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Kageyama Tobio was growing tired of his mother's tirade. They'd been driving for half an hour in the cold, and since they were in traffic, in ten minutes he would be late for school. Normally his mother wouldn't even think about driving him anywhere; that's what his bike was for. But there was the exception of today to make sure he wouldn't escape. Also, they were going to school, but what he was attending wasn't actually school. It was detention. On Saturday. All day. This was the cruelest of punishments.
He was a normal student, one who didn't really break any rules (clearly, this was not always true) and one who earned fairly good grades. However this wasn't good enough for his parents. He could "obviously do better," which leads us to what his mother is complaining to him about. "Tobio," she said, "when I was your age I had a job already. You're in your first year of high school. I understand that. But you haven't done anything! The year is almost over and all you do is get into detention. I am not amused." As she went on about how she wasn't as privileged as he was and how he ought to get himself together for the next two years, he blocked her out and leaned against the car door. He sighed heavily. This is a waste of time, he thought.
As the stagnant traffic continued, Kageyama could only think about the stupid reason why he'd gotten penalized in the first place. He'd been talking with his math teacher over the grade he got on his last exam, when he became a little heated and threw his arms in the air to illustrate this. He did not know, however, that the principal was standing beside him (with the intent to calm him down). He'd flicked the wig right off the head.
A few bad words were exchanged, and the result ended up being that Kageyama would be given Saturday detention. In all, this event was a stretch of an example of Kageyama as a person. He was usually calmer than this, but snapping back without thinking was among the things he needed to work on.
There was another reason why he absolutely dreaded going to this all-day detention. He knew, for a fact, that Hinata Shouyou would be there. The one person he didn't want to see, the one person he probably had feelings for. It was the type of crush that came about because of a few small interactions during classes, when you notice too many things about that person. If his mother discovered that he liked a boy, she would, if possible, send him to Mars or Neptune or something. Which is why she could not know.
He'd expected Hinata to be there because he'd seen him do something bad enough to get it. It was the most basic of school-related wrongdoings: stealing a cheat sheet. The stupid part, Kageyama thought, wasn't the action, but the fact that you would be so loose as to get caught. Sure, he liked the guy. A lot. But he was serious about things being screwed up. As his father told him, "If you're going to do something wrong, you should do it the right way."
Kageyama sat in the passenger's seat of his mother's car, exhausted and anxious.
Hinata wasn't as dismal as Kageyama about the whole thing. He was actually glad to go out and not have to take care of his younger sister for the time being. He rode his orange bike there, as he usually did. If anything he worried about the assignment they would be given as a part of their punishment. The worst it could've been was an essay, the best a few lines of repentance. As his hips and legs moved along with the bike pedals, he let the crisp and dry winter air push his orange hair back. He shivered. My nose is going to turn red, he thought.
As for Tsukishima Kei, he was not in the mood for company, especially delinquent company. He woke up to the sound of his neighbor loudly playing traditional Japanese music, strings and all. His ears pounded roughly at the sound. The sun had not yet fully risen, and it was chilly. It was definitely the height of winter. Then, after waking up, he couldn't find his glasses for the next hour; they were underneath his bed.
Oikawa Tooru spent about an hour or so fixing his hair and overall appearance. He took so long that Iwaizumi Hajime came over to rush him. "If you're going to ride on my motorcycle, then you're going by my terms. Hurry the hell up."
"Non, non, Iwa-chan. Beauty takes time to become beauty."
"Seriously? For detention?" Iwa's eyebrows collected, scrunched together in the middle of his face. He reassessed his words. Trying to be gentler, he said, "Never mind. I know how you are."
Kuroo Tetsurou and Bokuto Koutarou had been up all of the previous night playing cards and video games, so they were equally tired when they woke up after two hours of sleep. They got out of bed in the first place because the principal had stressed the fact that if anyone happened to not show up, they would be expelled.
"Is this school? Or military boot camp?" Kuroo had said.
So the two of them were well aware of the consequences if they didn't go. Still, the entire thing was laughable to them because they were third years and soon to graduate.
***
Kageyama was the last person to arrive. And as such, everyone stared at him as he walked in. He at least knew the names of everyone in the room. The room they were being held in was the Home Economics room, a place not very suitable for detention. He might be tempted to cook something. He saw Oikawa, Kuroo, and Bokuto, wondering how the faces of the third years had gotten into this detention.
