Miscommunication
You walked toward the gym to bring Koushi his knee pads that wound up in your bag during the morning mix up. You were exhausted and still a bit out of it. You walked to the gym entrance and two arms wrapped around you. You looked up a bit startled and saw it was Chikara. "I'm so sorry," he apologized. You wrapped your arms back around your friend feeling relieved.
"Oh christ," Enno muttered. You laughed as you heard Tanaka and Noya screaming as they barreled toward you. "Are you okay," they both demanded nearly tackling you both in a tight bear hug. "I'm okay," you laughed off. "You assholes didn't invite us," Kino asked. "Ah fuck, I can't believe you've done this," Narita added as they joined the cluster. You fell into a fit of laughter. "Guys I need to get Koushi his kneepads," you shared. "He can wait," Noya declared.
"GROUP HUG," Hinata asked excited from a ways off. "HINATA BOKE," Kageyama called after him. You yelped laughing and Hinata leapt on, sending all of you toppling. "What the hell is going on," Daichi asked walking over. "Group hug," Noya, Ryu and Hinata asked innocently.
~~~~~
You felt your bones start to shatter as Koushi pulled you into a vice grip hug. "I promise after practice I'll be right home and mom should still be on that trip so I'll make dinner and we can do the call with the guy you like," Koushi rambled. "Kou," you exclaimed as he said it out loud. "You like someone," Yachi exclaimed. "No," you yelped and felt your cheeks burn in embarrassment as you tried to hide your face in your brother's shoulder.
"She has terrible taste in guys," Tsukishima commented. "How would you know," Koushi asked. "I accidentally called him instead once and I wasn't paying attention when I called him Terushima," you rambled into Koushi's shoulder. A tiny white lie to cover Tsukki's ass could be some pretty handy blackmail in the future.
You let him get in a few digs to make it believable and played into it. You didn't like how easy lying came sometimes. It made you feel guilty and gross, but it had been so vital to survival.
You smiled, still a not really mentally present. Your head spun a bit at being so aware you were in autopilot and not being able to fully pull yourself back into your own head.
You walked out and Kiyoko was on the phone laughing. It was a bit of a rare sight and naturally you waved a bit curious as she hung up. "Who has you all giggly," you asked curiously. "Your friend is incredibly persistent," she said as you walked over.
You tilted your head. Your friend? Please don't be who you think it is. You kept the curious smirk as you silently prayed she wasn't talking about Yuuji.
"That boy from Johzenji. That was him. He got help from his friend to find a way to contact me so he could apologize for being an asshole. Apparently a certain someone brought it to his attention that I was uncomfortable. Thank you. It means a lot. Also, he said to tell you "Hey sunshine" if I came across you," Kiyoko relayed with a teasing lilt at the end. Something you never would have believed she was capable of.
Your heart sunk in your chest. "No problem," you shrugged.
Why did you think it would be any different? You barely knew him. He was flirty with everyone. That was just his nature... wasn't it? Of course he didn't like you the same way. Of course he liked Kiyoko. Why else would he have gone through the trouble to apologize. He made her light up and you weren't going to get in the middle of that.
"You're not staying for practice," Kiyoko asked. "Huh? Oh! No. No, I have to head home and work on some schoolwork," you brushed off. "Okay. Take care," Kiyoko said as you turned to leave. "You too," You called back.
~~~~~
You stepped into your house feeling numb. You looked at the missed call and voicemail from Terushima and played it back. "Hey sunshine! Hope you're doing alright. Call me back when you get the chance okay," he voice sang cheerily. You closed out your phone and set your stuff down on the kitchen counter. You leaned against the counter taking a deep breath trying to process the last few days.
"Who was that," demanded a voice that shouldn't be in the house. You just could not catch a fucking break, could you? You had frozen in place, unable to lift your head. "I-I thought you weren't home. I'm sorry I didn't mean to disturb-," you started and cut yourself off flinching as her hands slammed on the other side of the counter. Your eyes glued onto them.
"I said, who was that. Are you deaf," she demanded. "I-it was- it was just a friend," you stammered. You tensed up and felt like you were floating for a minute. It didn't feel like it was real. There was no way this was real. It was too much too fast.
