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Thunderbolts and butterflies

They remember. One as terrifying, unexpected and loud as a thunderbolt. One with the strength of a storm and the soft touch of a butterfly.

[Asanoya]

Colorblind soulmate AU

✿ by Tamarindo Amargo ✿

Love is just like that.

Sometimes it's a thunder that shakes you from the tips of your hair to the fingers of your feet. Sometimes scary. Sometimes loud. But overall, majestic.

There's a reason he loves thunder so much.

Despite his poor memory, Nishinoya Yuu remembers pretty well the day he met his soulmate. It happened on an average spring day on any day of school. It could have been perfectly forgettable if it wasn't for the fact that it would be the day he would join the male volleyball club of Karasuno High School.

He loved volleyball with a burning passion. Well, he was a passionate person after all and had the tendency of loving—and hating—pretty quickly. But volleyball was different. Or maybe his deep love for the sport made it different...?

Anyways, he came specifically to Karasuno because of... a reason. Well, aside from the gakuran and the female uniform and the fact that it was very close to his house. There was another one...

Now, wouldn't it be amazing if he could remember which specific reason that was?

"The male volleyball club is looking for new members!" he could hear in the distance. Ah! That was it!

"Excuse me-me-me-" he said, only to start stuttering all over the place when he saw the source of that voice. Tall, long legs covered in long socks; pale, soft-looking skin; pretty eyes and hair to match; and a beauty mark just near her lips... She must be a goddess!

"Yes?" Ah, fuck it. He forgot what he was about to ask. And now he couldn't speak! What a fucking mess! "Are you interested in joining the volleyball club? We're always looking for new members, and now with the Coach Ukai—"

"So it's true?" He blurted out of nowhere. Well, that was pathetic. "Ukai Ikkei is back from retirement?"

"Yes, he is! Are you interested in—"

"Yes!" Interrupting her—what the fuck, Yuu, he thought as he stopped himself from almost snatching the paper from her hands. At least he had the human decency to ask for it instead of grabbing it like a savage. He couldn't behave like that, in front of a lady no less! "So... is... the team, like, y'know, strong?" Small talk, make small talk so you don't scare—wait, what's her name?

"We... used to be, I think." Oh, damn it. He didn't come all the way here for that kind of team at all, no matter how pretty their manager was. "But now, we're not that great..."

"Oh, that's—"

"But!" She corrected herself quickly, catching Yuu's attention in a very effective way, "now with Coach Ukai back, and with the new formation of our team, I think we're about to fly once again!"

Well, he never chickened out from a challenge before and wasn't about to start now.

There was something about the second gym of Karasuno High School that made him feel... big.

It wasn't an uncommon feeling. He always felt somewhat big when he was on the court, or at least bigger than his actual size—a very respectable 158,9cm height, thank you very much.

Maybe it was because of the team, the fact that he wasn't alone, and that in his hands rested the opportunity of another attack, of adding another point to their side... or of the end of the match.

A libero lived for that. An attack could be made because of a toss. A toss could be made because of a receive. He was an important part of the team, despite the fact that he couldn't fight in the air.

It was fine. The floor was the libero's territory after all. It was the place in which he could outshine everybody and make the crowd go wild because of an impossible receive executed perfectly. The air, however...

That was the ace's battleground.

"Nishinoya Yuu! First year class one! I play as libero! Nice to meet you!" His declaration was probably heard even in the first gym. He didn't care at all, for his was a loud, playful nature as far back as he could remember. He bowed, smiling at his new teammates, the ones whose backs he'd be taking care of for the next three years.

The team was small and lacking, there's no way to sugarcoat it—Coach Ukai's words, not his. But, he could sort of see what the old man was talking about. His third-year senpais lacked spirit-aside from the captain, he guessed—or rather, hoped. And then there were only two second-years: a kind and soft-looking one and a broad-shouldered one with a military haircut. He probably should learn their names, but he was so bad at it...

Well then, who was the team's ace?

He tried sight-guessing, but there was no way to tell when he still hadn't seen any of them play. He was putting his money on the captain, since he was the tallest, strongest-looking in the gym. Though, his aura was more of a captain-ish one, not the one of an ace. Not that Yuu could tell the difference exactly; it was just primal instinct.

"As a tradition, we'll be playing a match against the first years, so we'll sort the teams and-"

"I'm sorry I'm late!" was heard from outside the gym's gates, and everybody stopped in their tracks. Yuu could practically feel the murderous aura around Coach Ukai as the newcomer approached the gates—okay then, now he could see what people were talking about when they said that the guy was Spartan.

"Azumane, I hope this time you have a proper explanation for your lateness." Was the gym growing darker or was it just him?

"Yes, sir," Yuu could hear the guy mutter, and, god, he wanted to put a face to that voice; it was awkward.

For a moment the gates were silent, and then: "Well then, go change. I want 100 laps around the gym, and don't you dare skip stretching before you join your teammates for today's practice match!"

"Yes, sir!" He heard footsteps and supposed the 15-minutes-late guy went to change. When Coach Ukai entered the gym again, he looked positively less murderous.

"Well, what are y'all waiting for?! I'm not getting any younger here!" Well, he could eat his words with chopsticks now.

"Who's Azumane?" Yuu wondered aloud. It wasn't actually a question directed to the team, but nonetheless, military-cut senpai and soft senpai heard him and approached.

