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It is pure happenstance that Kageyama happens to be walking down that exact hallway of the hotel the Adlers and the Jackals have both (perhaps unwisely) been booked in for the match when The Oikawa Incident happens. He and Hinata are just coming back from a conbini run (Hinata won the race on the way there; Kageyama won on the way back), and now Hinata is gesturing too wildly with an open pack of takenoko no sato in his hand, flirting dangerously with the possibility of delicious chocolate snacks all flying out of the bag.
Kageyama is thinking about warning him about it, because last time Hinata had gotten so upset about having to bother the reception and cleaning staff late at night that he'd nearly cried, but Hinata catches himself and neatly rolls up the opened bag and sticks it in his pocket for safekeeping.
It makes Kageyama feel some sort of way, something bittersweet caught between pride and nostalgia, to note another one of the many ways Hinata has learned to be self-contained and self-sufficient, despite managing to remain entirely and wholly himself.
Luckily, he doesn't have to dwell on it for long, because Hinata blithely continues on with his horrifying explanation of what he calls hanahaki disease.
"—and then," Hinata says, "they cough up flowers and blood until they die. That's what Pedro said, anyway."
"I didn't realize that people on the internet were so into horror," Kageyama says.
"I think it's supposed to be romantic!"
"I see," Kageyama says, although he does not. He feels his face scrunch together as he tries to connect point A (dying of incurable yet technically preventable disease) to point B (romance???).
"Stop thinking so hard about it," Hinata advises. "I know it hurts your brain." He yelps when Kageyama punches him in the shoulder. "I wasn't making fun of you, I was sympathizing! Pedro fielded my follow-up questions for, like, an hour."
Kageyama doesn't get a chance to respond on account of the bloodcurdling scream from Ushijima's room that has the both of them scuttling down the hallway away from it, and also their own rooms. They end up squeezed in behind the ice machine, shoulder to shoulder.
Hinata's face has gone entirely white and he is breathing very shallowly. He looks like he saw a ghost and then turned into one himself; when he turns to look at Kageyama, though, his eyes light up with amusement.
"You look so stupid right now," he laughs.
"You look stupid," Kageyama snaps back, and then they both cower behind the ice machine when the screaming is abruptly bookended by the sound of a door slamming open and the stomping sound of someone heading their way.
That someone turns out to be Oikawa, dragging Ushijima through the hallway by the hair. Ushijima just looks resigned.
"Traitor!" Kageyama's middle school bully and inspiration is shrieking, looking more unkempt and blotchy than Kageyama ever even knew he could be. There's definitely product in his hair, but it's messy and lopsided like he shoved his hands in it without any concern for the damage, and his ears are bright pink with the force of his emotions. He is also scowling. Kageyama doesn't think he's ever seen Oikawa look so... ugly.
Stumbling after them, no shirt and failing to get his pants on, is an incredibly rumpled Iwaizumi.
"Oikawa," he is saying, exasperated, as Kageyama's brain realizes three things in rapid succession:
1. There are hickeys on Iwaizumi's neck, all down his chest, and inner thighs.
2. Ushijima is wearing only a pair of black briefs. There is a red bite mark on his pec. There might be more, but Kageyama immediately averts his eyes to protect his mental health.
3. He and Hinata are in the splash zone for whatever drama is about to go down, and he is not ready to die.
He looks at Hinata.
Hinata looks back, then nods.
Without speaking a word, they both carefully ease their way out from behind the ice machine while the main protagonists of the night scream at each other.
It is going pretty well. They've lowered themselves to the ground and are crawling down the hallway as Iwaizumi is exasperatedly saying something like, "You're not my mother! I'm an adult, making my own choices—"
"Speaking of your mother, does she know about her precious baby boy—"
"—my mother has never called me that—"
"—shacking up with the root of all evil?!"
"I think there are plenty of people worse than me," Ushijima comments.
Oikawa tries to wrestle him into a headlock, which Ushijima stoically resists. Iwaizumi looks smitten by his giant boulder of a boyfriend. Oikawa looks red-faced and petulant. Kageyama carefully continues his escape, Hinata at his heels.
"You can't have Iwa-chan!" Oikawa is shouting. "He's too pure and good for the likes of you!"
"The same case could be made about you," Ushijima says, which is when all hell breaks loose. Oikawa starts screaming gibberish, Ushijima is stone-faced and alarmingly close to actually frowning, and Iwaizumi seems to somehow be fighting both of them?
Kageyama's nerve breaks and he takes the opportunity to book it down the hallway towards his room, and is nearly taken out by Miya when the other setter practically rockets out of his room into the hallway and roars, "Shuddap, ya motherfuckin' buncha heathens, didn't any of yer goddamn parents teach ya any fuckin' manners? It is the middle of the night and I need my beauty sleep!"
There are crease lines on his face and no product in his hair. He looks golden and disheveled, sparking with frustration like he's shedding stardust. The vein on his neck is so prominent that it might burst if Kageyama reached out and tapped it.
"Yeah!" Hinata chirps, pivoting quickly to a new strategy. He steps up right at Miya's shoulder, hands on his hips. Miya startles at his presence, then he sees Kageyama and his eyes nearly bulge out of his face. "He really does! Atsumu-san is the worst without his beauty sleep! He's even worse than Kageyama!"
"Hey," Kageyama says.
