Chapter Text
Even though Shoyo and Tobio didn’t get along during their first year, they had grown fond of each other as the years passed. They hung out every single weekend and they spent every lunch break practicing. They understood each other without saying a single word and they could tell what the other was thinking all the time. It got to the point where they were asked if they were dating, even by their teammates.
They always denied it, saying they just cared for each other a lot.
“I’m moving to Brazil after graduation.” Shoyo said, sitting on the gymnasium floor, right next to Tobio. The latter turned to look at him with disbelief in his eyes.
“What?” Tobio asked, thinking he might’ve heard it wrong.
“I’m moving to Brazil after graduation.” Shoyo repeated, this time making eye contact with whom he called his best friend. Tobio wanted to say something, but Shoyo cut him off before he could even open his mouth. “I want to try beach volleyball. I think it’ll help me develop my skills. Besides, I need a change of scenery.” He said with a smile on his face.
Tobio smiled too, looking at his best friend with pure admiration in his eyes. “You are going to be great at anything you do. Don’t forget about me, dumbass.” The raven said trying to hide the sadness in his voice, but it didn’t go unnoticed by the shorter one.
“Hey, don’t worry about that. I promise I will call you every single day.” Shoyo said, giving his best friend a reassuring side hug.
A year had passed since Shoyo moved to Rio de Janeiro.
As promised, Shoyo texted and called every day. He maintained his old habit of sending pictures of what he was doing at the moment, a habit that made Tobio really happy — even if he didn’t want to admit it. However, their busy schedules and time difference caused them to drift apart.
They completely lost touch seven months after the shorter one moved to the other side of the world. The last message was a ‘call you later’ sent by Shoyo, which left Tobio waiting. The raven ended up falling asleep and forgetting about it, too busy focusing on practice with the Adlers to remember. When he did remember, he assumed that Shoyo would eventually text him again.
He was completely wrong.
Tobio hadn’t heard from him in five months. Not a single text, not a single call.
He hadn’t realised how much he missed Shoyo until he found his first year Karasuno Volleyball Team uniform inside a box next to his desk, along with some pictures. His attention was caught by a polaroid of Shoyo and him during one of their team hangouts. They were at a park near the Karasuno High School having a team picnic , as Suga liked to call it.
The picture was taken in a moment when neither of them were looking, too distracted talking and laughing with each other to notice the camera. Shoyo was laughing out loud, his eyes shut and his head thrown back due to the laughter. On the other hand, Tobio was smiling wide, looking at his best friend like he had hung the stars.
He decided to pin it on the cork board above his desk, right next to a picture of his sister and his grandfather . He couldn’t help but tear up at the sight of it, now becoming aware of how much he missed his best friend’s company. He kept wondering if Shoyo felt the same way or if he was better off without him.
Suddenly, he felt the urge to ask him. He wanted to know if Shoyo missed him as much as he did or if he had forgotten about him already. The thought of texting Shoyo to apologise for distancing himself from him unconsciously kept him awake. After staring at the ceiling for what felt like an eternity, he decided that he was going to text him. He grabbed his phone from the nightstand and opened his chat with Shoyo.
After typing and deleting for twenty minutes, he gave up — he didn’t know what to say and he was too tired to think. He put his phone down on his nightstand again and went to sleep, determined to try again the next day.
─── ⭑ 𓂃⋆ ───
Tobio’s alarm went off at 5AM, meaning he had to get ready for practice. He got up against his own will and grabbed his phone to turn off his alarm. When he unlocked it, he saw that he had left Shoyo’s chat open and got nervous again. Right, he wanted to text him last night.
He decided to go wash his face and then make breakfast. Meanwhile, he thought of ways to talk to Shoyo and apologise for not paying as much attention as he should have to their friendship throughout the last year. He felt the sadness take over him as he remembered the last text Shoyo had sent. God, he really missed him .
After he finished his breakfast he brushed his teeth, grabbed his duffel bag and his car keys and walked out the door. When he arrived to practice, he greeted his teammates and started warming up.
He couldn’t get Shoyo out of his mind, which caused him to be a disaster during practice. His sets were off, as well as his serves. When practice was done, he almost ran to the locker rooms to avoid any questions. All of his teammates noticed but nobody mustered up courage to approach him and ask what was wrong.
Well, all of them except for one.
“Kageyama, I can tell that there is something bothering you. Would you like to talk about it?” Ushijima asked with his usual neutral tone, his duffel bag hanging from his shoulder.
“It’s okay, Ushijima-san. I’m okay.” He said trying to brush it off while he changed his shirt.
“Is this about that short friend of yours? Shoyo Hinata.” Tobio froze at the mention of him, getting lost in his thoughts for a few seconds before giving his teammate a nod. “I don’t know what happened, but what I do know is that it’ll pass soon.”
“Thank you, Ushijima-san. See you tomorrow.” The raven got up quickly, not letting his teammate give him a response.
He got into his car, started it and turned on the radio to distract himself. That was, until “Dress Down” by Kaoru Akimoto started playing. He immediately recognised it, remembering how Shoyo forced him to sing it with him when they went to a karaoke during their second year. He remembered how pretty Shoyo looked, smiling and enjoying himself despite not knowing how to sing.
He turned off the radio, feeling the heat rise to his face. He spent the rest of the way home in complete silence, thinking about his best friend.
Were they even best friends anymore? He wasn’t sure about that.
When he arrived home, he took a shower and went to the kitchen to eat something. When he was done, he picked up and washed the dishes before flopping down on the couch. He stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours, unsurprisingly thinking about Shoyo.
He decided that it was time to leave his insecurities aside and just text him what he was feeling at the moment.
He grabbed his phone, opened his chat with Shoyo once again and texted him.
grumpy-yama🫐
hey shoyo, it’s been a while
i don’t even know what to say, i just wanted to tell you that i’m sorry
i was so focused on volleyball that i had no time for anything else
could we please talk?
i hope you can forgive me
please, text me back as soon as you can
He threw his phone on the couch, hoping for the best.