Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Beginnings

“Oh my god, Shouyou-chan. What are you doing?” 

Koji and Izumi watched with shock and horror as their petite female companion fisted her mass of orange curls into a crude ponytail and began to brutally chop it off in front of the bathroom mirror using a pair of blunt scissors. The thick bundles of hair fell down onto her feet and littered the white tiled floor.

“They said that they disbanded the girl’s volleyball club,” Hinata said simply, glaring at her reflection intently in the mirror as she hacked at a particularly stubborn curl.

Her once shoulder-length waves of bright, orange hair were now carelessly strewn about her head in a short, messy sprawl of curls, with strands so short that some even resembled spikes. It should have looked bad with the haphazard way the girl was going about with the scissors, but if anything, her new cropped hair put even more of an emphasis on her large, shining brown eyes. 

Once Hinata was satisfied with the end-product, she nodded at her reflection and jumped off the stool she was perched on to grin triumphantly at her friends.

“What do you think?” Hinata spun around in their school’s green volleyball uniform proudly. Begrudgingly, they did have to admit she pulled off looking like a boy with no problem. Perhaps her features could arguably be seen as too delicate, and her voice a little too high to be quite masculine, but all in all, she looked the part.

The thing was, Hinata was never what others considered as traditionally girly. If one were to judge her based on looks alone, her flat chest and scrawny features did little to assure her femininity. Her mother, more often than not, had reprimanded her for being too loud and brash. Definitely not a good role model for Natsu, she would say, but her younger sister adored her regardless. 

“I think...you’re insane,” Koji groaned into his hands.

“I cannot, with a sound mind, support this plan,” Izumi said, shaking his head in dismay.

Hinata could only laugh and grin at their reactions. “Watch me, okay? I’m going to fly!”

Regardless of her assurances, the two boys were still anxious when the time came for them to enter the gymnasium for the tournament, waiting for the moment when their bright-haired friend would be called out for what she was. The other boys on the team were also sworn into secrecy, all easily persuaded by Hinata with only a few purposeful grins and shining eyes.

They held their breath in fear when she confronted the opposing team outside of the boy’s bathroom, because how in the world was she going to pull that off, yet somehow she walked away unscathed and even more determined than before.

And despite their initial trepidation, when they finally walked onto that court and faced against the Kitigawa team, no one questioned Hinata about whether she was actually a boy or whether she belonged there.

Instead…

“What have you been doing for the last three years?!”

They weren’t the only ones staring up in awe at their female friend when she jumped and soared higher than anyone else in the gymnasium.

1. Karasuno Team

So maybe there was one flaw to her plan.

Hinata stopped dead in her tracks as she stepped through the threshold of the locker room, staring almost obsessively ahead, as the boys around her continued on into the room, pulling off their shirts and starting to pull down their shorts as they went. The sight of creamy and bronzed skin filled the room, and Hinata felt a blush threaten to overtake her. 

This was going to be a Problem.

It was her first day of official practice after finally, along with Bakayama, being let onto the team, which was supposed to be amazing and exciting, but it also meant…

Heat flamed her cheeks as Hinata desperately averted her eyes as Kinoshita dropped his boxers, and she prayed to all of the gods above that the scarring image would not burn itself into her memory.

Slowly, as if not to put too much attention on herself, she began backing out of the room, one foot at a time, before spinning on her heel once outside and running straight into Kageyama, who was unknowingly walking behind her. “EEP!”

She looked up to see dark blue eyes glaring down at her. “What are you doing, dumbass?” From the corner of the locker room, Tsukishima slipped on a clean shirt and raised a curious brow at the exchange.

Hinata sheepishly skirted around him, avoiding looking directly at him or anyone else in the club room. “Uhhh! Nothing! I just...forgot something? Back in the gym? See you tomorrow!!”

She zipped past him and headed towards the stairs, willing the blush on her cheeks to go down. Okay, this was fine. She would just avoid the locker room at all cost. She could just bike all the way home to change, instead of doing it here. Or wait until everyone was done, and then sneak in before they locked up the club room. 

Hinata shook her head at the thought. No, no, that wasn’t good enough. Too many possible mishaps could occur, and people would start to question her if she tried to elude them after practice every day.

Suddenly, she paused in her tracks and tilted her head to the side as Shimizu-senpai breezed past her to enter the girl’s club room.