"Excuse me," Miya starts stiffly, then seems to remember why he was upset in the first place and whirls back around with his finger pointed accusingly at Oikawa, at which point it's clear he hadn't even noticed Ushijima, because he says, "Ushi—wha?" and then recoils so aggressively that Ushijima's face actually cracks into an offended expression.
Kageyama can see the exact moment he notices Iwaizumi, because the accusatory finger moves to point at Kageyama's other middle school senpai, and then there's a long moment where he sees Miya's face contort through a dizzying number of emotions: confusion, recognition, confusion again, realization, dawning glee, followed by a raucous delight that bursts out as discordant cackling.
It is at this moment that Kageyama remembers that Miya knows Oikawa from some sort of Japanese setter meetup thing and that they hate each other, for reasons that mostly seem to be related to the fact they are both unrepentantly terrible.
"Oink-chan," Miya coos, making Oikawa bristle like a cat. Do pigs bristle? "This is what happens when ya abandon your toys."
"I'm not a toy," Iwaizumi bites out, but without much heat. He's not looking at either Oikawa or Ushijima, and his arms are now wrapped self-consciously around his bare torso. At least he managed to get his pants on. Ushijima is watching him, seemingly unconcerned by his own nakedness.
Kageyama is again possessed with the urge to escape. He feels like this moment is not for him to see. He looks away, and somehow ends up looking right into Miya's eyes, which are gleaming with something bright and mean, and something that somehow Kageyama knows is all for him. Something lands heavy in Kageyama's sternum, tight and compressed and threatening to bloom. Miya licks his lips, then turns back to Oikawa, who is scowling down at his feet.
"Yer right, Iwaizumi," Miya says, all polite and venomous, "Yer just his best friend. Funny, coz I wouldn't wish him on my worst enemy. Even I would never invade Samu's privacy and drag his dirty laundry out into the light like this in front of everybody we know. I might be crass and selfish, but even I've got lines I know not to cross."
Then, satisfied with getting the last word, Miya goes back into his room, shutting his door with a click that feels like it resounds across all of Japan.
"Iwa-chan," Oikawa starts, but Iwaizumi puts up a hand and shakes his head. Oikawa falls silent and watches Iwaizumi start back to Ushijima's room, Ushijima following after him after a moment.
Left behind, Oikawa just hangs his head and leaves using the stairs, avoiding looking both Kageyama and Hinata in the eye.
When he's gone, Kageyama and Hinata look at each other and grimace. After a moment, Hinata pulls out the bag of takenoko no sato and offers it to Kageyama, who takes one.
While they're quietly crunching away, the door across from them creaks open a sliver to reveal just one eye peering out cautiously.
"Is it over?" Hirugami asks, sheepish.
All things considered, the match turns out well, and everyone is excited to join the after-match dinner that Daichi organized.
Before last night, Oikawa and Iwaizumi's absence would not have been notable, but combined with the fact that it seems like every other person Kageyama ever met through volleyball in high school is currently in this overcrowded izakaya in Sendai, the fact is glaring.
Inunaki is telling Yachi the story, because volleyball players are actually a ton of gossips and in the last twenty-four hours, every single one of them has heard the story and created their own version of it. Yachi's eyes are very round as Inunaki says, "And then Oikawa slapped Miya—"
"What the fuck," Miya says, whirling around from his conversation with Hoshiumi about finger tape or something at another table, making Yachi squeak in surprise. He's scowling and he doesn't look at Kageyama at all, just scowls mightily at a grinning Inunaki. "Little bitch wishes he could—"
"Kinky," Suga comments idly, passing by on his way to the bathroom and ignoring Miya's high-pitched distress noise in response.
"That man is a menace," Miya says shrilly.
Hoshiumi, face red with alcohol, grabs him by the ear and says too loudly, "Finger tape isn't safe for bondage," which takes out an entire table of former Shiratorizawa players. Semi sputters so hard with laughter he chokes and spills his entire drink on Ushijima, who barely seems to notice. Shirabu keeps trying to ply him with agetofu, which Ushijima takes the occasional bite of, followed by mechanical chewing.
Kageyama isn't usually one for these kinds of gatherings, but recently he finds he misses these people he used to know. There's a rhythm and familiarity to them that he can't unknow, something bone deep that settles him. He makes a point to talk to everyone from Karasuno, and spends several unexpected minutes discussing movies with Shimizu and Ennoshita. He finds himself laughing as Tanaka and Noya start up an epic arm wrestling competition, somehow being convinced to imitate his own middle school self as Kunimi and Kindaichi ruthlessly assassinate his character, and pressed hot along Miya's side as Asahi brightly talks about fashion school and the finer points of accessorizing.
Kageyama is really trying to listen, but his concentration is completely obliterated when Miya puts his hand on Kageyama's thigh and just—leaves it there.
Kageyama turns to look at Miya. The izakaya is small and they're too many people and Miya smells like the cologne he recommended to Bokuto once, who loved it so much he bought twenty small versions to give out to his favorite people and also whoever he felt like giving to. Kageyama had been confused at the time, but Bokuto had winked and said, "Tsum-Tsum recommended it!" which hadn't been a real explanation.
He'd turned to look at Miya, who had clearly been working himself up to a conniption, pink from the ears down to the collarbones just as he is now, studiously not looking at Kageyama. "What're ya looking at?" he'd muttered, then blustered incoherently and stomped off, Bokuto cackling and waving Kageyama an enthusiastic goodbye as he trailed after him.
