Chapter Text
He notices the changes.
His skin always feels too hot, the air around him too light and rare for his lungs, he needs more, always breathing a little faster than the others, as if he had just gotten out of a light jog, breathes and breathes, filling up his lungs and letting out puffs of hot air from between his too dry lips. He’s always breathless nowadays, hungry almost, like a flame dying out, he feeds on oxygen.
He doesn’t get sunburns anymore either. He has always been tan, but even after hours under the grueling sun, as his teammates sweat and complain, cheeks flushed red and blotchy, he remains unchanged, skin flawless, almost comfortable under the searing heat.
The cold however, becomes unbearable, it blisters his skin and makes him sick. Everything is too cold, the tea he shares with his sister is lukewarm on his tongue, the soft summer breezes become chilling, uncomfortable.
Eventually, his friends catch up. Endou surprisingly being the first, starts over boiling his tea, and stops frowning at his too hot showers. Kidou is a close second, less in acts, more in understanding glances.
They adapt.
The water the managers offer him after practice feels warmer, cooling, not freezing cold. It’s no longer surprising that he can carry hot trays and pots with his bare hands. Nobody complains about him sunbathing in the middle of the day, when the sun is the hottest.
He runs, the ball on his feet. He jumps, and the familiar flames engulf his body, hot, burning, borderline painful, he takes in lungful after lungful of air, and he is burning, burning, burning.
It kinda feels like home.