Archive of Our Own ^beta

Hinata and Kageyama had always been stars when it came to volleyball. For Kageyama, it was synonymous with breathing. It had never not been a part of his life, and he had been training since he could walk. For Hinata, he had the raw talent, but had to create his own opportunities to shine. When they clashed for the first time, their eyes were drawn to each other, magnetically, unable to look the other way. Whether they knew it or not, the person on the other side of the net was going to be their greatest rival for the rest of their lives. And when they reunited on their first day of practice in high school…

Their fate was sealed.

Despite their constant bickering and razzing, they quickly became close. It was rare for one of them to be spotted without the other following close behind or at least in the same conversation. They were cut from the same cloth. Both volleyball fanatics, both hard working, and both kind hearted in their own ways. If there was one flaw that they had, it was, well…

They were not smart.

They had things they were good at; Kageyama’s volleyball sense and tactics were exceptional even as a first year, and Hinata had always had an insane amount of energy fueling his natural athleticism, making him seem unstoppable. But when it came to anything not related to sports, they had no clue.

The rest of the Karasuno volleyball team, and even friends outside of school, loved them dearly and wished them the best, but genuinely questioned whether they could survive in the real world. From their abysmal academic careers, to their complete obliviousness to the subtleties of everyday conversation, they had no clue. 

Some people claimed that their brains were switched with volleyballs at birth. Others claimed that they shared one brain cell between them. Some, (Oikawa), claimed that they were actually aliens from another planet and not human at all. But if there was one thing that everyone in their lives could agree on, it was that these two were meant for each other.

These are their stories.

—

Kiyoko:

“Oh dear. Looks like the king of the court hasn’t changed much at all.” Tsukishima commented smugly, a smirk on his face.

Kiyoko frowned, not liking his tone. She watched as Kageyama’s shoulders tensed, clearly affected by his words. She could easily tell that he was getting nervous, even if his face remained mostly neutral (well, as neutral as his face could be in a permanent scowl). She wanted to step in, but she wasn’t sure how to approach it considering how delicate the topic seemed to be for the setter.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Everyone in the room paused, waiting for the tiny redhead to continue.

“You keep talking about all this king stuff, but that was back in middle school, so who cares? He sent the ball to me and I hit it, that’s all that matters now.” Hinata said nonchalantly, his tone so matter of fact it left no room for rebuttal.

Tsukishima seemed to hear it as well, and just scoffed. “Whatever idiot. It’s not like effort and determination can win you a match when you’re so short.”

Hinata glared at him, but before he could say anything Kageyama had yanked him back into position so they could continue.

Kiyoko watched curiously, wondering what they were going to do. After Daichi served, Tanaka was able to dig it up, sending it cleanly to Kageyama. It looked like he would send it to Tanaka, but Hinata came zooming past, practically soaring into the air. His presence stole the attention from everyone else in the gym, making him seem like the largest player on court.

“I’m here!” Hinata shouted, and Kiyoko watched in awe how Kageyama changed his course and tossed it right to him, the two winning their side another point.

They both cheered, with Hinata waiting patiently for Kageyama to reciprocate his high five, and Kiyoko couldn’t help but wonder if they had been childhood friends. They had been bickering and fighting since their first day at Karasuno, but at the same time they worked so well together, like they’d been doing it for years.

—

Tsukishima:

“Yes!” the human tangerine screeched, making Tsukki gritted his teeth in frustration, his ears ringing at the sheer volume of Hinata’s voice. He felt another idiot-induced headache coming on. There was nothing he hated more than people who ran on enthusiasm and determination.

What was the point of getting so invested in club activities? There wasn’t one, obviously. He had entered the gym convinced the two idiots would be too busy fighting each other to put up much of a fight against Tsukki’s team. But no. The idiots are apparently birds of a feather, completely obsessed with volleyball and too determined to play to care about much else. Hell, he had even tried getting into Kageyama’s head to mess with him and throw Hinata off in the process, but that proved useless. The little idiot had just shrugged and asked him why it mattered. 

Hello? Why did Kageyama’s complete failure at teamwork with his last team matter? Hm, not sure. Maybe it’s because they were still playing the same sport and volleyball was a team sport. How stupid could you be? Ugh, and the look on the King’s face when he said that was just plain gross. They fight at the same energy level, they’re both aggressive players, they’re both stubborn idiots. Tsukshima didn’t even need to know their sexualities to know they were a match made in his own personal hell.

“Um… Guys?” Daichi’s voice interrupted Tsukshima’s thoughts, and he was surprised by the shell shocked look on his soon to be captain’s face. “Hinata’s eyes were closed when he hit that.”

“WHAT?!?” Tsukishima burst out with the others. What the hell was that little ginger idiot playing at? Who the fuck does that?!

“WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!” Kageyama hollered, grabbing the collar of Hinata’s shirt. Hinata grimaced as he was shaken around but didn’t falter in his answer.

“You told me to run and jump, and that you would get the ball to me.” Hinata said simply, as if he was talking about the weather.

“I didn’t mean to close your eyes, you dumbass! What if you had missed that? That’s so freaking stupid!” Kageyama argued, and Tsukshima begrudgingly agreed with him. Seriously, what the hell was Hinata thinking?

“I wasn’t going to miss.” Hinata said with unwavering confidence, which was hilarious coming from a rookie that missed the ball half the time when he ran to spike.

“How do you know that?” Kageyama asked, his voice losing its edge, making Tsukishima raise his eyebrows in suspicion.

“Because you said you would get it to me!” Hinata insisted, grabbing Kageyama’s fist and making him let go of his shirt. He crossed his arms defensively, but the sure sound of his tone made it clear that he stood by his decision. “You said you would get it there, so I thought it would be easier to just swing for it.”

“What?!” Everyone else, Tsukishima included, exclaimed, staring in complete shock.

“Who has that much faith in someone they don’t know? That’s so freaking stupid!” Kageyama persisted, and Tsukshima couldn't help but relish the uncomfortable look on Kageyama’s face. He was only disappointed that he wasn’t the one getting under the setter’s skin.

“It is not!” Hinata countered, lip jutting out in a pout. “You said you would!”

“How could you know that I could? We’ve never played on the same team before!”

“Because I know you can!” Tsukishima snorted as he saw Kageyama’s face get redder and redder. This was getting good.

“Why would you know that?” Kageyama persisted, though he seemed unsure this time.

“I don’t know. I just do!” Hinata said with finality, though he seemed just as surprised by his answer as everyone else.

“What the hell…” Kageyama muttered under his breath, and oh? Is that a blush forming on his face? Tsukshima saw the matching flush on Hinata’s and he would have given himself a pat on the back for being right about those two, if it wasn’t for the fact that those two idiots together made for an idiot sandwich that he had no desire to take part in. Because once those two became friends, he would have moron in stereo. He didn’t even want to think about how they would act if they were romantically involved.

Tsukishima let out an agonizing sigh, knowing he was in for three years of a continuous headache from these dumbasses.

Fucking fantastic.

—

Suga:

“Suga-san! Suga-san!” A chipper voice chanted from across the hall, making the third year smile.

“Ah, Hinata! How are you? Are you ready for practice?” Hinata smiled brightly at him, making him chuckle. Suga’s smile widened when he saw Kageyama catch up with them as they headed to the club room.

“Yeah! I’ve been working on my swing and I really want to hit the ball lots today, like wham!” Hinata chattered, swinging his arm in a spiking motion and nearly smacking Kageyama in the face in the process.

“Oi, dumbass, watch where you’re flailing.” Kageyama growled, glaring at the ginger spiker. Hinata scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Suga giggled, finding them adorable.

“Sorry Yamayama.” Hinata apologized. He gasped suddenly and spun around, startling Suga. “I almost forgot! Suga-san, can you help us with something?”

Suga smiled warmly, patting Hinata on the shoulder. “Of course! What’s up?”

“Okay, see, Kags and I were talking about volleyball, and I told him that one of my classmates saw one of our games, right? And my classmate said it was like I was flying! Like gravity didn’t matter!”

“Wow, that’s a big compliment!” Suga placated, using the spare key to open the clubroom door before they made their way inside to change.

“Right?! That’s what I said!” Hinata agreed loudly. Kageyama glared at his volume level but Hinata ignored it. “But see, Kags said you can’t defy gravity cause it’s the rules, and I told him it was an expression! And then we got into a fight about how gravity works.”

Suga held in the groan that nearly slipped out. He knew where this was going.

Don’t get him wrong, he loves his kohais dearly, and he’s always more than happy to help them with anything they need, but lately these two have been asking him more… Academic questions.

At first, he was happy that they seemed to be taking an interest in school and trying to learn about more than just volleyball, but he was quickly proven wrong. Every question they had asked so far was… Well… To put it mildly, stupid. 

He hated to call them stupid, because they weren’t. They had their interests and were clever with certain things, it’s just…. Most subjects confused them. English was Kageyama’s worst subject, and Hinata was hopelessly terrible with numbers, but if there was one subject they were equally bad at, it was science.

Now Suga was no slouch when it came to school, and he actually loved science, and loved to help others appreciate the topics too, but the questions that these two brought up were… Uh… Interesting, to say the least.

“See, I said that everything is held down to the ground by a ton of invisible strings, cause duh that’s why they say mass, cause there’s so many of them, but Kageyama said that gravity happens because the sky is always pushing us down, isn’t he so dumb?” Hinata snickered, apparently knowing he was right.

Suga felt a headache coming on. How the hell was he going to explain the force of gravity to these two when they were starting at a level below zero? Suga knew better than to try to teach them though. He had tried once, but they had not understood it at all and instead came up with their own solutions with bits and pieces from what Suga had told them. Still, he didn’t want to outright refuse them either, so he had come up with a fool proof method to get out of telling them they were wrong.

“Hmm, gravity is pretty crazy, but I agree with your classmate. With those jumps you really do fly. You and Kageyama better be sure to keep working hard! Our team is counting on you both!” Suga sidestepped, patting both of their heads and ruffling their hair.

“Thanks Suga-san! We’ll train really hard! Yamayama, send me a lot of tosses my way today!” Hinata chirped, smiling brightly.

“Only if you fix your shitty receives.” Kageyama replied blandly, pulling his shirt over his head. Suga sighed in relief as they immediately launched into their usual bickering so he could escape.

He loved his adorable kohais. He wanted nothing but the best for them, he really did, but god he hoped they never left volleyball.

—

Takeda:

Takeda watched in awe as the match continued. He didn’t know much about volleyball, but he didn’t have to be an expert to see the potential in their new members. They were actually winning against an already established team like Seijoh! Well, it wasn’t an official match, but still! They were holding their own, despite missing two of their best players.

