It was a warm night, but his mother had brought hot cocoa out to us anyway. It was a warm night, but there was a bundle of blankets out here with us. It was a warm night but we were dressed in our warmest pajamas, prepared to spend the entire night out here if we had to. It was a warm night, but we were in each other's personal space anyway, leaning over each other in our attempt to chart everything that we saw.

We were stargazing.

Together, we found Aquarius and Cassiopeia, Orion and Aries. The night sky was dark though littered with stars, and it was perfectly, beautifully clear - perfect for tonight.

"There's the body of the serpent," Toru said, referring to Draco and tracing the outline of the dragon's body. "See?"

"Mm-hm," I said, having to lean closer to him to see exactly where he was pointing. 

Picking up on that, he angled his body so he could get closer, setting his hand behind him so he could press his chest to my shoulder without even realizing it. Still, from there, despite the proximity, I certainly could follow where he was pointing much better.

We both noticed the proximity. But neither of us cared to comment on it, or acknowledge it in any form, because we were too engrossed in what we were doing. After I took another look at the serpent's body as a whole, I nodded, committing it to my mind's eye and to memory. I traced its line with the tip of the pencil, then copied it to the paper. Like a true snake, it weaved in and out from its surroundings, silently slinking through the sky like a snake might through sand or grass.

Toru helped me chart it, and I leaned back to check our work when it was done. "That's it," I said, confirming that it was right. "And this star here is actually the brightest of this trio here, meaning that it can be used to find your way."

"Right," Toru agreed. "Actually, there's no need for a Northern Star if we've got this."

I looked up from the paper, redirecting my gaze to the sky, to that triangle we found. Its sides were roughly equilateral, at least from our view. In reality, of course, those stars were set light years away from each other across a three-dimensional space, in no possible way making a true equilateral on any single plane.

But for our purposes, it would do just fine.

"Actually," I said, "it makes it easy to find Ursa Minor, too."

"Oh, you're right," he said.

We continued to chart, and we continued to work through the night sky together. After a while, we grew tired, and collapsed back onto the pile of loose blankets and bedding the Oikawa family had scrounged up for us.

It felt as comfy as a real bed, and it was as warm as one, too. Finished charting, we took to simply looking up at the sky together, noting the gradual way that as the moon progressed through the canvas, so did the stars. All the constellations shifted, and our view of the universe became a new one with each passing moment, but neither of us minded.

"You know what," I said, pointing up at a grouping of stars, "that group there kinda looks like Haji's scowl."

"Hm? I don't see it," Toru replied, shifting closer on all the bedding to see what I was pointing at.

I laughed a little, continuing to point as Toru situated himself just beside me. He leaned his head close to my own, following my line of sight as best he could. He drew so close that a few of his side swept groupings of hair brushed against my cheek, but I didn't mind, and I didn't so much as react to the ticklish feeling, for he was warm, and as I became drowsier by the minute, I found I didn't want that warmth to leave.

"Sometimes you don't see Haji's real scowl right away either," I reminded him, and just as I did, he seemed to flinch slightly. "What, finally saw it?"

"Yep," he confirmed, shuddering slightly with what could only have been fear escaping his body as he realized the threat wasn't real. "That's spot-on. Just as scary as the real one..."

"Oh, you think so?"

"Of course! And of course you don't, (Y/n)-chan. He never directs it at you!"

"Well," I said, "that'd be because I don't do anything wrong."

"Oh, please," he huffed. "You told me you forgave me the very next day after... it happened, but you made me think I was still in trouble! And I think that's wrong!"

The smile fell away from my face as I was reminded of what he had done - or what he had almost done. Toru noticed my change in mood right away, and sighed. "Sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to drag the mood down."

"I did forgive you then," I assured him. "And it's because I know why you did it. I know why he got to you so bad. But I just didn't know how to talk to you about it because... because it's still my baby cousin, and if you had hit him, he would have had no idea what it was he did wrong. And he'd have been right for that, because I don't think he did anything inherently wrong."

Toru was quiet for a moment, and I decided to fill the silence by talking more.

"It hurt, seeing you even try," I said quietly, picking at some dirt beneath one of my fingernails even as I kept my gaze directed at the night sky - at the serpent's body as it weaved in and out from the stars. "Tobio did nothing wrong, but I know that for so long, him just being around bothered you."

