumsy I hurt people on accident!”
“Hmm… speaking of that, how are you feeling, Hinata?” Midori tried to move his coat to see the damage, but the redhead shifted his hold to clutch it tight.
“Super-duper! Hunky-dory! Peachy-keen! I mean, you guys all twisted an ankle before, right? It's not that big a deal, so stop worrying about it and let's have fun hanging out, huh?”
“Ugh… but you had your brother do a solo because of it? That doesn't sound like something you'd do if you could help it.”
“Yeah, good point!” Tetora hitched his friend higher on his back, forgetting about the tenderness of the injury until Hinata hiccuped a tiny gasp and tightened his grip again. “Ack, sorry!”
“‘S fine!” Hinata managed. Midori groaned, and Tetora grunted a negative.
“You know it's okay to tell us when you're hurt, right? It doesn't make you less of a man. Like you don't have to whine about every little bump, but Chief even said, you gotta acknowledge pain so that you know where problems are so you can fix ‘em.”
Tetora felt him squeeze closer, but more like Tetora was his human shield than out of affection. “It's awful sweet for y'all to care so much, but it's embarrassing if all we talk about is how I'm a klutz, y'know? I wanna tell you more about how cool Yuuta was!”
“But you're still not really letting us know how bad it is, are you?” Midori asked, watching the ground while they walked. “I don't want to make you feel worse, but… I guess I wish you felt safe enough to be honest with us. Like we were real friends.”
Hinata was still and silent, except for a quiet, abandoned “I…”
None of them spoke for the rest of the walk down the hall, though Shinobu and Yuuta were whispering together some paces ahead. Hinata weighed gradually heavier as his grip weakened. To keep him from sliding any further, Tetora wrapped an elbow under his left knee, but his friend jerked and almost fell off when he tried the same on the right. On the plus side, maybe, it also seemed to snap Hinata out of his darkness.
“Ah! I, um, I’m, gonna have to think some more about that, but really, you guys and Sora are my best friends. So don’t think we’re not or I’ll prove it in the group chat, okay?”
“I believe you! I do. Please, not another gif spam,” Midori begged.
“Last time, Kanata wouldn’t quit asking if it was our girlfriend texting us so much during practice.”
“And I told him it was you—”
“And he was like, ‘yes, I know,’ and then you sent another one and he was like, ‘from your cute girlfriend again, hmm?’ and he acts all naive but I swear he’s the devil.”
“Probably, but he’s right that I’m cute.”
Shinobu opened the steel door to the exterior, and they all filed into the parking lot.
“I call shotgun for Midori!” Hinata yelled, straight into Tetora’s ear. “Sexy legs like those can’t be squished in the backseat.”
Midori hid his face in his hands. “No, the backseat’s fine. I just came because they dragged me along, anyway. And… I mean, I guess I brought some food.”
“Food?!” Hinata slithered off of Tetora’s back and flung open the car door, crawling into the middle seat. “I un-call shotgun for Midori. He’s sitting by me. Yuuta, you get the front.”
“What? But—”
Shinobu elbowed Yuuta’s arm softly, and the twin reflexively slipped it around his friend’s shoulders. He nuzzled Shinobu’s silky hair.
“Fine.” Yuuta said after another cuddle. “But pass some up to me. I’m starving.”
Tetora and Midori obligingly slid to either side of Hinata, who set his foot on the console between Yuuta and Shinobu in the front seat. Before anyone could do more than catch a glimpse of the bruising, he'd shrugged out of his coat and tucked it on top. Being crammed in the backseat six inches from his face, Tetora noticed his wince when it touched the skin.
“That’s a lot of swelling.” Tetora started to lift up the jacket, but Hinata grabbed his hand and sat on it.
“It's not as bad as it looks. Anyway, you're ignoring the most important thing.” He made grabby hands at the grocery bag on Midori’s lap. “Feed me!”
They all shared the fresh produce from his family's store, along with junk food he'd picked up somewhere, while conversation shifted from Ryuseitai’s commercial to how grossly affectionate their seniors acted in public to ideal kissing techniques. Yuuta and Hinata got into a heated debate that resulted in Yuuta grabbing Shinobu's face and demonstrating proper angle and tilt, while Shinobu screamed something about “not while I'm driving!”.
“This one has the best store-brand candy,” Yuuta said eventually, pointing at a drug store on the left. “And obviously we'll get medicine and a couple other things, too.”
“But mostly candy, right?”
Yuuta sighed.
They parked, Yuuta and Shinobu took the walk into the drug store together, and the car finally quieted. Hinata’s free leg was slung over Tetora's knee, and he cuddled Midori’s arm like a stuffed animal. It took him a grand total of ten seconds to nod off, slumped against Midori (a taller, softer pillow than Tetora, so Tetora accepted the injustice).
With the redhead breathing soft and slow, the other two had nothing to do but look at each other. Midori carefully nodded at Hinata's coat, and Tetora nodded back. He delicately lifted it up enough for them both to see, shining his phone light in the dark of the car.
“Oh,” Midori said, eyebrows scrunching together. “That looks really bad.”
“Yeah.” Tetora raked a hand through his hair. “God, sometimes he's worse than the Captain about pretending things are okay.”
“Morisawa is pretty stubborn with stuff like that, huh… And you too, you know.”
“Me? I'm not as tough as they are, though. Yet, anyway.”
“Mmm, it's not being tough, and I really don't think it's something to aim for.” Midori petted Hinata’s hair absently. “I think it's just being scared.”
They fell into silence again, though Midori now had a protective palm cradling Hinata's head, and Tetora sat with arms folded across his bare chest. His hoodie was tucked around Hinata’s body.
“Sorry that took so long,” Yuuta said, opening the car door. “We—”
“Shhh!” Tetora and Midori glared at him together. He opened his mouth, about to fight them, until he saw Hinata asleep on Midori's shoulder, wrapped in Tetora’s sweatshirt.
The drive home was peaceful.