He was especially proud of Hinata. It was obvious just how nervous he was for his first match with an actual team of players, and unfortunately, his performance in the first set showed it. Imagine his surprise when it was Kageyama of all people that talked him out of it (with Tanaka’s help, but still).

Speaking of Kageyama, what a player! Takeda had seen his old school records before school started and he’d be lying if he said it didn’t raise some concerns. He had done some digging and from what he had heard about Kageyama’s experiences with his last school, Takeda knew that facing all of his old teammates must have been hard, but the first year didn’t even flinch. He had been hesitant to take Sugawara’s place at first, but once they had raked it out he was duly on board. Plus, Hinata had hyped Kageyama up as well whenever he would lose focus, so they were able to pull it together to show off their crazy quick attack. Takeda knew that despite all the bickering, they were developing a friendship that would last a lifetime.

Despite their green members and shakily built team, they all played well together. Plus, with the steady foundation the third years provided and the positive energy the second years brought (albeit chaotic in Nishinoya and Tanaka’s case), he could really see them going far this year, farther than they have in a long time. Maybe even to nationals! Though Takeda made sure to not let himself get too excited yet, lest he accidentally give his students unrealistic expectations.

Don’t get him wrong, he believed in these kids. He had always believed in his students; he never had a single student he didn’t believe would succeed in life. But now, watching closely as they played together filled him with hope and even more determination to provide them with opportunities to grow and shine. He didn’t care what it took, he was going to get others to see his students and watch them play and win. He knew they could do it, he was sure of it!

It was going to take a lot of badgering on his part to get into training camps and practice matches, but if there was one thing he was good at, it was being persistent. First on the agenda; find them a volleyball coach. He knew the perfect person, and had been trying to convince him for a while.

 He jumped when his phone went off in his back pocket. He pulled it out quickly, and when he saw who the text was from he felt himself grin. He had a plan to help his boys go far in the tournaments, and he knew exactly how to convince Ukai Keishin to be the coach to get them there.

—

Asahi:

“Thanks to this guy, I can get past the blocks!” The little redhead proclaimed proudly, Hinata, was it? He was pointing at the taller boy next to him (Kageyama?), who seemed pleased despite the severe look of his face.

They were new members of the volleyball club, first years he assumed. Asahi wasn’t sure how they were able to find his classroom, but he had a sneaking suspicion that Noya had something to do with it. He felt frustrated with his friend but knew he meant well, and was just trying to help. But how could he possibly rejoin the team after everything that had happened? It felt like an impossible task, one that he felt almost no desire to do. Still, he couldn’t help but be curious to see how the new members played.

Asahi sighed, knowing that there was no avoiding it, so he figured he would indulge them. “I’ll think about it.”

Hinata let out a quiet ‘yes!’ before shaking Asahi’s hand and marching down the hall. Kageyama went to follow him but stopped, turning to Asahi.

“You know, volleyball is a team sport. It’s not all on you to win, you have five other players on the court with you. Though, I don’t really have much to talk about since I learned that the hard way.” He commented casually, though Asahi could tell the subject made him uncomfortable. Asahi smiled, giving him a silent nod and watched as he jogged to catch up with Hinata.

“Wow Yamayama. Who knew you could be so wise?” Hinata snickered, grinning mischievously. Kageyama glared and went to grab at his head but missed his ginger curls by centimeters as Hinata quickly dodged.

“Shut up you tiny dumbass!” Kageyama shouted, and before Asahi could blink the two were chasing each other down the hall, one of their teachers yelling after them as they went. 

Asahi stared after them, watching as they chased after each other, the redhead’s laugh ringing out the entire time as Kageyama doggedly pursued him. He stood there in wonder, contemplating what they had said. It was a little embarrassing to have someone hype him up as an ace so much, especially with how badly he had performed the last time. Even so, he felt a small fire of that old drive return, wanting to face the court again to show Hinata what a true ace could do. He would do it. He would go after school and attend the practice match.

Now all he had to do was figure out how to face the others. Hopefully Daichi was in a good mood.

Asahi shuddered, feeling like he was in for a crazy practice.

—

Ukai : 

BAM!

Ukai balked, watching as the volleyball bounced away after the insane quick those two first years pulled off. 

Takeda had been dogging him for months, asking over and over again if he would come to Karasuno and coach the team. He had ignored the requests at first, not really wanting to get involved for a number of reasons, mainly having to manage his family’s store. But how could he resist after Takeda let slip that Karasuno would be facing Nekoma in a practice match? Like hell he’d miss the chance to face that old bag of bones again. Plus, it came with the added bonus of the assistant coach being a Nekoma alumni that he unfortunately knew very well (the bastard). The opportunity to face the cats once more was just too good, but he had only promised to help them until after the Nekoma match.

Now he was having second thoughts.

He had set up a practice match with some of the local community players so he could see how the team would do against other players, as individuals and as a whole. He had been observing one of the first years, Kageyama, when the first year ginger came zooming up to the net out of nowhere and slammed the ball over to the other side.

What the hell even was that? Kageyama tossed it behind him like it was nothing, and unless he was hallucinating, Hinata’s eyes had actually been closed. Closed! What the hell kind of lunatic monsters had joined the Karasuno team this year?

He grinned as the possibilities crossed his mind one by one, each one making his smile grow wider and wider. Oh, this team could go far if they played their cards right. He turned to Takeda, who had a smug grin of his own, evidently knowing just how much of an impact those two would have on him. Ukai laughed and smacked him in the back, accidentally knocking his glasses askew.

“Why didn’t you tell me these kids were this good, Specks?”

Takeda bit his lip, fixing his glasses to sit properly on his nose. “I did tell you. Several times.”

—

Noya :

Noya felt his body buzzing with excitement when he thought about that crazy quick. He hadn’t even had time to react to it! Him, of all people! And it had been happening through the entire game just like that! It seemed like no matter where Hinata or Kageyama ended up, they always knew where the other was on the court. He wondered off hand if the two had been playing together for years, or maybe even dating? Noya couldn’t think of any other reason as to how Hinata could trust a setter so implicitly that he would close his eyes for every attack, not to mention how much Kageyama seemed to trust him in return, considering how comfortable he seemed as he set to the middle blocker from any angle on the court. He felt himself grin at the thought of defending against an attack like that again, not to mention seeing it in an official match. 

Oh, this was gonna be fun.

“Holy crap Shoyo! That was amazing!” Noya couldn’t help but gush. The little redhead blushed and scratched the back of his head shyly. 

“Oh! Uh, thank you!” Hinata said, returning Tanaka’s high five.

“Did you and Kageyama grow up together or something? You guys play really well together.” Noya couldn’t help but ask, but he paused when Hinata's face scrunched up in confusion.

“Uh, no? We started playing together when we came to high school.”

What?! Noya balked, not believing what he was hearing. How the hell could two people who barely knew each other play together like that? 

“Haha! Yeah Noya, these two are absolute nut-cases. Isn’t it great?” Tanaka chimed in, leaning his arm on top of Hinata’s head.

“Hey! I’m not crazy…” Hinata pipped up, pouting cutely. Noya and Tanaka laughed at him.

“Oh yes you are. When it comes to volleyball, you two are insane!” Tanaka corrected, grinning from ear to ear.

“Oh, uh, yeah. I guess you’re right!” Hinata relented, the bright smile returning to his face.

“Oi! Dumbass!” Kageyama called from the doorway of the club room, waiting for him. Hinata jumped at the loud shout, but immediately calmed when he saw who it was. 

“I guess I have to go. Bye guys!” Hinata waved enthusiastically as he threw his bag over his shoulder and left with the other first year, but not before Noya caught the twitch of a smile on Kageyama’s face as they turned away. 

Once again Noya was struck with the notion that the two could be dating, but this time he had to ask. When he voiced his question to Tanaka he just shook his head.

“Nah, at least not that I know of. I’m not even sure if either of them are gay. Though Kageyama doesn’t react to Kiyoko at all, so maybe he at least is, though Hinata could be bi or, uh… What’s the one where you like all genders?” Tanaka rattled off, but Noya was only half listening. He couldn’t believe that the two had gotten so close, so fast, and yet weren’t dating. 

Maybe they were bro soulmates? Soulbros? Bromates?

—

Kenma:

“Kenmaaa!” Shoyo shouted, zooming over to where Kenma was putting his stuff away. Kenma looked up and waved in greeting but was once again met with the intense glare of the starting setter from Shoyo’s team. He had barely gotten Kageyama’s name from the other team members shouting it, and yet he somehow managed to piss him off enough for him to be muttering under his breath as he stared at him. Kenma shuddered at the look and dropped his hand back down to his side.

Shoyo skidded to a stop in front of him, smiling brightly. Kenma had no idea how he still had energy when they had literally played four practice matches in a row, but he supposed that was just how Shoyo was. Said first year tilted his head, the smile fading slightly.

“Is something wrong? Why do you look so stressed out?” Kenma grimaced, looking over Shoyo’s shoulder and saw that Kageyama was still staring intently at him.

“What’s with your setter?” Kenma asked, figuring there wasn’t a point in hiding his discomfort. Hinata blinked in confusion before he turned and looked over his shoulder. He saw who Kenma was referring to and started giggling. Kenma raised his eyebrow and waited for Shoyo to elaborate.

“He’s not mad at you, that’s just his face.” Shoyo explained between snickers. Kenma seriously doubted that was all there was, I mean who acts like that if they’re not angry at someone?

“Um… He’s mumbling?” Kenma questioned, only for Shoyo to burst into another fit of giggles.

“Don’t worry, he’s just awkward with other people. He probably wants to ask you about your sets and stuff. He really likes volleyball, so any time he meets another setter he gets all weird.” Shoyo replied easily, waving his hand dismissively. “He’ll just ask you some questions and leave you alone.”

“I don’t know…” Kenma trailed off, feeling really uncomfortable. The last thing he wanted after an exhausting day of practice was to be grilled for setting tips, especially when it was someone as intense as Kageyama seemed to be.

“Oh. If you want, I can get him off your back for you?” Shoyo offered, going to turn around. Kenma winced and shook his head.

“That’s not nece-”

“KAGEYAMA!!!” Shoyo bellowed, scurrying over to the setter before Kenma could stop him. 

“The hell do you want, dumbass?” Kageyama responded harshly. Kenma flinched at the tone but Shoyo just rolled his eyes.

