Chapter Text
M/N's POV:
Waking up at 3:30 am probably wasn't the best idea I've had, but I forced myself to get out of my bed and into the shower, taking clothes with me. I yawned a few times while in the shower, but the warm water mostly woke me up, which I was grateful for. When I finished in the shower, I put on everything but my shirt, knowing that my hair would just make it wet. When I got to my room, I grabbed my hair drier and did my hair, brushing it after drying it. After putting my long-sleeved shirt on, I placed my uniform in my school bag so I could change into it after the ridiculously early practice Hinata and Kageyama were doing with Tanaka-san.
Heading downstairs I checked my phone to see it was exactly 4 am. 'It takes me 15 minutes roughly to get to school and making food will take at least 40 minutes, so I'll have 5 minutes to spare...' I thought to myself while heading to the kitchen to make lunch for everyone, which, like expected, took 40 minutes. I put them in the fridge before grabbing an empty sheet of paper and a pen from a drawer in the kitchen so I could write a note telling otou-san where I was. I pinned it to the fridge with one of the many food-themed magnets. I filled D/N and C/N's food and water bowls before leaving the house.
I made it to the gym to find Hinata and Kageyama fighting over who gets to go inside the gym first. They both ending up falling into the gym a few seconds later. I walked in, and Hinata was fanboying slightly over being in the gym. Knowing I wouldn't be noticed by them any time soon, due to how quiet I was, I went over to Tanaka-san and tapped his shoulder. "Hm? Oh, M/N-kun. You decided to come too?" I nodded, before responding, "Hai, they seemed like they'd give you trouble. The first impression I got from them was them not getting along," I sweatdropped slightly at the memory, "Plus, after Daichi-san banned them from the gym they started talking again, and I could see how passionate they were for volleyball."
Hinata and Kageyama had now noticed me, which I was glad for. Hinata ran up to me and started asking me questions, clearly excited. He reminded me of an overexcited puppy, and I giggled lightly, "Huh? Why are you laughing?" I now noticed how I was only slightly taller than Hinata and pouted slightly, "It's nothing Hinata, you just reminded me of my puppy with how excited you are," he blushed at my statement, "You can ask me your questions now." he perked up at that and instantly started firing off questions, "What position do you play? Are you another first-year applicant? How tall are you? Are you gonna help us practice? Can you set for me? What's your name?"
I took a moment to register all of his questions. "I'm an all-rounder, but mostly played middle blocker or filled in for my team's libero when he got injured or wasn't in. I'm the second-year applicant Daichi-san mentioned. I'm 5 foot 4.6 inches I think. Yes, I'll help you practice, but you have to mainly practice with Kageyama. I might set for you if I think you're ready for it. I'm L/N M/N, but just call me M/N." I answered his questions before speaking again, "I think Kageyama wants to start practising now Hinata."
He instantly ran over to Kageyama, and they started practising. Kageyama served (a/n: in the scene in anime you can't see what Kags is doing, but I assume it's a serve so Hinata can receive it. I think it's a backup serve receive that Hinata is doing? I'm not the best at terms, so if I end up using the incorrect term please correct me. If I learnt this correctly, the ball gets served, which is then received, and then it can be set, but again, correct me if I'm wrong) the ball to Hinata, but his feet stopped short and he missed the ball.
Kageyama spoke my thoughts a second later. "What happened to your serving and receiving reflexes from yesterday? You need to focus!" So he has good reflexes huh? Hinata got up from the floor grumbling slightly, "All I'm doing is receiving..." After he fully got up he shouted, "There's not much time left! I want to spike, too! I want to jump too!" I was expecting him to shout, due to his passion and not being able to do spikes (which he seemed pretty fond of), so I did not react to it. Kageyama looked pissed, so I braced myself for more shouting.
"Go jump around, then!" Tanaka-san finally stepped in to take control of them, "Hey, you guys. I should give you a fair warning. Daichi-san is usually gentle, but he's extremely scary when he gets angry. I mean extremely." I was expecting the first-year pair to at least stop screaming, what I didn't expect was for them to say, at the same time, "We know." Tanaka-san still had his arms crossed as he continued, "It won't be good if he finds out about this morning practice. It won't be good for me." He straightened himself and put his hands on his hips, "It's not that I'm scared or anything. Absolutely not, Absolutely not at all." With how many times he'd said he wasn't scared, I had a good feeling he was scared of Daichi-san. "But anyway," Tanaka-san started again, "the four of us here are the only ones that know about this morning practice, so make sure that you..." he was cut off by the door to the gym opening, which made me jump slightly.
