Chapter 4
Shigeru takes his squirming puppy home and happily spoils her rotten, giving her extra treats and cuddles. Basically whatever his little girl wants. Sometimes the shock from earlier that night, of discovering that the beautiful woman and Kyoutani are Ima's parents comes back. Then he tries to will the thought away and focus on having Mochi home.
He is for the most part unsuccessful in this endeavor, until the movie him and Mochi are watching, (Rambo II) is interrupted by the all too familiar screen-name, wATARI, calling through Skype. Shigeru eagerly picks up the call and grins delighted when he sees his best friend's face on the screen. It's really been too long and Mochi seems to share the sentiment, barking excitedly at the image on the screen.
"Oh is that my niece?! Hello little Mochi!"
"Harty- Har-har," Shigeru says rolling his eyes and failing miserably to hold back a grin. "We can't all have five children."
"Three, and it's not so bad, one for each of us." Watari hears a voice over his shoulder and talks to them before someone comes in the room. A very tired Misaki, who, bless her heart, still manages to throw a smile Shigeru's way.
"Misaki how are you? Did I manage to catch you between pregnancies?"
Misaki glowers at him, "you're such an ass Shigeru, that's why you can't get a date."
"That and he's completely clueless." Watari adds helpfully.
Shigeru pouts dramatically and sprawls out on the couch, accidentally jostling Mochi, not that she seems to care. "Where is your better third? The one who's actually nice to me."
"Bath and Bed duties are strictly Yuuji's job."
Suddenly a symphony of cries, loud thumps, and screams are heard. Neither of the parents in front of the screen even budge, in fact, they seemingly have no reaction to the noises and a few moments later the noises die down. Shigeru turns to Watari and raises an eyebrow.
"You aren't even gonna check on them?"
Misaki looks at Shigeru like he's just grown five heads, and Watari shakes his head vigorously. A short few moments later Terushima comes into view looking like he was mauled by animals (he probably was) and collapsing onto the couch exhausted.
Shigeru smiles at Yuuji, "rough night?"
Yuuji shrugs, "I'm pretty sure all kids are like this."
Misaki reaches over into the chip back and lobs a couple at him, "I'm pretty sure it's because they're your demon spawn."
Terushima pouts, "Hey, at least one of them is Watari's!!"
Watari reaches over and pats Yuuji's leg, "Nature vs Nurture sweetie."
Shigeru gets up and grabs a box of
Pocky while the happy threesome bicker, shifting the blame onto each other. By the time Shigeru comes back Yuuji has recruited Watari onto his side, (no doubt with the promise of a blow job.) After awhile Miyuki storms out of the room claiming that sex is off the table forever,( Shigeru wonders what he should bring to the baby shower.)
Eventually they ask Shigeru what he's been up to and he tells them both about Tokage and they all share tips. Yuuji suggests 2 on 2s and Shigeru is swayed pretty easily, he remembers Terushima's team and thinks that they could use some of that creative, wild playing style. He then tells them all about Mochi's crisis, Kyoutani and his shitty personality, his apartment, Ima, and finally reveals the bomb of the beautiful mystery woman being Ima's mom.
Shigeru's satisfied when both men freak out accordingly and they all come up with theories ranging from the understandable, to the completely ridiculous. Until eventually all three guys are laughing so hard tears are streaming down their cheeks.
Sadly, all things must come to an end and both Yuuji and Watari have seen better days. Yuuji departs first, wishing Shigeru a good night and tells him he can come over any time whilst throwing a flirty wink his way. Shigeru is delighted and leers at Yuuji, telling him that he'll have to take Yuuji up on that. Watari rolls his eyes at the obnoxious flirting act, having grown completely immune to it the second his boyfriend and best friend met. Watari waits until they're alone before turning to Shigeru again.
"I heard Oikawa is coming to town soon, you must be excited. You know, the love of your life being back."
Shigeru tries not to pout wondering why Watari was called and not him, before paying attention to the rest of his best friend's words.
"I am not in love with him."
Shigeru receives a disbelieving snort, that, frankly, he doesn't deserve. "Yeah, anymore."
Shigeru frowns, he was never THAT bad, and sure, at one point he may have had a crush on his college senpai. But who could honestly blame him? Anyone with eyes could see that Oikawa Tooru was attractive. Besides, after seeing him with Iwaizumi, he knew he didn't really stand a chance. They were good friends now and honestly it was a little embarrassing that he'd ever been so smitten with his old captain.
"Oh sue me, I like pretty guys, I was young."
Watari stands up stretching wearing a seemingly innocent smile, "No what you like, is a challenge. Anyway on that note, I am off to bed."
Shigeru shuts down the chat and tries not to let Watari's comment bother him. He looks to the foot of the couch where little Mochi is curled up in a ball napping, and Shigeru can't help but smile at the adorable scene. Shigeru pets her head softly before stopping the movie and cleaning up. He looks at the clock and realizes that it's still early. Why does he feel so old?