"He's our wannabe ace—ouch! Suga!" Military-cut senpai said, just to receive a solar plexus punch from—well, Suga-san had to be the one that delivered the punch.

"Don't be like that, Daichi" said Suga-san, lowkey snickering, and then added, "Azumane's our ace, Nishinoya-kun."

"Shouldn't third years be here already? Y'know, to welcome the new first years?" He found Suga-san and Daichi-san surprisingly easy to speak with.

"Oh, they should, but you see, he's not a third-year." Yuu blinked in surprise. Well, a second-year-ace wasn't that weird, but he didn't expect Karasuno to have one. What kind of genius was that guy? "You seem to be wondering what kind of genius he is."

Was that a magic trick? "Yes! How'd'ja know?"

Suga-san smiled brightly to him. Man, what a beautiful smile, he found himself thinking. "You're surprisingly easy to read, Nishinoya-kun." That was a compliment, right? "Anyways, Asahi is no genius. He's just our tallest, strongest player. Our actual powerhouse" Suga-san explained.

"Actual goofball outside the court," Daichi-san followed up with.

Suga-san actually snorted at that, but tried to hide it quickly, saying in a kind of hurry, "Please Nishinoya-kun, don't listen to us. You should actually get to know the guy."

"That's it if you don't scare him to death first."

"Gosh, Daichi, stop!" They went away laughing lightly, putting up the net and leaving Yuu alone.

He forgot about the thing almost instantly. In no time he was already talking with his fellow first years, getting to know them better, and being himself in general. He always liked to friendly tease his teammates and to keep everybody in a good mood. After all, who could win battles while being worried or upset? That, and because he just liked to talk with everybody—despite what most people thought of him, whatever "small-dose kind of person" could mean.

The match started, and he found himself acquainted with the rest of the team's game-mode soon enough. Suga's serves were soft but well aimed, and Daichi's receives were very solid, though they could improve. The spikes were neither easy nor hard to receive, except for when Tanaka Ryuunosuke could spike a straight freely-that was harder to manage.

"That's a nice straight, Ryu!" Yuu shouted to his new friend on the other side of the net.

The guy at the other side shouted in an equally enthusiastic way, "And that's some amazin' receiving you're doing there, Nishinoya-san!"

"I already told ya, call me Noya!"

"Noya-san, you're amazin'!" They both laughed. Well, Noya-san was probably the best he would get out of him for the moment. It was okay. He liked the guy, looked like a nice person!

The ball went back and forth in an intense rally. Man, didn't he hate those? His mind would get all foggy, and his limbs would become as heavy as fucking bricks, and everything he could think of would translate to "dude, wouldn't it be awesome if the ball just fucking touched the floor? On the opposite side if possible."

He was so absorbed in the match—it happened on a daily basis; his mind probably had a volleyball main-focus switch or something—that he didn't notice neither the gates opening nor the appearance of a new player.

Until, obviously, the match ended—with a win for their side—and they changed courts.

"Azumane! Did you stretch properly? Go switch already!" He heard the coach say

"Yes, sir!" the newcomer answered. There was a change of players, and finally, finally he could see the guy.

The guy, as Noya addressed him in his mind, was big.

Well, to his size, almost everybody looked somewhat big—but! To be fair, he was still the taller, bulkier-looking around the place. Strong-looking arms and legs, broad shoulders, wide back, 183... no, maybe 184cm tall, long hair and... was he trying to grow a beard?

Azumane, repeated in his mind. Yuu looked around to read the expressions of his teammates, and what he found was a bewildering mix between awe and slight fright. Given he was never afraid of a player until confronted with their gameplay, he really couldn't understand what had them so scared. Well, let's hope this guy is as interesting as he looks.

"Is he even a high schooler?" asked out loud—what was his name again? tried to recall Yuu. Kinoshita Hisashi? Yeah, sounds like it.

"Would you even believe me if I told you he's the youngest second year?" asked Kurokawa-san, the captain playing on their sides, "This is for you all but Nishinoya-kun especially: Azumane's serves are strong, and his aim is getting better, but his spikes are the ones that may change things here, so please manage and receive as many as you can".

Yuu blinked in surprise. He didn't know if the guy was just that strong or if he was being underestimated, and neither of those were good news—for his pride at least, but he would give it a second thought when the match ended. So, instead, he just said, "Roger that, captain! I've got y'all covered, so please look forward!" and lo and behold, the team smiled once again.

On the other side, he could practically feel the stares of the players. Was he going to be targeted? He sure was feeling like he was going to be targeted.

If he was being targeted, then he just would play like always and gain the team's trust. The thing here is that he didn't feel like he was being underestimated or that they didn't trust his ability. They actually believed that he was good, just that the guy on the other side was just slightly better.

Well, he wouldn't let him score that easily, that was for sure.

"Let's have a nice game!" was heard all over the gym, and the whistle sounded. Their side was serving, and the ball went to the other side of the net smoothly.

"Chance ball!" he heard Daichi say as he received it. First touch, it went up in the air and to the setter's position. "Suga!"

"Gotcha!" The setter quickly positioned himself under the ball. On the other side, the spikers all looked ready to score. On their side, they were all ready to block it. "Asahi! Last!"

The ball went up, up, and far from the net, on a clean movement that looked so refined that Yuu knew just from watching it that it was the pass they had practiced together the most.

"Cut off the cross!" But he couldn't hear anything else at all, totally awestruck by the look in front of his eyes.

