Chapter Text
Sugawara Koushi, seven years old, walked along the brick pathway towards the playground. Kids and parents scattered around. He made his way towards his favorite spot in the park: the sandbox.
He loved playing with the sand, it reminded him of being at the beach and watching the waves crash.
“Hey, you, there!” A voice said.
Suga ran his hands in the grains, feeling it against his skin. It was hot from being in direct sunlight for so long.
“Aren't you listening?!” Another voice called out.
He started to fill the bucket he brought with him with sand. In a smaller bucket, he gets water from the water fountain and walks back to the sandbox.
“Hey! You deaf or something?!” A kid knocked him down in the sand, the bucket of water spilling on the grass near the sandbox.
“What?” He looked towards the voices. There were three, the middle one, the leader Suga presumed, was wearing a blue shirt with a matching baseball cap. The two boys beside him seemed to be his followers, one dressed in a gray and white striped hoodie and the other wearing a blue zip-up jacket.
“Didn’t you hear me the first time?! This is our territory!” The one wearing the hoodie said.
“Your territory?” Sugawara looked up at them.
“Yea. Ours. So get outta here!” Eyes wide, Sugawara started to get up when a volleyball hit the leader’s head.
“HEY! No one owns this sandbox! And if anyone should, it should be my beautiful self.” He put his hand on his heart, the other hand extended outwards.
“W-Who are you?” The leader of the trio asked.
“Me, you ask? Well, I’m Oikawa Tooru!” The flamboyant kid answered, eyes sparkling.
“Well, Oikawa, you’re about to get your butt kicked!” One of the sidekicks said.
“Oh, yeah?” Oikawa grabbed the bucket with sand, dumped it out, and put it on top of the trio’s leader’s head. In the confusion, he grabbed Sugawara’s hand and ran.
After a few seconds of running, they ended up in an area surrounded by houses.
Oikawa turned to him, hand still held, “So, what’s your name?”
“Huh? Oh! I’m Sugawara Koushi! Nice to meet you.” A smile stretched out on his face.
“Well, I’ll call you Kou-chan! I’m Oikawa Tooru, the most beautiful person alive!” He returned the smile. Oikawa was wearing a maroon shirt that had an alien with his arms stretched out and the word ‘GREYS’ printed on it, and orange shorts.
“You sure ‘bout that? Because I’m pretty sure my mom holds that title…” Sugawara smirked.
Oikawa pouted, “I don’t believe you!”
“Hmm, you will when you see her! C’mon, I’ll take you right now.” With Oikawa’s hand still in his, he ran down the street until he came to a familiar house.
Sugawara lets go of Oikawa’s hand to shuffle through a plant pot to grab the spare house key, he opened the door and threw the key back under the plant's leaves and hidden from sight.
“Sweetie, is that you?” A motherly voice called out from further in.
“Yea, mom. I brought a friend, is that okay?”
“Of course, let me meet your friend.” The voice grew nearer, and when she neared them, she kneeled to be level with them.
“Hi there, I’m Sugawara Chiharu.” Her mouth spread into a gentle smile.
Oikawa’s eyes went wide. Chiharu’s smoky hair is in a ponytail and slung over her shoulder, she had the same hazel eyes as her son and had a beauty mark beneath her lip on the right side.
“I’m Oikawa Tooru!” He looked towards Sugawara. “You were right, Kou-chan! She’s like a goddess, ahh!” Oikawa’s eyes sparkled, and Chiharu laughed, gently patting his head.
“Thank you, Tooru, I hope I see you more.” She smiled again, and got up, “I’ll be in the kitchen if you boys need me, I’ll call you when lunch is ready.”
“Alright, mom! We’ll be in my room!”
They climbed the steps and entered Sugawara’s room. Oikawa plopped down on the bed, “You said your mom was beautiful, but you failed to mention that she’s a real life angel.”
“I wanted your dream of being the most beautiful person crushed, first, before I mentioned that she’s basically an enchanting mythical creature.”
“Rude! So rude, Kou-chan!” Oikawa threw one of the pillows on the bed, and it hit straight into Sugawara’s face.
“Why, thank you, Tor-chan , that’s exactly what I was going for.” Sugawara smirked and threw the pillow back at Oikawa’s gaping face.
“Boys! Come down for lunch!”
“Coming!” Sugawara called back.
Oikawa excitedly scrambled off the bed, and they ran downstairs where sandwiches were placed on the coffee table in front of the couch. The TV screen was turned on to a random channel.
“Mind if I change the channel?” Oikawa asked, grabbing the remote.
“Go ahead.”
As soon as he finished his sentence, he heard a thwack and jerked his head towards the TV. Sugawara’s eyes grew wide as he stared at the screen.
“What… What is this?”
“Volleyball! Isn’t it great? One day, I’m going to be the best setter in Japan.” He stood on the top of the couch and punched his fist into the air.
“You should play too! We can be the best together!” He bounced back into a sitting position, getting close to Sugawara’s face, who was still paying attention to the TV screen.
“It...looks amazing.” His eyes sparkled as he watched the setter toss the ball into the air where a spiker slammed it to the floor on the other side.
“I have lessons every Saturday! I’ll take you next time so we can both be the best in Japan! We just gotta figure out what position you wanna play…”
Sugawara looked towards Oikawa, “I like the one that tosses the ball. It looks really fun.”
“That one is the setter! Guess we’ll be competing then. I won’t go easy on you, even if you’re a newbie, just saying!”
Sugawara smiled, “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
The two of them watched the game until they finished lunch, Oikawa realized how late it was getting and decided to head home for today.
“Do you need a ride, Tooru?” Chiharu asked.
“I’m good! I actually live two houses down from here. You wanna walk with me, Kou-chan?” Oikawa laughed and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Sure! I’ll be right back, mom!” Sugawara rushed after Oikawa who already stepped outside.
They started walking on the path and Sugawara spoke up, “Hey, Tor-chan, thank you for sticking up for me from those bullies earlier…”
Oikawa waved his hand in front him, “Don’t worry about it.” He stuck his thumb to his chest, “Now that I’m here, I’ll protect you!”
Sugawara smiled, “I’ll protect you too!”
“It’s a promise!” They faced each other, pinkies out, and intertwined them, laughing brightly.
“This is my place! But I’ll see you tomorrow, you said you wanted to come to the volleyball classes right? We’ll walk together!” Oikawa smiled.
“You really mean it?! Yea! I wanna come!” Sugawara’s eyes sparkled as Oikawa went inside his house. He ran back to his own house.
“Hey, mom is it okay if tomorrow I go with Tor-chan to his volleyball class tomorrow?!” Sugawara asked excitedly.
She looked at her son, “Fine by me. I’m happy you found a great friend, Koushi.”
Sugawara ran up to his room, trying to figure out what would be the best thing to wear for a volleyball class.