Work Text:
After his practice at Karasuno's volleyball gymnasium, he felt an unsettling feeling creeping up his spine. His nerves did not relax as he packed his things at their club room. He bid farewell and left immediately.
As he was walking outside of the school premises, he remembered that he must buy dinner for later, since their parents are currently out of the city.
But he soon forgot about it when he entered the convenience store and saw a friend desperately looking to something, which caught his attention.
Well, he helped his forlorn friend and had a small chat afterwards.
When his friend called out for the night, he only realized then that he wasted two hours and a half talking about school , friends and strangers, and (of course) volleyball.
He hurriedly bought foods that they would have for dinner, and dashed out of the store in a flash.
"This is it. I know he'll complain again," he muttered as he ran the vacant streets, heading straight to their house.
He was in a hurry, but sadly, a neighbor called his help. "Akiteru-kun!"
Akiteru suddenly halted and turned his head to direction of the caller, he noticed an old man waving his hand.
Being the nice person he was, he went to attend to his help.
It's already seven thirty in the evening. He knows that Kei would be very annoyed by the time he gets home, otherwise he'd be holed up in his room again.
But for some reason, he could smell a faint scent of lemon coming from inside the door. He furrowed his brows as anxiety swept over him.
'How come the air freshener---' He didn't finish the thought and went inside to find out.
The strong smell of their barely used air freshener slapped him in the face as he entered. He examined every inch of their hall if something smelly spilled that needs packs and cans of the air freshener.
He removed his shoes and headed for the kitchen and put the food he bought from the convenience store into the fridge. Maybe they'll just have it for breakfast?
An unnerving sensation tugged persistently at his gut so he decided to check the hall again.
Something is not right. There was another pair of shoes beside Kei's, and a bag that he's never seen before. Again, that unsettling feeling crawled up his neck.
How come I didn't notice earlier?
He dashed upstairs, and headed straight to Kei's room. He gripped the doorknob tight, almost ripping it off its hinges.
"Kei! Who----"
He suddenly froze mid-sentence. His brother was perfectly fine, and he was sleeping soundly. His arms were wrapped around another person—who only turned out to be his best friend, Tadashi—underneath the covers. He couldn't help but smile at the scene, so he decided to leave them be.
But even under the dim light of the lamp, he still noticed swollen spots of on Tadashi's collarbones peeking out of his shirt.
He closes the door with a quiet whisper of "good night". He smiles again and dismissed the disturbing thought that crossed his mind. There was no way that was a hi—
"Maybe its just a bug bite. No?" He talked to himself and headed to his room. He has a morning practice tomorrow.