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It’s not like Shouyou expected them to win the entire tournament. After all, they weren’t a real team. They’d never practiced together; the other guys had never even played volleyball. And really, Shouyou had never played a real game either. Winning the tournament had been impossible from the start, but that hadn’t stopped him from praying for just that.
Praying to play volleyball with other people for longer.
For once.
But they’d lost in the first match, so maybe he should have prayed harder.
Or maybe, he hadn’t prayed in the right place.
All of these negative thoughts had been swirling in his head his whole ride home, but that specific thought popped up just as he saw a flash of muted red in the corner of his eye.
It was the torii gate that marked the entrance to the shrine closest to his house. The shrine that was nearly at the top of the mountain, so it was run down and didn’t get many visitors.
Shouyou stopped pedaling and got off his bike, starting at the entrance to the shrine as he debated what he should do. It’s not like he wanted to go home right now anyway. Home was where his mom and Natsu were, waiting for him to come back and tell them how the tournament went. To come home and be his usual happy, energetic self.
But Shouyou didn’t feel happy or energetic right now.
He felt like being alone.
And this nearly forgotten shrine would probably be good to do just that.
Leaving his bike near the entrance, Shouyou walked underneath the gate and entered the shrine, carrying his volleyball under one arm and fishing for a coin with the other. He’d say another prayer while he was here, and this time, he’d make an offering.
Maybe then his prayer would be answered.
Except it seemed even his prayer for some alone time wouldn’t come true.
Looking up from the 100 yen coin he’d found in his pocket, Shouyou noticed the shrine wasn’t as empty as he’d expected.
As he’d hoped.
A boy that looked to be around his age was sitting on top of the saisen box, swinging his feet back and forth as he stared at Shouyou with his eyebrows raised.
“Well?” the boy said, gesturing with his head to the box he was sitting on. “Ain’t ya gonna make yer offerin’?”
What?
Oh, right, the coin in his hand. Shouyou closed his fist around it, suddenly feeling self-conscious under the other boy’s intense stare.
“I’ll wait for you to be done,” Shouyou said. He gave the boy a smile he wasn’t feeling, but he didn’t want to be rude to a stranger, who by the sound of his kansai-ben must be a tourist of sorts. Shouyou didn’t want to take his own sadness out on him, even if the other boy was the one sitting in a rude place to begin with.
“Don’t ya mind me,” the boy said, waving Shouyou off as he continued to swing his legs. “I’m gonna be here for a while, so ya just do what ya need to do.”
Great.
Shouyou sighed, he really didn’t feel like arguing. He wanted to be alone, but since that wasn’t going to happen here anymore, he might as well give his offering, say his prayer, and leave.
Setting his ball on the steps, Shouyou walked up to the offering box. Being careful not to hit the boy, he tossed his coin into the grate before he bowed, clapped twice and then held his hands together to say his prayer.
His prayer that was interrupted.
“Ya need to say your prayer out loud, or else how will I hear it?”
“You don’t need to hear it,” Shouyou said, scowling up at him. “I’m not praying to you, am I?”
“I don’t know, are ya?”
Shouyou gave the boy a look. That was such a strange thing to say, and he wanted to tell him that, but a gust of wind suddenly blew through the forest. It was harsh but warm, making the trees shake and leaves scatter around them. Shouyou closed his eyes and tilted his head into the feeling. What did it matter if he said the prayer out loud?
It’s not like it would be answered anyway.
And then he could at least leave. He’d find somewhere else to be alone and sulk until he was ready to go home.
Clasping his hands together, Shouyou said his prayer out loud this time, “Please help me to get better at Volleyball.”
“What’s volleyball?”
Shouyou scowled, ready to tell the boy off for interrupting his prayer again, and for asking such a silly question, but he stopped short when he opened his eyes. His mouth fell open as he stared at the offering box where his coin had disappeared moments ago. The offering box that was now completely covered by two massive, golden fox tails.
Holy crow.
“What are you?” Shouyou asked, taking a hasty step back.
“That’s rude, don’t ya think?” the boy-fox thing said, finally jumping off the box as Shouyou continued to back away from him. “Plus, isn’t it obvious? I’m a kitsune and this is my shrine. Well, it's an outlet of my shrine. I’ve got a bigger one where I normally live, but this one was built for my clan as well, so I can come here whenever I want.”
“A kitsune,” Shouyou whispered, ignoring everything else the thing had said. Was this really a kitsune? A creature of myths that was known to either help people or play terrible tricks on them? He looked like a regular middle schooler.
Well, except for the fluffy tails.
Shouyou didn’t realize he’d backed up into the steps until his foot met air, sending him tumbling backwards. He would have fallen, and he braced himself for that, but an arm reached out and caught him around the waist instead. Two long, fluffy tails wrapped around his waist as well, holding him securely against the kitsune’s body.
The thing’s stare really was intense. His face was handsome. And the furry tails against Shouyou’s back were chasing away a cold he hadn’t realized he was feeling.
Shouyou gulped.