Now, as Miya pretends to be listening to Asahi explain to an enraptured Goshiki how fake glasses opens so many new avenues for style, the red creeps all the way past Miya's collar before he caves and looks back. "What're ya looking at?" he grumbles, the exact same way he'd done before.
It feels like a callback, though Kageyama can't be sure that Miya actually remembers it. Personally, it's such a boring mundane moment that Kageyama can't understand why he's been turning over the memory in his mind for months now, examining it from all angles like if he looks hard enough, the answer to the question he hasn't quite figured out might appear.
Anyway, Kageyama replies in the same way he did before. "You," he says.
This time, Miya meets his eyes and says, "Yeah?"
There's a smug cockiness to it, but also a hint of a question, of uncertainty.
Outside of volleyball, Kageyama isn't much for games. He didn't really realize he was playing this one, but now that he does, he's not about to beat around the bush.
"Yeah," Kageyama says, and leans in, pressing a hand against Miya's knee for balance. He hears Miya inhale sharply.
"Holy shit," Futakuchi says loudly. "Ushijima, are you crying?"
Kageyama grabs Miya's hand before he can pull away. They escape into the night as Shiratorizawa and Aoba Johsai ally themselves in pursuit of the greater good.
("Oikawa Tooru must die!" Matsukawa cries, lifting his beer in the air.
"Hear hear!" everyone heartily agrees.
Daichi puts his face in his hands and laughs.)
Kageyama wakes up the next morning in Miya's hotel room, with Miya doing an impressive imitation of a barnacle. He's sprawled over Kageyama and clinging to his torso, snoring loudly.
Kageyama lays there for several minutes, thinking.
He doesn't know what to do.
He probably should not have drunk that last beer.
Regret is not quite the word for how he feels. It's more like a deep awareness that something fundamental has shifted, and now Kageyama will have to deal with it.
He sits up.
Miya (or Atsumu, as had been insisted last night with Kageyama's fingers in that, um, improving dye job) pulls him back down, smacking his lips in his sleep. In sleep, he looks sweet and open and vulnerable. Kageyama runs his thumb over the soft swell of his bottom lip.
Kageyama knows himself to be impulsive. He hadn't been looking for this, but he wanted it enough to get this far. He wants to see it through, like learning a new trick to use on the court and knowing it'll get better with time. This will be good. He just has to let it grow into itself.
He's feeling calm about it. At peace. Happy? Content? He floats in it, listening to Miya snore and watching him drool on his chest, when a loud banging noise makes Kageyama jump and finally stirs Miya from his coma-like sleep enough that he kicks Kageyama out of bed and says, very clearly, "Fuck off, Samu, I need fifteen more minutes," and then rolls over and goes back to bed, oblivious to how Kageyama is gawking at him from the floor.
Miffed, Kageyama goes to the window to see what's going on and sees... a very familiar small blonde head disappear around the corner.
Later, after Miya has apologized profusely for kicking Kageyama out of bed, all of the Adlers and Jackals who don't have family in Miyagi head out, including Miya. Kageyama is staying a couple days with his sister, and they'll visit their parents on the last day. He's going to get lunch with Hinata and Yachi first.
Miya says, unable to look Kageyama in the face without flushing red to the collarbone, "Osaka's not that far from ya. It'd be easy for ya to visit. Maybe." His eyes are on his feet, but he's flushing red anyway. Someone on the bus wolf-whistles and Miya flips them off, but glances at Kageyama, almost shy.
The thing in Kageyama's chest that feels like a lump of coal ready to be lit on fire wants to leap out of chest and strangle him.
"Or you could come to me," Kageyama manages to point out, his voice more subdued than he'd really like.
"Or that," Miya agrees quickly. "I could, I could do that. If yer okay with it." He winces. "I'm probably a better host than a guest. Not that I'm bad. Um."
Kageyama says, "But you might be bad?"
Miya lets a startled laugh. "Yeah," he admits.
"Not as bad as Oikawa, though, probably," Kageyama says. The second time Oikawa visited Hinata in Brazil, he'd redecorated his apartment without his or Pedro's permission or input. He'd done it on his own dime, but Hinata still gets this wild look in his eyes about it.
"No one's as bad as Oink-chan," Miya says, almost admiringly. "He's terrible."
"Hear hear!" someone yells.
"Oikawa Tooru must die!"
Miya looks euphoric for a moment. He is also terrible. Kageyama snorts.
"I'll visit first," he says.
"Great," Miya says. "That's. Yeah. Real good." There's scattered laughter and some booing from the onlookers. Miya looks half a second away from snapping, so Kageyama leans in and kisses him on the cheek. He feels smug when he pulls back and sees Miya's big eyes, ire snuffed out like a candle.
"See you then," Kageyama says. The kiss was a little bold for him, especially in front of all of Miya and Hinata's teammates, and he's feeling shy now. He practically shoves Miya onto the bus, but stays to wave as it heads out and ignores Hinata pretending to retch beside him.
Mercifully, Hinata's phone vibrates with a message.
"Oh," Hinata says. "Hitoka-chan says she's going to be late."
Kageyama suddenly remembers something.
"Hinata," he says, "who was in the room next to Miya's?"
For most of lunch, Kageyama cannot look Yachi in the eye because she arrives wearing a hoodie with the strings pulled so tight that only her nose pokes out so she can still breathe. She claims to have a huge zit until the arrival of her pancake plate and then her irresistible craving for breakfast foods becomes her undoing.
She pulls her hood down, blushing furiously.
Kageyama and Hinata gawk at the giant hickey that goes up to her jaw.