After everything has been cleaned and put away Shigeru goes to his room and sits on his bed, pulling the laptop with him. He checks over his emails and sees that he'll have to get a few more sales to be the best rep. It's weird that it matters to Shigeru, he doesn't care about the company and he certainly doesn't give a shit about sales. For whatever reason though, Shigeru's always been fixated on being best. Shigeru knows himself that it's stupid, knows that his competitiveness is childish, and he knows from experience that he doesn't have the talent to be the best at anything. Yet there he was considering wasting his day off just to move from second place to first. Shigeru looks at the clock on the nightstand beside the bed, there's no way he can make calls now. So he puts the laptop aside and curls up with Mike Hebert's Thinking Volleyball. Shigeru succumbs to sleep much more quickly than expected. He falls asleep on top of the sheets in a messy pile of long limbs, the lights still on and illuminating through the windows into the outside world.
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Shigeru wakes up in the morning to the sound of a repetitive, high pitched sound. In his sleep addled mind this offender is deserving of his wrath, and so without lifting his head he throws a pillow towards the bastard. Unfortunately the noise persists consistent as ever. Eventually Shigeru lifts his head, his hair sticking up at awkward angles, a deep scowl painting his usually delicate features into sharp lines of pinched eyebrows and a severe frown. When he looks to the doorway he sees his little fluffball, barking insistently, tail wagging a mile a minute. Now, Shigeru was not normally considered forgiving, particularly in the mornings, (the girls on his team would attest to this) but who could stay mad at a sweet, innocent, little pup. In fact he feels a bit guilty, and so he apologizes and pats her head affectionately before dragging himself out of bed;stretching with various creaks and groans. He pads down the hallway to the bathroom, Mochi following close behind, yipping the whole way. For the most part Shigeru accepts it as background noise, he begins preparing the water the way he likes it. Letting the bathtub fill up with scalding hot, bubbly water. Mochi eventually settles down realizing that her acting up won't get her any extra attention, once she does this Shigeru scratches her head and praises her. However he had the mistake of petting her with his water-testing hand, and now Mochi's throwing herself on the ground and rubbing frantically to dry herself off. Shigeru chuckles and strips off his clothes as Mochi continues frantically drying herself. He sinks into the tub slowly, hissing the whole time. For a little while he just rests against the edge, his eyes closed as the hot water goes from punishing to relaxing. He than sinks himself under the water and stays there, feeling a strange sense of otherworldliness that still clings from his childhood bathtub fantasies. He, after a few moments breaks the surface, his usual fluffy hair slicked back against his scalp. Mochi at some point had gotten bored and wandered off, so Shigeru went about quickly cleaning himself. He was less quick to get out of the tub, eventually though the water went from scalding hot to lukewarm, a temperature that Shigeru considered criminal. So he stepped out of the tub, watching as the water lowered until it circled the drain. Leaving nothing but suds in their wake.
He strides back to his room noticing one or two of Mochi's accidents. He sighs resigned as he grabs a towel and dries off before selecting a comfortable, long sleeved, nude sweater and a pair of well-fitting, bleached jeans. Shigeru doesn't bother with the usual morning routine, as Mondays are his lazy day. So he simply towel dries his hair and goes about cleaning up after Mochi. Then goes to the kitchen area and fills her bowl with kibble. Shigeru doesn't bother with breakfast and instead heats up some water for tea. He watches quietly as Mochi scarfs down her food, her small body half in the food bowl. Meanwhile Shigeru pours himself a cup and sips it, waiting patiently for Mochi to finish her food.
When Mochi's completely emptied her food bowl he finishes his tea and throws it into the sink. Then grabs some slightly chewed on sneakers and Mochi's leash. The puppy hears the small metallic jingling and bounds over excitedly yipping. He attaches the leash to her collar and proceeds to head out locking the door behind him. He's stifling a yawn behind his hand but Mochi doesn't seem to have the same problem with mornings as her owner. They make their way out of the apartment, owner and puppy alike greeting neighbors along the way.
The change in the air is almost immediate as they head outside. The air has a slight chill to it, as it always does in the early morning. The sky is painted in hues of light blue and soft pinks, seemingly in direct contrast to the nose-nipping chill. Shigeru ponders getting little Mochi a sweater.
The walk is relaxing, and the air, though a bit cool is also terribly refreshing. They stroll casually occasionally stopping when someone wants to pet Mochi, and make their way over towards a local park. It's one of their favorite places to walk, the nice walkways and the manicured lawns make a pleasing sight for Shigeru while the happenings and smells seem to appease Mochi. The park is also pleasingly devoid of people, he almost begins to hopefully ponder that his pooch and himself are the only ones here.
That hope is dashed almost immediately when he sees a small figure close by. As he walks closer he realizes he recognizes this person, and he recognizes the action she's performing too.
The girl has a focused glare on her face as she sends the ball up into the air, jumping and sending it to the ground with all the force her small body can muster. Then she continues again and again, the focus on her face and the determination set into her posture speaks to a person much older than herself. She eventually notices their presence and catches the volleyball into her small hands. Turning her face to focus her glare on Shigeru instead, her shoulders perched high by her ears.
Shigeru puts on his most charming smile and speaks into what he hopes is a soothing voice.
"Hey Ima, where are your parents?"