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Shouyou likes open practices. Speaking with fans after a training session—those who have supported him throughout his career and volleyball fanatics who want to celebrate their love for the sport—always brings a smile to his face. There’s not many reporters allowed in, so it’s just Shouyou and his support team getting to know one another.
It’s after a MSBY one when he gets a surprise. As he gets to the end of a long line of signing merchandise, there’s a familiar face waiting as the last participant: Tobio shuffles up to the barrier, with his own jersey ready in the black and gold of Shouyou’s uniform.
“Do you want me to sign that?” Shouyou asks cheekily, when Tobio steps up to the barrier. He flashes his trademark smile and raises his eyebrows in humor.
“Yes. That’s why I have it.” Tobio shakes the jersey to enunciate his point.
“I thought you might have the wrong place.”
Tobio scoffs, and Shouyou smiles even wider. Tobio shoves the jersey into his hands. “Just sign it, idiot.”
Not one to back down from a good ol’ teasing session, Shouyou solemnly says, “I have something else for my favorite fan.” He pulls Tobio by his collar and into a kiss. Tobio tries to protest but Shouyou sinks into the kiss further, letting his love for Tobio out in the press of his lips against his own. Tobio follows the tune as his own mouth softens and they take the time to enjoy one another.
Eventually, Tobio steps away, flustered. His cheeks are flaming red while he uses the jersey he snatches back to hide his face. Shouyou grins, about to apologize for his spontaneous PDA, when he hears a light tinkling of laughter nearby. He turns his head to see a beautiful, dark-haired woman, the spitting image of Tobio. Her silky black hair is longer than Tobio’s, curled at the edges in a bob around her face, and her smile is wide as she laughs at the scene.
“Tobio…?” Shouyou says.
Still hiding, he replies, “My sister. You passionately kissed me in front of my sister.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh.” Tobio throws the jersey at Shouyou’s face; he squawks as he tries to capture it.
Tobio’s sister laughs again, and she walks closer to the pair. As Shouyou straightens out with the shirt in hand, she ruffles Tobio’s head with her fingers.
“Be nice to your boyfriend.”
“He’s the one who started it!” Tobio whines, actually whines, like Natsu does when Shouyou messes with her.
Shouyou laughs at the brother-sister banter. He jumps over the barrier between the spectators and players to get closer to them. “I think we’ll get along well,” he says. He bows his head. “Hinata Shouyou. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Kageyama Miwa. It’s nice to meet you as well.”
“What brings you two here?” Shouyou asks. He’s pleasantly surprised, but Tobio doesn’t come to his practices often.
“Miwa wanted to meet you, and since I have the day off, she asked if we could come by,” Tobio says, expression slightly disgruntled. “I was going to say no but then she guilt-tripped me because I haven’t introduced you two before.”
“I’ve waited patiently for you to let us meet, Tobio.” Miwa’s eyes sharpen and Shouyou is tempted to snicker at Tobio shrinking away. “It’s been months since you got together, and after witnessing your pining for years, I think I deserve to meet him.”
“Miwa!”
“Ooh, Tobio, you had a crush on me?” Shouyou says. He winks at him. “That’s embarrassing.”
Tobio rolls his eyes, despite the tinted flush on his cheeks. “We’re dating.”
Miwa chuckles. She rubs Tobio’s head once again and then turns to Shouyou, “Hinata-senshu, would you like to go to dinner with us?”
“Of course,” Hinata says. His lips tilt upwards. “And please, call me Shouyou.”
Tobio narrows his eyes. “You let her call you Shouyou when you first met, but I had to wait years?”
“Gotta impress my future in-laws,” Shouyou says. Tobio flushes a bright red and turns his head, while Shouyou continues, “Besides, you were too shy to call me Shouyou in high school.” He hops over the barrier again, towards the team rooms, and waves in farewell. “I’m going to take a shower, and then we can go!”
“Here’s some clothes to wear.” Tobio motions to Miwa, and she hands her brother a bag, which he then gives to Shouyou.