“Yamayama, you’re making Kenma nervous. Stop being weird.” Kenma watched in awe as Shoyo scolded Kageyama for being too scary, at one point even daring to grab the corners of Kageyama’s lips and forcing them into a smile. Kenma wasn’t sure if Shoyo didn’t have a sense of danger or if they were just that close.

“This is my face asshole!” Kageyama yelled, going to grab Shoyo’s head but the middle blocker was too quick for him. Well, guess that answers his question.

Or maybe not? Kenma watched as Shoyo laughed at him and kept chattering as if his life wasn’t in danger, because it wasn’t. Kageyama’s face may have seemed stuck in a perpetual scowl at first, but Kenma realized quickly that his eyes told a different story. And the way Kageyama was looking at Shoyo, it was clear that he, at the very least, had a soft spot for the ginger. Still, it was surprising that someone as bright as Shoyo would be with someone as gloomy as Kageyama seemed to be. Then again… 

Kenma’s mind flashed back to the look on Shoyo’s face when they were playing earlier, after being stuffed multiple times by one of their middle blockers, Inuoka. He had just smiled, the look in his eyes hungry and feral. Like a predator in the wild, crouched in the grass, eager and waiting for its chance to pounce. He shuddered at the memory.

Kageyama may seem scary, but Shoyo was the one people should really watch out for. An intimidating couple for sure. Kenma pitied the fool that tried to get in between them. They wouldn’t survive.

—

Daichi:

“Hinata you turd!” Daichi groaned where he stood talking to Kuroo, knowing there was only one way this could go.

“Yeah, uh you are!” 

“The hell kind of comeback is that?”

“Shut up Bakayama, it was your fault!”

“In what universe is you falling on your ass my fault?” 

Pretty quickly the argument turned into Kageyama trying to grab Hinata’s head and Hinata dodging. Again. 

Daichi growled under his breath. This was the fifth time today that he would have to break up a fight between these two idiot first years. And during a practice match as big as this one! Like he needed another reason for Kuroo, or hell, the rest of Nekoma, to be all smug and big city with them. 

Don’t get him wrong, he cared for their freak duo just as much as the rest of their team, and wanted them to do their best on the team, but for god’s sake, when were they gonna learn to get along? At least in a way that didn’t include fighting all the time? Seriously.

It was easy for Daichi- hell, it was easy for everyone to see how close they already were, considering that every huddle and every ride they almost always sat together or at least in front of each other. Plus, they always walked home together, every night without fail. Daichi was half tempted to just throw them in the supply closet and lock the door for a few hours for them to figure it out (Suga’s suggestion), but they were just so oblivious and stubborn that Daichi was sure it wouldn’t even work.

“Wow, what little monsters. They still have enough energy to fight like that?” Kuroo asked, clearly amused. Daichi let out an explosive sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“You have no idea.” Daichi watched as Hinata ran around Kageyama, and even across the gym Daichi could see the vein ticking on Kageyama’s forehead. 

“Fuck you, Hinata!” Okay, it was time to step in.

“KNOCK IT OFF!” Daichi bellowed across the court, making everyone in the gym jump. The two first years had the wear-with-all to at least look remorseful. “I’ve had enough of you two and your constant fighting. If you don’t knock it off, I swear to god I will kick you off the team again.”

They both went pale, their eyes wide with fear.

“W-we’re sorry Daichi-san, please don’t kick us off the team!” Hinata begged, looking frantic. Kageyama didn’t say anything, but Daichi could tell he was upset by the way he was clenching his fists.

“Then I suggest you start getting along. You’re teammates, start acting like it, or you’re off the team. Am I clear?” Daichi growled, giving them a harsh stare. Both of them nodded frantically in agreement, and Daichi smiled. 

“Good! Now, get this net put away and sweep the floors before you leave. If I come in tomorrow morning and it’s not done right…” Daichi trailed off, letting the unvoiced threat hang in the air. Kageyama and Hinata nodded and made quick work of the net before scurrying off to the supply closet. Daichi sighed, rubbing his temples to ease the headache that was coming on.

He knew that most of their bickering was actually harmless, and even if they weren’t aware of it, it was mostly them playing around, but could they pick a method of flirting that didn’t involve disturbing the peace? Was that so hard to ask?

—

Kuroo:

He watched as Daichi marched across the gym, laughing as the color drained from the poor first years faces as they saw the angry look on their captain’s face.

As fun as it was to grind their rivals into the ground, Kuroo could easily see their potential. Especially the first years. He hadn’t gotten to see number twelve, but the others had played well for still being fresh to the team.

The blonde one, Tsukishima, he believed, was an intelligent one. While he didn’t have much ambition, he was intelligent, and could read the players well. Kuroo knew that if he got some one-on-one time with other middle blockers, like himself, he would become a monster in his own right. And speaking of monsters…

Kuroo had already heard of Kageyama, and his reputation preceded him. He had amazing technical skill, with tight precision and awareness of the entire court. Though the rumors made him out to be a terrible team player, that certainly wasn’t the case. While he definitely wasn’t the best at working with others, he was doing his best to accommodate each teammate’s play-styles. And of all the new team members he had gained, no one clicked as well with him as Hinata.

That little middle blocker was a giant ball of energy and natural athleticism wrapped up in a tiny body. He wasn’t even past five and a half feet tall but his presence on the court was overwhelming. His speed and jumping ability would shock anybody, and if Karasuno was smart, and he knew that Daichi and Suga weren’t idiots by any means, they would use that presence to their advantage. Despite that huge presence on the court, he definitely had room to grow when it came to technical skill. Thanks to Kageyama's pinpoint precision, he's able to spike easily, but only with his eyes closed. That was the thing though, his eyes had to be closed in order to hit those crazy-fast sets. If he could build up his technical skills all around, Kuroo had a sneaking suspicion that he would wind up just as monstrous of a player as Kageyama, maybe even more so if he worked hard enough. And those two on the same team now were intimidating, but on the same team and polished? Kuroo had no doubt those two would give even a professional middle blocker a run for their money.

Kuroo was excited to see how far Karasuno could go, but he knew that growth wouldn’t happen if they weren’t given the opportunity to do so, and he had the perfect idea to help them get there.

“Hey Coach! I have a proposition for you…”

—

Narita:

Narita grunted as he rolled his shoulders, the muscles already sore only an hour after their last practice match with Nekoma. They had played so many games, he was shocked that the starting members of the team had mostly made it through all of the matches, minus the few times he and the other bench warmers were switched in. 

He let out a tired sigh before standing up, stretching up before grabbing his bags to leave. It was when he was halfway to the doors that he saw it.

Kageyama and Hinata were still fast asleep in one of the seats. This wasn’t surprising, considering the two first years had hardly taken any breaks in between sets. But the way they had passed out was interesting, to put it mildly.

Kageyama was in the window seat, shifted so that his back was against the corner of the seat and his legs were sprawled out into the aisle, his left arm trapped behind Hinata’s body. Hinata was curled up into a ball, leaning against Kageyama’s torso with his head resting comfortably on Kageyama’s chest. He was covered in a team jacket that was too big to be his own, and he had pulled it so that the collar was tucked under his chin. Kageyama’s left arm was partially trapped behind Hinata’s back, his forearm having no choice but to bend at just the perfect position so that it looked like it was purposely wrapped around Hinata’s waist. It took everything in him not to squeal at how cute they looked. 

You see, there was a secret that only a select few people knew about him. Narita was a total BL fan. Like, a MAJOR fan. 

He had always been a romantic at heart, a gentle soul as his aunt would say. He wasn’t sure if it was seeing his older brother with his boyfriend being obnoxiously sweet to each other or the BL novel that had been left behind by one of his cousins after a family get-together a few years ago, but after reading a few novels he was sold. Novels, manga, anime, didn’t matter. He wanted to consume it all. He didn’t really have a genre he didn’t enjoy, except maybe psychological horror, but even that genre had its gems. However, his absolute favorite genre to consume was romantic comedies and/or slice of life. So seeing the two first years snuggled so close made his heart absolutely melt.

Narita generally went for fictional characters, but he’d be lying if he said he never thought that Hinata and Kageyama would make a cute couple. Just seeing how they interacted with each other, well, the story really writes itself. They start out as bitter rivals, then get close after working towards a common goal, reach that goal together, then they realize their feelings and have a perfectly flawed confession before dating and having a happily ever after.

Even so, he’d be damned if he ruined it by trying to intervene, knowing that forcing the idea of a relationship was never the answer. No, it had to happen organically, otherwise what was the point? Plus, he had no idea if they were even attracted to men in the first place, so in the worst case scenario he could ruin the budding friendship. Or at least, that's what he thought before, but watching them sputter embarrassed insults at each other as they untangled themselves had him thinking that maybe there was hope for them after all.

And if his phone suddenly had a new folder named otp with snaps of Kageyama and Hinata being cute together, well. That was purely a coincidence. 

—

Yamaguchi:

“It’s just a club, so why should I get so wound up about it?”

Yamguchi sighed as he watched Tsukki walk off again. He knew why Tsukki was like this. After realizing that his big brother, the one he had looked up to a lot growing up, had lied about being a starter, and watching his frustration and heart-break over not meeting expectations, it was a wonder that Tsukki even played volleyball at all, let alone well enough to be a starter. 

He understood, he really did, but this camp was a chance to practice with big name teams in Tokyo! These teams had been to nationals multiple times! Hell, one of the teams even had an ace that was one of the top five spikers in the entire country. The entire country ! How could he not be excited? This was a great opportunity for their team! So how could he just dismiss it like it was nothing?

It was annoying how dismissive Tsukki was about this. Yamaguchi knew it wasn’t what Tsukki meant, but him not putting his all into things and saying it was ‘unnecessary’ felt like an insult to the entire team, who were working their hardest to improve so they could make it to nationals and be strong enough to no longer be the wingless crows. Even Yamaguchi was throwing his everything into training, and he was barely a pinch server for the team at the moment. He sighed, wondering how he could get through to his best friend without pissing him off.

“You okay Yamaguchi?” Yamaguchi jumped a foot in the air, startled by Hinata’s sudden question.

“Yeah, I-” he paused, thinking about it. While they were wired differently, Tsukki and Kageyama were similar in the sense that it was difficult to change their minds once they were set on something. He felt it was ridiculous that he couldn’t easily approach his childhood best friend with something so important, but maybe Hinata would know what to do? He was able to handle Kageyama easily after all, and even if his relationship with Tsukki wasn’t as romantically charged as Hinata and Kageyama (even if said two volleyball idiots had no clue), his insight might still prove to be helpful.

