2Shoyo Hinata is a super cool guy. His awesomeness is a simple fact of life, one he learned many years ago when he was still in elementary school and his little sister uttered her very first word.
"Nii," she had said. Not mom or dad or no or even what had been Hinata's first word, food. No, Natsu had said Nii, extended her tiny arms toward him, and when he didn't immediately rush over and pick her up, she cried.
As soon as Natsu could walk, she started following Shoyo around the house. He teased her in return, calling her his little mikan stalker, but she loved it, giggling and clinging to his legs every time. Natsu drew pictures of him in crayon, became obsessed with volleyball the same day he did, and even mimicked his orders at restaurants. When Shoyo graduated onto high school and could no longer walk her to school, she threw the biggest fit of her young life.
She was, quite simply, Shoyo's biggest fan.
She was his biggest fan.
The shift came gradually. First, Natsu stopped hovering by Shoyo's door in the mornings. Then she wasn't peppering him with questions during dinner. A few days later, she lost interest in crashing his study sessions with Yachi.
Rather clueless, Shoyo didn't immediately realize there was a problem; for him, it took something truly unspeakable.
They were eating breakfast in near-silence, only Shoyo's monstrous lack of table manners piercing the quiet, when Natsu scraped back her chair, stood with a nearly-inaudible thanks for the meal, and left for school—without her bento. Had it been an accident, Shoyo still would have been appalled, but she conspicuously eyed the thing before turning away. Seeing his sister, a Hinata, leaving behind perfectly good food, on purpose, finally set alarm bells ringing in Shoyo's otherwise empty head. More troubling still, when Shoyo's mother sent him chasing after her with the bento, Natsu seemed truly upset to have to received it.
Something was terribly wrong, and Shoyo had to figure out what.
The opportunity to investigate Natsu's strange behavior arises two days later. With Karasuno's culture festival fast approaching, clubs are cancelled for the afternoon and it's no trouble for Shoyo get out of helping decorate the gym. He simply fakes a stomachache; nobody ever seems to question that particular excuse coming from him.
Shoyo bikes toward Natsu's elementary school at maximum speed but still arrives after the dismissal bell. He races home and catches up with Natsu along the way.
"Hey! Natsu!" he calls, hitting the brakes and hopping off his bike. "Let's walk home together!"
"Oh, that's okay," she says, mumbling and averting her eyes.
Shoyo frowns, watching her. She looks glum, but that's impossible when she just got a surprise visit from her most favorite amazing older brother.
"Want me to toss to you later?" he offers, knowing this will definitely cheer her up. She loves practicing volleyball with Shoyo; obviously, as it's her favorite person's favorite thing.
"No thanks, Nii-chan," she answers, her eyes never leaving the pavement.
Stumped, Shoyo walks with her the rest of the way home, in silence, his mind spinning and ego badly bruised.
The next morning, he texts a very displeased Kageyama that he'll be missing morning practice while insisting on escorting Natsu to school.
"Oh, no, that's okay," she says, and she actually looks frightened by the idea.
"Don't be stupid, Natsu!" Shoyo shouts, deeply offended. He grabs her backpack and hoists it over his shoulder along with his own bags. "You love walking with me!"
"Okay, okay," she says, jumping up from the table and hurrying over. "Let's go."
They're still a half-mile from the entrance gate when Natsu holds out her hands. "Okay, thank you! Can I have my stuff?"
"We're not there yet," Shoyo observes, eyeing her suspiciously. Nonetheless, he hands over her bag. She sprints off and he waits until she's out of sight before following.
In the minute it takes him to catch up, she's already surrounded by a small mob of boys. There are four of them, all roughly her age. One of them has her bento, another is saying something, and Natsu—Natsu is crying.
"HEY!" Shoyo yells, stomping toward them without a second though.
Shoyo is pleased to see that most of the boys look worried, but one of them, the one who had been taunting Natsu, is unfazed.
"You must be Squashhead's brother," the one boy says, standing as though he's about to challenge Shoyo to a pissing contest—legs spread, arms crossed, and his hips thrust forward. "She's always bragging about how you're going to play for the national team one day... but uh, don't you have to be Japanese to play for Japan?"
Caught completely off-guard by this kid's bravado and wait, what?—Shoyo can only stare dumbly.
"I am Japanese," Shoyo finally says, sounding unsure of himself.
"Uh, no you're not. Look in a mirror." The tiny bully laughs hard. "I was just telling Squashhead that she should go back to her home country of Pumpkinstan. You should go with her. Maybe everyone there is short and you'll actually have a chance to go pro."