Your eyes finally flittered up. You were just too fucking tired. You still had your phone on you. You jumped as her hands slammed on the counter top again. Harsh words followed. Your laptop was in Tokyo. She yanked your bag over before you could stop her. You remained frozen in place. She was muttering and raving as she tore through your bag. She was looking for something, anything she could use to yell at you. To prove her point you were up to something nefarious. You were always guilty she just had to find out what your crime was.
Your face dropped as she pulled out the Johzenji sweatshirt. You knew she was yelling at the top of her lungs. You could see the vein popping. Her face was red. She was screaming. But you were too shocked to hear anything. Processing it didn't happen.
You could guess how she was going off about how you were filthy and a disgusting disgrace of a daughter for sleeping around, since a hoodie would be all the confirmation she needed of that. But none of it met your ears. A fog was surrounding your head.
She went to stuff it into a paper shredder and something possessed you to move. You yanked the hoodie back shouting, "Stop! Stop! That's not mine!"
Your hands gripped onto the soft fabric, hiding your phone. Your knees felt weak as you froze you hadn't fully pulled it back. You were now staring at your bewildered mother. You had fucked up big. She dropped her end and you clutched onto it. Your heart started pounding in your ears as you muscles tensed ready to sprint away at top speeds.
"You want to get physical with me," she demanded in a low voice.
You shook your head no vigorously. You cried out in shock as her hands gripped your shoulders and pinned you roughly to the wall. Your eyes betrayed you and tears streamed down your face. "Stop crying. I barely touched you. I'll give you something to cry about," she growled.
"Are you safe?"
The question rolled around your head like spiked ball. But this... this has never happened before. You had a sense of deja vu as her hand smacked against the wall beside your ear and you forced yourself to hold back as much of the flinch as you could while she yelled.
"Where WERE YOU," her words finally reached you, "THIS WEEKEND WHERE WERE YOU!? GETTING KNOCKED UP!?" "N-No," you stammered out, "I was with Meiko." "LIAR," she exclaimed.
A hard sting cut across your cheek. Your eye felt like it would pop out as pain radiated from your cheekbone. Your head was stuck to the side staring at the tile floor of the bathroom, perpendicular to you, in shock.
"Go to your room. You're grounded. One week. No friends. Just school. I expect you to do all the chores. You do not leave this house without my telling you to," she ordered. "Hai," you muttered breathily.
You walked into your room ready to hide. "Door opened. Lock it and I take it down again," she threatened. Fuck. You walked to your room and sat on your bed. You grimaced as you heard her slam something. You looked at your mirror and of course there was no mark. You grimaced.
Koushi.
You tried to discretely use your phone. She heard it sure, but maybe she'd forget at least for a few days.
"Mom's home bad mood don't text back"
You powered your phone down to avoid any ringing. You quickly stuffed the phone in your bra and sat on the bed clutching onto Yuuji's hoodie like a lifeline once more.
~~~~~
Your mother walked in and threw your bag down. "Phone, laptop," she ordered. "I don't have either. I lost them," you said quietly. "Stand up," she ordered. You complied. "Shake out the hoodie," she ordered. You did so. "Pockets," she said. You turned out every single pocket you had. She started to tear your room apart before you.
You stood quietly and held onto the hoodie.
~~~~~
~~Suga's POV~~
He looked down at his phone. How the fuck? Mom shouldn't have been back her car was still out when he passed the house on the way to the train station. (Y/n) was stuck with mom, alone. "Sugawara," Meiko called out. Suga looked up alarmed to suddenly be called. He glanced at Daichi who shrugged and Koushi walked over confused.
"Is your sister with you," she asked. "No and I just got this," Suga shared turning his phone around. "Shit," Meiko muttered. "Her laptop is still at the apartment," Suga asked worried. Meiko nodded before her face drained of color, "Terushima's hoodie. She put it in her bag in case she had another panic attack." "If mom finds that," Suga started. "I can go over now," Meiko offered. "No! No that would just make it worse. Jus- um... tell Daichi what's going on. Only Daichi. I'll leave now.