“Actually, can I ask you something?” Yamaguchi found himself asking. He felt a smile tug at his lips at Hinata’s enthusiastic nod.

“What’s up?” Yamaguchi scratched the back of his head, wondering how to word it.

“Well… So you know how Tsukki doesn’t try as hard as everyone else?” 

Hinata frowned and crossed his arms in thought. “Yeah, I don’t understand why he’s so lame.”

Yamaguchi snorted at the insult, but continued. “There’s definitely a reason, I promise it’s legit. But still, I just…” Yamaguchi sighed, struggling to find his wording. “I don’t know how to get through to him. How would you talk to him?”

Hinata tilted his head in confusion. “Shouldn’t you know how best to do it?”

“Yeah, but, well. He doesn’t really listen to me… How do you make Kageyama listen to you?” he insisted. Hinata merely shrugged.

“I don’t know. I just tell him how I feel. Kageyama seems prickly and unapproachable, but he never ignores what people say. He’s actually a good listener, it’s just that he doesn’t like what people say sometimes, but he’s still willing to listen.”

“But how do you make him listen to you?” Yamaguchi pressed. Hinata gave him a serious look.

“I don’t. I just speak my mind and it’s up to him to take it however he wants.” Hinata said with such finality, his tone so sure that there was no room for Yamaguchi to argue with him. He let out another sigh, but conceded.

“I’ll try that.” Yamaguchi relented. Hinata smiled and patted his shoulder in solidarity before scurrying off to bother Kageyama (what a surprise). He chuckled as the two immediately began bickering. 

His relationship with Tsukki may not have the same type of love that those two seemed to share, but it didn’t mean that they were any less close. He could do this. He could get through to Tsukki, and hopefully he would let himself love volleyball again, and become the middle blocker Yamaguchi knew he could be.

—

Bokuto:

Bokuto watched as Hinata missed another spike. His team was the odd one out and were taking a break so he had decided to watch his disciple to see how he was doing. The entire gym could feel the tension between Kageyama and Hinata, and after Hinata had collided with Asahi when they both went for the ball, the tension had bled into the rest of the team.

He had also overheard a discussion between Hinata and Kageyama, joined by their vice captain and coach, and he was sad that they didn’t want to let Hinata try to get better. His Akaashi had explained that they would probably work on it after camp, but Bokuto still felt sad for his little pupil. Hinata was just like him! And Kageyama was an angrier version of his Akaashi, and seeing them fight made him sad, and it made him think about when he and Akaashi would fight, which made him sadder.

When Akaashi had first joined the team, it was a similar situation to what Hinata was going through now. Bokuto wanted to be the best he could be, but Akaashi was more cautious and explained he might not be ready for it yet. They had fought a lot in the beginning, before coming to a compromise, and together they came up with a better strategy and ways for Bokuto to have more flexibility in his play style. It wasn’t perfect, and he was still really hard on himself sometimes, but he now stood as a third year, one of the best high school players in Japan! And Akaashi was always there to make him feel better and to support him, making him feel like he could conquer the world if he wanted.

So seeing Hinata struggle so much made him feel for the little middle blocker. Kuroo-bro had told him about Hinata’s demon quick with his setter, and he was thoroughly impressed. After the practice match with Hinata and Tsukki, he was even more sure that Hinata could become one hell of a player if given the chance. He didn’t see why they couldn’t try it now instead of later. It’s not like they were on a winning streak anyway, and it was practice! So they should be trying new things.

“They’ll be okay Bokuto-san.” Akaashi murmured, leaning over and placing his hand over Bokutos. Bokuto smiled sadly.

“I know they will be later, but it makes me sad to see people like us fighting. It makes me think of when we fight, and I don’t like that.” Akaashi chuckled, squeezing his hand.

“I don’t like fighting with you either, but…” Bokuto waited patiently, knowing that Akaashi was choosing his words carefully. “I don’t think Hinata and Kageyama are quite like us Bokuto-san. They’re relationship is a little different from ours.”

Bokuto shook his head. “No, they’re exactly like us ‘Kaashi. They just don’t know it yet.”

Akaashi gave him a questioning look, but Bokuto knew he was right. “If you say so, Bokuto-san.”

“I know so ‘Kaashi, you’ll see.” Bokuto insisted, and he grinned when Akaashi let out a small laugh. He loved his Akaashi’s laugh.

“I’m sure I will.” Akaashi placated, and he leaned his head against Bokuto’s shoulder as they continued to watch the match. Bokuto smiled at his boyfriend before also turning his attention back to the court in front of them. 

Some people might find it demeaning when someone chooses their words so carefully, but Bokuto knew better. Akaashi was quiet but he was a really good listener, and he always considered other people’s feelings, even if sometimes he came off as flat or sarcastic. It was one of his favorite things about Akaashi, and it was a trait that he could see in Kageyama.

His actions and words were harsher than Akaashi’s, but Bokuto could tell that his heart was in the right place. He just didn’t know how to express it well. He hoped that they would figure it out soon, so that they could be even better players and be closer, just like him and his Akaashi! He knew from experience that communication was key, and a lack of it can easily lead to misunderstandings and you can wind up hurting each other.

He hoped that his disciple would make up with his own Akaashi soon, so that Bokuto could play against the freak duo at full power. That would be so much fun!

—

Tanaka:

Tanaka sighed as he watched his kohai limp away to grab their things. 

When Yachi-chan ran up to him in a panic, his heart dropped. She was so worked up she could barely get the words out but she managed to tell him that Kageyama and Hinata got into a fist fight in the gym. Tanaka had sprinted over to see the two still going at it. He marched over and smacked them both across the heads and yelled at them to stop. Suga would be proud of him with how calm he was in scolding their unruly kohai. Still, it made him sad to see the usually close friends have a real fight like that.

Tanaka shared a look with Yachi and they silently agreed to split up. She went over and helped Hinata with his backpack while Tanaka led Kageyama out of the gym, taking him to the club room to treat his injuries.

He ushered Kageyama inside before pushing him to sit down while he searched for the first aid kit. He quickly got to work, cleaning out some of the scratches on his arms and face.

“So,” he began, not taking his eyes off of his work, “you wanna tell me why you two were fighting and made Yachi cry?”

Kageyama flinched as Tanaka pressed the cotton swab against a particularly deep cut on his cheek, but otherwise didn’t react. Tanaka sighed and snatched the band aids out of the kit angrily.

“You guys can’t be fighting like this. You’re a team, remember? And you scared Yachi-chan too. She was crying when she came to get me.” Tanaka continued, though he knew that Kageyama already felt bad about it, he also knew he really needed to drive the lesson deep into both Kageyama and Hinata’s skulls for these two idiots to learn.

“I’m sorry, Tanaka-san.” Kageyama mumbled, refusing to make eye contact. Tanaka smiled at him, patting him none too gently on the shoulder, making him wince.

“Well, as long as you know it was wrong. Just make sure you don’t let it get this far next time, alright?” Kageyama scowled but nodded in agreement. Tanaka’s smile widened into a grin as he tossed Kageyama’s jacket to him so he could put it back on.

“I…” Tanaka turned, wondering what Kageyama wanted to say. Based on the constipated look, it was something to do with expressing how he felt about the fight, so he waited patiently for him to continue. “I… I don’t like actual fights like that.”

Tanaka snorted, “Most people don’t.”

Kageyama grimaced, and Tanaka realized this was something serious. “I really want to do what’s best for the team.”

Tanaka smiled proudly, but it fell at the conflicting emotions flashing across his face. “But?”

“But…” Kageyama repeated, gritting his teeth in frustration. “I just… What he’s saying isn’t wrong, he should get better and be able to spike with his eyes open, but there’s just not enough time, and I don’t know how to make it work, and I don’t think he’ll learn it in time and ever since he’s gotten this idea in his head the team feels off and I…I..”

“Whoa, Kageyama. Breathe. It’s okay.” Tanaka interrupted, startled at the long winded confession. Had Hinata hit his head? Should they check for a concussion?

Kageyama took a deep breath and let it out slowly, effectively calming himself. “I just don’t want Hinata to break up the team like it is now, if this goes on, he’ll be a liability, and then the team might…”

“-We might ice him out.” Tanaka finished for him, finally realizing what Kageyama had been feeling for the past week. Kageyama’s nod only confirmed it. Even so, what was he supposed to say to this? He hadn’t been there when Kageyama had gotten the cold shoulder from his team back in middle school, but from how Kageyama played now he could tell it really had an impact on him as a person, not just a player.

“I don’t want him to go through something like that. It sucks.” Kageyama mumbled, his voice thicker than usual. Tanaka patted his back, gentler than before.

“I get where you’re coming from Kageyama, but you’re forgetting something.” Kageyama finally met his gaze. “We’re not in middle school. This is a different team, with different people who are older and know better than to treat someone like that. Plus, we’re all friends too, so we want to build each other up rather than tear each other down.”

“We’re friends?” Kageyama murmured, almost in awe. Tanaka threw his head back and laughed.

“Of course we are!” Tanaka saw Kageyama’s shoulder relax, the tension from the fight finally dissipating, if only slightly. 

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it, Kageyama. If I know Hinata, he’ll brush this off eventually. Just give it time.”

“What about now though? How are we gonna play together?” Kageyama persisted. Tanaka rubbed his chin in thought. That was the question, wasn’t it?

“Well, you’re probably gonna have to meet him in the middle. I have no idea what that middle ground is in this case, but I’m sure you’ll figure it out!” Tanaka replied, ruffling Kageyama’s hair before they parted at the entrance of the school to head home.

It saddened him to see his kohais fighting like this, but he was confident that they would figure it out. There was simply no way those volleyball freaks would let this get in the way of their playing. Tanaka just hoped it wouldn’t get in the way of their relationship.

Yachi:

Yachi followed Hinata silently as he walked his bike down the road. He hadn’t said a word since Tanaka-senpai had broken up their fight, and she was getting worried.

She had been afraid of the two of them at first, Kageyama with his stern and angry demeanor and Hinata with his boundless energy. But over the course of the last few weeks, she had really come to like the both of them. They were a lot at times, but they were really sweet in their own ways, and Yachi found them cute.

But now they were fighting, and she didn’t know what to do or how to fix it. She knew they were close friends, and while they bickered often, they never fought like this. Well, she hadn’t really known them long enough to tell what their normal was, but still! This was, like, a major fight. She had seen so many movies and read so many books with plot lines like this with various endings, and she really hoped theirs was a happy one.

Oh god, what if it wasn’t? What if they never made up and they wound up hating each other, or-

“I’m sorry you had to see that Yachi.” Hinata said quietly, turning back to look at her. She jumped at his sudden attention but shook her head.

