Chapter Text
“I wanna grow out my hair.”
That construction of words seemed to snap the boy, who was ever so lost in whatever weird antics his brain could cultivate at that moment, out of his daydream, and back to reality. He’d been long gone since the beginning of the bus trip, he failed to notice the rather confuzzled boy right next to him pull out a magazine, and point towards one of the many unnamed hair models you’d see on the side of a hair salon.
“Kinda like this..?”
He pointed towards a rather normal looking man. The only thing standing out was his hair. To say it was long is a dramatic overstatement, but short isn't either the word we’re looking for. It was longer around the back and reached towards the end of the neck, while it got shorter the closer it was to the forehead. It had bangs that split in the middle, each part resting on the corresponding side of the face.
“Hmmm…it’s a bit confident, no?”
The boy with the magazine clutched even tighter as he really went into depth about how this would affect his appearance. It wasn’t exactly a bold hairstyle but Ennoshita is too shy, or more so boring, to try and pull off such a style. I mean c’mon! He’s a regular high school student, not a kpop idol!
“Well you’re the one who just said you want to grow out your hair! How do you plan on pulling this off, if even a simple hairstyle scares your ass hairs off?”
Ennoshita had already been used to Tanaka’s “impatience”, for a lack of a better words. A simple answer of contradiction already had Tanaka all pent up. For someone who’s been dozing off the whole bus ride, he seems to have quite the opinion on such a trivial matter. Tanaka frowned, seemingly with an undertone of excitement, and quickly painted on a smug look.
“You know…you’re not helping right? If I needed the conversation to go nowhere, I would have asked my nonexistent dog!”
Tanaka and Ennoshita were both first years by this point. Their friendship had blossomed after it became undoubtedly obvious how “academically challenged”
Tanaka was. It started off with a couple of study sessions here and there, mostly before major tests. Eventually, they enjoyed each other’s company and spent a respectful time outside of studying; just hanging out. This time also applied to the bus that came every morning to pick up kids that went to karasuno, and drove them off at school.
Tanaka rolled his eyes at the comment, diverting his attention back to the magazine. He looked through the two pages Ennoshita had stopped on, and placed his finger at a, not so surprisingly, normal looking guy. He slithered his other arm over the very suspecting boy, who had by now known most of his tricks even though they’d only been friends for 3 months.
“Don’t say something stupid.”
“A-ah it’s not stupid! It’s actually very relevant to the discussion we are having.”
Tanaka gave a sly smirk before it was quickly washed away by Ennoshita’s death glare. Just say it you imbecile! I hate that face you make and you know that!
“W-well i just wanted to know why you’re suddenly so interested in growing out your hair? In the very short time i’ve gotten to know you, you just seem like the-“
“Boring type?”
“Uhh, not exactly boring. You’re just simple! AND I'M NOT SAYING THAT’S A BAD THING- I JUST MEAN YOU’RE AVERAGE- WAIT NO-“
“Stop…please. I understand what you mean! It’s a shocker even for me”
He sighed. He’d heard these words more times than he can think. By his family…his friends…classmates. It’s all the same even when he’s in a new school. Ennoshita is boring and he knows this. Not only is he just boring to be around but he also looks boring. He’s unapproachable in the sense that, why bother? Who is he again? Oh, I forgot you were here.
“Hey you know I don’t mean it like that…I’m actually glad you’re trying to get out of your comfort zone.”
Tanaka could visibly see Ennoshita’s expression decline by the second. He softly patted him with the hand already laying on his shoulder. Ennoshita tried to shrug off his arm, but that only made Tanaka hold on even tighter. He gave the insecure boy a soft, genuine smile. No ill intention promise! He pointed towards more hairstyles to set the awkward mood aside.
“Ooooh how about this one! This one would TOTALLY suit you! Or that one; not too shabby in my opinion. O-OH..! Or maybe this! It would get all the ladies!”
He gave Ennoshita his iconic smirk and winked at him. The other boy had tinted red cheeks, mostly from embarrassment. Does he really think any girl would want me? I’m pretty much a nobody…well that said, it’s not like any girls want him. Guess you have to be really lucky. Ennoshita gave an awkward look and shrugged again. To be honest, he wasn’t all that interested in dating at all. Never found the hype.
Giving them a note to profess your undying love for your supposed “soulmate”. They reciprocate and now you’re dating. You hold hands in the hallways while people whisper around you. You have your first kiss under the iconic Sakura Tree. All to end up breaking up in the end. Why bother? Relationships are not only repetitive, but also tiresome. We see it all the time in movies yet humans still choose to experience heartbreak time and time again!
“Oh you don’t be so shy Enno! You got a girl on your mind?”
“I have no one on my mind. I just want to…try something new…and not be so…”
Ennoshita frowned and stared straight down at the vast majority of guys on the page that, in his mind, had to have interesting personalities to pull off such uncommon haircuts. Ennoshit wanted to be like them. He didn’t want to be,
“boring…”
He tilted his head and looked at Tanaka with slightly glossy eyes. He could feel his heart breaking at the thought of being a nobody for the rest of his life. At least one thing. There had to be something interesting about him.