~~~~~
~~Terushima's POV~~
"Dude I'm sure she's fine," Bobata said from the bottom bunk. He couldn't peel his eyes away from the phone as his legs dangled over the side of the top bunk. "I ju- I hate this. I hate not knowing if she's okay. All I got were snip its and she won't return any of my texts or calls. She's offline on discord. Akaashi and Bokuto said Meiko hasn't told them anything and I even tried Kiyoko but she said she went home like, what, two three hours ago," Terushima worried.
He should just go down and check himself.
"Yuuji don't," Futamata warned. "Don't what," Terushima asked defensively. "That was the same look you had whenever Bobata was off grid and nine out of ten times you walked across town and dragged me with you to sneak him out of his house," Futamata pointed out, "If she has some old school strict family, a boy with dyed hair and piercings probably isn't going to make things any better."
"While you make a valid point I counter with IF they see me," Terushima threw out there with arched brows, holding his arms out to ask what they thought of that. A pillow flew at his face but he just swatted it down pouting.
"You can't control everything and you can't fix everything," Kazuma pointed out. "Maybe not, but I can do something," Terushima insisted. "What if her phone just died," Futamata offered. "Nice thought Takeharu, but she's just as neurotic about charging it as I am," Terushima commented.
"Don't get snippy with me! I'm just trying to keep you from overthinking shit like always," Take argued.
Terushima flopped onto his back. They don't get it. They didn't see her face. They didn't see the panic in her eyes whenever one of her brother's friends showed up. They didn't see how jumpy and flighty she got around sudden loud noises. The papery thin smile and the hoarse voice from whatever happened during her panic attack.
He rolled the ball of his piercing along the roof of his mouth. What if she lied? What if she wasn't safe? What if she was lying to herself like Bobata had? The thought of someone else he cared about being in that situation again tore at his heart.
"You said her brother and all his friends are super protective right," Kazuma asked. "Yeah," he replied hesitantly. "Then it's not like she's on her own. She has people close by that have her back. If they don't even trust you, I doubt they'd let anyone lay a finger on the girl. Especially if she's as sweet and charismatic as she seems. And as you say... nonstop," Bobata teased.
"Speaking of, you still haven't told us about your weekend in Tokyo," Futamata pointed out. "It was an apartment of greek gods I swear on my life," Terushima shared and pulled out his phone.
He of course had taken pictures during their time working on her room.
"You can scroll through if you want. We all worked together to build a bed," Terushima shared sitting forward to offer is phone. "Excuse me," Kazuma asked, "You... built a bed?"
"You know how she mentioned she was part of the costuming department? Also apparently a part of the prop department. She's built like crazy sets, her friend the sexy buttercup, showed me the set pieces (Y/n) had made. She's like insanely crafty and handy. She made blue prints and everything for the bed so it fit in that nook," Terushima babbled.
"Sexy buttercup," Takeharu questioned. "Her and the other two roommates dressed up as sexy powerpuff girls at the party," Terushima explained. "How did the guys-," Take questioned curiously. "I have their social medias. Hold on," Kazuma said. A moment passed before a shocked gasp. "Holy fuck. Wait why didn't they include (Y/n)," Take asked. "She wasn't technically supposed to be there," Terushima answered. "Oh," Takeharu said knowingly. "Wait is that her," he asked.
Terushima adjusted his position to look over. Sure enough it was a photo of (Y/n) crouched by the boards, trying not to laugh through a scowling pout directed at Terushima behind the camera in his camera roll. He was so fucking whipped wasn't he?
"Yeah," he answered. "She's a good one," Kazuma declared. "Are any of them like... normal? Why are they all so attractive? Only you, could trick someone that cute into liking you," Take noted. "Hey! Rude," Terushima defended.
The next photo had captured her bright smile and beaming laugh with slight panic as Bokuto was charging toward her from behind the camera. He could see Meiko and Akaashi yelling at him in the background. A text came in and Terushima couldn't read it from where he was. "Who is it," he asked eagerly. "Uhh Meiko," Takeharu phrased as more of question.
"What'd she say," he asked trying to reach for his phone. Kazuma dodged his hand reading aloud, "The kid's ok. Got grounded for not telling her mom she spent the weekend in Tokyo. Probably won't respond for a week." "A week? Wha-," he started and cut himself off at a loss for words. "Well, at least you know she's okay and not ignoring you," Take pointed out optimistically.