Toru's gaze dropped down and away from the sky. I wasn't sure what he looked at after that, but it was something in the distance, on the other side of the yard. But I knew his eyes weren't quite focused, because he was too busy thinking.

Then, his eyes found my profile, and after a moment I looked at him sidelong - seeing the forlorn look in his eyes, I felt a tug at my heart and I turned my head, resting my cheek against the blankets as I met his gaze directly.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, minding his volume while we were so close. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know you didn't," I said. "But you did mean to hurt Tobio."

His eyes glanced away, and he was hesitant to look back at me. "I wasn't thinking. I was just overwhelmed and... and I wanted him, and everyone, really, to get away. To... stay away."

"He still looks up to you, you know," I told him, and at that, his eyes found my own once more and the emotion within them nearly stole my breath away. I held onto it, though, if only so I could continue to speak. "Even today he asked me if you're feeling better, good enough for practice - and if I can convince you to teach him to serve."

Toru tutted a little, looking away haughtily. "Psh. Not going to happen."

"I thought you'd say something like that," I said, smiling.

"So," Toru said, looking away again, looking nervous all of a sudden, like he had a lot to say but didn't know how to say it. "Your brat of a cousin still looks up to me. But... what about you?"

"Hm? Are you asking me if I look up to you?"

"No," he said. "I just mean... How do you... What do you, er..."

"Toru?"

"You know what I mean," he huffed. "Don't embarrass me further, just... just answer!"

I bit my cheek to keep my smile from growing. I did know what he meant. He wanted to know if I still trusted him, if I still wanted to be his friend - one of his closest.

He wanted to know if his actions, if his disdain with my cousin had impacted our relationship.

"He may not see it, but you've claimed him as your rival," I began, working through the answer myself. "What you do with it is up to you. Just don't hit him - or try to - again."

"That didn't answer my question," he said hesitantly.

I pretended to think, and I mean really think it over. I pondered it for a moment, and then another, and then another - the prolonged silence probably excruciatingly long for him.

"(Y/n)-chan," he whined, "come on! Now I'm worried!"

I met his eyes surely, smiling warmly. "You were pushed well beyond your limit that day," I said. "It'd been building up for a long time, I think. So while I didn't like it, and it scared me, I don't think you're a violent person. And..."

"And?"

"And I know you weren't really meaning to," I continued when prompted. "It happened so quickly, right?"

"Right," he confirmed quietly.

"You broke down," I provided, "and I don't really blame you. I trust you won't do it again. And I trust that you know you're kinda stuck with me at this point."

"You mean...?"

"I mean we're good, Toru," I said in clarification.

All at once, he released a breath, a relieved one, and this wide, wonderful grin broke out onto his face. He closed his eyes as he threw his arms around me, pulling me against him. He pressed his cheek to my own as he hugged me close, and I could do nothing more than laugh aloud and hug him back.

"Ah, thank goodness," he breathed out.

"I'm not going anywhere," I reassured him.

"You say I'm kinda stuck with you," he echoed, releasing me and drawing back a bit. With a bit more space between us now, he stayed settled on his side, and so did I. As I got comfortable facing him, so did he, setting one of his hands beneath his cheek. "But you want that, don't you? You want to still be in my life?"

"Of course, you dummy," I said. "I know you've been dealing with a lot. No one can blame you if it all came out all at once. It'd be overwhelming for anyone."

"I'm so relieved," he said, the proof of that being well-written in his features, and I was surprised though not disappointed that he wasn't whining about me having called him a dummy. "I don't know what I'd have done if what I'd done meant you didn't want to be friends anymore."

"I've never known anyone quite like you," I said in explanation. "I'm not giving that up so easily."

"I'm sorry for scaring you," he reiterated. "I... I would've understood it if you did want to walk away from me."

"I just sit on the sidelines," I told him. "I'll never know what it's like to be on the court, pushing for something only to get my spot taken away. But I do care about the team, and I care about Tobio, and I care about you, too. It's all complicated, and I don't quite understand how it feels, but I know that you were scared and threatened and a whole lot more, too. But none of this means you'll be civil towards Tobio now, will it?"

