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Trick or treating wasn’t really a thing in Takeru’s area, but there was a church group in the area that always did a trunk or treat every year, and his siblings tended to go a little nuts about candy, so they always ended up going.
Usually, Isamu could also come, so Takeru at least had some semblance of help with the three younger ones, but he’d had a different thing with friends he wanted to go to, so Takeru was pretty much on his own.
Since it was already getting dark outside, and Takeru did not want to lose track of everyone, he’d gone out and gotten a box of glowsticks, and made sure every sibling had several on them in very visible locations. If they were glowing, he could see them no matter how dark it got. That was the theory anyway.
It was working so far.
Takeru had gone around the circle once to say hello to everyone and get some candy of his own, but had since gone to sit on the curb because coach had run them into the ground earlier, and he didn’t want to get dragged around in circles for three hours. Taira was with Makoto, Minoru had joined up with his friends from here and was going around with them, and all seemed to be going well.
The glowsticks were working, that was the most important part really. He could keep track of them all.
At least they were old enough now he could just keep an eye on them from a distance instead of having to supervise them at all times to make sure they weren’t getting into anything.
“Nakashima?” A curious voice came from behind him, and Takeru turned to find Karasuno’s captain, Sawamura, standing there with four younger kids that all looked like him clustered around him in costumes. Presumably here for the trunk or treat.
“Sawamura,” Takeru greeted, standing up and offering his hand to the man. He extended his own, and they shook quickly before letting go. “I didn’t realize you had siblings. Although in hindsight it makes sense.”
Sawamura smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, everyone tells me that. Have you been to this before? It’s our first year, our mom just heard about it this year.”
“We’ve come the last five or six years I think. My siblings are the three with glowsticks.”
Sawamura looked faintly impressed, although it was kind of hard to see in the darkness. “Good idea, bet it makes it easy to keep track of them.”
“Definitely. Want some? I have extra.” He’d brought them more so if any got lost he could replace them, but if they’d stayed on so far, he had a fair amount of faith in them staying on the rest of the night.
“That’d be great,” Sawamura admitted, his siblings near vibrating in excitement at the thought of getting glowsticks. Kids always loved glowsticks.
Once the four kids had been equipped with their glowsticks and Sawamura had instructed them to stick together, the four were sent off, and Takeru and Sawamura sat down on the curb together to keep supervising.
“Candy?” Takeru offered, tilting his basket towards Sawamura.
“Oh, thanks,” Sawamura grabbed a few and plopped them in his lap, beginning to open up the first one. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Back at you. Congratulations on nationals, by the way.”
Sawamura laughed. “Thanks. I’m not sure it’s set in yet honestly. I mean sure I’d hoped we’d get there, but it’s still weird to actually do it.”
“I bet,” Takeru said, a sharp curl of jealousy turning his stomach. Time for a subject change. “Decided not to dress up?”
“I wasn’t given enough heads up to put anything together,” Sawamura explained, taking the subject change easily. “Mom forgot to tell me before this morning that I’d be taking them here. I’m just glad Suga and Asahi didn’t mind pushing our movie night plans back by a few hours. And a little glad neither decided to come.”
“Don’t want more people to keep an eye on?” Takeru asked, snorting lightly when Sawamura nodded vehemently. “Fair enough. Usually my older brother would be here to help, but he had something else he was going to do today, so it’s just me. Works out anyway, he’s not usually any help.”
Sawamura snorted. “Not the most responsible guy?”
Takeru shook his head, fondly exasperated. “Not at all. It’s alright, I’ve got it. Sometimes I swear the birth order’s wrong though.”
A peaceful silence settled for a little while, both of them grabbing another piece of candy to snack on, and keeping an eye on their siblings.
“Got any plans for the rest of the night?” Sawamura asked curiously, seemingly just idly.
“Not really. Crashing, probably. Coach kind of ran us into the ground.”
Sawamura glanced at him then, the question Takeru always got when he mentioned practice on his face.
“I’m not technically on the team anymore, but I still go to practice usually. Just don’t want to fall behind I guess. I was planning on playing in college, and the workout is nice anyway.” And he felt kind of bad abandoning all the first and second years with no contact after their loss. They were good kids, he was just fine sticking around for a little while longer.