"Morning practice, huh? I knew it." My attention turned to the door and I smiled when I saw Suga-san. Tanaka-san just said Suga-san's name, which got a "Hey." in response from Suga-san. Hinata looked shocked at Suga-san's presence, and Tanaka-san and Suga-san were having a conversation. I just stayed where I was standing. "But why?" Tanaka-san had a point. How did Suga-san know we were doing a practice? "Because you were obviously weird yesterday." Suga-san was putting on his volleyball shoes while he explained, "You're always barely on time, but you voluntarily asked to be in charge of opening the lock." I sweatdropped heavily, no wonder Suga-san knew about it. Tanaka-san started to speak, but only "Oh...ah..." left his mouth as he (most likely) tried to explain, failing horribly. "Don't worry, don't worry. I won't tell Daichi." Tanaka-san sighed in relief, "This is like secret training or something. It's kind of thrilling. Hinata and Kageyama also sighed in relief this time.
Tanaka-san spiked Kageyama's toss (a/n: help me I'm so confused I thought he was setting but Hinata wants a toss- I need to either read more hq fics or spend hours studying volleyball tdtuvutcu) with a shout of "Come and get it!" while Suga-san helped Hinata with his receives. Tanaka-san praised Kageyama for his toss as Hinata got hit on the head with the ball because he got distracted. "Hinata, don't get distracted." Suga-san scolded him lightly, but Hinata ignored him in favour of shouting to Kageyama, "I want to hit the ball, too. Send me a toss, too." Kageyama turned around to face Hinata, "Tossing's your favourite, right? Send me a toss, too. Just one." Suga-san tried to get Hinata's attention, but he either didn't hear or didn't listen, Tanaka-san was also stood near Suga-san now, "Just try me out, once. Okay?" Kageyama just turned around and refused. I don't think they expected him to refuse, based on their faces. "What is this? Stinginess?" Tanaka-san also butted in, "That's right, that's right."
Kageyama was clearly fed up now, I couldn't blame him, to be honest. He turned around and served(?) the ball to Hinata, it bouncing off of his forearm and to the left. "That came straight at you from the front. Tossing and attacking happen only if there's a reception. Which you're too slow to even do, so don't talk cocky." Kageyama walked away, probably to get the ball, as he continued, "For the four-on-four match this Saturday, I'll make every effort to give Tanaka-san all those tosses." Hinata gasped, while I got confused, Suga-san was there when they had been told to work together, right? So why was Kageyama so open with admitting that he wouldn't work with Hinata? "Let Tanaka-san do the attacking. You do your best to not get in our way." I winced slightly at that, feeling bad for Hinata.
"When I can receive well enough, you'll send me tosses, too?" I decided to sit on the stage at this point, wondering how I'd practice, seeing as I couldn't ask Suga-san to toss for me, since he was working with Hinata, Kageyama was too short-tempered, so I wouldn't dream of even asking him to toss for me. I could ask Tanaka-san, but he's working with Kageyama. I sighed, slightly frustrated, before taking my phone from where it still was in my pocket and searching for anything I could use to practice by myself. Surprisingly, there was. I looked through the drills mentioned while still listening to the conversation happening in front of me, "I'll toss to anyone who's essential to winning. Right now, I don't think you're essential to winning." Kageyama really has no filter, does he? Tanaka-san exclaimed, "Gutsy!" and Suga-san was speaking to him in a slightly disapproving tone, "What's it take to toss him a few here and there?" I checked the corner of my phone for the time, seeing it was nearly seven. I hopped off the stage and put my phone in my bag. I was about to tell them that we should probably start clearing up, but Kageyama spoke for me, "It's getting to be that time. We'd better clear up."
That made Tanaka-san and Suga-san move to clear up, Tanaka-san doing so with an exclamation of, "Crap. Hurry! Erase all evidence!" Suga-san told Tanaka-san to grab a mop, him agreeing instantly and going to get one from the storage cupboard. I noticed Hinata still hadn't moved, and he cursed slightly. I didn't want to risk anything, so I decided I'd speak to him during the lunch break. I helped clear up, before asking Suga-san where I could change into my school uniform. He told me, that since we were low on time, I could change in the storage cupboard (everything had already been cleared up thankfully), and he'd show me where the team's club room was when he had time. I thanked him before going into the cupboard with my bag and changing quickly, walking out a few minutes later. I braided the part of my hair that had come out and pinned it to the side of my head with one of the pins that I had as I walked to class.