Hinata blurts out, "I can never look at Bokkun the same way again."
Yachi makes a shrill noise of distress and says, "How did you—"
"I was in Miya's room this morning," Kageyama says before he can take it back.
Yachi gapes at him, her own embarrassment forgotten, and cries, "Those noises were you?!" and then the both of them have to sit there, marinating in their shame while Hinata laughs so hard that he has to put his head between his legs.
In the end, they all manage to recover enough to eat their food, though Hinata is occasionally overcome with giggles.
He manages to calm down enough that Yachi feels safe enough to share a vulnerable confession about being very confused because she thought she was a lesbian and she's, um, apparently not?
And Kageyama says he doesn't know what he's doing, he just likes Miya, unfortunately, which Hinata nods along to like he knows anything about being uncertain in a relationship. Kenma has a ring somewhere and Yachi and Kageyama occasionally have to step on each other's toes to not prevent the other from revealing that they'd helped him pick it out. (Mostly Yachi. Kageyama had been there for emotional support... Yachi had cried when Kenma had finally settled on one, a small, pleased smile on his lips.)
Hinata talks about Brazil and Japan and going back and coming home, about beach volleyball and the sun and the drinks and his friends, split into two distinct groups. Wherever he goes, there is someone to miss.
"Even your ugly mug, Bakayama," he says.
Kageyama is full of pancakes and nostalgia and fondness. He says, "I miss your ugly mug too, dumbass."
Yachi tears up. "I'm so glad you're both here," she says. "I missed the both of you so much. You're. You're sort of my best friends in the whole world."
She reaches up and cinches her hood again so they can't see her face as it get splotchy, but Hinata practically tackles her with a bear hug until she laughs wetly and says, "Sorry for getting so emotional!"
"You're my best friend too," Hinata declares and glares at Kageyama until he takes the hint.
Kageyama clears his throat, feeling awkward. "You are very important to me," he begins, then falters. Quietly, he says, "I missed you too."
Hinata says cheerfully, "At least we're all in the same country again! Makes it easier to hang out, at least!"
Yachi lets the hoodie fall back and leans forward to give them each a fierce hug.
"I'm rooting for you both!" she weeps, and then it takes two extra desserts to get them all stabilized again.
They pay the check and then wander around the city. Hinata finds a bisexual pride shirt in a secondhand shop and becomes obsessed with buying one for all of them.
"I'm gay," Kageyama says.
"Be an ally, Bakayama," Hinata says, flicking him in the forehead, but then Yachi finds a whole pile of shirts that have "I'm gay" embroidered in the front and insists on buying one for each of them. They put them on in the bathroom, even though Kageyama's is too small and Yachi's is way too big. Kageyama solemnly passes out big blocky sunglasses he'd bought on a whim before they'd left and they spend the rest of the day like that, looking ridiculous in good company.
It's like being in high school again, but better. When Miwa shows up to pick Kageyama up in her car, they're drinking smoothies in a park and posing dramatically on benches to take pictures to send to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, who hadn't been able to get the same days off.
Kageyama doesn't take any of the outfit off until they're in her apartment. Miwa hovers in the doorway of the living room, where she's set up the spare futon, and says, "Your friends. I'm glad they're... them."
Kageyama nods.
Miwa ruffles his hair and says, "Mom and dad miss you, you know."
"I know," he says.
"I don't know if they'll ever come around," she admits, "but I think they're starting to realize there are other things that matter more to them. Like having you and me in their lives."
For the hundredth or thousandth time, he says, "You don't have to always take my side, you know."
She pinches his cheek. "I know," Miwa says, laughing when he slaps her hand away. "Now tell me about this Miya Atsumu."
Kageyama flushes red. "Who told you?" he demands. It was probably Saeko, via her little brother. Damn it!
She cackles. "Ooooh," she teases. "You like him! Is he cute?"
"No," he says long-sufferingly, "he's terrible."
"Not as terrible as Oikawa, though?" She says it like a joke, but her eyes are serious. She might be the only one who knows about how Oikawa broke Kageyama's heart. He's never told anyone else.
Kageyama hides his face in his knees. "No," he says. "Not at all."
Tsukishima is acerbic in his responses to their impromptu photoshoot, but sends a picture of himself, Koganegawa, and Kyoutani posing like Charlie's Angels; Koganegawa is the only one taking it seriously.
Hinata does a group call just so Tsukishima can hear them all laugh at the photo together, and then they spend nearly an hour talking volleyball while Yachi makes distracted humming noises that mean that she's doing something else.
Inevitably, the call turns into gossip. Hinata is uncharacteristically quiet, which is his tactful way of not immediately spilling the beans; on the other hand it means that the others immediately know what's up.
Yamaguchi says, wryly, "Better get it out now before Tanaka-senpai tells everyone."
"I slept with Bokuto-san!" Yachi squeaks out.
"Ugh," Tsukishima says.
"What!" Yamaguchi says.
"I," Kageyama panics and skips some words, "Miya."
"Ugh," Tsukishima says, more empathically.
"Which one?" Yamaguchi asks.
"They're both bad," Tsukishima says.
"Atsumu," Hinata tattles.
"Ugh," Tsukishima says, with feeling.
"I like him," Kageyama admits, which makes Yamaguchi and Yachi squeal.
Hinata says, "Aw, true love."
Kageyama says, evasively, "It's probably too soon to tell."
"It's 'probably' too soon to tell?"