“N-No! It’s fine.” she said quickly, not wanting to upset Hinata even more. Shouldn’t she say something though? She should really say something, shouldn’t she? But what-

“I just… It really hurts that he doesn’t think I can do it.” Yachi felt her heart break at the dejected tone in his voice.

“Hinata, I don’t think it’s that, I’m sure he thinks you can do it! It’s just… I think he’s worried about how little time you both have to learn it.” Yachi suggested gently. She panicked for a second when he stopped and fully turned around, but she relaxed when she saw his face wasn’t twisted up in anger, but in sadness.

“That’s the thing though. I know we can do it. I know he knows how much I want to improve, how I want to be a great player, the next little giant! But how can I do that when I can’t fight on my own? I’m grateful that Kageyama made it possible for me to see over the wall, but I can’t rely on that forever.  We’re rivals, and one day we won’t be on the same team, so what am I supposed to do then? Wait for another Kageyama to come around?” Hinata ranted, his voice getting more and more heated as he spoke. His face quickly relaxed and the anger was gone, and he just looked tired.

“I just… When we first met, I had already heard the rumors about him and his bad attitude. He ended up being even worse than I could’ve imagined. But he’s just so good at volleyball, and I wanted more than anything to stand on the world stage like I know he will in the future, so right after my team lost I declared him as my rival and I promised that I would beat him, even if it took me years to do it. But then we somehow ended up on the same team, and it hasn’t been that long, but we’ve already been through a lot and I…” 

Hinata trailed off, his voice choking up a bit. Yachi felt tears well up in her own eyes but she didn’t dare interrupt him. Hinata swallowed before continuing. “I felt like we understood each other. But it was more than that, it was like… For the first time, it felt like I didn’t find just a friend, but a partner too. A real partner.”

Yachi felt the tears fall as she listened to Hinata talk. She could feel just how broken up about this Hinata really was. She was surprised by how deep those feelings seemed to go though.

Was she surprised though? She had wondered countless times about their relationship, if they were actually dating or not. When she asked the others they said they weren’t, but that didn’t mean the feelings weren’t there. And considering the growing folder of pictures of the two on Narita-san’s phone, while they weren’t romantically involved they were extremely close, especially considering they hadn’t known each other that long. And seeing the hurt on both of their faces right after the fight was broken up, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that they could get past this, and grow closer because of it.

“Hinata, I’m sure he feels the same way about you, it’s just…Well, I don’t really have the right answer for you, but I know you guys will figure it out. You two don’t seem like the type to let anything stop you, so focus on what you need to do. I’m sure everything will work out.” Hinata paused, seeming to process her words before giving her a half smile. Yachi returned it, and after a quick goodbye hug he hopped on his bike and left.

Yachi watched him go until he was out of sight. She was glad that she could help, even if it was only a little. She knew her friends would work through this and become even stronger. 

She was proven correct when the next day Kageyama had asked her to help him practice a new set, and while he didn’t say it, she knew he was doing it for Hinata, even if it was a hard and frustrating process to learn it. She was excited to see them back in action again, with the new and improved quick bringing a whole new way for them to play together.

—

Akaashi:

Well, Akaashi had to hand it to Bokuto-san. Despite his goofy demeanor, he was an excellent judge of character, and was very intune with other people’s emotions, no matter how hidden. And in this particular case, his open-hearted Bokuto-san was right about Kageyama and Hinata.

He freely admitted that he had a bias towards Hinata since he was so similar to Bokuto-san, but over the past week he had gotten to know Kageyama as well, and he had to admit he was concerned for their team when they started fighting. Apparently that was all behind them though, because now the entire team had changed.

They were doing all sorts of new things, with varying levels of success, and he couldn’t help but laugh when Bokuto-san asked them if they were feeling okay after their libero missed an emergency set. As amusing as it was though, it was clear that they were adapting a new play style, changing up their patterns and adding new techniques. It was rough now, but Akaashi had no doubt that they would polish themselves into a team that would strike fear into the other teams in the tournament. And it all started with those two.

The looks on Kageyama and Hinata’s faces when they landed the first new quick were priceless, and Akaashi felt himself smile at the flustered look on Kageyama’s face when Hinata showered him with compliments.

They seemed to have started off rocky, but seeing them now as they fought over some slices of meat at the barbeque that day, Akaashi could see the resemblance.

They really were just like him and Bokuto-san.

—

Ukai Ikkei:

Ikkei watched with a smile on his face as the two practiced their new quick.

When his idiot grandson had come running up to his home, asking for his help, he had been annoyed at first. I mean for pete’s sake, if you’re gonna be a coach at least figure out how to do it first before taking the job. He knew he would be a slacker at first, especially considering how he was as a player back in high school. This situation only confirmed it.

He wanted help with training some scrawny first year that he claimed had a lot of potential, but all Ikkei could see when he saw the tiny wanna be middle blocker was enthusiasm and no skill. Just by looking at him he doubted the kid could go far.

He had told the kid as much, saying he didn’t really see a future for him in volleyball, let alone on the professional level. But instead of backing down, the kid merely stared him down. The kid had actually agreed that he had a lot to learn, but said that even though he was short, he could jump. Ikkei couldn’t help but remember a student he had had in the past who had a lot of potential but had unfortunately chosen not to pursue his talent. Just like his old student, Hinata was a kid that had guts. He liked that in a player. He loved it even more when they proved him wrong. And prove him wrong he did.

Hinata’s athleticism was insane considering his lack of training, and while his technical skill was certainly that of a beginner, the drive and fire this little redhead processed got him excited in a way he hadn’t been with a player in a while.

Imagine his surprise that the first year setter Keishin had mentioned struggling with just so happened to be the grandson of a good friend of his.

Kageyama Kazuyo had been a dear friend of his, and when he had gushed about his grandson, he had been curious, and was quickly blown away by the tiny little setter zooming around on the court. Tobio had only been seven at the time, but it was easy to see he had a knack for the sport. Though he definitely struggled with team work.

He could easily see the potential in both of them separately, but together? He couldn’t help but smirk, remembering how his grandson had recounted the first practice match with Nekoma. God did he wish he had been there to see the look on that old cat’s face when those two first years nailed their quick-attack. 

They still need some finesse and polish for their new quick, but if they could perfect it in time for the next tournament, it could be a serious weapon for Karasuno to take to nationals. Watching them now, doing it over and over again, he figured it wouldn’t be long before they had the new move mastered.

He smiled as he watched them celebrate another successful spike, and he felt nostalgic. He remembered his last conversation with Kazuyo. How he was worried about his grandkids, how they would do without him, especially Tobio, who struggled to form friendships. Ikkei had tried to reassure him, but Kazuyo already had the answer, just like he always did.

He had told him that despite his worries, he believed in his grandkids, and believed that Tobio would become one of the best setters in the country. He just needed to find someone that would push him beyond his limits, that wouldn’t accept anything but his best. Kazuyo fully believed that if he found that friend, that rival that would challenge Tobio in a way no one else would, he would thrive in both volleyball and in life.

Are you watching Kazuyo? Ikkei prayed in his mind. He watched as Hinata jumped on Kageyama’s back, screeching about how amazing they were and how they were gonna go to nationals. He watched as Kageyama yelled at him to get off, but Ikkei could easily see the subtle smile on his face, reflecting the redhead’s excitement. Ikkei could picture his old friend in his mind, positively beaming with an ‘I told you so’ grin.

Tobio found his ‘someone better’. Ikkei conceded silently, shaking his head at the image of Kazuyo in his head. The old geezer had always known the answers to what came next, and Ikkei was excited to watch his friend’s prediction unfold in front of the world.

—

Iwaizumi:

‘Can I talk to you about something?’

That was the text that Iwaizumi had woken up to this morning. It wasn’t exactly shocking to get a text from Kageyama, but what he had sent was weird. Well, weirder than usual.

Despite Shittykawa’s animosity towards the first year, he and Kageyama had grown close over the years. He wouldn’t say they were best friends by any means, but they were friendly with each other at least. Over the past year or so they had fallen into the habit of going on morning runs with each other since he didn’t live very far away (a fact that annoyed Oikawa to no end, which meant Oikawa whined to him about it constantly).

They didn’t talk much at first, but over time they had started chatting idly, and eventually Kageyama started seeking him out for advice about various things. He would usually text with something like ‘morning run?’ or something along those lines, so it was odd to see a full sentence from the first year.

Unfortunately, Oikawa had spent the night at his place, and had woken up to the text faster than Iwaizumi and had snatched it before Iwaizumi could grab it. As soon as he read the notification he was pissed, which led to him ranting and whining to Iwaizumi as they both stumbled out of bed and threw some clothes on. He had strategically chosen to skip breakfast, opting for a protein bar instead with the excuse of not wanting to get sick with a full stomach on their run. It wasn’t exactly a lie, and Oikawa knew better than to doubt him, but he made a big show about how displeased he was with who Iwaizumi was seeing, calling him a traitor and saying he was ‘fraternizing with the enemy’ or whatever.

What a shitty guy.

After another round of banter and promises that he would be back soon, Iwaizumi was finally released from Oikawa’s clutches so he could head over to meet up with Kageyama. He was about to walk up and greet him.

“Hey Kageyama!” Iwaizumi greeted, waving as he made his way over.

Kageyama’s head shot up at the sound of his name, a look of panic on his face before he realized who it was. Kageyama stood up and they both moved just off the path so that they could do some quick stretches before they started (Iwaizumi ignored the looks Kageyama was giving him, or rather, the marks on his neck. Damn that Shittykawa.).

Iwaizumi stretched his hands up in the air, letting out a satisfied sigh when his back popped. He shook his arms out before looking back at Kageyama. Luckily the stretches seemed to have relaxed his nerves along with his body, and he seemed to have calmed down a bit.

“Ready to go?” Iwaizumi asked, and with an affirming nod from the setter they were off. 

Iwaizumi sighed as they went. There was nothing like an easy jog early in the morning to wake you up and prepare you for the day. Generally short sprints were better for volleyball players, but a light jog never hurt. Maybe he should add a short jog at night before heading home after practice to cool down? Hmm, but they do cool down stretches at the end of every practice, so maybe-

“Can we stop over there for a bit?” Kageyama’s voice interrupted Iwaizumi’s musings, bringing him back to the present. He looked over to where he was pointing, seeing a more secluded area with a few picnic tables. He nodded and they both veered off the path, taking a moment to stretch their legs a bit before taking one of the tables for themselves. 