Lunch came quicker than I expected it to, and I went to the area of the school next to the walkway in between the gym and the school building. I ate my lunch, mumbling "Itadakimasu" before doing so, while I listened to Suga-san instruct Hinata on how to better his receives. "Hinata, drop your waist and hit it like you're sending it right back to the direction it came from." Hinata nodded, adjusting his body the way Suga-san told him too and Suga-san got ready to serve(?) the ball again, "Here goes." The ball hit Hinata's forearms and went up, "Oh, that was a good one." Hinata seemed happy with himself, as Suga-san pushed the ball back, "Ne, Hinata. You want me to toss to you starting tomorrow morning?" Hinata caught the ball instead of receiving it, "Really? You will?" Suga-san put his hands on his hips, as he spoke, "I'm the official setter of Karasuno, you know. You want to practice spiking, right?" Huh... so Suga-san is Karasuno's setter...
Hinata was once again going over his love for spiking, then went on to explain that he was the only member in the boy's volleyball club at his school and that they had no official setter, so he always wondered what kind of setter he'd have in high school. I put my now empty bento box in my bag. Hinata's spirit's seemed lower as he thought, probably about Kageyama since he'd just been talking about high school setters. "Like I said, I'm a setter. I'll toss to you." Hinata seemed happy about it before turning his head to the side, "But if you tossed to me... I'd kinda feel like I've lost." Suga-san sighed, "Hinata, why do you insist on getting in Kageyama's face? Personally, I try to avoid confronting guys who are stronger than me."
"During the junior high tournament, he was so much better and taller than me. He was so strong. It was horrible when he stood in front of me," Hinata seemed to have a sort of idolisation for Kageyama, but got annoyed because he was so much better, which probably lead to this whole thing with them not getting along. "I understand how that must feel." Hinata continued, "I came to Karasuno because I was going to beat Kageyama." If that's the case, he likely expected Kageyama to be on a stronger team, becoming his opponent. "I see. But, Hinata, is beating Kageyama all you want out of volleyball?" Suga-san was right. I doubt that Hinata spent most of his time in junior high just so he could beat Kageyama, he must have had a reason, right? "I just want to be strong enough to beat Kageyama. If I can do that, I'll be on even ground with any strong opponent. I wouldn't be easy to beat in a match. I don't want to lose anymore." From where I was sat, I could see Kageyama poking his head around the corner slightly.
"I see... So, in other words, Kageyama is the best player in your grade level, as far as you know," Hinata squeezed the volleyball in his hands as he tried to admit it, which it was clear he didn't want to, "But if he was your most formidable opponent, now he's your most formidable ally." Hinata squeezed the ball again, he really doesn't like the idea of that... "All right, let's do some receiving." That stopped Hinata from assaulting the ball, finally, "All right." Suga-san and Hinata worked on Hinata's receives for the rest of the lunch break, while I watched, occasionally giving feedback to Hinata.
When school ended, I ran into Hinata. He nearly fell, but I grabbed his wrist before he could, "Sorry M/N-senpai!" he apologised. "It's okay Hinata, don't worry," I now noticed he was wearing the school-provided sportswear, "Oh? Are you going to try and secretly join in the practice in the gym?" he went red, probably not expecting me to know. "Ne, Hinata," he tilted his head slightly, confused, "Sorry to ask this of you, but can you tell Suga-san that I'll be watching you and Kageyama practice? By the time I got to the gym, the practice would already be properly starting..." I had about ten minutes until the elementary school day would be ending, if I went to speak to Suga-san now, I wouldn't get there as quickly.
"Sure senpai! But why can't you tell him where you'll be? Oh! And how will you know where to find us practising?" Huh... I hadn't thought about how I'd know. "Arigato, Hinata. I have to pick my siblings up from elementary school, and I didn't want to make them wait longer than they'd need to. About knowing where you'll be practising, you have a phone, right?" he nodded and I continued, "I can give you my number, then you can just text me the location. That's fine, right?" he nodded again, giving me his phone. I typed my number in, making sure to put my name on the contact, before giving it back to him.
"I'll see you soon, okay Hinata?" he nodded, saying goodbye to me, and I left, going as fast as I could without getting told off for running, as I left. I ended up jumping the bottom steps of the stairs multiple times. When I was outside, I started sprinting to the twins' school. It wasn't far from our house, so I knew the fastest way to get there. I got there in about fifteen minutes, so the children were only just being let out. Now walking, I headed to the door of their class, seeing their faces light up as they saw me. The twins tried to run out to get to me, but their teacher stopped them.
