Welcome to my timeline, stalker.

It's easier to joke around and be silly so that no one would see how devastating it was for you to lose your dad.

It's easier to appear confident and outgoing so that your family duties wouldn't look as crushing and constricting as they are.

It's easier to act like a hormonal teen and look for a girlfriend than to confront the feelings you have for your best friend.

You can't do it, you can't be fully honest, you don't want him to be in danger bc of you, you don't want anyone to feel pity for you [don't want anyone to cry].

You don't care if you lose your life. But you don't want him to be left alone.

You love him so much you let an eldritch entity take your place. Maybe it can be braver than you. Maybe it can make him feel loved like you couldn't.

You're too tired to be jealous.

If Atsumu were one to be sappy, he’d say Hinata Shōyō was made for him, that they were connected somehow. Shōyō, cognizant of the strengthening bond between them, cannot help but be pulled into Atsumu’s orbit, Kita’s warning be damned. He’s charmed by the way Atsumu throws himself into each game, his self-assured grin, and the pretty platinum shine of Atsumu’s hair now the setter had discovered purple shampoo. “I told ya, I promised I’d set t’ya one day,” Atsumu gleefully informs Hinata Shōyō with a foxy smile as they celebrate yet another victory, leaning in close and watching a flush settle into the fading tan on Shōyō’s cheekbones. “An’ I keep my promises.” Shōyō is well aware of that.

From Chapter Thirty Three, the finale, 'Promises' of And I Will Tell the Night.

Available now on AO3.