“So what did you want to talk to me about?” Iwaizumi asked as casually as he could, but Kageyama tensed at the question anyway. He eyed the setter curiously. He had heard from Oikawa a while back that Kageyama had gotten into a fight with Hinata. While a fight with Hinata, especially over volleyball, wasn’t anything new, it did surprise Iwaizumi that the fight had gotten physical. Kageyama was many things, but violent was not one of them. 

“Does this have anything to do with the fight you had with Hinata?” Iwaizumi inquired, not really one to beat around the bush. Kageyama bit his lip, idly picking at the loose splinters in the table, refusing to meet his eyes. 

Now that was setting off alarm bells in Iwaizumi’s head. One reason why he and Kageyama got along so well was because they didn’t do the conversational circles that others (Oikawa) did. They just told it as they saw it, and talked it out. So for Kageyama to be so hesitant to talk to him, it made him all the more concerned.

“You know you can talk to me about anything, right? I’m not here to judge you.” Iwaizumi tried again, offering Kageyama his extra protein bar but was shocked when the setter shook his head. Something was really wrong.

Kageyama let out a long sigh before finally looking Iwaizumi in the eyes, a look of hesitance still lingering in his expression.

“Promise you won’t hate me after?” Kageyama asked, his voice uncharacteristically small. Iwaizumi felt his chest clench at the fear he could see lingering just under the surface. He placed a firm pat on his shoulder to try and reassure him.

“I won’t. Trust me, I’m sure I’ve heard worse. I grew up with Shittykawa, remember?” Iwaizumi joked, and felt relieved at the huff of a laugh he was able to get from his kohai.

“True.” Kageyama relented, but then he quickly became serious. Iwaizumi waited patiently for Kageyama to find his words.

“I, uh… I think I’m gay.” Kageyama mumbled so quietly that Iwaizumi almost missed it.

“Huh?” he asked anyway, because he wanted to be sure.

Kageyama took in a slow breath before looking Iwaizumi in the eye and repeating himself. “I’m pretty sure I’m gay.”

Ah, so he hadn’t misheard. He didn’t really know what to say to the confession, especially since he thought it was an already established fact. He had seriously thought that Kageyama had been dating his middle blocker friend Hinata. 

It was a fair assumption to make in his opinion, considering how close they seemed to be and how it was extremely rare to see one of them without the other. Adding in how well they played together as a team, and how they bickered all the time but were protective over the other. Technically no one had directly told Iwaizumi it was true, but even Oikawa had agreed that they’re probably dating. 

Oikawa had recounted his encounter with Kageyama a while ago where he looked like he had gotten into a fist fight, begging for help with volleyball (Oikawa’s words, not his). Oikawa had told him it was between Kageyama and Hinata, so they both assumed that they had gotten into a nasty fight that resulted in attacking each other. When Iwaizumi had gotten the text this morning he had assumed it would be about that. Hell, he could still see some bruises littering Kageyama’s face and arms.

Iwaizumi stopped his train of thought when he saw the crestfallen look overtaking Kageyama’s face. He must have taken his silence as rejection. Iwaizumi immediately reached his hand out to ruffle Kageyama’s hair.

“Thanks for telling me Kageyama. But you know being gay doesn’t change who you are in my eyes, right?” he said gently, and Kageyama’s shoulders immediately sagged with relief.

“So it’s okay?” Kageyama asked, his tone the smallest Iwaizumi had ever heard it. He felt his chest twinge at the underlying fear he could hear in his voice. Iwaizumi knew exactly where he was coming from, having gone through it himself, and he wanted to make sure that Kageyama knew he had a safe space with him whenever needed. He knew from personal experience just how shitty the world could be to you.

“It’s okay. You aren’t weird for being sexually attracted to boys, I promise.” Iwaizumi said, but he felt worried it might have been the wrong thing to say when instead of relieved Kageyama just looked uncomfortable again.

“I… That’s another thing…” Kageyama said, fidgeting with his sleeves again. “I, uh… I don’t really get sex and stuff.”

Iwaizumi paused, not really understanding. “You… Don’t understand it? Do you need help understanding it? I can-”

“No!” Kageyama interrupted, face flushed in embarrassment.

“Kageyama, it’s really important to educate yourself about these things so you can keep yourself safe.” Iwaizumi chided, but Kageyama shook his head.

“No, it’s not- I understand how it works, it’s just…. I don’t think I want it.” Kageyama mumbled, his face getting redder as he spoke.

Iwaizumi felt a light click in his brain, finally understanding. “You like boys, but you don’t feel comfortable thinking about sex with them?”

Kageyama nodded in confirmation, though he seemed to not be able to look Iwaizumi in the eye. Iwaizumi could understand. This topic was uncomfortable and embarrassing to talk about, but Iwaizumi refused to turn him away just because he felt awkward. 

“That’s normal too. Everybody has different needs in a relationship, and some people have low sex drives, and some just don’t want/need sex at all. I think it’s called asexual? Or demisexual?” Iwaizumi wondered aloud, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “There’s a lot of branches in the lgbtq community. We can read through them and see what feels right for you.”

Kageyama nodded, still obviously uncomfortable, but Iwaizumi could tell he was eager for answers. Iwaizumi smiled and started typing away on his phone to find the right resources for them to go through together.

“Just remember that these aren’t the end all be all. It’s a spectrum, so don’t stress out about fitting in a specific label perfectly.” Kageyama nodded enthusiastically, the fear and worry pretty much gone, much to Iwaizumi’s relief. Still, he continued. “Make sure you talk to the person you like before you start dating, so they know your boundaries from the get go.”

“Oh, I don’t have feelings for anyone right now.” So he wasn’t aware of it? Iwaizumi must have let the surprise show on his face because Kageyama seemed confused. “What is it?”

“Nothing, don’t worry about it. Anyway, here’s a good page, I’ll send it to you and we can go through it.” Iwaizumi tactfully changed the subject. 

He had a feeling that his instincts hadn’t been wrong about the two first years at least having feelings for each other. All they had to do was figure themselves out so that they could be happy together. If he and Shittykawa could do it, he knew that his kohai could as well.

Hopefully Kageyama’s choice in a partner would be far less high maintenance than Iwaizumi’s boyfriend. Having a Trashykawa in your life was both a loving blessing and an unbelievably clingy and annoying curse. He wished them well.

—

Kinoshita:

Kinoshita had to admit, when Narita had gushed about Kageyama and Hinata and how they would make a great couple, he had been skeptical. The way they fight? He was shocked they were even friends, so he couldn’t really picture them as a couple. Technically, they did fall into that category of hate to love BL, but Kinoshita had never really been a fan. It was just the most unrealistic of realistic BL fanfiction in his opinion.

Or at least, he couldn’t picture it before, but after being on the same team with them this long and watching them closely at Narita’s insistence, he saw what his friend was talking about.

He had been enjoying lunch at a small cafe outside when he saw the two first years finally heading home after their weekend practice (how they had the energy to stay hours after practice was beyond him). He wouldn’t have thought anything of it, if it wasn’t for what happened next.

They sat down at a table near him but hadn’t noticed him yet, so he was free to watch them interact. They were too far away for him to discern what they were saying but by the way Hinata was flailing in his seat it was obvious that he must have won whatever competition they were having now. Kageyama was glaring at him as usual, except…

It wasn’t his usual surly expression. To anyone who saw him it looked the same, but Kinoshita knew him well enough to see the way the corner of his lips twitched into a smile sometimes, and the look in his eyes, though still severe, had a softness to them that he couldn’t recall ever seeing before.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t see Hinata’s face from where he was seated, but they were definitely sitting closer than they needed to. Hinata was chattering away while Kageyama quietly listened, adding things every now and then. He had assumed that they were talking about volleyball with how excited they were, but then Kageyama said something and while Kinnoshita couldn’t actually see his face, he could see his skin turn pink on his neck. Was he blushing? It went all the way down his neck? Wow, maybe that thing about ginger hair and blushing was true-

Wait.

Were they on a date ? Kinoshita wondered. He saw Kageyama’s face flush slightly before he started arguing with Hinata again.

Holy shit they were on a date! He could not believe that Narita was right. They were actually a couple. 

Not wanting to disturb them, he quickly paid for his meal and quietly left. Not before sneaking a few pics of them together to send to his best friend. Narita was gonna lose his mind when he saw these.

—

Ennoshita:

He couldn’t believe these idiots.

He was minding his own business when he accidentally walked in on Kinoshita and Narita gushing over Kinoshita’s phone. What was on said phone, you ask? Pictures of their crazy kohai together, that’s what. He was creeped out at first, but when they explained what was going on he was mortified for his younger teammates.

“What the hell are you guys thinking? This is an invasion of their privacy!” Ennoshita hissed, going for the phone but Narita quickly held it out of reach.

“We just think they look good together!” Narita defended, but that was hardly a defense for keeping photos of people without them knowing.

“Who looks good together?” Yachi asked innocently behind them, making all three of them jump in surprise.

Ennoshita tried to stop them, but the two of them went off on a long tangent about their opinions on Kageyama and Hinata, and how they were “obviously” dating. Only they were completely wrong according to Yachi, who had said that they were just really close friends. So once again, Narita and Kinoshita had projected their love for all things BL onto real life people. 

What a shocking turn of events.

Not wanting a repeat of what happened last time (he will never forgive them for pairing him with Tanaka. He had way higher standards than that thank you very much), he snatched the phone and demanded that they delete all the pictures off both of their phones. They had protested at first but quickly gave in when he threatened to tell Daichi about what they had been up to.

He aspired to strike fear in the hearts of unruly classmates like Daichi did. Ah, some day.

—

Natsu:

Her brother was acting weird. Well, he was always weird, but this was different.

Natsu groaned as she heard another screech from her brother’s room. He had been doing this late at night for a while now, and it was driving her crazy. She needed sleep! But no, her big brother was up all night giggling and yelling at his phone. But that wasn’t the only strange thing he had been doing lately, no.

He would stare off into space randomly which, okay,  wasn’t that far off from typical Shoyo behavior, but this was different! He would have this dopey look on his face, and it creeped her out. She had told him as much one time and he had turned bright red, like she had caught him doing something bad.

He did other things too, like how he would hum all around the house. He always came home from school with a huge grin on his face, which wouldn’t be different from normal if it weren’t for the fact that the smile would not be there sometimes. She had asked him about it and he had said that Tobio-nii had missed school that day. She couldn’t really blame him for that though, Tobio-nii was a lot of fun to play with and she’s always sad when he leaves.