An attack could be made because of a toss. A toss could be made because of a receive. If the ball touched the floor, the game... ended. It that was simple. And his place was back behind, throwing himself to the ground to save the ball. The floor was the libero's big stage.

And humans couldn't fly or whatever. That thought made him gloomy on a daily basis, because in his opinion, volleyball would be like a hundred times better if they could actually fly. But, humans can't fly, and that's why they find ways to stay up in the air.

"Ready!" And, as if the world moved in slow motion, following his primal instinct he found himself at the place the ball would most likely go with just one thought in his mind:

Don't let him score.

From Yuu's point of view, Azumane Asahi looked like a historical hero while he was up in the air. On the ace's battleground. That just made his instinct—don't let him score don't let him score don't let him—go wild.

Come. Come. Come.

The ace's palm touched the ball, and the flesh against the leather made an explosion-like sound that resounded through the gym.

But Yuu heard a thunderbolt. One that shook him from the tips of his hair to the fingers of his feet. Sudden. Resounding. Terrifying. Majestic.

There's a reason he loves thunder so much.

And, faster than a cannonball, the volleyball flew on a sharp and clean trajectory. He received, and the strength of it made him fly backwards and outside the court as the ball went up on a not-so-clean path. Against his arms, the ball made a scary sound, and the players on the court found themselves gaping as he fell, wondering if the small libero was all right.

In the meantime, Yuu was on cloud nine, because now that's how you spike. Not that he would tell that to the guy, he knew better than to inflate the ego of a team's ace from experience.

"FOLLOW!" He shouted as he got up. But then, the sight in front of his eyes made him fall backwards all over again.

He didn't know if it was magic, if it was God's doing, or if it was just nature. He knew, what almost every average boy his age knew. People see life in greyscale until they met their soulmate. And exactly that was what had him on the floor, still in shock.

Because, not in his dreams—no, not even in his wildest dreams—he would've thought of starting to see colors in a moment like this.

But before he could start overthinking the issue, the whistle sounded again. Point for their side; Kurokawa-san had scored. It has been only a few seconds since he fell, but it still felt like hours...

"A-are you okay? Do y-you need help to stand up?" Yuu looked up, to see the face of the person that was talking to him in such a worried tone. Jeez, he just fell, what was that fuss about? "Oh my god, oh my god, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you at all, I swear! Can you stand up? Are you hurt anywhere? Please tell me I didn't actually hurt you. The coach isn't going to let me live if you're hurt!"

"Asahi-san, that's a wicked spike!" Forget everything about not spoiling the guy rotten, he had no ego to feed whatsoever. "It's been a long while since the last time I'd had a hard time receivin' a spike! And it's with Ushiwaka's!"

"U-U-Ushi-no way. I'm nowhere near that good," he answered sheepishly.

"Obviously you're not," blurted Yuu in a matter-of-fact way, and Asahi visibly deflated, so he added, "But, why stop at bein' as good as Shiratorizawa's Ushiwaka? Why not, y'know, bein' Karasuno's Azumane?"

Asahi smiled at him awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head and visibly nervous. So Yuu did what he did best and smiled at him brightly, cutting his tension off. The ace extended a hand to help him up.

"That was a nice recei—"

"Don't give me that. It was crap," said the small libero, cutting him off as he took his hand. It felt too big for his own tiny hands.

"Sorry, no, it wasn't," Does this guy ever stop apologizing?

"But next one'll be better, so watch out, Asahi-san!"

The whistle sounded again. The match resumed. Everything went back to normal... full technicolor normal, in the small libero's life, at least.

The following days, Yuu learned a few things.

First of all...

"Noya-san! Sawamura-san and the other second years said they're going to treat us to pork-buns after afternoon practice!" said Ryu, his new self-proclaimed brother-of-the-court.

"That's nice, Ryu! Race to the gym! Last one mops the floor by 'imself!"

His favorite ice cream, the soda flavor GariGari-kun, was blue as the morning sky. Second...

"Good afternoon, Kiyoko-san! You're lookin' pretty as always!" His comment went unheard. God, she was so pretty.

Shimizu Kiyoko's lips were as pink as the frames of her glasses.

"The uniforms are here. I think I got everybody's size right, but you should still check it out." The third thing was the club jacket was black, like the school's gakuran. And the team's uniform was black with orange. His was orange with black.

"I know the libero's uniform is different than ours, but I still would like to be able to recognize the difference," he heard Chikara say.

"My uniform's mostly orange, Chikara! Like tangerines, mandarines and oranges. Yours' mostly black, like the school's gakuran, the jacket and... highways!" he explained happily, and Chikara looked just as, if not more, lost as before. Already used to the libero's antics, the rest of the team smiled and laughed.

"Nice to know, Noya-san! Now I will think about you when I drink orange juice," said Ryu with a playful smile.

The fourth thing: his soulmate was a boy. He was tall and athletic and had a slightly tanned skin, chocolate-brown hair and eyes to match, and a very gentle smile. And he liked to treat the libero to ice cream every time he could. Not that Yuu ever said anything against it, he was weak to ice cream.

"You're going to spoil the kid rotten, Asahi," he heard Daichi tell the ace one afternoon outside the store.

"Nah, I think Nishinoya is the one that's going to spoil Asahi, with so many compliments about his form and such," Suga followed. To Asahi's dismay, Yuu and Ryu joined in the conversation.

"I compliment him just as much as I criticize him, but I'll say nothin' 'bout the ice cream!"