"But Onii-chan is there! Let us see Onii-chan!" This was the loudest I'd heard them speak other than when playing with Pudding or Tetsu, so I was slightly surprised. "Ano... I'm here to get S/N and B/N." Their teacher looked at me, clicked his tongue and then responded to me, "You have to be 18 or older to pick them up unless the school has already been notified. Where are your parents?" I sighed, already fed up with his attitude. The school had been told that I'd be picking them up every day, and they were fine with it.
"The school has been notified that I'd be picking them up every day. They were fine with it. Our father is currently at work, and our mother doesn't want anything to do with us. She's in Tokyo, and our parents are divorced, the only reason our last names haven't been changed yet is that our father has been busy." Okay, maybe some of that was lies, she probably did want to be involved with us (though only to hurt us), and they technically weren't divorced, but what the teacher didn't know wouldn't hurt him. "Can I take my siblings now? I'm supposed to be watching my kohais train for a match." The teacher let them go, apologising to me. S/N and B/N ran into me, hugging me, "Onii-chan, can we watch your ko...hais train? I wanna see Onii-chan's teammates!" I laughed, picking them up before starting to walk (getting shocked looks from some parents because I could lift them both), "Sure you can, munchkins. If we're quick, you can train with them if you want. They're very loud though, and they shout at each other sometimes."
They seemed overjoyed at the chance of being able to train and ended up telling me to go faster because they "really want to train with Onii-chan's new teammates". I did go faster, and we got home quicker than we would if I didn't mention training. I put them down before I opened the door, and they ran inside and up to their room to change. After closing and locking the door behind me, I also went up. Taking off the Karasuno uniform, I put it on the end of my bed before getting into shorts and a shirt, putting a jacket on over the top. Grabbing my knee and elbow pads (which were longer than necessary (a/n: think of Bokuto's knee pads, but also on the elbow pads, I think the actual term for what I'm saying is arm sleeves but idk)), I put them in my practice bag along with the volleyball I had (the one that wasn't signed, obviously). I could grab water before we left. S/N ran into my room then, giving me the knee and elbow pads that belonged to her and B/N, which were just a smaller version of mine, and I put them in the bag too.
"Onii-chan, B/N is done too, can we go now?" Grabbing the practice bag, knowing that I'd likely get dragged, I replied "Yeah, we can. Get a jacket before you leave though, tell B/N I said that too okay? I'll wait downstairs for you." she nodded and dashed off to their shared room. I went downstairs and into the kitchen, putting water bottles and healthy snacks in the practice bag. After refilling D/N and C/N's food and water bowls, I realised that D/N still needed to be walked today. I went back to the cupboard to get treats and things like that for her, putting them in the practice bag too before I shouted for her, "D/N, come here girl!" The light tapping of her claws on the floor got louder and I took her leash from where it was hung in the kitchen, clipping it to her collar when she came to me. She took the leash into her mouth as she walked with me to the front door.
The twins were already there, practically bouncing in excitement, and I unlocked the door, grabbing D/N's leash from her mouth. The twins ran out as soon as the door was unlocked and I had to shout for them not to run off, catching up with them. Taking my phone out, I unlocked it to see I had a text from an unknown number.
------------------------
Conversation with Unknown Contact
Unknown Contact: Hi senpai! It's Hinata. We're at the field thingy near school (a/n: I'm just gonna say that the field thing isn't on school grounds because otherwise, D/N wouldn't be allowed there)
-Unknown Contact has been changed to Excited Puppy (Hinata)-
M/N: Hi Hinata. We'll be there in about 10 mins.
Excited Puppy (Hinata): We?
M/N: I'm bringing my siblings and dog. My siblings had to come, our dog is coming because she needs walking. My siblings are really excited to meet you and train with you-
Excited Puppy (Hinata): Oh okay! Kageyama is gonna shout at me if I'm on my phone any longer so see you soon!
M/N: See you soon Hinata
-----------------------
I turned off my phone and put it in my pocket before asking the twins about their day at school. "It was fun! We made a friend! She's called Natsu-chan and her brother plays volleyball too!" I smiled as S/N explained, glad they were making friends. B/N spoke this time, "Mhm! Natsu-chan is really nice, she let us draw with her!" They kept explaining how their day at school went, taking turns at speaking until we got to where Hinata and Kageyama were. "My teammates are there." I pointed to where I saw Hinata and Kageyama practising. They took at as their cue to run to the pair. I got pulled along by D/N who started running after them. "Onii-chan! He looks like Natsu-chan!" B/N was pointing at a confused Hinata as he spoke. Hinata looked less confused once he saw me. "B/N, don't point, it's rude. Sorry about that Hinata, these two munchkins are B/N and S/N," D/N barked from where she was stood next to me, "That's D/N." S/N let out a gasp, "Onii-chan... he's shorter than you!"