All these facts plus all the times she’d caught him getting all red around Tobio-nii made Natsu think that her brother had a crush on his friend. Though is it a crush if Tobio-nii probably also likes Shoyo? She wasn’t sure.

Natsu glared at the wall she shared with her brother’s room at another loud noise. She couldn’t find it in her to be happy for her brother when he was being this annoying. She threw her covers off of her, marched into Shoyo’s room and yelled at him to shut up. Shoyo had the decency to at least look remorseful as he apologized.

She loved her brother with all of her heart, but if he kept waking her up at night with those noises she was going to smother him with a pillow.

Still, she was curious about her brother’s extra weird antics, so one night while he was practicing by himself in the backyard, she decided to ask him. But she needed to be careful how she worded it, otherwise her brother would get all blushy and embarrassed and he wouldn’t tell her anything. So she had asked him if she could join him, and he happily agreed. 

She almost forgot about her questions but when she got mad at Shoyo for laughing at her when she fell, she remembered. She took a deep breath and went for it.

“You know, you and the ball seem to be friends now!” Oops, not what she meant to say.

“Huh?” Shoyo tilted his head in confusion.

“Before, you and the ball seemed to be fighting, but now you seem like close friends.” Natsu could cry from embarrassment. What was she even saying?

“Thank you Natsu!” Oh, I guess that worked. Natsu thought to herself, sighing in relief at the warm smile that took his face. She wasn’t sure what she said could be taken as a compliment, but she would take the opportunity it gave her regardless.

“You seem closer to Tobio-nii too.” Yikes. She had meant to be more subtle than that, and immediately regretted it when Shoyo started to get all flustered.

“I, uh, I guess so, sure.” Shoyo sputtered, scratching his cheek nervously. Suspicious.

“He seems really close to you too.” Natsu continued, waiting to see what he would say.

“I suppose. We are friends now, if that’s what you mean.” Shoyo said casually. Too casually, as he started bumping the volleyball in the air again to distract from the conversation. Natsu was going to have to be more direct.

“Do you like Tobio-nii?” She asked bluntly, and oh did she wish she had a camera on her. He had jumped at the question, accidentally bumping the ball too high. He had turned to say something, but before he could the ball had landed solidly on his head.

“Wha-I, I-I don’t- What do you mean? H-He’s just a friend!” Shoyo defended, way harder than he needed to, which basically just confirmed it for Natsu. She smiled, happy for her brother.

“I like Tobio-nii too! You should marry him so he can be my older brother too.” Natsu said simply, handing the forgotten volleyball to an unbelievably flustered Shoyo before heading inside for the night.

She may have been teasing her brother for his crush on his best friend, but she wasn’t lying when she said she liked Tobio-nii and thought they would be good for each other. She just hoped that it would happen sooner rather than later. Partly because she knew it would make her brother happy, but mostly because she really wanted to be able to get some uninterrupted sleep.

—

Oikawa:

Oikawa watched as the ball hit the floor, indicating the end of his high school career. He watched in disbelief as it rolled away.

He didn’t understand it at first. They had made the perfect plan to beat Shiratorizawa and make it to nationals. They had the wild card in Mad Dog-chan, and they had developed new plays and worked their hardest to reach their goals, so how did they fall this short?

He looked over to the other side of the court where Karasuno was celebrating. He watched as Hinata leaped on Kageyama, latching onto his back like a backpack but misjudged his jump height and his sudden weight on Kageyama’s upper torso sent both of them to the floor. Kageyama, predictably, was pissed and yelled at him, but Oikawa could easily see how happy they both were. Oikawa felt a self deprecating smile twitch on his lips as he watched them bicker. 

Iwa-chan was right. He was so focused on Shiratorizawa that he forgot to watch out for his old kohei, and that mistake had cost them the game. He couldn’t be angry about it, since he knew that both sides had trained hard to be the best, it was just that his team wasn’t the better one this time.

With a heavy sigh he turned to face the stands to thank them. Iwa-chan was crying, and Oikawa knew without even asking that he was blaming himself. Without stopping he slapped his back, silently telling him he was there. Iwa nodded and together they led the team bow, shook hands and before he knew it he was facing Tobio-chan again.

“Good game, Oikawa-san.” Tobio said, holding out his hand. Oikawa huffed and took it.

“Don’t get too big of a head Tobio-chan. I beat you last time, so we’re tied.” Oikawa couldn’t help but say. He couldn’t be angry but he could damn well be petty about their win.

“We’ll beat you next time too.” Wow, what confidence. Where could he have learned this? Oikawa snorted.

“Sure you will, Tobio-chan. I’ll see you on the world stage.” Oikawa watched as Tobio’s eyes practically sparkled at the mention of the pro volleyball leagues. No matter how much Tobio grew as a player and a person. Tobio-chan would always be Tobio-chan, a volleyball obsessed monster. 

“We’ll-”

“We’ll see you there!” Hinata suddenly interrupted, standing next to Tobio. Oikawa had to bite his lip to hold back a laugh at the miffed look on Tobio’s face.

“Hinata, you dumbass! Quit taking my words!” Tobio went for Hinata’s head but Hinata easily dodged. 

“Why are you angry when I said what you were gonna say anyway?” Hinata quipped as he kept dodging Tobio’s hands.

“Because I wanted to say it!” Oikawa suddenly felt bad for Captain-kun and Refreshing-kun. Two minutes around them and he was feeling even more exhausted than he already was. How these two still had so much energy was beyond him.

“Huh, and here I thought you were the only monster with a volleyball drive like yours, Tobio-chan.” Oikawa said passively. Tobio and Hinata immediately stopped their squabbling to listen. Oikawa had to hide a smirk before he finished his thought. “I suppose that’s why you two are such a good match.”

Oikawa was many things, and one of them was petty. And boy did his petty side relish in the bright red flush that overtook both of the crazy first years’ faces at the implication. He had had his suspicions before, but now he was sure that they were meant for each other. Two brats in a crow shaped pod really.

Lord help the professional team that was both stupid and smart enough to recruit them on the same team as adults.

—

Ushijima and Tendou:

Tendou watched Ushijima as they stretched, wondering what was going on in that beautiful head of his. Clearly by the frown on his face that scrunched up his brow and made him look intimidatingly severe, and the slight pout of his lower lip, something was up with his bestie. He could smell it. 

“What’s got your undies in a twist, miracle boy?” Ushijima blinked, turning to the sound of Tendous voice as if he had called from far away. He hummed in acknowledgement as they rolled to switch legs. Tendou waited patiently for him to find his words, curious as to what was so interesting.

“How can you tell if people are romantically involved?” 

Well. Of all the things he could think of, that was the last thing on Tendou’s list of guesses.

“Um… What?” He asked stupidly, brain short circuiting at the sudden question.

“How can you tell if people are romantically involved?” Ushijima asked again, and Tendou couldn’t help but gawk at the tone. He had asked so casually, you would think he was asking about the weather rather than something as earth shattering as this.

“You’re asking me about love?” Tendou asked, because despite hearing it twice he still couldn’t believe that he had heard him correctly. Ushijima nodded, pulling himself to sit comfortably on the floor. Tendou did the same, hugging his legs close to his chest. “Why are you wondering about that?”

“Hinata Shoyo and Kageyama Tobio.” Ah, that would explain it. Tendou couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Those two really got under your skin, huh wonder boy?” Ushijima scowled at the comment but was undeterred. 

“I’ve never seen them separately.” Ushijima started, tapping his fingers on his leg as he spoke. A habit Tendou had noticed he did whenever he was working through a problem in his head. 

“They seem very proud of each other, but very competitive,” a fair statement, “And they seem fond of each other.” Tendou nodded in agreement. He had overheard them bickering and fighting with each other throughout the game and despite the harsh words Kageyama tended to use and the constant teasing and goading from Hinata it didn’t come off as anything but fond. Maybe insulting each other was their love language? But what did that have to do with Ushijima?

“Those are some good observations Waka-kun.” Tendou said slowly, wondering where he was getting at.

“I thought they were, but I was wrong.” He said with a shrug, which only left Tendou with more questions.

“Why do you think you were wrong?”

“They told me so when I asked.” Tendou hummed to himself. He had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to it than that.

“How did they tell you?” 

“Hinata said he would face me again and beat me, and I told him I would win next time.” Tendou couldn’t help but snort at that. It was a very Ushijima Wakatoshi thing to say. “Kageyama said that he would prove that he was better than Oikawa, and I told him that Oikawa had warned me about him and that I would look forward to seeing him on the world stage with Hinata.”

“Very sportsmanlike of you, Mr. Super Ace.” Tendou said with a grin. Ushijima blinked in confusion.

“Why wouldn’t I look forward to facing them again?” Oh, this adorable idiot.

“Nevermind, nevermind. What else did they say?”

“Hinata said they didn’t want to be on the same team since they were rivals and wanted to compete against each other. I agreed, and told them healthy competition was good for the relationship.” Oh dear, he could see where this was going.

“And then what happened?” Tendou asked, readying himself for the inevitable.

“I said that finding a healthy outlet to relieve stress is always good, and when couples can find something they can share together it can bring them closer.”

Tendou lost it then, falling back and cackling hysterically. “Oh dear, that must have made them blush.”

“It wasn’t my intention to embarrass them.” Ushijima mumbled, and oh be still Tendou’s little heart, the look of guilt on his face making his chest ache. His Waka-kun was too pure for this world.

“I know it wasn’t. You liked them and were wishing them well, right?” Ushijima nodded sullenly. Well, technically, his face had barely changed in expression since they started talking, but Tendou knew better. He sighed, patting Ushijima’s knee. “You didn’t do anything wrong Waka-kun, I’m sure they’re not mad at you.”

“They were really embarrassed and Hinata was really loud when he denied it. Their faces reminded me of cooked lobsters.” Tendou had to bite his lip not to laugh at the imagery, but continued to comfort his friend. It wasn’t Ushijima’s fault that those two volleyball freaks had the secret hots for each other.

“I’m sure they were. I don’t think they feel comfortable admitting their feelings to each other yet, so you might have accidentally stepped on a landmine there.”

“How do you know that?” Ushijima asked curiously. Tendou smirked confidently, tapping the side of his head.

“Just a guess.”

—

Hoshiumi:

“But how could you not be intimidated by my size and playing?” the others at the table groaned as Hoshiumi continued his relentless pestering of the new guy, Kageyama. But he couldn’t help it! 