He was handed his phone back and he looked over the text as if something would jump out. Nothing did. The same matter of fact, pointed, curt messages Meiko had sent before. His fingers twitched as he tried to think up a response.
"If I didn't know better I'd guess you're about to confess you're undying love to her," Kazuma teased. "Oh fuck off," Terushima spit back finally settling on a response.
"Thanks! If there's anything I can do to help or something lmk I'm only a few minutes out so if you guys need anything I'll be there."
He stared at the sent message and cringed. It screamed over eager and anxious to him.
"Appreciated."
"Jesus fucking christ Meiko. Could your responses be any more dry," he complained. He heard the other two laughing below. Fuck it, if he didn't ask now he was going to be a mess all week.
"Hey is she okay?"
Kazuma's voice cut through, "What are you talking about?" He looked at the three loading dots as they popped up before disappearing. He knit his brows together as he pulled his legs back in. He didn't like that reaction. Meiko was decisive and quick in her responses. As far as he was aware, she wasn't the type to over think a text.
"She will be."
His blood ran cold. Will be? WILL BE!? Is she not now!? His phone was snatched from his hands. "Dude," he snapped and regret twisted his heart as Kazuma flinched instinctually at his raising of his voice. "Sorry," he strained. "You need to get a grip," Kazuma said sternly. "If it makes you feel better, he was worse when it was you," Takeharu outed.
Terushima watched his phone get transferred to Takeharu's hands. Kazuma was now hanging on the frame and his elbows hooked on the bars of the top bunk to take Terushima by the shoulders. "I swear to god if you let this consume you for the next week I am going to kill you myself. If you are needed you will be contacted just let this be," Kazuma insisted. "I have a bad feeling about this one," Terushima insisted. "It's going to be okay. Pushing isn't going to make it any better," Kazuma reasoned.
Terushima bit down on the tongue piercing to keep from arguing. "Yuuji," Kazuma said. "I promise not to push," Terushima sighed in defeat. "Good now incase you forgot you promised your parents to go to that business dinner," Kazuma added. "Are you fucking kidding me," he remembered annoyed. "Fuck. I fucking forgot. They're going to be here any fucking minute," Terushima complained scrambling down to try and find something that would meet the standards in terms of dress.
~~Suga's POV~~
His eyes widened seeing the scattered papers as soon as he stepped through the doorway. (Y/n) was scurrying around with her head down, what little he could see of her face behind her hair, was tear stained. She had a Johzenji hoodie tied around her waist. A frown seeded itself onto his face.
He quickly started trying to help as much as he could. The car still wasn't in the driveway. "Stop, please stop," she hissed. He looked at her confused. He looked up as the door to their mother's room opened. Where's the car?
Wheels pulled into their driveway. "And where were you this weekend," their mother asked immediately upon seeing him as he stood. "A volleyball trip," He answered before bowing to show respect. Having to do so made him feel sick. She hummed dissatisfied with his answer but didn't press it. "Get this house spotless before I come back. You have two hours," she threatened before walking out.
He stood upright and waited for the wheels to leave. "I am so sorry. I thought- the car wasn't there all weeken-," Koushi started. (Y/n) just leaned against the counter seeming to space out as she shook her head. "Take my phone," she said sounding numb and hollow. He froze, feeling his heart shatter. "Hide it. Give it to Meiko," she said. "What," Koushi asked confused. "If she finds my phone it'll only get worse. I need to clean," she said walking off, leaving her phone on the counter.
~~~~~
~~Terushima's POV~~
He sat in the car texting Bobata and Futamata to distract himself. "When are you going to stop messing up your hair. It looks horrible like that," his mother scolded, "It's bad enough you got all those piercings." "Three piercings. They're really not that bad," he half muttered in his defense. "You look like a delinquent. What next? Tattoos," his father asked. "Maybe," he instigated. "Your little comments aren't funny," his mother started, "You have so much potential. How do you ever expect to get a job in a court of law looking like that?"
It was almost as if he didn't want to pursue law. At all.
"Just- ...Don't embarrass us in front of our colleague," his father sighed disappointed. "I'll do my best," he placated. The venomous sarcasm was still soaked through his words.