Yamaguchi gasps. "You like him," he says, almost accusingly, then catches himself. "I mean, that's... sweet. I'm happy for you?"
"UGH," Tsukishima says, and hangs up.
Yamaguchi laughs quietly, but uncertainly. "Really, though," he says. "If you're happy, that's all that's important. He's good-looking, isn't he? Great setter, like you. Um... Ambitious."
Despite himself, Kageyama is amused. "You don't have to talk him up to me," he says.
"Thank God," Yamaguchi says, with a sigh. "Honestly, I barely know him. Anyway, Hitoka-chan, what happened to Mari?"
"Oh no," Yachi says. Mari is the underclassman who has a huge stinking crush on Yachi who she's been trying to let down gently. "I told Bokuto-san that I'd visit him in Osaka the day I'm supposed to have coffee with her and break her heart! How could I forget?! I'm a horrible person!"
When the call finally ends 40 minutes later, Kageyama realizes that Tsukishima has sent him a text.
At least he's not as terrible as Oikawa.
Kageyama is still thinking about that when he closes his eyes for the night.
In Kageyama's first year in middle school, he'd wanted nothing less than to be exactly like Oikawa. He'd even said it to Oikawa's face.
Oikawa's mask had gone slack, vulnerable, for just a second; Kageyama remembers being startled, shaken even. He'd never seen past that perfectly constructed guise before, had never even thought of it as such. But the fear, envy, and fury that Oikawa had been so careful to hide had slipped through for a moment, and Kageyama had seen that there was a darkness to the senpai he so admired.
"Sure, Tobio-chan," Oikawa had said lightly, mask firmly back in place. "Work hard and maybe you'll be half the man I am one day." Then he'd winked, and flounced off, shouting, "Iwa-chan!"
Oddly, that moment had made him all the more human to Kageyama. He took the words to heart and worked hard. He stayed long after practice was over, refining his serves and learning precision, though never as long as Oikawa. The harder Kageyama worked, the more Oikawa had seemed like a distant, unreachable goal, until one day Kageyama blinked and he wasn't. He was standing right next to Oikawa and Oikawa was staring back with a sneer.
The strange thing about loving someone is that the good always seems to outweigh the bad. The careful and precise cruelty that Oikawa inflicted on him, making him feel small and naive and foolish all only served to make him more desperate for his validation; the first time Oikawa collapsed during practice and Kageyama found out it was because he'd been pushing himself too hard was the first time he realized that Oikawa was desperate too.
What could Kageyama do with that information? He didn't know, but he still loved volleyball. Maybe he could never have Oikawa, but at least he could have that.
He held onto that until one day he realized that when Oikawa graduated, there would be no more chance for this status quo to change, and something about it was so terrifying to him that one day he left practice on time for once, shocking everyone. The coach, worried he was sick, didn't press, and urged him to drink a lot of orange juice and sleep well. Oikawa had not watched him leave, but the way he had stridently kept his eyes away felt like attention anyway.
Miwa had come and helped him get dressed up in the nicest clothes he had (a blazer and jeans that she'd repaired the knees of herself) and given him a small bouquet of bright blue flowers. He'd gone back to school, knowing that it would be only Oikawa left at this point. When Oikawa had come out of the gym, alone, he had taken one look at Kageyama and all the blood had drained from his face.
Kageyama's hands had begun to shake and the tears had come before either of them could say anything.
"Tobio-chan," Oikawa said, in the gentlest voice he'd ever used for Kageyama. "This is one way you should never have been like me."
He'd taken Kageyama to the bathroom and helped him wipe his face, and solemnly accepted the flowers when Kageyama offered them.
"Thank you," he'd said, "I will take the flowers, but your heart belongs with someone who will be more careful with it, Tobio-chan."
"What if I don't want someone who will be more careful with it?" Kageyama had asked miserably, and then flushed at his own daring.
Oikawa said, "Tobio-chan, I'm terrible. Not only do I love volleyball more than anything, but I hate you for being better at it."
This was devastating to hear, and Kageyama had deflated. Oikawa had laughed at him, but it hadn't been mean. Just self-recriminating.
"The only thing I want is volleyball," Oikawa had said. "I don't know how to want anything else. I'm sorry, Tobio-chan."
And then he'd bought Kageyama some candy and a meat bun, and then a whole box of tissues when he realized Kageyama was still crying. He'd waited with him until Miwa had come back, and passed him into her care, and then they'd never spoken of it again.
Oikawa had called himself terrible, but Kageyama always remembered the kindness he'd managed to spare for Kageyama that day, and thought Oikawa wasn't as terrible as he thought himself to be.
Not until he'd stood in that hallway and watched as Oikawa had a full meltdown in some random hotel in Sendai and realized that Oikawa had never realized that he'd actually wanted volleyball and Iwaizumi and never considered that he'd ever have one without the other, even though he could never let himself be had.
Kageyama wakes up to two missed calls and sixteen texts.
The two calls are from Miya, and most of the texts are from him complaining that Kageyama is denying him affection and that doesn't bode well for their future relationship, then rapidly devolves into longer and longer texts that are essentially essays about how they don't have to be anything and no pressure, like maybe Kageyama could call him Atsumu though? Or not, that's cool, even though it does make him think of his brother which is gross, unless Kageyama doesn't think it's gross, but actually no. That's gross. But no pressure. Please text back. Or not. Everything's fine.