Everyone, and he meant everyone, saw him walk on the court and thought they knew how he would play and then bam! He would blow them out of the water with his amazing skills. But this stupid little first year hadn’t even batted an eye as he watched Hoshiumi play earlier that day. When he had asked Kageyama why he wasn’t so shocked, he had said he knew someone like him, which led to where they were now. Hoshiumi had to know everything about this mystery player on Kageyama’s team. He could be his biggest rival! 

“You have to tell me how he plays at least! If he’s as short as me, he could be my rival! What if he takes my title as the Small Giant?!” Hoshiumi insisted, practically begging for details. 

Kageyama snorted. “He’s nowhere near that level yet.”

“But that just implies he will be, so I need to know more!” Sakusa gave him a glare across the table at his whiny tone, but Hoshiumi was too excited to care. Kageyama hadn’t seemed phased though, tapping his chin in thought.

“He has no technique. His serves are a joke, he wouldn’t know how to set even if you put a gun up to his head, and don’t even get me started on his receives.” Hoshiumi blinked in confusion. How the hell could Kageyama say he was similar to his teammate if he was that bad? As if reading his thoughts, Kageyama just smirked and continued. “He’s way behind anyone else, but he has some redeeming qualities.”

“Like…?”

“Well, he has crazy athletic instincts for one. Despite how stupid he is, he has these moments in a game where he gets calm and focused, and his body moves as if it has a mind of it’s own. He’ll pull off crazy moves he was never taught and startle everyone on the court, me included. He’s still an idiot though, so if you ask him how he did it he couldn’t tell you. But in those moments he seems unstoppable.” Hoshiumi felt a thrum of excitement at that. He had played with and against many players like that, who seemed to just have a sixth sense when it came to volleyball with the level of control they had over their bodies. He was no slouch himself, but it was always thrilling to play against people that were less predictable like himself. It kept him on his toes and he loved it!

“He also has a monstrous amount of stamina. He even tires me out sometimes.” Now that was a surprise. Despite being one of the youngest at the youth camp, Kageyama was always one of the first to arrive and the last to leave, and even when he left he still seemed like he could go for another hour or so. 

“How is that even possible?” Another kid asked. Kageyama shrugged, as if he didn’t even know.

“He’s a little gremlin. He lives pretty far from school, in the mountains, and he’s used to going back and forth on his bike. Not to mention all the one-on-one practice we do before and after practice.”

“What the hell? How far away is he from Karasuno?”

“About 30 minutes for most people. He makes it in 20.” Kageyama said, a sort of pride overtaking his voice. 

Ooohh Hoshiumi was practically vibrating with excitement now. He wanted to play against this player so bad! Kageyama continued:

“The best part of having him on a team is his presence. He’s a tiny tangerine, but his persona on the court is huge, and makes him a great decoy for our other spikers. Coupled with his balance and jumping abilities, his roll is basically to fly around the court, score, and keep everyone’s attention to free up our other spikers.”

“Ew.” Everyone turned to Sakusa, surprised to hear the disgusted tone in his voice. Sakusa’s face was scrunched up in genuine disgust at Kageyama. “You sound like a proud boyfriend. It’s gross.”

To everyone’s shock, Kageyama turned bright red, but his tone was still stern as he corrected Sakusa, but by that time everyone had lost interest and had moved on to their own conversations.

Looking at how flustered the setter was and reflecting on his descriptions of this mystery player Hoshiumi couldn’t help but agree with Sakusa that it sounded like Kageyama was bragging about his boyfriend or whatever, but still. He had only known Kageyama for a few days now, but he got the impression that Kageyama wasn’t the type to give out compliments lightly, so when he said someone was good, Hoshiumi felt like he really meant it. He just hoped that whenever he got the chance to play against Karasuno this teammate of Kageyama’s wasn’t all talk.

—

Osamu:

Osamu sighs as he watches his brother approach the net, knowing how this was going to go down.

Before the game, it had seemed like Atsumu was focused on Karasuno’s first year setter, Kageyama. But that quickly changed as the game went on and they saw how the Karasuno team played, particularly that little middle blocker, Hinata.

The kid seemed to be the actual embodiment of sunshine and rainbows. He took everyone’s attention on the court and smiled so bright it made Osamu’s eyes hurt. But what had really drawn everyone in, and had captured his brother’s interest, was the hunger in his eyes. The hunger for the game. The little ginger played volleyball as if it was his last meal on earth. He savored every play, chased every ball, and never wasted a single second of movement to go after the ball and score. He played like a starving man, and unfortunately for their team, it had cost them enough points to help lose them the game.

Osamu had respect for the other team and how they played, but Hinata being an obnoxiously huge presence on the court was not the unfortunate part, no. The unfortunate part was that Atsumu had clearly fallen for the middle blocker. This wouldn’t be a problem, and despite the fact that he thoroughly enjoyed harassing his brother for being an idiot, he would be more than happy to support Atsumu in romance in any way he could as a brother, but there was just one problem; There was no way Hinata Shoyo was single.

It wasn’t immediately obvious, but as soon as you saw him with Kageyama it was clear that those two were dating. They were surprisingly subtle about it (as subtle as two obnoxiously intense idiots could be), seeming to not like pda, but it was there. It was the short but lingering touches, the proud looks on their faces when the other did something cool. It was how close they stood when not playing, the gentler tone they used with each other, and looks they gave each other when they thought that no one was looking. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure they were dating, but if they weren’t then they were crushing on each other hard.

It was that knowledge that made his stomach clench when he saw the look of realization overtake his twin’s face as he spoke to the two first years. He loved his brother, and despite the constant razzing and teasing his brother had a lot of good qualities. If there was one flaw Atsumu struggled with, it was crushes. He tended to fall for people quickly, and hard. Atsumu was a good judge of people, so thankfully he never got himself in trouble, but he had definitely gotten his heart broken more than a few times.

Osamu sighed as he watched his brother walk over like a puppy that had just gotten kicked. With one look they were able to tell what the other was wanting to say, and so they stayed quiet about it, for Atsumu’s sake.

“Next time, I’m winning.” Atsumu mumbled, just loud enough for Osamu to hear over the applause from the crowd as they bowed in thanks. Osamu easily caught the double meaning, and he sighed.

“Next time, you should try and not get too excited and miss your serves you scrub.” Osamu said easily, and smirked as his brother puffed up in offense, and they easily fell into their usual bickering and fighting, shoving at each other before Aran finally broke them up. 

Osamu knew Atsumu would be okay. He’d figure it out like he always did and become best friends with his old crush, just like he had with the one’s before Hinata. Osumu just prayed that Kageyama wasn’t the jealous type.

—

Miwa:

Miwa scowled as she tapped her nails against the kitchen table impatiently, waiting for her brother to come home. 

He had asked her earlier if he could talk to her about something, and the way he said it had her convinced that he was going to tell her about his feelings for Hinata.

Okay, she technically didn’t have definitive proof that they were dating, but there were so many signs! Like how he had acted when he first met Hinata, how he reacted when he realized they went to the same school. How he literally would not shut up about the redhead. Tobio wasn’t exactly a social butterfly, and no matter how cute she found her little brother, even she had to admit that he was prickly on the best of days. 

Even so, it was rare for her to not see Hinata at their house when she got home from work, or hear stories at dinner about how “Hinata-boke botched the easiest receive, the idiot” or “Hinata was acting weird today”. And oh how her little brother’s world had crumbled when he had gotten into a huge fight with Hinata a few months back. You would think the world was ending with how he had reacted. Miwa couldn’t count how many times she had reassured him and told him that it wasn’t the end of the friendship. It was from that point on that Miwa knew that her brother had fallen for Hinata, and fallen hard.

Recently though, that began to change. She couldn’t pinpoint exactly how or when it had started, but suddenly Hinata was over twice as much as usual, with the excuse that he was too tired or it was too late for him to bike home (which was a perfectly valid excuse, except for the fact that they had gotten home later and later for the past month or so. Plus, since when did Hinata ever get tired ever?). Miwa had noticed that they seemed closer, and she had caught them in each other’s space multiple times. She was a bit ashamed to admit it, but she had purposely altered her schedule so she would come home at more random times this week to see if she could catch them, and while they weren’t doing anything racy, (thank god), she had caught them cuddling on the couch more than once. 

This still wasn’t technically confirmation, because despite Tobio’s stern looking face and personality, he actually loved affectionate touch. He always gave her a hug before he left for school, and whenever they watched a movie they would be huddled under one big blanket together, so technically he could just be that comfortable with Hinata that he can do those things with him too. But there was no way he didn’t at least have feelings for him!

She wanted to ask him, just mention something in passing to see what he would say, but she knew that being too direct could make him shut down. Tobio was sensitive to confrontation, and the last thing she wanted to do was to make him feel like she was interrogating him. She was happy as long as he was happy, obviously! But dammit, she just couldn’t stifle her excitement over the thought of her baby brother having a special someone. Plus, she was the older sister. It was her right to meet Tobio’s boyfriend and embarrass the crap out of him, and she’d be damned if she would let anything stand in the way of her teasing her adorable little brother. Luckily, she knew exactly what to do.

Miwa had casually left some lgbtq pamphlets on the counter a few weeks ago, claiming there was an inclusivity workshop at work and they were giving them out. She also made sure to talk about her friend at work, a gorgeous woman with a lovely wife and two kids at home. She also mentioned another coworker who was trans that had gotten her top surgery a few months ago and was healing well. Miwa figured if she was casual about it, it would let her little brother know in an indirect way that she loved him and that it didn’t matter who he fell in love with. 

So far Tobio had barely reacted, which made her wonder if maybe it wasn’t so much the gay part as it was just the dating part in general? Tobio was a shy boy, and he seemed to have it in his head that people didn’t like him. He had said as much a year ago after the whole fiasco in junior high, and while she had been breathing fiery rage at the thought of anyone bullying her little brother, more than anything it just broke her heart to hear him be so down on himself.

That’s why she was so happy he had met Hinata! Hinata was such a sweet boy, and had really helped broaden Kageyama’s horizons. Miwa could cry just thinking about how much happier Tobio had been ever since they started their first year together. He was starting to open up, and he was smiling more. Ugh, it made her want to squeeze the life out of him, he was so stupidly adorable.

Miwa nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of a throat clearing, yanking her out of her thoughts. She had been so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she hadn’t even noticed Tobio sitting across from her at the table. She smiled at him, holding her hand out for his plate and piling food on it for him. She stayed quiet, waiting for him to say something.

Tobio cleared his throat again, clearly apprehensive with what he had to say. “I… Uh... I think I like him, Nee-san.”

Miwa smiled to herself as she placed Tobio’s plate down and began filling up her own.

Perfect .