“Makes sense I suppose. You could join us for movie night. We were just going to watch a bunch of spooky movies. In honor of the season.”
Takeru waved a hand. “I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“The more the merrier,” Sawamura told him, watching him with such an open honest look on his face that Takeru gave in immediately.
“Sure. Why not. I’d have to warn my parents, probably put my siblings to bed.” Maybe it’d be nice to hang out with some people his own age. People his own age that weren’t his old teammates.
“Yeah, I’ll need to help get mine to bed too. Really, it’s no problem. Suga keeps badgering me to get more friends that aren’t them. Ignoring how I do have other friends.”
“Suga is…the grey haired setter? Number 2?” Takeru asked, trying to remember the team lineup. He didn’t remember most of their names. Mostly just their numbers, a couple game facts about them, that sort of thing.
“Yeah, Sugawara, our third year setter. Asahi’s number three, our ace. He’s a lot more of a coward than he looks.”
“Does he mind? Being replaced?” It slipped out before he could think it over and realize that was kind of a rude thing to ask. And weird thing to ask a guy you’d met once before.
Sawamura hummed thoughtfully. “A little. He knows Kageyama’s what we need though. He’s a good setter, but Kageyama’s something else.”
“I noticed.” Once, Takeru had wondered just idly what he could have done with a setter that skilled, how much better they could have done. It had felt rude to Hanayama though, so he’d stopped that train of thought immediately. Hanayama definitely wouldn’t have stepped aside so gracefully though, it took some real maturity to do that. Hanayama may look older than he was, but he was petty and mean when he wanted to be.
Honestly, Takeru wasn’t sure how well he would have done if he’d been replaced with a first year. He wouldn’t have taken it out on them, but he’d probably be pretty bitter.
He’d have gotten over it though. If it was for the good of the team. It just would have probably taken a while.
Probably time for a conversation change again. “Do you get stuck with them without warning often?”
Sawamura shrugged. “I wouldn’t say stuck, but yeah, pretty often. My parents are busy, it’s alright. They’re good kids too, definitely easier to handle than my team.”
“Ah, reverse of me then, I’d say my team’s easier to handle then my siblings.” Was every conversation topic going to land back on volleyball?
Well, they did both play, maybe Takeru should have expected that. It was certainly how most of his conversations with his family went.
“Thanks for the glowsticks by the way, this is way easier than I’d feared it’d be.”
“It’s no problem, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the rest of the glowsticks anyway.” His best guess had been he’d try and save them and then his siblings would find them and use them and he’d have to get more next year anyway. It was what happened with most things.
“How long does this usually take?” Sawamura asked, unwrapping his last piece of candy. Takeru silently offered the basket, and Sawamura nodded thanks and took another small handful.
“It goes until everyone’s done pretty much, usually around when the adults run out of candy. Maybe another half an hour? In like ten minutes people will probably start closing their trunks and some people might leave. Most kids get bored after the candy runs out.” His siblings might get bored a little earlier, and Taira would start flagging soon and come over to try and nap on him probably, but they’d have to see.
“Oh, we should exchange phone numbers so I can let you know when to come over,” Sawamura said, getting out his phone. “And give you my address.”
Takeru got out his own phone, navigating to the contacts app and exchanging it for Sawamura's. “I would hate to make plans only to be unable to get there since I don't know anyone else on your team.” Takeru hadn’t collected many phone numbers from other teams, although he did have the former Dateko captain's phone number, they'd run into each other as first years when they were both lost and decided to trade phone numbers.
He just didn't really care to try and collect a bunch of phone numbers.
“That's perfectly understandable, they're a lot,” Sawamura admitted as they swapped phones back. Daichi, right, that was his first name. Takeru knew it started with a D.
“They look like it. Number 6 handled them well while you were away though.” Takeru had felt kind of bad for the guy, he hadn’t been in any other match Takeru had seen, so going from a permanent spot on the bench to filling in for the captain in an official game? Couldn't have been easy.
He handled it well though, well enough Karasuno had won.