He scanned the room for Hinata, and upon finding him with his head on the table, he sat down in front of him. A few seconds later, the principal came inside with a loud bang. Everyone except for Tsukishima jumped up in shock. The principal decided to go bald today, Kageyama feeling somewhat guilty for revealing that he did not in fact have natural hair. He wore a grey suit and red tie, with some of his belly fat protruding from above his belt. While he had no hair on his head, there was a great bush of black and grey on his chin. "Oh. I'm glad to see that everyone is here. Surprisingly enough, you rebels seem to care about school, hmm?"
Kageyama turned his head around in an inconspicuous attempt, checking to see if Hinata had lifted his head up yet. He hadn't. Was he sleeping? Anyway, the principal pulled out a ruler and slammed it on Kageyama's desk. It made a quick, sharp sound. He jumped again and faced the principal who said, "Kageyama, you . . . you especially need to be here." He then looked down at the entire group, "I hope you rebels know why you're here today. I hope you know, and I pray that you won't make the same mistakes again. You will all be here until three-thirty. You will not mess around, and you will do the assignment: a paper on what you did wrong and what you will do in the future." There was a collective scoff among the group. He resumed, "Understood?"
Again, a scoff. Oikawa was the only one to answer. "Yes, sir," he said between his gritted teeth.
"Understood?" the principal repeated, to get a response out of everyone.
Now it was from everyone in monotone, "Yes, sir."
"Good." He finally left and went into his office in the next room.
"Is anyone here actually going to write the assignment?" Bokuto asked aloud.
Everyone else turned to him. "Nope," they replied, as if the answer should have been obvious.
However, Tsukishima started writing. Soon enough Oikawa snatched the paper from him and read its contents aloud: "This absolutely sucks. We're in detention on Saturday, I didn't eat breakfast, and I don't like anyone here. This is the worst Saturday ever." He gave it back and folded his arms, seemingly in deep thought. "I don't really care if you don't like us, because you don't know us. But For this to be your worst Saturday ever . . . kind of makes me sad."
Tsukishima rolled his eyes and looked away. Kageyama, an onlooker, told Oikawa to not bother him. The senior replied in kind, "Don't bother me, Tobio-chan." The two, having went to the same middle school, have never gotten along, and most likely never will. They both liked it that way, anyway. Volleyball club was very lively that way.
"Well," Kuroo interrupted, "if he's hungry, he can have the rest of my breakfast. Anyone else who wants can, too." He faced Tsukishima. "Here." He had taken out a delightful looking half of a tuna sandwich, a PB and J, a half-eaten bowl of rice, and some dried seaweed.
Reluctantly, Tsukishima gave in to his desire for food and walked over to the extravagant feast. Hinata, who'd smelled food, instantly awoke from his nap and went to the food. "Do you usually eat all of this food for breakfast?" he asked.
"Yeah. I ate an omelette already, so I'm not that hungry."
"Look at what we have here," Bokuto said, "Kuroo trying to nice to a guy who said he didn't like any of us."
"What are you talking about? I think I'm always pretty nice." Bokuto laughed. Kuroo continued, "I guess you're nicer than Shittykawa over there."
Kageyama instinctively turned to Oikawa. The Grand King absolutely hated being called that, and would gladly ruin the life of someone who said it. He knew this, so he feared the outcome. "What did you just call me?" He quickly marched up to Kuroo.
"Shittykawa?" he repeated. This was not good. The two of them were equally stubborn and equally not the best people. Kageyama wondered if there was bad blood between them. They stood, in close proximity, staring at each other fervently.
"Wanna fight? I lost the last one," Kuroo spoke with a smug grin. Oikawa pulled at his sweater roughly. The dark tension between them was making Hinata nauseous. He stopped eating and went over to break the two of them up. Fearing he wouldn't make it in time, he took the bowl of rice Tsukishima was currently devouring and threw it on both of their heads.
"Don't fight. I don't want the principal coming in here," he reasoned.
It worked, since the tension immediately dissipated, but Oikawa's attention was then directed towards Hinata. He reached for his hair and ruffled it. "Nice one, Chibi-chan." Kageyama got up as this was happening, planning to intervene. Nothing happened though, and he felt relieved.
For the moment things were silently loud. No one was talking, but inwardly they were seething. Not Hinata, though. He was probably the buffer to stop these many wild tornadoes from destroying everything. At least, this was what Kageyama thought. He could feel eyes on him, eyes that belonged to Hinata. He felt even more self-conscious than usual. After nearly an hour, they were feeling tired from sitting down and doing nothing. So, Bokuto suggested, "Hey, Why don't we move these desks and sit in a circle?"