I went red in embarrassment, putting my face into my hands. I apologised to Hinata, who said it was fine. Hinata looked at B/N, "You mentioned someone called Natsu-chan right?" B/N nodded and Hinata took out his phone, showing a picture of a little girl who looked like him, "Is this Natsu-chan?" B/N nodded again, "I'm her brother, Shōyō." the twins both gasped. "Onii-chan, who's the scary person behind Shōyō?" I was confused but then saw that Kageyama was behind him and covered my mouth so I wouldn't laugh, "That's Kageyama, S/N. Don't call him scary, please..." she nodded and attempted to say 'Kageyama', "It's too long... What's your actual name? Or can we call you Kags or Yama?" Kageyama looked sort of shocked that she was speaking to him, especially since she called him scary a few seconds ago, but answered anyway, "My actual name is Tobio. I don't mind what you call me." I was not expecting him to be semi-soft around the twins.
B/N looked up at me, "Onii-chan, can we train with Shō-chan and Yama-chan now?" I swear, I'm going to die one day and it will be from these two being so damn cute. "Yeah, you can, but let me put your knee and elbow pads on, okay?" I opened the bag I had with me and took out their pads, putting them on the twins before putting my own on. The twins looked exactly like Nekoma players now, just mini ones. Since they came with me to practice practically every day, the coaches asked them who their favourite team member was and got them a smaller version of their jersey, and small Nekoma shorts too. S/N's jersey was a smaller version of Tetsu's and B/N's was a smaller version of Pudding's. They had apparently chosen Pudding and Tetsu's because, "They're like our Onii-chans, and this way, Ken-nii and Tetsu-nii will always be with Onii-chan!"
I took out the volleyball I brought with me and gave it to B/N, "Do you want me to practice with you?" he seemed to think about it for a moment, before nodding, "Onii-chan can receive the ball if we don't do it properly!" Libero duties, on hard ground, 'I feel like I'm going to regret this...' Not wanting to disappoint them, I agreed to be their libero, despite the pain I would most likely endure. Kageyama and Hinata (a/n: he won't call someone by their given name unless told he can, he only calls Sugawara Suga because he was told he could. This is why he still calls everyone by their family name, with the exception of Kenma and Tetsurō) were practising receives together, well more like Kageyama was serving to Hinata and Hinata was receiving them.
I turned my attention back to the twins, who had started doing what Hinata and Kageyama were doing, S/N serving and B/N receiving. He didn't miss a lot of the receives, and S/N's serves were mostly accurate, probably since he and S/N had been trained by some of the Nekoma members, or me when we had free time during practices. The times I had to dive for the ball hurt, a lot but that pain was nothing compared to the pain I'd felt while we were living with her. We were like this for quite a while, probably an hour, only stopping for water and snacks (which I made Hinata and Kageyama drink and eat too). The twins had complained about feeling tired after practising for an hour, so they were sat to the side with D/N while I stayed standing up, giving occasional pointers to Hinata.
Kageyama served the ball to Hinata, but his position must have been off badly, as the ball ended up in a tree. 'Okay... Hinata needs a lot more than just Suga-san's lessons during lunch break. I'll have to plan something for him.' I thought to myself. "I said to take it easy when we practise outside." I now noticed that Hinata was climbing a tree to get to the ball, while Kageyama had come over with a stick in his hand to poke the ball so it fell, "All you have to do is receive properly." Kageyama jumped a few times, hitting the ball. "Whatever Ōsama," Hinata responded. 'Kageyama please don't murder Hinata for calling you that, we need him on the team. He probably doesn't understand the real reason why you're called that.' Kageyama stopped jumping, "Oi." Hinata jumped slightly before turning around with his hand covering his mouth, most likely regretting what he said. Kageyama managed to get the ball down and walked away with a "tch".
Hinata dropped from his current place on the tree, which I lightly gasped at before he put a hand to his chin, holding his elbow on his other hand. I tilted my head at that, he was clearly thinking of something, but what? He shook his head and ended up leaning on the tree before Kageyama called out to him, "Hey, let's get back to it." Hinata snapped out of the state he was in before speaking, "I wonder what our first-year opponents are like. They'll be better than playing against our senpais." Kagayama lifted his hand that held the volleyball, "Who cares what they're like? There's no choice but for me to win." I internally sighed, 'us, Kageyama, you mean us, you're working with a team, not by yourself.' Hinata pointed back at him, "That's what I was going to say." Kageyama just turned around to move further away, clicking his tongue again, earning a "Don't click your tongue." from Hinata.
