"Ssh. Stop fussing. I’m just braiding your hair.” - KenYachi
Hitoka wasn’t sure when she had become someone who could work someone else through their anxiety rather than getting caught up in her own, but somewhere between her second and third years of high school she had gotten a reputation for being an anchor and a safe space for anyone dealing with any sort of overload. Maybe it had been all the practice she had gotten dealing with the volleyball team, but the reason wasn’t all that important. All that mattered now was that there was someone who needed help, and she could offer it to them.
“Do you know who I am?” she asked, as quietly as she could while still making herself heard. The boy glanced up at her with wide, panic-filled eyes. He nodded.
“Karasuno,” was all he said, but it was enough. She nodded and stepped forward, into the little corner he was huddled into. The train station was loud and crowded around them, probably the cause of the boy’s panic. She reached out slowly, and he allowed it up until the moment she touched his hair.
“Shh. Stop fussing.” She said it quietly, but firmly, offering no room for argument. “I’m just braiding your hair,” she added. The boy - Kozume, the former Nekoma vice-captain - stared at her for a moment, then nodded. His shoulders were still tense and his eyes were still darting here and there, but he allowed her to ease into what little space there was behind him and set to work. She still had all her toiletries in her bag, so she pulled out her brush and started working through the snarls in his hair. He was still tense, so she left a good section to cover his face as she wove together the strands in the back.
As she worked, his shoulders slowly unknotted. His breathing grew more even and the tension seeped out of the little corner they had worked themselves into. Hitoka glanced around the station, noting the lull in the foot traffic.
“Do you want me to go get Hinata-kun?” she asked quietly. He hesitated, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll be right back.” He leaned forward to let her get up, then inched back into the space she had occupied so that there was no room between him and the wall at his back. She glanced at him to make sure he was really okay, then trotted off to find Hinata.
She didn’t know when she had become someone who could help other people through their anxieties. She didn’t know if it had been fate or mere chance that had brought the team and Kozume to the same station that day. She didn’t know if she would ever see him again after she showed Hinata to his hiding place and ordered him to be back at their platform before the train arrived. But, as she thought about the way his shoulders had relaxed under her care and how soft his hair had been, she hoped that they would meet again.
