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Song: Poison- All American Rejects

It was three days before Kageyama went back to the arboretum. It was a Sunday, and he didn't have any homework so he figured that going out was better than staying in his dorm and melting into a lifeless puddle on his couch.

So here he was. As Kageyama opened the front door, he braced himself for the heat wave that followed. He looked for Hinata in the same spot as last time, but the over-enthusiastic ball of orange hair wasn't there (Did he really just feel disappointed? Really?). Instead, he saw an older boy, probably a junior, standing post around a potted daisy.

The stranger was cute. Silky silver hair, tan skin, a mole under his eye, and gently working hands. He was wearing an apron and a sweater with the sleeves rolled up, and Kageyama could hardly believe that the boy wasn't dripping sweat. He must've been focused pretty intently, because it didn't seem like he'd noticed Tobio come in.

Kageyama cleared his throat to get his attention. When that didn't work, he did it again, louder this time. No result. "AHEM." Shit, too loud.

The boy looked up with a jump, clutching his heart with both hands like an old woman on the verge of a heart attack. Finally, seeing Tobio, the boy managed to calm down, bending over with his hands on his knees to suck in breath. "You nearly gave me a heart attack." He straightened up, still breathing a little heavy.

Tobio felt his face go beat red with embarrassment. "S-sorry."

The boy waved a hand. "No, it's not your fault." His laughter twinkled in Kageyama's ears. "I guess I really do get too absorbed in my plants, just like Daichi says." Daichi...? Oh! He was the vice president, if Kageyama remembered correctly. For some reason, he heard Hinata's voice laughing in his head. "Anyways, what can I help you with?"

Kageyama almost felt like a child being asked a question by a big mature grown up. "I, uh... Tobio Kageyama." Nice sentence, dumbass.

A sudden grin sprung up on the boy's face. "Oh, I remember now! You're the new 'special circumstances' member that the headmaster told me about. Well, I'm Sugawara Koushi, also known as the president of the horticulture club. Nice to finally meet you, Kageyama." He extended a hand. This time, it was a clean one- unlike Hinata's three days prior.

Tobio took it. He secretly marveled at the surprising strength in Sugawara's grip. The president looked too gentle to be that strong. "Nice to meet you too."

"Hinata told me that someone had stopped by a few days ago, but I just figured it had been a professor. Did he happen to show you around or introduce you to anyone?"

The sincerity in the boy's voice made Tobio blush. "Yeah, he showed me where everything was."

"Okay, so you haven't met any of the other members yet. That's good. I usually like to do introductions for new members. I'm a little selfish when it comes to newbies." He gestured for Tobio to wait there and ran off toward the left side of the arboretum. When he reappeared five minutes later, his hair was disheveled and he was out of breath- but this time, there was someone with him.

When they reached Kageyama, he got a better look at the third member of the party. He was tall and had a muscular build, with a pretty plain face but one that seemed welcoming. His hair was dark black like Tobio's, but it was much shorter (which reminded Kageyama that he needed to get his cut; he'd been wearing it up in a pathetically small ponytail recently due to summer weather, but it was starting to get irritating and it wasn't warm out anymore).

Suga stood proudly next to them and began the introductions. "Kageyama, this is Daichi Sawamura. He's vice president of the club. Daichi, this is Tobio Kageyama- the new member that I was telling you about."

Kageyama felt slightly embarrassed at being fussed over by his seniors, but he held out a hand anyway. Daichi smiled, "Nice to finally meet you, new recruit." It was weird being addressed as a recruit for a plant club. Daichi took Kageyama's hand but then pulled him in for a hug/pat on the back/whatever it was. It reminded Tobio of his dad. (lmao @ Dadchi)

"The headmaster said you were a 'special circumstance' recruit...?" Tobio knew that Daichi was looking for an answer without asking the question directly; it was a trick he'd had to use many times himself in high school. From the look on Suga's face, the president wanted to know just as badly.

"Oh, yeah..." Kageyama couldn't tell them the truth, could he? They were so nice to him. He didn't want them to think he was a bad person after only knowing him for ten minutes. "I don't know a lot about plants." It was a shitty lie, but the best he could come up with in the spot. Suddenly, Sugawara was doubled over with laughter. "What's so funny...?" Kageyama became slightly concerned.

Daichi rolled his eyes, smiling. Finally, after Suga calmed down, he answered while wiping away tears, "That's the special circumstance? I didn't even know what the word fauna meant before I joined!" He began laughing again. Tobio remained awkwardly silent; he didn't know what it meant either. "And Daichi, you were absolutely hilarious when you joined. Do you remember? Kageyama, he didn't even know how much water to give the plants. He killed all of his flowers within the first day!" Suga bent over with laughter again. Daichi was blushing faintly as he tried to reprimand Sugawara for embarrassing him, but Tobio could tell from the way each of them spoke that they must be very close.

The group made small talk for a little while after, talking about things like their favorite sport (all of them chose volleyball, and they'd all played on a team in middle or high school. Tobio had played up until the first year of high school, when he'd dropped out. He'd felt out of place with his team. Suga also vaguely mentioned that Hinata had played as well, but Tobio figured that he couldn't be any good considering his height, and Sugawara seemed to respond with shady responses every time Tobio asked about it. It must have been a touchy subject or something), favorite seasons (Sugawara: summer, Daichi: winter, Tobio: fall), their majors (Daichi: high school education aka teaching major, Sugawara: elementary school education, Tobio: business major because he didn't know what else to pick) and so on.

By the time Kageyama left, the sun was going down, and he realized that he'd enjoyed himself a lot more than he'd thought. Maybe this club wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.