He quickly got into receiving position, "Let's do this." Kageyama served the ball, only for it to hit Hinata in the face, making him fall backwards. "Oi. You don't receive with your face." I walked over to where Hinata was on the floor and stretched my hand out for him to grab, "Are you okay Hinata?" He grabbed my hand and I pulled him up without any trouble, which seemed to surprise him a bit, "Hai, I'm okay senpai!" I sighed in relief when he said that, thankful he wasn't hurt.
Despite getting hit in the face, Hinata still insisted on doing receives. I allowed him to continue, with slight hesitance. They were still doing receives when it had turned dark. I decided to stay with them, knowing they'd probably end up staying there for the entire night, but I was now sat down next to the twins and D/N. The twins ended up sitting on either side of me, on the jacket that I put under myself, leaning their heads on me. D/N was laying across my feet, head on her paws.
Hinata ended up diving to the side to receive the ball, tossing it back to Kageyama, panting. "One... One more." Kageyama wiped his forehead with his sleeve, "Here goes." Hinata started to get in position, "Yeah." Kageyama served(?) the ball, "Go. The back." Hinata was about to push the ball back when a hand grabbed the ball. "Wow, they're really doing this outside." The male who caught the ball pulled it back, "Are you the first-years that stirred up trouble on the first day?" Another male who was shorter than the one currently speaking came from behind the taller male, "T-shirts? Chilly."
I now realised how short Hinata was compared to the blonde male. They were wearing Karasuno uniforms, 'These must be the other first-year applicants Daichi-san mentioned. They're really tall.' I thought. Hinata jumped for the ball to grab it from the taller male, who held it out of his reach, "Give it back." Teasing Hinata clearly seemed fun, as the blonde male spoke again, "Isn't it time for elementary school boys to go home?" Hinata seemed annoyed at that statement, and honestly, I don't blame him, I was sort of annoyed too, 'Why do most tall people always bring height into their teasing?'
"Who are you guys anyway?" Kageyama moved from his place to see better after Hinata shouted. Kageyama must have gathered the same idea I did, as he asked, "You're the other first-years joining the club?" Hinata turned around, "Hey. I was talking here." Kageyama ignored Hinata to ask the other how tall he was. The shorter of the two new first-years replied, almost boastingly, "Tsukki is 188cm. He'll be 190 soon." That clearly caught Hinata's attention as he turned back around, "190?"
"What are you bragging about, Yamaguchi?" The blonde asked the shorter male, who I now know as Yamaguchi. "Gomen, Tsukki," he apologised. The taller spoke again, directing his question to Kageyama, "You're Kageyama of Kitagawa Daiichi, aren't you? What's an elite like you doing in Karasuno?" Kageyama stepped forward, "Huh?" Hinata turned their attention back to him, "Oi," he moved closer to the taller male, "We won't lose this Saturday, you hear me?"
The blonde put the hand with the ball in it to his head, "Oh, I see." Hinata seemed surprised at this, but he continued while throwing the ball up and catching it, "It might be an important match for you two, but it doesn't matter to me at all. I'm not worried about winning or losing, so if you two really need to win, I can go easy on you if you like."
"What?" Hinata shouted. Kageyama ignored Hinata in favour of replying to the blonde, "Whether you go easy on us or give it your all, the bottom line is I will win." I internally sighed and was about to tell him he's supposed to be working with Hinata and Tanaka-san, but Hinata spoke before me, "You mean 'we'." The blonde laughed before speaking again, "Amazing confidence. I expect nothing less of the 'Ōsama'." I sighed, externally this time, at the use of Kageyama's 'nickname'. "Oi. Don't call me that." The taller seemed amused at Kageyama's response, and it showed in his voice too, "So it is true," Kageyama let out a noise of confusion, "The rumour that he loses it when he's called the 'Ōsama of the Court'."
Kageyama was now shaking in anger, but the blonde continued, "What's wrong with 'Ōsama'? It's cool." Hinata had now moved from where he was to behind Kageyama, seemingly confused at the fact he was shaking in anger, "I think it suits you perfectly, 'Ōsama'." I looked down at the twins, seeing they were asleep, and sighed in relief, thankful they wouldn't have to see this. "What do you want from me, dude?" The blonde didn't respond to Kageyama's question, instead walking past him before speaking, "I watched the prefecture preliminary tournament. That was some egocentric tossing. I can't believe your teammates tolerated it, because I just couldn't. Oh. I guess what happened was because they couldn't tolerate it any more, either."