"You're going to make a hole in his wallet, Noya san!"

They laughed as the ace blushed heavily. They talked, about practice, the upcoming matches, and how they seriously needed more time to use the gym.

"Not that I'm complainin', but practicin' outside bruises me even more than practicin' inside. Mom's gettin' worried 'bout it," said the libero, looking at his now clean popsicle stick. "I guess bein' all purple and blue doesn't suit me that much," he said laughing. "I actually prefer black. What's your favorite color, guys?"

"I think light blue, dark colors makes me look like a ghost," said Suga, smiling lightly.

"I prefer green and orange, though my sister says that my fashion sense is a mess and I actually don't know how to mix them," followed Daichi, looking pensive.

"All colors are amazing, but red is passionate, so I like it the most!" stated Ryu strongly, finishing his pork bun with a huge bite.

"What 'bout you, Asahi-san?" asked Yuu, his eyes shining like lightning with anticipation.

"I... actually don't see any colors yet."

Just to hear a thunder inside his chest as his heart was broken.

Thunderbolts & butterflies

According to the internet, for him it was statistically more probable dying in a train accident, committing suicide before 20, and being involved in a car crash, than meeting his soulmate.

Asahi thought he was nobody to go against numbers, so he was making zero actual effort into trying to find them.

He knew he was a hopeless romantic, one that believed in true love and fairy tales, and finding your fate. But, above all that, he was just a coward. A plain, glass-hearted coward.

He decided a while ago that in order to protect his own fragile soul, he would focus just on what was there right in front of him. He already was having trouble with his anxiety and had the tendency of overthinking the future, or why everybody found him so scary, or if the team would ever make it to nationals—heck, if they would ever get past the second round of the Miyagi Preliminaries.

He wasn't about to start worrying about finding his soulmate too.

So, when Noya's question reached his ears, he could do nothing but answer honestly.

"I... actually don't see any colors yet."

He already knew that Suga and Daichi could see colors—he was just waiting for them to notice the obvious, that being their feelings for each other. How Tanaka could see colors, that was none of his business and was up to the spiker to tell the story, if he ever wanted to.

Why Noya looked so heartbroken now—that was something he actually worried about.

Maybe the rest of the team said it as a kindhearted joke, but he did have a soft spot for the libero. He liked to see him smile. He took his words to heart the most. He wanted his praise like a drowning man wanted air.

And so, when he looked upset, he got upset too.

"I-It doesn't bother me though! I mean, one can live a fully functional life this way, I think. You don't have to be sad for me, Nishinoya," he explained in a hurry. The libero blinked once, then twice, and his expression became clear as mud. Asahi, whose heart was starting to beat faster every second, thought that he, somehow, messed something up.

And then, easy like his laugh and light as his body, the libero spoke again. "But, Asahi-san! Then you can't see that Kiyoko-san's lips are pink like the frames of her glasses! Or that the mornin' sky is blue like my favorite popsicle!" he ranted. Around him, everybody laughed, used to the libero's antics. Asahi exhaled, not knowing when he started to hold his breath. "And your palms get red like tomatoes and cherries when you spike really hard, Asahi-san! You just can't miss it!"

"That's right, Asahi-san! You can't miss Noya-san disguised as a tangerine!"

"Shut up Ryu! That's just the uniform!"

"But you're small as one though!"

The small quarrel continued until the cashier-guy shouted at the group, and they dispersed. Tanaka left first, his way home having a very small point in common. Suga and Daichi split a bit after, both taking opposite directions. Then, Asahi and Nishinoya continued their way, silently.

He didn't know if it was just him or if the silence felt heavy. Should I talk? he thought. I'm so bad at small talk. It's usually Nishinoya who starts speaking first.

"You seriously can't see the colors of the sunset, Asahi-san?" asked Nishinoya as if he was reading his thoughts about the silence feeling weird. Anyways, that was a subject he really didn't want to touch at the moment, so the silence that followed the question felt even worse. "I mean, it is said that it's more probable dying before 20 than meetin' your soulmate nowadays, but still! Both Suga-san and Daichi-san found 'em, Ryu did too, even I did! The numbers at Karasuno obviously don't work, so you should've foun' yours too!"

Asahi looked at the diverse shades of grey in the sky. He wondered what it would look like if he wasn't colorblind. "It must be amazing having found your soulmate, Nishinoya. Do you and Tanaka talk about it? You-you know, most people end up marrying their soulmates and—"

"What on earth are you talking about, Asahi-san?"

He stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, just to see that Nishinoya had stopped following too, a few meters behind.

"I mean, it's kinda obvious you two are a match," said the taller of the pair, bringing his hand to his nape almost automatically, an old bad habit of his that was almost impossible to break so far in the game. Nishinoya just raised both eyebrows, eyes wide with surprise. "N-not that I'm implying anything weird by it... Not that you and Tanaka being boyfriends is weird o-or anything! I mean I'm just saying that if you're both soulmates and just... choose to leave it entirely friendly and platonic is all right too! I-uh-just- who am I to say if it's alright or not, anyways... and you're so head over heels for Shimizu too... God, I'm so dumb. Nishinoya please forget the last five minutes of your life. I'm being ridiculous."

To his own dismay, Nishinoya just laughed.