“Thanks, babe.” Shouyou blows him a kiss. He’s grateful that he won’t have to go to the restaurant in his cooldown gear.
When he turns to leave, Shouyou hears, “He seems like a good guy;” he preens over the compliment. Now, to impress Tobio’s sister further when they go to dinner.
The restaurant they go to is a moderately nice place, not too expensive but more upscale than cheap takeout. It has dim lighting and dark wooden tables that are rich in color, each decorated with a lone flower vase having hand-painted, flowing designs. The seating in both the booths and stools is padded with soft cushions. Even the walls are wooden, and the scent of it permeates the air, though it’s nearly drowned out by the various dishes being prepared and served. It’s welcoming, not overcrowded, and there’s privacy in how the tables are sectioned. It’s a place that has a romantic vibe but is also casual in a way that doesn’t require a certain dress code.
“Good choice, Tobio,” Miwa says after they are seated in one of the booths. “I’m surprised you picked it.”
“I had to find some good spots for the dumbass, ones that ‘set the mood right.’” Tobio smirks, far too proud of himself and his decision.
“Hey!” Shouyou pouts. “I want to have days out, not just cheap food from down the street on the weekends.”
“Yes, yes, I know.” Tobio leans over and presses a kiss to Shouyou’s forehead. “I enjoy our nights out, too.”
Miwa smiles at them from across the table. She traces her finger on the napkin set in front of her. “So cute.”
Shouyou and Tobio blush at the comment, Shouyou recalling kissing Tobio in front of her earlier. To assuage his awkwardness, Shouyou asks Miwa questions about her job and how she likes it.
It turns out to be a good topic, as the waiter arrives and takes their drink orders. Miwa goes into a spiel about hair dying techniques, which is when Shouyou learns that Atsumu is a client of hers. Miwa recalls how long it took her to repair the damage he did to his hair—continuously bleaching his hair in high school did not do him any favors—and her techniques used that made the hue much softer. This sends Shouyou into a laughing fit, at Atsumu going into emo hours over whether or not he would lose his hair because of his bleaching escapades.
Shouyou will be telling his whole team about this later.
Soon, Miwa pulls out her phone and says she’s prepared a special gift for Shouyou. Flicking through applications, she turns the screen to him. “This is Tobio as a kid! He never wanted to let go of the ball.”
Shouyou gasps, noting chubby cheeks and drool dripping onto a volleyball. “Babyama!”
Tobio sighs, and stands up from the table. “Alright, while you two bond over embarrassing pictures of me, I’m going to take a call.” Tobio’s mouth thins into a line. “PR just messaged me, saying I was sighted at MSBY practice kissing their star player.”
Shouyou winces. Though they had never hidden their relationship, maybe Shouyou shouldn’t have been so…explicit with his affections. So Shouyou waves him off, sending him a commiserating glance. When he turns back to Miwa, her lips are pulled forward in a pout, much like Tobio’s.
Only, it’s not one that he thinks he can tease her for.
Miwa’s eyes narrow, as if she’s finally caught her prey. “So.”
Shouyou straightens. He has a feeling he knows what this may be about. Natsu, he’s sure, sized up Tobio in a similar way, when they first met. At least, that’s what Shouyou expects happened with how shaken Tobio was after their first visit to her games as a couple.
Miwa swirls the wine in her glass. Her frown deepens, and she asks, “Do you think much about your relationship with Tobio?”
“Uh,” Shouyou says. He shifts in his seat. “I don’t think I know what you mean by that.”
“Well.” Miwa’s lips pull into a pout again, and Shouyou wonders if it's an inherited family trait. “Tobio goes back overseas soon.” She swirls her glass again and takes a long sip. “What are your plans to keep your relationship alive? You wouldn’t want to hurt either of you.”
Shouyou chuckles wryly. “You think we’ll break up like any other long-distance couple?”
“You’re not a typical couple.” Miwa offers a reassuring smile, probably hoping to soften the blow. “Tobio has wanted you since high school, and that didn’t change when you left.” She smirks. “It’s probably what drove you two to get together in the first place.”