That must have struck a nerve in Kageyama because just seconds after he was turned around with the taller males uniform jacket in his fists, the taller's friend shouting at "Tsukki!" in alarm. 'Shit, shit, shit... This isn't good. I can't even move, shit.' Kageyama clicked his tongue before letting go of the taller, which made me sigh in relief that there wasn't going to be a fight, but then realised that something was wrong with Kageyama as he just grabbed his back, calling out for Hinata to follow him. This also made Hinata confused at his lack of reaction towards the taller. "Running away? I guess the Ōsama isn't what he's cracked up to be."
That seemed to annoy Hinata as well, as he turned around to the taller, who just continued to run his mouth, "Maybe I'll win against the Ōsama this Saturday, too." He threw the ball up, but Hinata leapt over him, grabbing the ball in the process, which shocked us all. 'Damn, Hinata can jump.' Hinata spoke, a slightly annoyed tone to his voice, and I noticed that Kageyama had stopped walking away to leave, "Shut up with the 'Ōsama' crap. I'm here, too. I'll spike the ball over your head at the match." The blonde let out a "Huh?", which had Hinata back away from him, "W-What? Hey. You wanna fight, bastard?" The taller replied, fake smiling, "Let's not get so intense. Let's do this cheerfully, for fun. It's only a club activity, after all."
"What do you mean, 'only'?" Hinata shouted, not happy that something he was so passionate about was referred to as 'only a club activity'. "I mean, literally," was the blonde's response as he started to walk away, "See you later." Hinata shouted, "Hey, you! Stop! Who are you guys?" The tall duo turned around, and the blonde spoke first, "First-year class-4, Tsukishima Kei." The boy next to Tsukishima turned around fully, "I'm Yamaguchi Tadashi."
Kageyama had walked back to Hinata's side during that. Tsukishima spoke again, "We're your teammates starting today. But enemies for now. Looking forward to seeing the Ōsama's tosses." He walked away, Yamaguchi saying "See you." as he followed Tsukishima. I was glad I hadn't been involved, D/N would have gotten up and most likely would have started growling, being overprotective of me. "Man, those guys totally give me the creeps. We'll pummel them to the ground." Hinata's enthusiasm made me smile slightly. "I don't need you to tell me that." Kageyama had started walking away.
"Hey, where are you going?" Kageyama let out a "Huh?" at Hinata's statement, "We're not done yet." Kageyama dropped his bag where he was stood and took the ball from Hinata, and they started practising again. I saw Suga-san and Tanaka-san and decided to ignore the shouts of Kageyama and Hinata. I turned on my phone, which was on my lap, to see it was nearly 8:00 pm. I got D/N to get off my feet, and carefully got up from where I was sat, making sure not to wake the twins. I saw Kageyama serve way too hard and realised what Tsukishima said must have still been affecting him.
Just as Hinata was about to throw the ball back to Kageyama, I put my hand out to stop it. "Huh? What was that for senpai?" Hinata asked, confused. "You guys should stop training, for now. It's getting late and Kageyama's been off his game since Tsukishima spoke to him about his old team, if I left you two here, you'd end up practising all night. You won't be able to receive well if you're tired. Plus, you still have the secret practices to go to." Hinata seemed to understand and went to grab his stuff, which I was grateful for.
I walked over to Kageyama and tapped him on the shoulder (with minor difficulty but we don't talk about that). He seemed to snap out of the state he was in, which I was glad for. "C'mon, you need to stop training until tomorrow. You'll overwork yourself, and you seem out of it right now. You've already been training for at least 5 hours, not including the secret practice." Kageyama nodded, and walked to his bag, swinging it over his shoulder. Walking back to where the twins were, I picked them up to move them off my jacket, setting them down so they were still comfortable. I put my jacket on before I shook B/N's shoulder, knowing he'd be the easiest to wake up and that he wouldn't be grumpy after being woken up.
"Mmm... Onii-chan..?" he yawned after he spoke, and I smiled softly at him, "It's me B/N. You have to get up now, okay? I can't pick you guys up when you're sleeping. I'll make katsudon when we get home." He nodded, rubbing his eyes as he did so, before getting up from where he was on the floor. I then shook S/N's shoulder. S/N took slightly longer to wake up, "'M tired... Go 'way..." I chuckled slightly at her response to being shaken awake, "If you wake up properly, you can get popsicles after we have katsudon." She was up on her feet seconds later. I chuckled again before ruffling their hair, getting up from where I kneeled on the ground.