The group tried to move the desks and chairs as quietly as possible. As they finished, they sat in a circle, Kageyama making it his goal to sit next to Hinata and away from Oikawa. On his other side ended up being Tsukishima. "So," Kuroo said, "actually, how did all of you guys end up here?"
"Yeah, how did you end up here, Kageyama? You're the last person I'd expect in detention," Hinata said. This must have been why he was looking at him in deep thought.
"W-well," he stammered, "I kind of made the principal's wig fly off his head."
Everyone except for Tsukishima laughed. "No wonder he went bald! That's so you, Kageyama," Hinata said.
"I knew you couldn't do anything truly bad," Oikawa retorted, still laughing.
"Let him be," Bokuto sighed.
Kageyama, inwardly frustrated, changed the topic to Hinata, even though he already knew. "What about you, Hinata?"
"I, uh, stole the answer sheet for my math exam. I was desperate."
Again, laughter. "What's with you freshman? It's kind of cute," Kuroo said.
"Then, what got you in here?" Hinata spat.
"Oh, me? Well, I'm in a package deal with Bokuto. We . . ." his voice trailed off as he spoke. He felt uncomfortable continuing, but Bokuto edged him on. There was a silence, and everyone thought that what he was about to say was much more serious than they thought. The room echoed nothing, because no sound was being made. The silence was almost haunting. Almost deadly. Tsukishima, for one, could not take his eyes off of the sudden grimness of Kuroo's face. It made him curious, and confused, and upset. Upset at the mirror he was seeing. "We brought alcohol into the building. Just for fun. It belonged my mom." He pulled up his the sleeve of his black sweater to show a dark scar on his arm. "This was the result. She burned me, not for smuggling it into school, but for taking her whiskey without permission."
No one said anything, not even Oikawa. They all realized how important it was that they didn't say anything about it. It just needed to be said. Reality just needed to be seen. The truth just needed to be heard. The pain just needed to be known.
Next up was Oikawa. His tone was dismal, with no hint of flamboyance. "I don't really have a specific event. That guy and I have never been on the same terms since I came to this school. He hates me, so he gave me detention. But, well, it's mutual."
"Why don't you get along?" Hinata asked.
Kageyama knew, so he answered this instead, "The principal is his father."
"Eh? But he has no hair, and Oikawa-senpai has such nice hair."
"Really? Thanks, Chibi-chan. I kind of like you now. But anyway, I don't think he appreciates anything I do, or the grades I get. 'You've got to beat everyone! You've always got to be at the top!' I honestly don't know where the hell he got that ideology from, but it's been burned into my skull ever since I could read. He doesn't like it when I'm not like him. I mean, I'm never going to become bald. Even if I'm considered a genius, I'm never going to be what he wants. Why doesn't he just fucking understand that?" The group was surprised by Oikawa's honesty and rawness. It made Hinata and Kageyama feel what he was feeling.
"Oikawa, you . . .," Kuroo began. He didn't know how to finish.
"Then, I guess Megane-kun is last," Bokuto announced.
"First, it's Tsukishima. I guess you could say I'm in here because I killed Takeda-sensei." He said this all in one breath, as if it were as easy as saying hello. While no one believed this for one second, Hinata did find it suspicious that the teacher had been absent for most of the week.
"Did you really?" Hinata asked.
"He couldn't have," Kageyama said.
"Exactly. He would be in court right now if he had," Bokuto added.
"Alright, fine. I didn't think you would buy that. But seriously, I did put him in the hospital. I was rearranging the bookshelf over there"--he pointed--"but it's old and somehow started to fall. I moved out of the way fast enough, but it fell on Takeda-sensei's legs. In my defense, I didn't know he was behind me."
"Wow. I honestly believe you win the award for best reason. Seriously. That is crazy," Kuroo said.
"I know," Tsukishima agreed, feeling a little pleasure at the fact.
After a while of doing nothing, talking, arguing, then doing more of nothing, their legs got tired from the way they were sitting. They rearranged the desks back to normal--and just in time for the principal's return.
"It's eleven. I hope you all haven't gotten too comfortable. Let me see how those papers are going." He leered over at the blank papers of everyone except for Tsukishima, who had the few lines he wrote earlier. "What is this? Why is there nothing on your papers?"
"We'll start after lunch," Bokuto lied.
"You sure will," he warned, "or else we're doing this again next Saturday."
"Oh please," Oikawa snapped. He sat back in his chair and threw his legs on the desk. The posture of someone who wanted to defy everything he was taught. "You know you don't want us back here again. You always have something better to do than to babysit high school kids, right? Even though it's your job."