“Ennoshita would be glad to hear it, I'm pretty sure he thinks he did an awful job.”
Ennoshita must be number 6. “Your team did win, he can't have thought he did that badly. He's not usually an opposite though, right?” Takeru had noticed how he'd occasionally hesitated in his position, or gotten slightly confused about the position of the setter in comparison to him. Takeru had done a couple practice matches as an opposite during his second year before deciding to stick to wing spiker and it was kind of a weird position.
“No, he's usually playing outside, although he's started practicing as an opposite instead, since they'll need one next year. He's a good guy and a good player, the team will be in good hands next year.” Sawamura smiled wryly. “I'm not sure he believes it yet, but he's getting there.”
Takeru could sympathize with not quite believing you’d be a good captain though. He’d done it too. “If our game was any indication, I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
“I’ll let him know you said it, I’m sure he’ll be honored,” From someone like Tabi, that probably would have sounded kind of sarcastic, but from Sawamura, it sounded genuine. More genuine than Takeru was particularly equipped to handle, so he just looked away, somewhat embarrassed.
“I can’t imagine my opinion would hold that much weight, but you’re free to tell him.” Ah, there were Taira and Makoto, Taira must have tired out.
“Ready to go?” Takeru asked once they reached him, pulling himself to his feet only a little painfully, automatically bending down to haul up Taira to sit on his hip when he made grabby hands. Taira almost immediately started falling asleep on his shoulder, as Takeru had expected.
“Yeah, pretty much. Make a friend?”
Takeru glanced at Sawamura, who just smiled and waved. “Sure. He’s Karasuno’s captain. You were at that match, you don’t recognize him?” He wasn’t surprised, she probably hadn’t been paying attention to the individuals. Unless she thought one of them was attractive, which he preferred not to know about since he’d rather not think about his little sister getting a boyfriend thanks. Especially when the target of her appreciation was someone his age.
Makoto eyed him skeptically. “Nah, he’s too plain.”
If Takeru had a hand free he would have slapped his face. “Makoto!”
Fortunately, Sawamura just laughed. “You’re not the first one to have said that. I believe the usual description chosen is ‘boy next door vibes’.” Takeru could definitely see the reasoning behind that.
“Some thoughts are better kept as just inside thoughts,” Takeru scolded her anyway, although she didn’t look at all apologetic. “If you’re ready to go, go get your brother. We’re not leaving without him. And ask him. Politely. Do not demand.”
She was going to demand, but at least he tried. She flounced off, and Takeru turned back to Sawamura with a sigh. “Sorry about her.”
Sawamura just laughed again. “It’s just fine, I’ve been told worse by my siblings. And my teammates. It doesn’t bother me. So, should I be expecting you tonight?”
“Yeah, just text me your address and a time, I’ll let you know if something comes up.”
Sawamura had time to give a thumbs up before two of his siblings came crashing through with Minoru, apparently having become friends in the meantime. “Do I have to leave?” Minoru demanded, evidently very upset by the prospect.
“Do we have to go?” Sawamura’s siblings echoed Minoru, overlapping slightly as they asked their respective big brother.
Takeru and Sawamura exchanged a look. Probably good they’d gotten each other’s phone numbers.
“Well the event is starting to end, and you already have a bunch of candy, so yes, we are going to have to go soon,” Sawamura said, looking like he was preparing for a melt down.
“And Taira’s falling asleep, he needs to get home and get to bed,” Takeru added. “We traded phone numbers though, so how about we can set up a play date sometimes. So you don’t have to wait for next year.” That was assuming Sawamura would be back next year and Takeru’s siblings went next year too, but it was probably a relatively fair assumption.
Sawamura nodded, which seemed to avert the melt down he’d been preparing for. “We can take you to a park or something and you can play all afternoon. Some time when it's not getting towards everyone’s bedtimes.”
Minoru pouted, but fortunately accepted it, which had Takeru breathing a silent sigh of relief.
“Come on, come on, I promised to call my friends when we got home, let’s go,” Makoto insisted, all but pushing her brother towards the exit.
Takeru exchanged another exasperated look with Sawamura, but trailed after them.
Definitely a night that could have gone worse. Takeru would call that a win.