“Your eyes…they’re very beautiful.”
Tanaka squished Ennoshita’s face as he said that. He pressed his hands on his face and opened his eye lids like he was an optometrist. Ennoshita’s eyes were pulsating. Mesmerising is an understatement, at least for Tanaka. They sucked the ever living soul out of Tanaka. It was like a spell was put on him that made it close to impossible to try and look away.
“A very deep brown. It’s shining y’know that? I never paid much attention to them, but now that I get to actually see them for myself…they’re more attractive than average I’d say.”
Whatever possessed Tanaka to say that, was doing a pretty good job at keeping this up for a while. He investigated the shy boy’s eyes like a detective who just discovered new evidence. Letting every intricate detail seeth into his mind.
“O-ok I think that’s enough…”
The already tinted red boy became even more red from both confusion and an alarming amount of embarrassment. He cartoonishly detached Tanka off him, and tried to look away to hide his embarrassment.Tanaka shrugged as if he didn’t try to pull out someone’s eyes a second ago; not surprising.
“Look, the bus arrived!”
Ennoshita tried to divert the attention away from whatever happened just now. The bus had arrived right outside the entrance of the school. Tanaka leaped out of the bus, gripping Ennoshita with him and landing on the pavement floor, with both pairs of feet fortunately. He scanned the area and located Noya waving at him. He turned back to Ennoshita and gave him a concerning grin.
“Well, this is my stop! I’ll see you for 3rd period, and we can talk more about your hair then, okay?”
He gave Ennoshita a salute before scrambling his way to Noya that ended with a fist bump, and a couple of giggles on their way in.
Ennoshita could tell, by the way the door loomed over him and seemed to be much larger than usual, that today was not gonna be a boring day. Especially by what just happened on the bus. He said my eyes were…beautiful?
“That was so random of him,” his thoughts spilled out.
Shit. He went inside and headed down the hallway to his first class of the day. He didn’t share it with any of his friends so he’d temporarily become the quiet kid for a bit. Which, in his case, was good actually. It allowed him to have time to think about Tanaka’s comment that stayed rent free in his mind, long overdue.
Why can’t I stop thinking about what he’s said? Beautiful? A lot of things are beautiful. Flowers, the sky, the hit musical Hamilton! But my…eyes? My eyes are brown and boring and bland? What could possibly be so interesting about them. Someone with blue eyes would be way more interesting, since technically they’re very rare especially here in Japan. I mean hone-
Before he could finish his mini internal rant, he was disturbed by the fact that he'd walked WAY further than he was supposed to. He made a quick glance over his shoulder and realised the hallways were deserted. I think a tumbleweed passed by shortly after, or that might have been his imagination. He dashed. Navigating his way back to his designated class, hoping, PRAYING that he wasn’t late. It’s not even the middle of the year and he’s already showing signs of CTS(Chronic Tardiness Syndrome)?
He jumped when he saw his class, making sure to reach the door just behind that last person to enter. He made it; just in the nick of time! Phew, that was close! He patted himself on the back and basked in his glory. Maybe the effect of volleyball practice was really starting to show.
To be fair, he only really joined the Karasuno Volleyball team because he thought it would stop his parents from bickering on why they have such an unathletic child. He stayed mostly because Tanaka convinced (forcefully drags) him to stay in the club. Ennoshita has tried to skip, but unfortunately his fate is inevitable as long as Tanaka is on this team.
He decided to sit towards the middle-back of the class, so that the teacher wouldn’t catch him if he was occupied by something else, but also not too far away so that he could still concentrate…enough.
He wondered what Tanaka was up to right now. He’s probably in English right now. Probably NOT concentrating and talking with Nishinoya either about a new game he’s playing or something about Kiyoko. Something dumb probably(not Kiyoko though). He jotted down what he could make of the teacher’s notes. The handwriting was horrible and barely anything was on the board. Ugh i’ll just go over this at home with Tanaka…oh right? Tanaka’s supposed to come over today.
He realised without even realising just how much time Tanaka occupied in his life. They take the same bus. They share most of their classes. They go to the same club, and practise together everyday, sometimes weekends. They spent the time after clubs to go to either friend’s house to study and spend quite some time hanging out on weekends. Sometimes Tanaka even slept over at his house since he lives alone.
In a different context, this is creepy. However, me and Tanaka have established a mutual agreement that we are friends…so it’s not creepy.
Ennoshita continued to jot down what he could make out from such a grievous attempt at basic handwriting. He managed to get down just about as many notes as you could make trying to study on 2 hours of sleep. A whole lotta bullshit.
The bell rang and class ended, finally, and he made his way to his second period. It was about the same as the first period but at least this teacher has comprehendable handwriting. It went fast, just the way Ennoshita liked. He was actually looking forward to the third period. He’d be sharing it with a bald headed teenage boy who had a parasocial relationship with his team manager.