"Uh? What the hell?" Shoyo shouts, wishing he could think up insults faster, but then remembering he's still three times the size of these tiny punks. He rushes forward and shoves the kid hard, knocking him flat on his back. Shoyo barely has a second to gloat before the kid starts to scream, attracting the attention of numerous teachers. Unwilling to risk suspension for assaulting elementary school kids, Shoyo hops on his bike and flees.
Later that night, Natsu won't even look at him, so he figures his intervention was probably unsuccessful.
The next day, Shoyo asks his teammates for advice. Kageyama, sensing personal drama, makes a hasty retreat to the far side of the gym, but the rest are eager to help, though some more than others.
Tsukishima, surprisingly, is the first to speak up.
"Don't interfere," he advises. "She needs to learn to rely on herself. Big Brother won't always be around to help."
"Just go talk to the boys causing her trouble," Suga suggests. "Find out why they feel the need to put Natsu down. Explain that bullying isn't a healthy way to deal with emotional pain."
Tanaka waves Suga off, grips Hinata by the shoulder, and shakes him for emphasis.
"No, no!" Tanaka shouts. "You need to beat them up. Simple! Then tell them next time, you'll rip out their throats with your teeth!"
Shoyo finds none of this helpful, so he goes home with his head hung low. Still in desperate need of advice, Shoyo flops onto his bed and pulls out his phone. He flips it open and texts the smartest guy he knows—Kenma.
Shoyo: I need help
Kenma: What's wrong?
Shoyo: Natsus getting bullied & doesnt want my help
Kenma: What are the bullies doing to her exactly?
Shoyo: Stealing her lunch they call her names
Kenma: Let me think.
Kenma: Could you set a trap for them? If you know they're going to steal her lunch, put something in there. They won't be able to tell anyone because then they'd have to admit they stole it in the first place.
Shoyo: Kenma! YOUR A GENIUS! Why dint I ask you FIRST! THANK YOU THNAK YOU THANK YUO!
Kenma: It's nothing. Good luck, Shoyo.
The next morning, Shoyo ushers his mother out of the kitchen.
"You look tired, you should go relax!" he coos, gently pushing her away from the stove. "I'll make the bentos today!" His mother looks dubious, but he has cooked before, and it's been at least two years since he last set fire to the broiler, so with only a nervous look, she shuffles out.
Inspired by Tanaka's Takoyaki Roulette prank—he had slyly requested that every single takoyaki be laced with wasabi, rather than the usual two—Shoyo gets to work on Natsu's special bento. He prepares a surprisingly presentable lunch of tamagoyaki, sausages, onigiri and hijiki, but cackles each time he adds the special ingredient.
Those bullies will regret calling him too short to go pro. ...and regret bullying Natsu too, of course.
"What's wrong with you?" Kageyama asks, scowling. "You're sucking way worse than usual."
"It's my sister," Shoyo explains, flopping down on the grass with a sigh. "She's getting bullied and nothing I do helps! I set trap like Kenma said and she came home with a big bruise on her leg. I'm just making it worse!"
"Did you yell at them?" Kageyama asks.
"Yes, of course!" Shoyo says, groaning. "They're... really mean."
"They're in elementary school," Kageyama deadpans back.
"Elementary school kids can be plenty mean!" Shoyo insists, whining.
"Fine," Kageyama concedes. "Do you want help?"
"What? Why?" Shoyo asks, eyeing Kageyama suspiciously. "You're not exactly the helping type."
"I told you," he says, getting annoyed. "You're playing like shit. We have winter camp coming up. I'm doing this so you can focus on more important things."
"Right," Hinata mumbles, not daring to correct Kageyama's priorities.
Before they even make it past the school gates, the rest of the team intercepts them. After Shoyo repeats his dilemma, everyone volunteers to come along—Tanaka with murder in his eyes, Suga with concern in his, and Tsukishima with open disdain for Shoyo's incompetence.
The trademark Karasuno eat you alive look seems to do the trick. Tanaka swears he sees at least two of the boys pee their pants on the spot, but Shoyo doesn't notice or really care about that.
What does matter is that Natsu isn't leaving her bento behind anymore. What matters even more is that she's once again trailing Shoyo around the house like a tiny orange poltergeist, weaseling her way into his room when he should be studying, and gushing to her friends about her amazing older brother who saved her from bullies flawlessly and all by himself. Shoyo doesn't exactly remember it that way at first, but by the fourth or fifth retelling he starts to accept her version of reality; of course he can do anything, if only because Natsu believes in him.
A/N: Thank you for reading!
I often wonder if anyone is reading, so comments and kudos mean a lot to me. Won't you consider leaving some?
Finally, as I am actively trying to improve, honest feedback is greatly appreciated. Just please don't be cruel. Thank you!
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