meet me in the hallway || haikyuu || semishira

Slight warning - there is a mention of having an internal crisis based on your job title. Do remember - it's not about titles, about the person behind all the titles, money, accomplishments, etc. Are you kind, gentle, honest, etc? Do you help others? The list goes on. That's what matters at the end of the day.

But sometimes, we need gentle reminders that what we do makes a difference, even if it's serving a coffee or a nameless/faceless responsibility.

To hear the meaning behind the story, check out my latest podcast ep here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mindofshxynx/episodes/meet-me-in-the-hallway-harry-styles-inspired--haikyuu-fandom--semishira-e24ql4g/a-a58kov (Also if you prefer the stories to be read to you, or you have difficulties keeping attention - my podcast is for you!)

Enjoy the story!

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”How do you justify your existence to a group of people who don’t know even the first thing about how your existence works?”

Eita took a drag of his cigarette, “I mean,” He blew the smoke away from his partner, “You’re a doctor. People get sick. Where do they go? The doctor. People get hurt. Where do they go? The doctor. People are fucking dying. Where do they go? The motherfucking doctor,”

Eita threw his free hand, motioning at nothing, “Your existence is justified. How do you explain mine?” His head rested with a thud against the cold cement wall. His lungs burned with acid as he closed his eyes. There was a slight shuffle by his side.

Kenjirou stopped, biting his tongue and looking away from his partner. He tasseled his curls and plopped his hand on his thigh, resting his other hand over a sore shoulder, “What you do is essential,”

“How?” Eita’s voice was a whisper, and Kenjirou’s body shook - he’s horrible at this. Why is Eita always so good at this? How is Eita good at this?

“Well music is a universal language; millions of people can listen to the same song and feel different emotions, hold different memories and more. It’s also a way to communicate-“

“Stop, wait, KenKen,” Eita lifted his head and stared at his partner, realizing the cigarette was still lit in his other hand, “Shit, wait,” He stubbed it out in the spot next to him. Kenjirou stifled a laugh, biting his lower lip.

Eita turned back to him, “This isn’t about my music… Though justifying my existence to your parents is on the list of quarter-life crises,” Kenjirou chuckled, making Eita smile to himself, “I meant my civil servant job, actually,”

“Oh,” Kenjirou sat up on his thighs, his hands sat at attention on his knees, “What’s that?”

“See?” Eita groaned, digging through his pocket to pull out his cigarette pack. His eyes widened as he checked through the other pocket, finding it empty. His head smacked against the wall with a mumbled, “Goddamnit.”

“Hm, you’ve been really stressed about this, huh?” Kenjirou tapped his side pocket and pulled out a box of his own. He shook the box next to Eita’s ear - who sat up and glanced at Kenjirou, “What?”

“When’d you get those?” Eita questioned as he leaned towards the pack. Kenjirou pulled away, slipping the pocket back into his pocket. Eita rolled his eyes and sat back against the cement wall with hooded eyes, “Tease.”

“What do you do,” Kenjirou questioned, “I mean I’m sure I have an idea but what exactly do you do… Explain it to me like I’m, hm, five,” Kenjirou smiled up at his partner, “Please?”

Eita’s cheeks turned a dark red as he sighed to himself; his eyes wandered to the moon in the sky, the light coming from their comfy living space and then back to his partner - brown eyes shining, bangs falling over his forehead, red-tipped nose, scattered acne marks across his cheeks and pouty lips. Again, Eita sighed, swallowing the lump stuck in his throat.

“I’m a civil servant, I work on behalf of Japan’s government to maintain diplomatic relations with foreign countries-“

“Five, Eita. I’m five, not twenty-five… Geez, thank god your job doesn’t involve too much brainpower,” Kenjirou shook his head as he rolled his eyes.

“Drop dead,” Eita huffed, “Actually don’t, who’s gonna kiss my bruises better,”

“Your mom, dude… I don’t, I don’t do that!” Kenjirou’s face turned a bright red, “It was one time, one time,”

“My favorite time,” Eita ran a hand through Kenjirou’s hair and smiled, “I help people and travel different places to help people,”

“That’s awesome! How do you do it?” Kenjirou grinned, leaning more into Eita’s hand.

“Well I work with the country’s government under their Sports Bureau. I travel around the world and share new ideas through,”

“Like volleyball!”

“Exactly,” Eita chuckled, “Ideas can be about anything pertaining to advanicng the Japan’s government’s doctrines. Of course, the issues change day to day, but anything could be solved with sports. Least according to our bureau,”

“So basically,” Kenjirou looked down at his hands as he connected the dots, “Your job is to communicate Japan’s ideas, laws, concepts with the world through sports such as volleyball, football, baseball, etc. right,” Eita nodded with a slight grin, “So if you didn’t do that, there are things that wouldn’t pass, don’t you think?”

“What’d you mean?”

“For example - if there was an ambassador or prime minister of a foreign country - let’s say Debuka, right? You were sent there because there’s a new agreement. Japan wants to develop chickenpox vaccines and rainbow colored wigs, and they need Debuka’s assistance,” Eita grasped his hand over his mouth quickly; Kenjirou smacked his arm hard, “Bear with me! So, what if that ambassador, prime minister, whatever, was like… I’ll listen to the trade deal, but only if I can set to Ushijimia from the Alders, you can make that happen?”

“I mean there’s more to it but in essence, yes,” Eita chuckled against his hand, smiling from ear to ear at his partner.

“Right, and if you have someone threatening war, and they’ll only stop - if they can attend this super, fancy, sold-out football match - you can make that happen?” Kenjirou raised an eyebrow at Eita, who blushed hard under the intense stare.

“I can try,” Eita answered with a hiccup, his hand resting on his mouth. Kenjirou shook his head as he watched his partner with soft eyes, running his fingers through Eita’s ash grey hair. Kenjirou smiled, pecking Eita’s cheek as he chuckled against his ear.

Eita swallowed hard’ his rosy cheeks turned back to a shade of tomato as he pulled away to look at Kenjirou with a smile, “Thanks KenKen, you’re not as shit at comforting me as you claim to be,”

Kenjirou huffed, “Excuse me? Who said I wasn’t good at comforting you?” Eita’s eyes narrowed at Kenjirou, “Fine, okay, but I’m still not as good as you are,”

Eita pulled his partner into his chest, running a hand through Kenjirou’s hair and down his back. His chin rested on Kenjirou’s shoulder, “This is enough. Thank you KenKen,”

Kenjirou wrapped his arms around Eita’s waist and pulled him close, kissing his cheek and humming, “Of course, Ei, now let’s head back inside. Food’s getting cold,” Kenjirou pulled away. With a sigh, Eita rested his hands on his waist.

“Cold Tekka Maki doesn’t sit well in my stomach,” Eita shook his head, walking into the living room.

Kenjirou followed with a snarky response, “Then you can sleep in the hallway, you groan like a yeti when you get sick,” A small smile crept on his face as he watched Eita throw his head back, laughing.

Good to see you back, Ei.

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Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed the piece, feel free to like, share, comment, and/or leave a tip. Feel free to check out my podcast for more readings or my website (shaynacanty.com) for more content. See you soon, and #keeponwriting!