Miwa’s not wrong. Being away from Tobio for years had only shown Shouyou how deep his affections ran; no matter how many dates he went on in Brazil, Shouyou could only think of how he wanted Tobio’s rare smiles or bossy attitude, how he wanted to tease and be teased, and for their natural banter to flow between them.
When he stepped off the plane in Tokyo, Shouyou had taken a cab to Tobio’s. He didn’t even wait for the door to fully open before Shouyou was inside, stepping into his space, and kissing him. So yeah. Shouyou knows a thing or two about pining.
“Long-distance is hard,” Miwa says, breaking Shouyou from his memories. “I don’t think you need to break up, but I do want to know: Are you willing to put in the hard work to make it work?”
Shouyou blinks. He opens his mouth to respond; but then, Tobio rounds the corner and is walking towards them. He picks up speed, and the tension in his shoulders is sharper.
“There’s a small crowd of fans waiting for us,” Tobio says. He frowns at Miwa. “Sorry to cut this short before we had a chance to eat, but we should go.”
Miwa shakes her head, already standing up from the table. “No need to apologize. I understand.”
They leave through a back entrance, parting at the door. The owner was nice enough to distract the small crowd of bystanders and direct them in the opposite direction. Miwa takes a cab separate from Tobio and Shouyou, who ride on their way to Tobio’s apartment. While sitting in the car, Shouyou’s phone pings with a message alert.
He swipes the notification open. It’s a string of photos of Babyama, all from Miwa, who had promised to send them to him. At the bottom is a message for Shouyou.
Think about what I said.
Shouyou shivers. He knows he should talk to Tobio about what she said, but…
Tobio reaches over and slips his hand into Shouyou’s. Shouyou turns to look at him, and he offers a small smile. They don’t say anything, the hum of the car their only background noise.
“Take-out isn’t too bad, right?”
Shouyou blinks, returning his focus to Tobio, his own chopsticks halfway into his noodle container. Tobio’s eyebrows are lifted at him from across their low living room table.
“No, it’s good,” Shouyou says. He chews his noodles carefully. One of them slips through the edge of his mouth. He sticks his tongue out to capture it.
“Okay.” Tobio places his take-out bin down. He uncrosses his legs and kicks them out on the ground. “What did my sister say to you?”
“Why do you think she said something to me?” Shouyou says. He tries to keep his voice from being defensive but ultimately fails.
“You’ve been quiet.” Tobio frowns.
“I’m always quiet.”
“You’re not a very good liar,” Tobio says, which, okay, is pretty fair. Shouyou’s the opposite of quiet. Tobio sits closer to him, pulling the noodles from Shouyou and placing them on the low table. “What’s wrong?”
The words are already on the edge of his lips, so Shouyou blurts them out, “What are we going to do when you go overseas? Or when I do?”
Tobio blinks. Then he says, “Play volleyball?”
Shouyou inhales. Exhales. Okay. So he’s going to have to be clearer, even if it’s taking all his effort to not clam up. “No, I mean, us.” He darts his eyes to the side. “What happens to us?”
Tobio’s eyes widen. “We’re not breaking up, are—”
“No, of course not,” Shouyou says to cut him off. “Miwa just brought it up, and well...it made me think.”
Tobio resettles his weight, laying more on the couch than on Shouyou, though their shoulders touch. A comfort, in his own way. “This is it for me, Shouyou.” He looks to Shouyou, his voice softening. “Even if I miss you like crazy or you’re mad as hell at me, I’ll always want to return to you.”
“Volleyball is important to me, and I don’t always know where my contracts will extend or not.” His gaze hardens, and he squeezes Shouyou’s hands. “But I’m not going to let my career determine what I do with my love life.”
“But—”
“We’ll take on the world together,” Tobio says. “We’ll make it work.”
Shouyou’s eyes are wet, but he ignores them, exhaling out a quiet, “Okay.”
They don’t discuss practical applications, like time zones or how hard it will be when they miss each other while so far apart, but when Shouyou leans closer, to kiss Tobio again and again, he knows that they will figure it out.
After all, they will always, always come back to each other.