The others are a video from Bokuto, which is just a 10 second video of Miya sitting in the corner of their shared room, clutching his hair and bemoaning, "I like him so much, Bokkun. What if he thinks Osamu is hotter than me coz he's a chef?" and a screenshot of Osamu's reaction to being sent the same video, which is, LUCKY FOR TSUMU KAGEYAMA HAS SHIT TASTE.
Bokuto also asks if Kageyama can ask Yachi to call him. Apparently he doesn't have her number, but he'd love for her to have his!
Kageyama sits there grinning at his phone for so long that it spooks Miwa.
He texts Yachi Bokuto's number.
Then he screenshots Osamu's reaction and sends it to Atsumu along with a burning heart emoji.
Atsumu sends back:
!!!
that rat bastard
can I call ya later?
Kageyama replies:
yeah
Spending time with Miwa is always nice. She takes him to the salon, gives him a haircut, teaches him how to style it. "He likes you anyway," Miwa says, rolling her eyes, "but if you ever want to, you know? Do it for you and allow him to benefit."
They go shopping and have dinner with Sato Kenji, her boyfriend of four years. Sato Kenji works with Daichi as a firefighter, and despite being older than him by three years, is very intimidated by him. Kageyama finds this satisfactory.
He also makes Miwa incandescently happy. It's nice to watch them light up at the sight of each other, how they cheerfully exchange inside jokes and gentle barbs, remind each other about things coming up.
"Did you remember to reschedule your dentist appointment?" Sato Kenji asks, leaning down to kiss the top of her head.
"Yeah," Miwa says, smiling and hooking a finger through his belt loop to tug him closer. "I also picked up some more eggs since you keep eating mine."
Kageyama should finally stop calling him by his full name in his head. They're planning to move in together next year. Sato Kenji has haltingly asked for help with finding a ring. Kageyama is planning to recommend Yachi's services.
Atsumu keeps texting him throughout the day. Little things, like, bokkun is trying and failing to make fried rice and it's not a deal breaker if you don't like hamasaki ayumi, but I need to know now, so Kageyama asks him now, do you like eggs?
eggs are life. eggs are forever.
sakusa just pulled the ugliest fuckin face at me
so basically yes I like eggs jfc
his own goddamn fault for reading over my shoulder
Sakusa texts Hinata, the worst Miya is being even more the worst and I blame all of Karasuno including you
Hinata screenshots it and sends so many laughing emojis that Kageyama has to scroll up to see the picture.
Seeing his parents is weird.
They have tea. They ask perfunctory questions about his and Miwa's life, about Sa—Kenji-san. They congratulate Kageyama's achievements in his career.
This lasts approximately ten minutes, and then they all eat snacks and drink tea in silence.
Then his mother sucks in a deep breath, and visibly girds her loins. His father doesn't look away from the newspaper. He and Miwa tense in anticipation.
His mother says, like a gattling gun, "And are there any nice boys that you've met recently, Tobio?"
"That's nice of them, I guess," Atsumu says later, a little dubiously. "I wouldn't know."
"How'd your parents take it?" Kageyama asks.
"I was raised by just my grandma and my mom," Atsumu says, "but honestly the way I came out to her was pretty stupid, I dunno. We were fightin' and I was all in my head about it and I screamed sumthin' like, 'Well, I'm sorry I'm not like yer perfect son Osamu! I like boys and I like girls and ya can't stop me! Fuck off!' n' she said, 'What the fuck does that haveta do with ya not washing the dishes like I have to ask ya to do every goddamn day, ya ungrateful little brat, I should just let ya starve!' Then she stomped out and then stomped back in and screamed, 'I just want ya to be happy ya little shit and if you don't do the dishes, no one is gonna fuckin' love ya anyway except for us cos we're stuck with you!' and then Samu started crying and came out as gay. Then we had to tell granny and it turned out she already knew because me n Samu were not subtle."
"Not subtle, huh," Kageyama says.
"Dunno what she was talkin' about," Atsumu lies flagrantly. "Samu might be a wrecking ball, but I'm subtle as fuck."
"I'm not a huge fan of subtle."
"Never mind, I'm the wrecking ball. Samu's delicate as glass."
"Oh good," Kageyama says. "I was worried I went with the wrong twin." He can't stop smiling. Yachi, who's taking the train down from Sendai with him until Tokyo, is clutching his sleeve and rocking in place in her efforts to stop squealing.
"Nope," Atsumu says, with a laugh. "Got it in one."
"Sure did," Kageyama says.
Partially muffled, someone on the other end of the line screams, "CUTE!!!!"
Sakusa, closer, says, "Disgustingly so. Why are you forcing us to listen to this." Yachi's face goes very pink.
Bokuto's voice, now unmuffled: "You don't remember, Omi-kun? Tsum-Tsum was all, ahem," he puts on a serious voice and a terrible accent, "'Listen ya scrubs, I'm gonna call Tobio and yer gonna tell me if I sound stupid and how to fix it if I do or else I won't treat you to ramen later,' and we had to say yes because he took our food for ransom, Kageyama-kun, you understand."
Yachi has gone from pink to puce, and she reaches over and hangs up so she can hyperventilate into her hands.
"I need tell you something," she blurts out. "That night I slept with both Bokuto-san and Sakusa-san!"
Kageyama texts Atsumu, sorry I have to call you back and instigates an emergency group call.
"Yachi," Yamaguchi says. "Wow."
"That's a very unexpected thing for a lesbian to do," Tsukishima says.