They were in the middle of fucking nowhere. He frowned at all the trees before looking back at his phone. He tried his best to not let them provoke him as he adjusted his sleeves on the black turtle neck. He had gone for simple and boring, that was safe. The grey slacks and black loafers really sucked the soul out of him. This was the last thing he wanted to do right now.
~~~~~
He followed behind his parents, his eyes were glued to his phone. He had completely zoned out as he re read the texts from Meiko and hoped he received something from (Y/n). "Yuuji," his father snapped. He looked up a bit startled and turned off his phone before bowing to apologize. "My deepest apologies. I got wrapped up delegating on an issue for my club," he strained. "Our Yuuji is captain and president of his volleyball club," his parents gloated. "My son also plays volleyball," the woman said, leading them inside.
"Oh surely with brains like yours he must be great. Shiratorizawa, or Aoba Johsai," his dad tried to guess. "Karasuno," the woman strained. Terushima ignored the petty strained tone as his head shot up. "Karasuno," he asked. They eyed him suspiciously for his reaction. "We just played against them about a month and a half ago. They're incredibly strong this year. They beat us and Seijoh," Terushima shared, "Everyone says they're bound for nationals at this rate."
Before he could ask who her son was he froze seeing (Y/n)'s brother. Sugawara Koushi's eyes pleaded not to say anything yet as he pulled on his own pleasant mask sharing, "We'd have to beat Shiratorizawa first." "Where's your sister," his mother asked. "She's just finishing, cleaning her room and she'll be right out. Actually, you wouldn't happen to know anyone missing a Johzenji hoodie would you? Someone left one at her friend's house and it got mixed up with her things," Koushi asked.
He was being weird and secretive for whatever reason. There was no way in hell he'd blow their cover. "Uh- not to my knowledge but I can bring it to the school lost and found for you," he offered. "That would be amazing. It should be somewhere in my room. Is it alright if I steal him," Koushi asked charmingly.
He could see his parents swooning already. He was about to get compared to prince panic-attack-inducer for the foreseeable future. "Of course, that is why you had us bring Yuuji after all," his parents asked. "Yes," their mother confirmed.
Terushima followed Koushi down the hall to what he presumed was his room. "What the hell are you doing here," Koushi hissed. "I didn't know you fucking lived here, my parents forced me to agree to this dinner months ago. Tangentially, what in the fuck is going on," he whispered back. "It's complicated," Koushi hissed. "So I've been told like five million times," Terushima strained rubbing circles into his temple.
"Why are we hiding that the hoodie is mine," he asked. "I know you have a lot of questions, but I don't have time to answer them all right now," Koushi stressed. "Fine then, how about the two I actually give a shit about. Is she okay? And is there anything I can do to help," he countered. "I don't know," Koushi admitted.
Before he could press further the door opened. His head snapped over to see (Y/n) freeze wide eyed, in a black button down and corduroy skirt. They all looked so...not like themselves. "Yuuji," she mumbled in disbelief. He didn't know what to do. "His parents are the company mom's having over," Koushi shared when Terushima's mouth failed him.
She closed the door partially behind her and started pacing. "I can not fucking believe you right now," she strained in a whisper. "It's not like I planned for this to happen. I completely forgot about this dinner they made me agree to until an hour or two ago," he defended in a whisper.
"Could this get any worse," she hissed. "Good to see you too," he asked a bit hurt. "She doesn't know. I said it was left at Mei's and got mixed in your things," Koushi whispered. "Kou, she's going to figure it out. She heard his voice when I was listening to my messages, it was a johzenji hoodie in my bag. And to make things worse he's the fucking son of the competing firm she blames all her lack of business on. And once she's convinced you know she'll be set on some crazy idea," she worried.
He felt his brows furrow as he struggled to keep up with whatever was going on. There was too much to keep up with. Too much information he didn't have. He had no idea what the fuck to do, so he froze and did nothing. He can't fuck up if he does nothing right?
"I'll grab the hoodie," she sighed. "(Y/n)," he started hesitantly. "It's fine just-... look ...please my mom can't know that I even know you or this "it's tense but safe" will turn unsafe," she whispered. He bit on the end of the piercing to keep from saying anything and just nodded.
This was not what he meant when he thought of coming down to check in on her.