"What are you trying to say this time, Tooru?"
"You don't care enough to do this again. That's what I'm trying to say."
"Why must you always antagonize me?"
"Because I don't like you. Besides, I'm a 'rebel' right? It's exactly as you say. I'm a horrible son."
There was an intense exchange of stares; the unsaid words were written in each other's eyes. When the principal left, Oikawa loosened his shoulders and sighed. "Dammit," he muttered.
For the next hour, Kageyama and Hinata exchanged quiet words. Hinata had moved next to him, initiating conversation. It may have been just words about themselves and constant complaining about how tired and bored they were, but Kageyama really appreciated it. He felt like he was dreaming, to be able to talk to Hinata for so long.
"People say you're mean and cranky? Why?" Hinata asked him.
"Because of this, I think." He pointed at the space between his eyebrows in which they furrowed.
"Ha! That isn't scary. I mean, it's not that scary. I guess people are just intimidated by you. But I think you're just awkward with your words. Well, you are cranky, though. You are." Aside from the last part, Kageyama sat back and smiled at what Hinata thought of him. It was good. Things were going well.
When twelve hit, Kuroo immediately pulled out his lunch. In awe of how much food he'd taken out of his black tote bag so far, Kageyama and Hinata went over to look. They'd only brought pan for lunch. With one glance into his bag, they saw an unending abyss of black in which almost anything could be taken out of. It was like a magic trick. On his desk, there was a mountain of bento boxes. "Half of them are mine," Bokuto clarified. "But I guess we all can share."
Kuroo vaguely pouted. "Fine." Clearly, he was more possessive of his lunch than his breakfast. Almost every food you could think of existed in the boxes, soon to be dissolved in their stomachs.
***
Tsukishima, who sat in the back, had taken out a book and started reading. Kageyama happened to glance over at him and also the book, and he shuddered when he read the title. "Tsukishima. You're reading Suzuki's Ring?"
He looked up at the slightly horrified teenager and said, quite indifferently, "Yeah. And?"
Confused, Kageyama frowned and huffed, "How are you not curled up on the floor right now?"
"Because I'm not? It's really not creepy. It is interesting, though."
He grew upset at the fact that nothing seemed to scare him or wipe away his poker face. "Che. I've never liked you anyway."
"Great. The feeling is mutual."
Kuroo, who'd been watching the scene from afar, seemed to get the idea. He grinned mischievously. "Operation: Scare Tsukki," he whispered to Bokuto. In a few seconds the lights in the room were off and everything went dark. Kageyama almost fell out of his chair, but as an alternative of the floor, his head landed on Hinata's lap. "Ah! I'm sorry." He tried to get back up, but his orange-haired crush held his shoulders down. "You shouldn't get back up," he said, "At least for now. You're scared, aren't you? I don't know what the senpai are trying to do, so just say put here." Instantly he was afire both inside and out. He lay still on Hinata's short legs, internally screaming and shaking. All he had to do to calm down was nothing, but all he wanted to was run outside and drink water. Since the darkness also loomed over him, he wouldn't know where the exit was. Ultimately he stayed put, taking in the feel of his thighs.
The senpai were different from the glaringly normal Kageyama. Oikawa only lived by two extremes, being extremely strong or extremely weak (he would always try to repress the latter). In more ways than one, he had dog-like qualities. Kuroo and Bokuto were like cat and owl. Both could see in the dark, their animal counterparts included. This also explained the tension between Kuroo and Oikawa. Even Oikawa found this strange, as they attempted to frighten Tsukishima.
The room, as it had been many times already today, was silent. The duo tried to be as ninja-like (not Naruto's ninjas) as possible. The plan was to lure and come up on Tsukishima simultaneously and growl like bears. It wasn't the most intricate plan because it was thought up in about one minute. Because of this, the plan backfired entirely. Tsukishima had anticipated the events and stood up. Bokuto and Kuroo's heads collided painfully.
"Ah, shit!" Kuroo exclaimed.
"That's the last time we're doing that," Bokuto laughed.
Tsukishima smiled at the fact that he was able to outwit them. He walked over to the door and turned the lights back on. Kageyama lifted his head from Hinata's lap and glanced at him. "Why . . . did you do that?" he asked.
Hinata raised his eyebrows. He laughed at the realization of what he did. "Oh. It's what my mother did to me to calm me down when I was a child. So it was an instinct. Sorry if it was weird."