"I'm bisexual, probably," Yachi says uncertainly.
"Ah," Tsukishima says.
Hinata cheers, "Yeah, Yachi! Get it!" And also, "Please never tell me anything about your sex life with them. They're my coworkers."
"I'm so sorry," Yachi says tearfully. "I'll end it now!"
"What?" Hinata says. "No, don't do that. Unless you don't like them?"
"I do!"
"Great!" Hinata cheers.
By the time Yachi and Kageyama reach Tokyo, Oikawa has been found hiding in Yahaba's apartment.
They get the story from Tsukishima, who hears it from Kyoutani, who heard it from Yahaba himself, which is Oikawa's own fault because everyone knows that Yahaba is the worst of the gossips. He's the gossip master.
According to Tsukishima, they found Iwaizumi first, who'd been back in the US working with Ushijima's dad ("I don't believe Ushiwaka has a dad," Atsumu says, dead serious, "He was carved outta stone and animated by a volleyball witch."), and who then flew all the way back to Miyagi to find Oikawa himself and have a very public fight with Oikawa on Yahaba's front lawn, one which ended in weeping and a surprising amount of property damage.
Kageyama knows what happens next, because he's back in the Adlers dorms when Iwaizumi and Oikawa show up in the common area. This whole mess has been incredibly public for three people who are so intensely private; everyone loves gossip, but they like it harmless and fun.
Oikawa practically falling to his knees in front of Ushijima while Iwaizumi and Ushijima can barely look each other in the eye is not harmless and fun. Kageyama wants to run, but he's frozen in place like the rest of the team, witnessing something none of them really need to see for themselves.
"I'm sorry, Ushiwaka," Oikawa says quietly, eyes on his hands where they are twisting together on his lap. Surprisingly sincerely.
Iwaizumi smacks him upside the head.
"Hey!" Oikawa protests. "I apologized!"
"Don't use the nickname, idiot," Iwaizumi says, but not harshly. Just with that odd mix of exasperation and fondness, the one that he always has when he's dealing with Oikawa.
Oikawa looks stricken, like he hadn't even realized he'd done it. Kageyama feels sorry for him. It's always so uncomfortable to realize you have less control of yourself than you'd like.
"Ushijima," Oikawa says, correcting himself. "Ushijima, I'm... I'm so sorry. I was out of line. I was selfish and I, I. I was only thinking about myself. I hurt you and I hurt Iwa-chan and I... never meant to do that." He starts to cry.
After a very long moment, Ushijima says, sounding almost confused, "I thought you had already returned to Argentina."
"I'm supposed to be in Argentina," Oikawa says evasively.
"As you were supposed to be," Ushijima says, "the day you found us in the hotel."
"Yes," Oikawa admits, fiddling with his hands.
Kageyama doesn't gasp, but his jaw does drop open.
Ushijima looks at him for another long moment. Then he steps forward and folds Oikawa into his arms. He whispers something into Oikawa's ear that Kageyama can't hear, and then suddenly Oikawa is sobbing in Ushijima's arms.
Kageyama looks away. Everyone else is still trying to pretend they're watching the movie, except for Hoshiumi, who is chomping on popcorn loudly and watching shamelessly. When he catches Kageyama looking at him, he shrugs and mouths, 'This shit is better than the movie.'
Iwaizumi sighs and then ushers Ushijima and the still sobbing Oikawa upstairs, probably to Ushijima's room.
Heiwajima breaks the silence they leave behind with a huge exhale, and slumps forward with his elbows on his knees. "Hoooly shit," he says, accurately summing up everyone's feelings. "Who'da thought it would be Wakatoshi bringing the drama? I definitely thought it was gonna be Sokolov."
Sokolov cackles. "Yeah? Well, none of you ever met Hirugami back when—" He cackles even more when their captain slaps a hand over his mouth.
"I thought it was gonna be Romero," Hoshiumi says.
"Me too," Romero says sheepishly.
Hirugami sighs. "I don't think I have to tell you guys, but just in case... let's keep this all to ourselves, yeah?"
Hoshiumi snorts. "Like anyone would believe us anyway," but he nods along with everyone else.
Oikawa leaves in the morning, eyes red and puffy. Kageyama accidentally catches him coming back from his morning run.
"Ugh, Tobio-chan," Oikawa complains, sounding more like himself. "I forgot you were here. I hate that you were present for even some of that."
"I won't say anything," he says.
"You better not," Oikawa says, but there's no conviction in it. He smiles bitterly. "You must think I'm so stupid for playing myself like this."
"No," Kageyama says carefully, watching him closely. "Sometimes you just can't help loving who you love."
Oikawa scoffs. "So grown-up, Tobio-chan," he says. "I hate it." He stuffs his hands into his pockets and walks past Kageyama, probably heading to the station.
"Oikawa-san," Kageyama says.
Oikawa stops, but doesn't turn around.
"You're not so terrible," Kageyama says. Then, because it doesn't feel like enough, he says, "I hope you can be happy. Happier."
At that, Oikawa does turn around, smirking. "Yeah?" he says, then sticks his tongue out. "Well, I hope we both make it to the Olympics so that me and the Argentinian team can crush you and Ushiwaka."
The laugh escapes Kageyama before he can stop it. "Sure," he says, smiling a little. "We'll see about that, huh?"
"Yeah," Oikawa says. "I guess so. Bye, Tobio-chan. Be happy too, or whatever."
"Okay," Kageyama says, and Oikawa nods before walking away again.