I noticed that Hinata and Kageyama were still where they were, probably waiting for me. Taking ahold of D/N's leash, I put the bag I brought with me over my shoulder. I made the twins hold onto either my hand or the leash before turning my attention to the first-year pair, "Do you guys want meat buns? My treat. You deserve them, you both worked hard." They both accepted my offer, and we walked out of the field area together.
The twins were talking to the duo as we walked, saying things like "Yama-chan did really good serves!" or, "Shō-chan did good receives!", which I found adorable. They had already taken a liking to the pair, despite not knowing them for long. They continued to compliment the pair during the entire walk, including when I went into the shop (B/N, S/N, Hinata and Kageyama waited outside with D/N), only stopping when we had to go our separate ways, but not before B/N pulled gently on Kageyama's hand and asked, "Can you give Onii-chan your number? I want to speak to Yama-chan more!" We both went red at that, me out of embarrassment from how bold B/N was being, but exchanged numbers. I looked down as S/N tugged at my shirt, "What's wrong munchkin?" I asked. She grabbed Hinata's hand, making him look at her before she told me what was 'wrong', "Shō-chan needs your number too!"
I chuckled slightly before ruffling her hair, getting a "Don't do that Onii-chan!" and a pout from her. "Hinata already has my number, we gave each other our numbers when school finished, so I'd know where we were doing practice," To prove my point, I went onto my contacts list and showed her Hinata's, "See?" She nodded, accepting my answer and letting go of Hinata's hand as B/N let go of Kageyama's hand. The twins looked at each other, nodded, and then spoke at the same time as each other, "Bye Shō-chan! Bye Yama-chan! See you tomorrow!" I said goodbye to them after the twins did so and the first-year duo nodded, saying goodbye as well, before walking (or in Hinata's case, cycling) away.
It didn't take long for us to reach the house, and I took off D/N's leash at the door before opening it. "You two," I started, getting the twins' attention, "Go shower okay? S/N, if you need help with your hair I can help you once you've showered." I smiled as they nodded and ran upstairs. Walking into the kitchen, I refilled the food and water bowls before washing my hands and starting to make the katsudon.
40 MINUTE TIMESKIP (BECAUSE THIS ISN'T A FOOD WARS FIC SO I DONT NEED TO WRITE THE COOKING PROCESS)
As I was putting the katsudon on the table, the munchkins ran in smiling. "Onii-chan, I need help with my hair." S/N's hair was still slightly damp from her shower, the usually H/C strands a darker shade due to the water. "I'll help you with your hair after we eat ." I smiled at her as she sat down next to B/N. I sat across from them, and we all said "Itadakimasu" before eating. (a/n: until now I completely forgot that the phrase Itadakimasu existed, so no eating scenes before it had it in. The lunch scene in this chapter doesn't count as I edited it. I'll go back and edit the previous chapters after I publish this one, so Itadakimasu is said.)
It didn't take long to finish eating, and I cleared the table, putting the bowls in the sink for after I washed S/N's hair. The second I put the bowls down, S/N practically dragged me upstairs and into the bathroom. It didn't take long for me to wash her hair, and I dried it with my hair drier afterwards. I shouted B/N up, and he arrived at my room not long after. After drying B/N's hair, I gave them both one of my hoodies, which were oversized on them, knowing how much they liked wearing them. We went downstairs and I grabbed three popsicles from the freezer, giving one to B/N and S/N before opening my own.
When we finished the popsicles, I told them to go to their room while I washed the dishes. Washing up didn't take too long, since I only really had bowls to wash and dry. Putting away the now dry bowls, I yawned, my tongue curling slightly as I did so. I went upstairs to my room to get pyjamas before going to the bathroom to take a shower. I dried my hair with a towel before changing into the pyjamas, throwing the towels and clothes in a hamper and putting the knee pads and arm sleeves in my room. Walking into the twins' room, I saw they had both fallen asleep and smiled. I kissed their foreheads before turning off the bedside lamps they had and walking out, closing the door behind me.
I put my phone on charge, placing it on the bedside table, before getting under my own covers and falling asleep no long after.
TIMESKIP TO FRIDAY NIGHT (FOR PROBABLY THE TINIEST AMOUNT OF WRITING BEFORE THE END OF THE CHAPTER)
The routine of training with Hinata and Kageyama continued through the entire week, and it was now the night before the practice match. Getting under my covers, I fell asleep not long after.