Asahi felt his face heating up, and even if he couldn't see colors, he just knew he was as red as... tomatoes and cherries, or at least that was what Nishinoya said earlier. He should be worrying over how easy the libero could make him all flustered, but he was also busy trying to ignore the way his stomach was flipping and jumping at the sight of his smile-

Well now, this was probably the worst moment to get a crush, over his teammate of all people.

"Asahi-san, you look constipated," said Nishinoya out of nowhere when they started walking again. Asahi almost flinched at that.

"Don't... Don't say it like that, Nishinoya," he answered sheepishly. They just laughed again.

Asahi had one problem.

"Azumane-kun, you're looking scarier than usual. Is something wrong today?" His—already deep—frown deepened, scaring away the concerned classmate that had the guts to approach him.

He barely slept last night, and being sleep-deprived made him look scarier than usual. As much as he likes to look somewhat wild, he doesn't like when his classmates are so frightened that they won't dare approach him.

Other than that...

"What do you mean they left?!" The notice of Ennoshita, Narita and Kinoshita leaving the team reached their ears by Tanaka-

"I mean exactly that, Daichi-san! Chikara just told me, 'I'm sorry but I can't do this anymore,' and then left!" To say that the guy was angry was clearly an understatement. Tanaka was fuming over the fact that the three first years left without an explanation.

Now, he had two problems. With three members less, the already lacking offensive power of the team was left in the dust, and he didn't even want to think about the defensive power that barely lived around their miraculous libero.

Breathe in. For the sake of keeping a stable gameplay, he couldn't let his anxiety slip in. Breathe out. He had to remember, the scariest memory he had, because nothing could ever be worse than that. Breathe in. He just needed to stay calm through the day, without any unsteady feelings or sudden events that could throw him off. Breathe out. He was going to be okay, he was going to be okay, he was going to be-

"ASAHI-SAAAAN!" Being caught off guard, Asahi dropped what he was holding.

"God freaking darn-"

"Asahi-san?"

In front of him stood Nishinoya, all studded belts and punk rock spirit, his jacket over his shoulder and his cheeky-brat brand smile on his face. From Asahi's point of view, Nishinoya Yuu was the embodiment of a storm, disguised as some butterfly on his rebel days. The mere sight of the boy was doing things to his fragile heart, and he was having way too many problems that day.

"You enjoy scaring the socks off me, don't you, Nishinoya?" asked Asahi quietly, getting on his knees to pick up what fell from his arms. Shimizu had asked him to help her carry a box to the gym, and its contents—surprise, more boxes!—were now all over the floor.

"I swear I don't enjoy it that much, Asahi-san! Just a little bit!" said the other boy, already helping with the fallen boxes.

Summer had them sweating and yearning for lighter clothes to wear. Asahi was now used to wearing his hair in a slight bun, the sleeves of his uniform rolled up over his elbows, and bringing a handkerchief with him to make up for his excessive sweating. He was also used to watching Suga complain about the prices of sunscreen and how heat made him look all pink—not that Asahi would know, either way—and Daichi retouching his military-stile haircut and worrying over how the heat made his acne go wild.

Now he also had the first years, with Tanaka wearing caps and strangely fashionable sunglasses, singing the new song of the summer; Ennoshita getting sunburns and being extremely irritable for the heat; and—his personal favorite—Nishinoya's fingers sticky with popsicles, ice cream, and sodas, making a mess everywhere.
That's why, what he first noticed, when their hands met over the same folded cardboard box, was the remains of sweets, rather than the touch itself.

Summer had Asahi yearning for some peace of mind. Exams, summer training camp, the upcoming Miyagi Preliminaries, the loss of three members of the team—all of that was making a mess of his nerves. And, recently, the addition of a certain libero, clinging to him without some kind of pattern whatsoever. Some days Nishinoya would be too close, demanding his full and undivided attention and piggyback rides, threatening to lift him—and, on very crazy days, actually accomplishing it—and talking to him nonstop about colors and hues and how the summer made every color feel warm, whatever that could mean.

Then, other days, like this one apparently, he would be... silent. Away, so far away.

But then, Asahi blinked. Something in the air felt different. His body, from the tips of his hair to the fingers of his feet, was slightly tingling. For some reason, he felt nervous, as if a butterfly just landed on his hand, and he was trying to be as quiet as possible to not scare it away.

"Asahi-san? There somethin' wrong? You've been makin' scary faces all morning," said Nishinoya.

When he looked up, an unknown hue made its way to his eyes, leaving him frozen on the spot.

Karasuno's male volleyball club current ace thought of himself a simple man.

According to the internet, it was statistically more probably ending in a bad-paying job with hellish conditions due to his lack of interest for university and regular grades, living a monotonous and ordinary life, and dying young from an alcohol-related illness, than meeting and marrying his soulmate.

Asahi thought he was nobody to go against numbers; that's why he was perfectly okay with being actively avoided when it came to every kind of romantic approach.

Despite that, he was a hopeless romantic, one that believed in true love and fairy tales and finding your fate. But, above all that, he was still a coward, afraid of expectations, deception, hatred and heartbreak. He would prefer to hide his heart of glass from all that.

That's why in order to protect his own fragile soul, he was focusing only on what was right there in front of him. Finding his soulmate was definitely not on his to-do list for this time of his life, let alone his plans of the day.

So, when Noya's question reached his ears...

"Your eyes are not grey anymore, Nishinoya."

Like the simple man he was, he ruined everything.

If Asahi was good at something, that was taking care of his grandmother's garden, grooming the old cat of the neighborhood and volleyball, in that order.