"No, I don't mind." A lie. An absolute lie. Right then he couldn't stop thinking about the feeling and the warmth of it all.
Not long after the event resided, Bokuto announced that he wanted to play a game. "Okay. Let's play 'Never Have I Ever'."
"Ugh. Why?" Kageyama moaned. In total contrast to this, Hinata seemed excited.
"I'm bored. You're bored. We're all bored," he replied. "Come on. I'll start." He thought for a bit, then said, "Never have I ever been in a fight."
"What? You?" Hinata inquired curiously.
"Yeah," he simply stated, "I don't like conflict. Unlike Kuroo."
Next was Tsukishima. "Never have I ever . . . told my mother I loved her before she died."
"Damn, Tsukki. Seriously, you have got to stop doing that," Kuroo said.
"Well, I mean, it's half true. She did die. But I told her I loved her every day." Since he was done talking, he pulled Ring back out and resumed reading.
After Tsukishima was Bokuto. "Never have I ever had more than four hours of sleep since I came to this school."
"That's true. Somewhere along the line sleep became another language for him," Kuroo commented. Kageyama could not understand how Bokuto Koutarou was a functioning person without at least eight hours. He was more energetic than everyone else sitting there combined.
Kuroo prompted Oikawa to go next. "Hmm. Never have I ever told anyone that I love them."
This caused the black cat to show his fangs to the dog. "Of course," the cat retorted.
"What? Do you wanna fight for real this time?"
"I think I'll go," Hinata intervened. "Never have I ever dated a girl."
Kageyama was somehow unsurprised. He'd figured that girls didn't know where to look for good guys.
"Would a girl want to date a guy who's their height?" Oikawa was starting up again. A fight was bound to happen.
Hinata looked down at the blue-tiled floor. "Shut up!" Kageyama defended.
"I'm just saying. As a matter of fact, Tobio-chan, you've never dated a girl either. Why is that?"
"Why do I have do?"
"You're at that stage, though, right?"
"I'm not listening to you."
"Oh come on." He leaned closer toward him. "You and I both know the truth. That you can't like girls."
Kageyama’s heartbeat paused. Everything between the six of them paused. His breath quickened and his vision blurred. He couldn't think, couldn't blink. He couldn't even be angry or say something back. He could just watch, and not deny. He wanted to beat Oikawa to a pulp. He'd never felt so sick and vindictive. He'd never felt so surrounded by darkness. Only, suddenly, he noticed a hole the size of a pea. Some light shone through.
"If you say one more word about that, senpai, I'm going to beat you to a pulp. No offense," Hinata threatened darkly. Especially Kageyama was surprised. He continued, "I know you're not a bad person, but you should watch what you say. Please. Leave Kageyama alone. Leave us alone. Let your hatred of your father go. Whatever happened between you and Kuroo-senpai, let it go. I don't want us to have to fight."
Kuroo whistled, amazed, in place of everyone's speechlessness. "Who knew you were so adamant about this?" Oikawa responded.
"I only care about Kageyama as his friend. I can't not defend him, whatever the case may be. It's happened to me already before. I can't leave him alone."
That pea-sized light turned into the sun.
***
The last order of business was the paper. Tsukishima, having finished Ring, sighed and crossed out the initial writing on the top of his paper. He sat, still looking at it, but it annoyed him so he crumpled the paper and tossed it into the recycle bin. He'd felt a little differently compared to his frustration this morning. He still didn't like them, but he understood them. He learned about them. The six of them were all completely different, and probably couldn't all get along well, but for the time being, things were good.
Of course, there was unfinished business, old grudges, and hidden feelings, but those couldn't last forever. They would be conquered. They were as much of a ladder as adolescence, as family, as high school, and as college.
As three-thirty drew closer, on the teacher's desk in the front of the room, the six gathered around one sheet of paper. They'd decided to write something coming from all of them. They even argued about who the recorder would be. Eventually Kageyama was chosen to write and Tsukishima to speak.
He wrote,
Dear Principal,
We don't like you. We don't appreciate the fact that you put us in this Saturday prison.
We know you don't like us either, so the feeling is mutual.
However, we now think that even prison can have its fun.
Hinata is not just a shortie. Kageyama is just a dork. Tsukishima is not a nerd.
Oikawa is not just an asshole. Bokuto is just fun. Kuroo does not just like to fight.
We are so much more than the reasons you put us here. We have stories, and so do you.
So, let's not do this again. Unless you want to face the six of us at once.
Sincerely,
The Rebel Club.