"Not at all," he said, and I rolled my eyes even as a mischievous smile found my face.

"Of course not," I sighed, not really having expected anything else from him.

"I'll be sure to antagonize him behind your back," he said, smiling brightly. "Just so you can't see."

"Oh, good," I said, laughing through my words. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."

—

I had stood by as the team won their first ever set against Shiratorizawa.

I had provided them water during the brief break between sets, handing out towels and praises, too.

I had kept score and important notes as the game progressed.

I had been witness to Ushijima's incredible spikes - the way he played like a college student compared to his junior high opponents.

I had watched the team work well together, the school colors of Kitagawa Daiichi displayed proudly. I had watched the boys give it their all. I had watched Toru's sets, accurate and always exactly where his spikers wanted them. I had watched Hajime's powerful strikes, the way he was thinking - always thinking.

They both were. The entire team did.

But it wasn't enough.

Still, I stood by the coaches and watched the award ceremony. They announced the second-runners up, third place, and then us. As the players of the Kitagawa Daiichi team were awarded their medals, my eyes glittered with pride because it was well-earned and well-fought.

Second was a placement we knew well.

And yet it was still an incredible achievement.

More incredible still was of all the players, of all the setters, Toru had been chosen for the Best Setter. As he received his award, his smile was so bright and so happy, so unabashedly joyful it made all his other smiles seem dull in comparison.

I'd heard the coaches beside me chuckle as I cheered loudly for him, just as loudly as I'd cheered for the team as a whole. I only reunited with the team as we all crowded onto the bus, and I spent the whole time listening to Toru recount the game as though I hadn't been there, as if I hadn't watched the entire time.

Sure, it annoyed Hajime. But I couldn't tell Toru to stop it, or pipe down, or calm down - not when he looked so wonderfully, perfectly, unbelievably happy.

Besides, I had to listen to Hajime when we all made it to his house and his mom bought us all pizza to celebrate, and he recounted the entire game himself.

—

The snow started to fall steadily from the sky last night and spent the late hours piling up on the roads, the yards, the homes. As soon as I could, I ventured out into the snow, leaving fresh tracks in my mad dash to Hajime's house.

By the time I reached his place, my footprints were already covered up - but the boys dashed out of the house to greet me and then we were off. To the park we went, cutting paths in the snowdrifts in our attempts to get somewhere, anywhere, everywhere. We were laughing as we ran and we were laughing as we made snowballs and chucked them at each other.

When I signed a peace treaty in the snow with Toru, and we squared off against Hajime, we laughed - that was, until he scowled at us and said he'd start putting chunks of ice in his snowballs if we didn't stop targeting him.

When Hajime made a snowman that looked like me and said it was the dorkiest thing he'd ever seen, he was laughing until I pretended to cry.

Then I was the one laughing when I pushed him into the snow.

By the end of it all, as morning turned to afternoon and we grew hungry, our stomachs were aching with how much we'd laughed and our lungs were burning from breathing in the bitter air and our legs were weak from all the running we'd done - but our hearts were full.

Tiredly, we trudged back to the closest house of ours, which was Hajime's, of course. It was slow work, and by then we were all whiny and irritable, especially as the wind nipped at our noses and tugged at our scarves and slipped beneath our coats, chilling us to the bone despite our best attempts to grasp at the fabric, to keep whatever warmth we could muster.

We pressed on, feeling less like kids with a snow day and more like poor, weary travelers with no choice but to press on, heading to the nearest tavern at which they could rest.

As soon as his house was in sight, we were merry travelers again, a warrior, a mage, and whatever the hell I would be. We pushed each other to be the first one through the gate (which I won), and then the first one into the house (which I also won), and we pushed each other to be the closest one to the fireplace which was already alight with a magnificently burning flame (which I did not win, not until Hajime's mother brought in tea for us and she all but demanded the boys make way for me to be in the center and thereby closest to the fire).

We spent the night there, for the snow piled up so high we couldn't leave. Hajime's mother was quick to bring us fresh sets of clothes, and so when we were adorned in Hajime's pajamas and our the clothes we arrived in were hung up to dry, we settled in for an afternoon of movies and games.