“Enno buddy! It’s been a while since I last saw you.”
“It’s only been an hour and a half since school started.”
“Err, I know, but it feels like forever. The day has been going so slow for me. English was horrible and Physics after was so confusing!”
“Physics is never not confusing for you Tanaka.”
“Heh, you’re right. What classes did you have?”
“History then Bio.”
“Oh no, the teacher with absolutely dogshit handwriting?”
“Yep!”
“And did you manage to get anything down?”
“Just a whole lotta bullshit.”
“Yea I’m not surprised. I loathe that class all the time simply because of that damn teacher’s handwriting!”
“We can complain about this more when we’re actually in class. I don’t want to be potentially late twice today.”
“What’s the next class again.”
“Math.”
Tanaka didn’t say anything nor react but his silence said it all. If there’s any subject in this world he hates with a burning passion, it’s Math. He swore once that if he became the president, he’d ban Math all over the country.
Ennoshita made his way to the Math class while Tanaka followed along, dragging his feet. His ears perked up when he had a mischievous thought pop up. He tapped Ennoshita on his shoulder and gave him a menacing grin.
“What are you up to this time?”
“Well I was talking with Noya about Kiyoko’s great hair!”
“And..?”
“And then I mentioned you wanted to grow your hair out!”
“And..????”
Tanaka’s grin widened even more. Now seemingly a lot more physically uncomfortable than evil per say.
“We noticed one of the girls behind us starting to blush after she noticed we were talking about you.”
“Right and this should be important to me because..?”
“OH MY GOSH ENNOSHITA ARE YOU BRAIN DEAD? A GIRL IS CLEARLY INTO YOU AND THIS IS HOW YOU REACT????”
Tanaka’s voice echoed through the somewhat empty classroom, but still enough to raise some eyebrows and gain a few glances.
“Ok ok but can you not shout so much? I don’t need other people to hear about a love life I didn't know I had nor do I want.”
“What!? What do you mean you don’t want a love life! Everyone wants a love life. C'mon man, if you’re shy just say it but don’t go pretending that nobody would ever be with you!”
“First of all, that is not what I meant. Second of all, I'm not pretending about anything. I simply have no desire to be in a relationship right now!”
“Whattttt!?!? Dude, a girl is full on crushing on you, and you’re throwing away such a beautiful opportunity like this? Y’know these things don’t come easily right? This is basically being handed a head start at life!”
“The biggest problem with your reasoning is assuming that the only way to live life is to get a girlfriend. Secondly, why would I date someone I have no romantic feelings towards?”
“Bro…you’re making this more complicated than it is! Relationships are always like this! Just try your luck and you never know!”
“Tanaka, have you ever been in a relationship?”
“…uhm…no..”
“Right so what ground do you stand on to say that all relationships are one sided?”
“I-it happens in the movies…a-and Saeko alwa-“
“What’s the difference between me and movies?”
“uhm…”
“Movies are not fucking real! I also do not need to be compared to your sister, who ,if you didn't already know, is already a full grown adult. Please just let it go. I doubt she likes me and this is all some misunderstanding. And even if she does like me, I am not pursuing her because the feelings are not mutual. End. Of. Story. You got that?”
“Yes sir..!”
Tanaka decided to back off for now. He’d already gotten an earful from another teacher for slacking around, and is now getting a second one for innocently trying to set up his friend with a potential future girlfriend.
He sat down and slouched in his chair. He wasn’t bothered by Ennoshita’s lecture as it was a common occurrence, but he hated the fact that he was SO excited for him and ended up with a devastating answer instead. Ennoshita noticed this and rolled his eyes, but he did feel slightly guilty about ruining the poor boy’s hopes.
“Look, I understand that you’re sad, your dreams and hopes of getting me a girlfriend failed miserably and I'm sorry. Let me make it up to you by getting ice cream for today’s study session. On me, alright?”
Tanaka slightly peaked out towards Ennoshita. He giggled and gave a soft smile. He then nodded in excitement.
“Your kindness is just as beautiful as your eyes. That’s very interesting to me. And I’d bet with a new hair look, you’d be the coolest person in the world.”
Maybe it was the fact that Summer was starting so that’s why the room got so hot. Or the fact that he’d been so isolated all day that he was feeling a warm fuzzy feeling in his heart. Maybe it’s because he wanted to change up his look for once, and he could feel an immense sense of happiness wash over him.
His heart was about to burst.
Shit.
Ennoshita felt something. Something he was afraid of. Something he’d always tried to avoid no matter what. It was dumb and never ended well. It always hurt people in the end. Whatever it was, it was growing, and it was going to continue to grow if he didn’t put a stop to this.
But why does that make me so fucking happy. Why does it feel different when he says it?
Maybe it was the fact that Ennoshita Chikara is slowly starting to understand the concept of loving someone romantically. The only problem is, it had to be you.
Tanaka innocently chuckled at Ennoshita’s slight surprise at that response. Not realising the kind of roller coaster he’d put both Ennoshita and himself in. All over a new hair do.