“Hey now, be careful,” the thing said, steadying Shouyou back on his feet. “Yer gonna hurt yourself like that, and that’d make ya real stupid. How would ya get better at yer volleyball thing if ya broke all yer bones?”
“I-thank you,” Shouyou said, willing the flush off his cheeks as he takes a step away. This time not towards the stairs behind him.
“Sure thing!” the boy said, his smile bright. “What’s yer name by the way. I just keep callin’ ya shorty in my head.”
Shouyou scowled, but didn’t say anything to that. He’d just saved him after all. Besides, calling him ‘the boy’ or ‘the thing’ wasn’t much better.
“I’m Hinata Shouyou.”
“Shouyou-kun! It’s good to meet ya. My name’s Atsumu.”
“Atsumu-san,” Shouyou greeted back, only now noticing that Atsumu hadn’t fully let go of him yet, his fluffy fox tails were still touching his back. They were warm, and strangely comforting, but mostly, they were just strange.
“So,” Atsumu said, still not pulling away. “Are ya gonna tell me what this volleyball thing is?”
Shouyou took a deep breath and shook off the tails, noticing the frown that put on the other boy's face before he picked up his ball, showing it to the Kitsune.
“It’s a game I like to play,” he explained. Despite the strangeness of the situation, he figured he owed Atsumu for saving him. Plus, even if he was sad about volleyball right now, he still loved it. If he didn’t love it, he wouldn’t have prayed about it. Even if he was defeated today, he still wanted to get better. He still wanted to play.
He wanted to play volleyball more than anything.
So he supposed talking about it, explaining it to someone else, was sort of like the next best thing. And maybe it would make him feel better.
Shouyou explained the rules of the game, really getting into it when he noticed how attentively Atsumu was listening, how interested he seemed to be in Shouyou’s words and the ball in his hands.
How interested he seemed to be in Shouyou.
It was a new experience, almost more new than sitting and talking with a kitsune.
Shouyou’s friends were great people; he knew they liked him, but they didn’t like volleyball. They all had other hobbies, other interests that they enjoyed. They always listened to Shouyou too, heck, some of them had even agreed to play in the tournament with him today.
But they never seemed to enjoy it. They never looked actually interested or like they were having fun. Not like this Atsumu did.
Was he actually interested though? Or was this just a kitsune trick?
Shouyou didn’t know, but before long his explanation turned into more of a demonstration. He and Atsumu faced each other at the top of the steps, bumping the ball back and forth, doing the exact thing Shouyou was always begging his friends to do.
To play with him.
“It seems like a good time,” Atsumu said, sliding along the stones in order to return one of Shouyou’s messy receives. “I like it, so I think I’ll grant yer prayer for ya.”
“You will?” Shouyou asked, barely managing to bump the ball back in his excitement.
“Course! Ya gave an offerin’ to my shrine, didn’t ya?” Atsumu said before he caught the ball, rolling it around between his fingers. “So consider yer prayer answered.”
This kitsune said his prayer was answered! Shouyou felt a rush of giddiness, only to glance down at himself and frown.
“Have you made me taller yet?”
“Make ya taller?” Atsumu scoffed, his tails flicking behind him. “Why would I do that? I said I’d answer yer prayer to get better, and getting better at something’ isn’t ‘bout yer height, it’s ‘bout practice.”
“Hey!” Shouyou shouted. “I practice a lot!”
“Yeah, alone it sounds like, but that can only do so much for ya,” Atsumu said, his words coming out harsh even though his expression was strangely gentle; strangely eager. “Take my word for it, havin’ someone to compete with, to get stronger beside, that’s what’ll really make ya shine. So I’m gonna answer yer prayer by helping ya with that.”
“You’re going to help me practice?” Shouyou asked hesitantly. “But you didn't even know what volleyball was until I told you a few minutes ago.”
“What? I can’t learn? Yer never too old to learn something new,” Atsumu laughed, throwing the ball into the air and catching it easily. “Besides, it seems fun, and ya seem pretty fun too, so I wouldn’t mind spendin’ more time with ya.”
Oh.
“You’ll play volleyball with me?” Shouyou asked, not even trying to keep the excitement out of his voice.
“Sure!” Atsumu said, smiling back with just as much excitement.
With that, Atsumu got into position under the ball and stuck his hands up, perfectly setting it. Shouyou didn’t miss the opportunity, running across the stones, he jumped into the air, slamming his hand into the ball and spiking it down the steps back towards the Torii gate, which it soared through perfectly.
Shouyou wanted to cheer, feeling the same rush he’d felt in the earlier game, only to feel a different rush when he began to fall back down towards the ground.
Back towards the steps.
Only for soft fur to catch him once again, wrapping around him and pulling him towards Atsumu’s slightly bigger body.
“Didn’t I tell ya to be careful, Shouyou-kun?” Atsumu chastised playfully, his tails tugging Shouyou even closer. “Now that ya got me all psyched to play this game with ya, you can’t go gettin’ hurt and leavin’ me behind.”
Shouyou nodded, the last of his earlier sadness melting away. He may not have won the tournament today, or even a single game, but he’d had a different prayer answered.
He finally had someone who was excited to play volleyball with him.