He was bad at hiding and running away, because most of the time, somebody would find him way too early and guilt-trip him into coming back.

"You can't hide all day, Asahi," said Daichi the next day during a break at practice. At that, he visibly deflated, and Daichi sighed. "Y'know it would be easier to help you if you told us what went wrong," he said, trying the gentle approach, but Asahi was too scared for any of that. He kept his mouth shut. "Do I have to call in the heavy artillery?"

"You rang?" Suga's gentle voice reached his ears, and despite knowing all too well that he was about to step in a honey trap, he still relaxed. "That's more like it, now, why don't you tell us what happened, you negative goatee?" Asahi loomed. Suga and Daichi seemed to smile even more.

"You guys are being rude," he said, putting down his deportive drink. "Anyways, I'm neither hiding nor feeling bad-"

"Asahi, I'm here for answers, not bullshit," that could've gone better.

Asahi sighed, already trapped in Sugawara Koushi's honey trap "... How did you guys know?"

"Don't get me started," said Daichi, as Suga rolled his eyes as if saying, honey mama knows best, "Your spikes today are on the killer weapon side and only Noya's brave enough to receive those." Asahi flinched. He didn't knew his spikes had a killer weapon side—why does nobody tell him these things? "And that would be amazing for you both to practice, obviously, but you've been avoiding him all day, and it's getting painfully obvious that there's a problem when this far into practice, he hasn't said one single 'Asahi-san!'"

Painfully obvious.

That was how Asahi felt the feelings displayed on his face were, hence the reason he'd been avoiding Nishinoya since yesterday. There, in plain sight, in the middle of the day, being painfully obvious. Your eyes are not grey anymore, Nishinoya. A neon sign on his forehead reading "Surprise: You're My Soulmate" would've been better.

For him, to have found his soulmate on the stormy libero of light-brown eyes was a punch in the solar plexus from all his fears concerning the soulmate issue. What if they're a boy? A heterosexual, homophobic boy? What if he already has a soulmate, and it's a one-sided affair? What if he befriends the boy and then his feelings scare him away? What if the boy is on the team? What if it's Daichi? Asahi can't soulmate Daichi; it made him feel like his father was his soulmate.

Though, after receiving the real-life outcome, he wasn't that sure anymore.

After all, for him, Nishinoya Yuu was one hell of a storm. Discovering the wonders of that miracle of nature was a task for brave soldiers, reckless adventurers and great beast tamers. He was out of his territory, and he was content with watching from afar, for he was just good with small gardens, light rains and docile animals. A guardian—no, not a guardian, The guardian deity—he was not for him, never for him.

He was too afraid of thunder, to ever gain the courage necessary to embrace that beautiful storm.

The second color he saw...

"Asahi-san," he heard his voice and was unable to do anything to avoid the imminent embarrassing situation he was about to confront. "Did I do somethin' wrong yesterday?"

The practice ended. Everybody went home. Suga and Daichi didn't press the matter any further, but promised a quite terrifying interrogation tomorrow morning that he wasn't looking forward to. He stopped by the shop at the foot of the mountain, feeling like eating something sweet to forget about all the soulmate trouble.

Apparently, Nishinoya read his thoughts on the matter.

"You did nothing wrong. Why do you ask?" That was a cheap blow. Asahi knew perfectly what was going on. He just was trying to play dumb. Apparently Nishinoya enjoyed doing a quick catch-up for him every time he did it.

"You know why I'm askin', you've been avoidin' me since yesterday, when you puked some weird stuff 'bout my eyes not bein' grey." His tone was absolute. Don't you dare treat me like some dumb kid, Asahi-san, he said.

Above them, the night was clouding. The sky was pitch black, and Asahi couldn't find in himself to ask Nishinoya if he saw a different color.

"Do you feel like eatin' ice cream, Asahi-san?" While he was occupied watching the sky and ignoring the light-brown gaze of the libero, he entered the shop. Quickly, he followed. "Your favorites are the watermelon-strawberry flavored ones, right?" Nishinoya was standing tiptoe, trying to reach farther into the refrigerator. Asahi was having trouble with holding back his laughter. "Aw shoot, the soda-flavored ones are gone... Well I guess lime will do—what's so amusin', Asahi-san?"

Outside, an unforeseen rain started to fell, soaking the streets little by little. Lightly, lightly...

"I'm truly sorry, Nishinoya. It's just... it seems like I've been worrying over nothing all along," he said. Nishonoya smiled brightly, and as if on command, Asahi brought his hand to the back of his head, smiling sheepishly.

The libero, still smiling, handed him the ice-cream. "Then, you'll spill what's that, that's been eating you Asahi-san?"

The wind started to howl, making a symphony of the stormy weather that caught them unprepared. Stronger, stronger...

"It's probably nothing. I'm sure I've been just seeing things—"

"You can't just imagine colors, Asahi-san."

Asahi always felt like running away, despite knowing that he was bad at it. From everything. From the exams, the upcoming preliminaries, the soulmate issue... From Nishinoya's light-brown eyes.

"Then... I guess yesterday I met my soulmate without noticing."

Outside, thunderbolts rolled. The rain poured heavily. The wind howled strongly. Nishinoya's eyes filled with emotion, with lightning; Asahi's stomach, with grief. He felt like he was watching a storm.

"See? I told ya, didn't I?! Numbers at Karasuno are drunk!" The libero celebrated, invoking the wrath of the cashier-guy whom Asahi hadn't seen that angry in a while. Must be a record, then.