We rested from our morning in the snow, and gradually the redness in our cheeks made way not for the red of frostbite and windswept but the red of warmth and comfort. Cozied in blankets, we watched Hajime's favorite movies - as punishment for having to house us for the night, so he said - and unfortunately only I had to hear Toru's incessant mumblings about how he wanted to choose a movie.

After dinner we returned to the fireplace, where we played a few board games before slowly, bit-by-bit, we grew drowsy. Gently, and without warning, we all fell asleep in a clump, a mishmash of limbs and bodies and blankets all tangled up before a slowly-dying fire.

—

I was the first to awaken that next morning. My bleary eyes needed more than a few blinks to become clear, but eventually they did and I yawned, stretching my arms out over my head before they made contact with something. 

I hummed confusedly as I tilted my head back to look, only to realize I had fallen asleep with my head against Iwa's legs and my arms had bumped into the coffee table, one we'd fallen asleep far too close to, in my opinion. 

I relaxed my hands, yawning again as I settled back into what little bedding I'd retained overnight. Where there was no blanket, there was chill, but there were more than enough blankets around that I could pull to cover me, and so that's exactly what I did.

Ha, just kidding. I couldn't quite do that, not without suffocating Toru in the process. I was on my back, my head atop one of Haji's thighs. Toru, then, was resting with his head against my stomach, curled up on his side facing me. I had a clear view of his peacefully slumbering face, and... oh, ew!

"Toru," I whined, lifting my head. His eyes scrunched tighter closed, clearly stirring from sleep but refusing to rise. "Toru," I repeated huffily, and he mumbled something or other in response.

"Huh? What's going on?" That was Hajime's voice, and he was just now sitting up, or trying to, anyway. It was difficult for him to, with me right here of course, and especially considering I was laying atop part of the blanket he'd been using and my body's placement had it pulled taut around his body. "Something the matter, (Y/n)?"

"Yes," I answered right away. "Look - he drooled all over me!"

Hajime didn't even attempt to hold back his laughter, and that roused Toru from sleep. He drew a deep breath inward, then released it slowly, the sleep escaping him in that breath.

"What's so funny," Toru breathed out through a yawn, lazily stretching his limbs for only a moment before relaxing right back against me. He opened his eyes, and immediately settled on my own - recognition settled into his features as he took in where he was and who he was lying on, and in a cheeky, very overly Toru fashion, made a show of closing his eyes and smiling, relaxing completely atop me.

"Toru," I said quickly, and he opened one bleary eye.

"Good morning, (Y/n)-chan," he said in a rather dreamy way.

"Yeah, yeah," I said. "Good morning. You drooled all over me!"

"Huh?"

Just as he lifted his head, Hajime threw a pillow at him, calling me an inconsiderate dumbass for doing it, even if it had been unintentional. Toru sputtered as he sat up, and I realized as he sat up that he was the best covered of all of us, with all those blankets - he had the majority of them, and it was like Hajime and I had been fighting for scraps, comparatively.

"What do you... I didn't mean to," Toru said defensively, throwing the pillow back at Hajime - only to miss and hit me, instead.

"Toru!"

"Ah - (Y/n)-chan, I'm sorry! Don't-"

I leaned over and smashed the pillow into his face. He fell onto his back against all the bedding and I got to my knees. After lifting the pillow from his face, I hit him with it, again and again.

"N-No, wait!"

"Yeah! Get his ass, (Y/n)," Hajime cheered, joining in on the fun, grabbing a pillow for himself. It was less of a fight now and more of a playful bout, and we were all laughing and grinning - all of us meaning Hajime and myself, obviously.

"This is not a nice way to wake up," Toru protested, finally able to get his hands between his face and the pillow. I ducked down, ceasing my fire only to peek between his arms and his face to look into his eyes. I downright beamed, seeing his pout, one that only seemed to grow upon seeing my smile.

"Oh, come on," I said. "This is all payback for drooling all over me."

"That's not my fault!"

"Yes, it is."

"It's not!"

"Mm," I hummed, considering it, only to lift the pillow and hit him with it once more. "No, I think it is your fault.

"Ow!"

I laughed a little, shaking my head fondly. "Come on, Toru. Don't pout. It's very unbecoming of a distinguished boy like yourself."