Kageyama goes inside.
Iwaizumi stays for a week, although he and Ushijima are forced to stay in a hotel after the second night.
they are so loud, Kageyama complains to everyone he knows. how did they keep this a secret from everyone for so long. this is all Oikawa's fault
Eventually his complaints manage to reach Oikawa, who passes on a message via Kunimi to Koganegawa to Tsukishima to Kageyama that is just a picture of Oikawa winking.
Atsumu complains about that, which earns him another picture of Oikawa winking, but via Hinata.
Iwaizumi goes back to America, and Ushijima returns to the dorms with a smug air that no one can even begrudge him because of everything that happened and also it's so unlike Ushijima to gloat that it's almost reassuring and oddly... cute to see him do it.
Tendou commissions a dick cake to send to Ushijima in congratulations over the whole thing that says, "Congratulations on GETTING THE D" and Romero thinks it's so funny that he takes a picture of it for Instagram and gets in trouble with the PR team.
Kageyama goes to Osaka, where he is accosted by three men who have been pining for too long (two weeks). Atsumu hugs him too tightly, and then Bokuto practically collapses on top of them and says, "True love is so beautiful. Does Hitoka-chan like hamsters? I like hamsters."
Sakusa says, from an appropriate distance away, "I hate animals."
Bokuto's eyes well up. "NOOO OMI-KUN," he exclaims, devastated by the discovery and requires cuddling to be soothed.
Hinata says, "Kageyama, I convinced Atsumu to let you meet his family on neutral ground, you should thank me."
Kageyama looks at Atsumu, who flusters badly and says, "What? What? It's a nice house!"
"We haven't even been on a real date yet," Kageyama says.
"Okay," Atsumu grumbles. "So I jumped the gun." He puts his warm hands on Kageyama's waist, and kisses him on the cheek.
Bokuto and Hinata are taking pictures. No, Hinata is taking a video.
"I'm going to put this in the wedding video," Hinata says.
"Now who's jumping the gun?" Atsumu snaps, and chases them away as they giggle maniacally. Sakusa slinks out after them, his hands tucked in the pocket of his hoodie.
Atsumu comes back pink-faced and sheepish. "Ya don't have to meet them," he says. "They just wanted t'meetcha, I thought it'd be nice."
"I don't mind," Kageyama says.
Neutral ground turns out to be Onigiri Miya, but on the flip side, it's also only Osamu.
"I convinced Ma and Granny to stay home this time," Osamu says to Atsumu. "Thanks for nuthin', I shoulda eaten ya in the womb." To Kageyama, he says, "They're soooo curious about ya. They've watched the Adlers-Jackals match like, ten times."
"That's... not a good measure for our relationship," Kageyama says.
Beside him, Atsumu squirms as Osamu leans in with interest. "Yeah? Then what is? I gotta tell ya, I haven't seen Tsumu like this in ages. Every time ya cut a phone call short, he panics and calls me ta ask if I think ya wanna forget everything and get with the cute lil blonde."
Kageyama looks at Atsumu, who seems to be trying to fuse with the counter.
"Really?"
"I know it's just me being irrational," Atsumu mutters into the countertop. "I heard she's a lesbian."
"Bisexual," Kageyama corrects. "Probably. Anyway, she's busy."
"I know that too," Atsumu says. Sulks. "Bokuto has no fuckin' boundaries. Also, someone needs ta tell him and Sakusa about the bisexual thing and I really don't want it to be me."
"Yachi's working on it," Kageyama says, and then looks at Atsumu for a long time without saying anything.
Osamu says, "Gross," and then walks off without taking their order.
Atsumu stares back until a smile tugs at his mouth. "What're ya looking at?"
"You," Kageyama says, and takes a page out of Atsumu's book and puts his hand on Atsumu's thigh.
Atsumu bounces back with astonishing speed, sitting up and scooting close enough to Kageyama that they're pressed together chest to hip and Kageyama has to sling one arm over his shoulders.
"Yeah?" he asks hopefully.
Kageyama likes him so much. It's not terrible. It's pretty amazing.
"Yeah," he says, and presses a kiss to Atsumu's brow, overflowing with affection. "You don't trust me?"
"I'm insecure," Atsumu admits, grumpily. "I trust ya, but I doubt myself. I really want this to work out."
Kageyama says, "I can't be anyone else but me." He's tried before, it didn't take, but it did nearly destroy him. Without his sister and friends and Karasuno, he'd have crumbled a thousand times.
"That's why I like ya," Atsumu says, lacing their fingers together on his thigh. It's intimate. Kageyama blushes. "Sweetheart," he purrs.
Osamu returns with plates for both of them. When Kageyama looks up to thank him, he sees Osamu is filming them.
"For the wedding video," he says, smirking.
To Kageyama's surprise, Atsumu stands up, pulling Kageyama up with him. "Better make it good, then," he says, and then sticks his hands up Kageyama's shirt.
Osamu screams and claps a hand over his face. "My eyes!"
Atsumu is chortling into Kageyama's shoulder and his hands are warm on his stomach.
"Kageyama, make it stop," Osamu begs, peering at them and the phone screen through his fingers.
Kageyama looks right into the camera lens and shoves his hands down the back of Atsumu's pants. Atsumu screams with laughter and Osamu drops his phone on the counter, also screaming.
"Yer both terrible!" Osamu accuses, and Kageyama laughs.
"Yeah," he says, and leans down just as Atsumu tilts his head up.