"Oi! If you're not going to buy anything for that pocket-sized delinquent of yours, then you both can go outside and soak!" Asahi didn't know which part was his favorite: the fact that he called Nishinoya a pocket-sized delinquent, that the cashier-guy already knew that Asahi usually bought for both of them, or that apparently the libero was his.

"I'm really so—"

"Oi! You have any soda-flavored GariGari-kun left?" Nishinoya inquiring for his favorite choice totally eclipsed his apology.

"There should be one or two at the very bottom, though I wouldn't be surprised if they're all gone since you keep eating them all," The guy hid his face again behind the manga he was reading.

"Of course it would be at the very fucking bottom—"

"Language, Nishinoya." The libero bit back something along the lines of fucking gentle bastard that wouldn't harm a god damn fly under his breath while he struggled to reach the bottom of the refrigerator. Despite himself, he smiled. "Let me," said Asahi, easily reaching the ice cream Nishinoya was having such a hard time with. It was a bit stuck, so he had to pull hard. "There you go."

"My hero," said Nishinoya mockingly. Asahi blushed for the umpteenth time since the stormy boy came into his life. Nishinoya laughed, for about the same number of times.

"Come on, pocket-sized delinquent. I'm paying." The nickname earned him a punch in the arm. Asahi faked a cry, just to make Nishinoya laugh. He did.

Outside it was still raining and it poured, and they were out there on their own. The wind howled and clashed, and it looked like the tempest wasn't stopping anytime soon. In the sky, lightning flashed. In the corner of his eye, Asahi saw Nishinoya, eating his ice cream happily. Around his lips, another unknown hue appeared.

The mornin' sky is blue like my favorite popsicle, Asahi-san!

A deviant butterfly landed on the libero's spiky hair, probably hiding from the rain. How foolish, he thought. Trying to hide from the rain, you land in the top of a storm. More thunder rolled, and the butterfly flew away.

"Ryu texted. The forecast said that the rain isn't stoppin' until midnight probably." In two bites, Nishinoya finished his ice cream. That's quite the trick, thought Asahi, "Well, I guess I'll run—"

"Wait," Asahi interrupted, taking off his jacket. "We can't have you catching a cold, the preliminaries are close."

"We can't have you getting sick, Asahi-san," Nishinoya said, refusing to take the jacket.

"Me? There are more wing spikers, but we only have one libero."

Thunderbolt. The butterfly he saw before fell flat dead on the ground. In front of him, Nishinoya dropped his bag and his backpack. "What do you mean there're more wing spikers? You're our ace," he said, looking way too ready to fight him.

Silence.

"For what it's worth, Nishinoya, I don't think I'm that good—"

"Keep your fuckin' jacket Asahi-san, I'm not that much of a weaklin' to need it, and obviously you're more of a wimp," The boy barked his statement, unmovable. And it hurt him. That hurt him real bad, and he felt like hiding and running away and protecting himself from the storm. But Nishinoya didn't stop there—god, did he ever? "But in the court, you're our strongest player. That's why we call you the ace, and we can't have you gettin' sick."

Because lionhearted creatures like Nishinoya could smell the fear. And attack.

"Let's just go together, our houses are in the same way after all," whispered Asahi, lowering his head, "I really don't want you getting sick."

The rain poured and the storm walked—there, right beside him. The wind howled, and in the sky thunderbolts clashed. But none of that mattered to Asahi when his jacket was above both of them, barely protecting them, and Nishinoya's laugh reminded him of butterflies and flowers and everything he could take care of.

It was ridiculous, he was being ridiculous.

The first color he saw was light brown. Caramels, some brands of honey, and the color of Nishinoya's eyes. The second was blue, like Nishinoya's favorite popsicle. He still had some, in his cheek, and Asahi took his handkerchief to wipe it away. The libero laughed again, saying something about wasted ice cream that didn't quite reach his ears.

Asahi felt like smiling, too.

When they reached Nishinoya's neighborhood, the rain was merciless.

"You are feelin' all down and angry because you doubt your strength, right?" There was no way Asahi would ever tell Nishinoya why he was feeling upset.

So he went for the next best thing. "Yeah, sort of," he lied. "I really don't feel like I won the title." Well, he half-lied.

"Talk to me, m'kay?" They reached the door, after Asahi stubbornly insisted on walking him all the way there. "Guys in the team get scared when you're upset, but I don't and never will, so you can talk to me, Asahi-san!"

And maybe, just maybe, he was starting to be a little less afraid of those small thunderous eyes.

Suga would often say that he was made of some bland material that somehow took the shape of a big human. Maybe like tofu or jelly. The fair-haired teen once joked with noodles, just to close his mouth again with distaste after comparing the size of his biceps against Asahi's.

Daichi also said that, maybe if he wasn't so much of a wimp, he could be on equal ground with Ushiwaka.

Then, Nishinoya came into his life, screaming and laughing and receiving spike after spike with the shouts of "My grandpa' could've received those too, Asahi-san!", "Spike it like you're goin' to kill me!" and "I'm not some Chinese pot, damn it. Stop fussin' over some bruisin'!"

Nishinoya also carried an overenthusiastic wing spiker. Tanaka, after warming up to the team a bit better, soon became the second member of his fan club, according to Daichi and Kurokawa-san.

Asahi himself thought too that maybe he was made of some bland material. That would explain why his legs felt shaky when Nishinoya was close, why he trembled so badly when he was in the middle of a nervous wreck, and why hard words always made their way to his crystal-like heart.

But, sometimes he was brave and let himself dream. Because, like the hopeless romantic he was, he also thought that brave people could dream and act to make his dreams come alive. He just had to... somehow nail down the latter.

His dreams were filled with heavy rain, wild landscapes and beasts. They were all quiet, and he would find himself befriending lions and panthers alike, riding elephants and feeding hippos, as if they were small cats, shy tortoises and harmless pups. Then he would climb trees, cross mountains and swim in rivers, like one would climb a rope, cross a street and swim in a pool.

Nishinoya was there in his dreams. His punk rock spirit filling every space, his loud voice eclipsing the rain, and his smile making everything calm. He was surrounded by butterflies, ones that were brave enough to land on him and play, even when he was jumping, and running, and shouting.

If he wanted, he could bring down a portion of the sun and give it to him without burning. But Asahi considered the risks, and instead, he gave the libero a sunflower—

"ASAHI, YOU'RE LATE FOR SCHOOL!" He fell out of bed. Shocked, after fighting against his covers for a moment, he managed to get up and open his eyes—

To a world that greeted him with colors.

And he fell again.

Thunderbolts & butterflies

Months passed. Summer came and left, and the ground filled with multicolored leaves and then with white snow.

The third years left, between tears and frustration and defeat. Now the team was officially in the hands of the second years. Sawamura Daichi was now their captain and Sugawara Koushi their vice. And a little after, Coach Ukai fell ill, and they were left coach-less once again.

More than ever, the volleyball team felt like their wings had been chopped off, but nobody ever said that out loud. Flightless. Desperate. They would fight, they had to fight. But, in the end...

"SUGA!" The toss was made again. The ace spiked again. An iron wall rose in front of them, and the ball fell on their side. Again. Again. Again.

Yuu saw it, in slow motion. How the will to fight left his eyes. How the fear made his legs stay in place. How his arms stayed at his sides.

Please, he prayed to his hero. Please, don't give up.

Even if I have to leave my skin behind in the court. Even if it means I have to fall again and again and bruise and bleed and cry.

Don't give up just yet, not when we're still fighting.

Call out for it once more—!

"ASAHI-SAN!"

But in the end, if their star couldn't shine to lead the way, it was hopeless.

Yuu wondered, whether if given the choice, he would have chosen between a life without colors in which he didn't have to suffer the heartbreak of watching the person you adore the most lose his hope and giving up on himself, or one with colors and a soulmate that didn't feel the same way.

He already knew the answer.

"It was you all along." Of course he already knew the answer, and that was why this conversation was getting his hopes all up once again. "And I couldn't bear it, knowing that you already had a soulmate that wasn't me, and above all, that you don't even like boys. So I ran away from that, too."

He would, just if he could, ask for a slightly clever one. But it was fine. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed either.

"Asahi-san, I'm supposed to be the dumb one here. Are you stealin' my spot?"

He came back. Yuu didn't ask for anything else but that, and he came back: his hair longer, his beard thicker and his eyes shier.

After the match against the neighborhood association, Asahi came looking for him, looking sad—more so than usual. Yuu thought that he was going to apologize again for what happened after that match against Date Tech, so he asked Daichi to let him and Asahi clean and close the gym.

His hero was back, and he was confessing something he had lost hope for, a long time ago.

I want to clear the air between us, and that means I have to be frank, was what Asahi told him. I ran away twice from you, and I'm not doing that ever again.

Nishinoya, you're my soulmate, and I also like you very much.

"W-w-what do you mean by dumb?!"

Yuu felt like screaming in joy. "Ryu isn't my soulmate, you giant oaf! Neither is Kiyoko-san—though to be honest I wouldn't've minded—any-anyways, they're not."

"So, that means-"

"It's you! You giant, freakin', bearded goofball! You're my soulmate!" Asahi was frozen on the spot. Yuu was so happy, he was afraid his body might explode.

I told you, didn't I?

I'm not afraid of you. Never was, never will.

"And... you like me?"

Like him?

"I like you more than every soda-flavored GariGari-kun on earth!"

Yeah, pretty much.

Yuu felt like jumping right into Asahi's—his soulmate's!—arms and hugging him until all his fears washed away, so he did it. He knew—oh god, did he know—Asahi was scared of many things: Being alone late in the night, intimidating people no matter their height, big crowds and small places, thunders.

"Nishinoya, don't jump like that! What if I can't hold you properly?" He had both arms and legs around Asahi, pretty much like a koala holding a tree.

"What're you talkin' 'bout? You'd never drop me." Because you're afraid of thunder. Of storms. But you still, somehow, got the courage to embrace a thunderous boy like me as if I were harmless as a butterfly.

That's why...

"We finished here with the gym... It's... It's okay if I buy you ice cream and walk you home?" Like that rainy afternoon, he remembers it, despite his poor memory. Yuu felt like smiling.

"That's cheatin'! Y'know I can't refuse ice cream."

"Is that a yes?"

That's why, I'm glad you're back.

"Of course it's a yes."

.

.

.

BONUS:

"And that, children, is how I met your father."

"Noya-san, that's so cool! But, eh, we were asking why does everybody say that you should give Asahi-san his kneepad back?"

"Oh! That's another amazing story, Shouyou! Listen, so, Asahi really doesn't know how to buy things online..."