The girl’s club room.

As Hinata made her way to the bike racks, the small pieces of a plan slowly began to form.

-

It was now about a few weeks into practice, and Hinata had become quite adept at sneaking into the girl’s club room without anyone noticing. She had pulled a whole heist stealing and making a copy of the key from Yachi, and regrettably felt horrible about it when the other girl anxiously freaked out for a week as a result until it magically turned back up again in her bag. 

Hinata made a habit of staying late to practice in the gym, always offering to take up extra cleaning duties. When she finally came into the locker room, she made a big show of taking off her gym shoes and socks and rifling through the items in her gym bag, and then she would feign having to use the restroom and sneak off to the adjacent club room.

Her frequent bathroom usage caused some light teasing here and there about her bladder and bowel movements, because eww boys were gross and had no actual filters, but somehow everything worked out.

Tanaka and Noya would laugh and take turns trying to smack her with their towels to speed up her process, much to Hinata’s embarrassment, and Suga would always be one of the last to stay, chatting away with her happily about practice or class and offering to lock up behind her.

Kageyama would glare at her occasionally, but never actually questioned her about her odd habits. And Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, along with the other third and second years, would always be long gone or lingering outside near the gym by the time she got there. 

Once Hinata was alone, she would quickly dart out of the room and let herself into the adjacent one to freshen up and change. The girl’s volleyball team had practice at opposite times of the day, so she never had to worry about running into them. And Shimizu and Yachi were always the first to leave after they finished putting the practice balls up.

When she was done showering and changing, she would run out as fast as possible to catch up with the guys on her bike, lest she miss out on the precious meat bun opportunities their captain so graciously provided. All in all, it was a mere 20 minute process, if she was efficient about it.

Also an added bonus—the girl’s club room was so nice. It smelt like fresh linen and vanilla-scented candles, and everything always looked so clean. And they even had this cute sitting area in between the individual cubbies where they set up comfy chairs and a side table with the latest teen magazines stacked neatly on top. It made Hinata’s inner girl squeal in delight.

Even better, the girl’s club room had all of the essential ahem feminine products stored away nicely below the sinks, which crossed out another subject of worry right off her list. She made a habit of replacing whatever she used when her time came.

It was only here, in this rare oasis of sorts, that Hinata was finally able to let her guard down. Which, in hindsight, meant that it shouldn’t have come as such a surprise, when her secret was finally discovered.

Hinata had been taking her time for once after a long, grueling day of school and practice. She had indulged in a longer shower, wrapped one fluffy towel around her orange curls, and another around her small body, and decided to actually relax in one of the arm chairs. She sighed, relaxing. They were just as comfortable as they looked.

She had been flipping through a particular women’s sports magazine, admiring the cool female athletes and wanting to memorize their names so she could look them up later at home, when the girl’s club room door slid open with a soft bang and suddenly, Shimizu and Yachi were framing the doorway.

All occupants of the room froze in place. Hinata watched in growing panic as first confusion, then uneasiness, then outrage flittered on the normally calm manager’s face, and she knew she had to act fast if she wanted to save any semblance of control she had over the situation.

In a flash, she was up and out of the armchair, backing away and waving her hands frantically in front of her. “N-no! Shimizu-senpai! Yachi-san! It’s not what you think! I’m a—I’m a girl!” Hinata exclaimed.

“I’m not some pervert, I swear!”

Shimizu remained silent, her expression turning unreadable, and as if as an afterthought, she slid the door shut behind her. The smaller blonde seemed to be vibrating with nervous energy, flicking her gaze nervously from Hinata to Shimizu, but otherwise not making a peep.

“Explain.”

Hinata jumped at the soft command, and her explanation came tumbling out of her mouth without pause. “Well, I’ve...kind-of-been-pretending-to-be-a-boy-this-whole-time-so-they’d-let-me-play-on-the-team?” 

Silence.

“Look, I can even prove it!”

Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and dropped the towel covering her body. Yachi immediately eeped and began turning redder than a tomato, while Shimizu averted her eyes politely.

“Okay, we believe you.”

“Clearly,” Yachi coughed out, suddenly mid-anxiety attack.

“But that doesn’t explain why you’re doing this. Why disguise yourself as a boy? Why not just join the girl’s team?”

Hinata was in the middle of slipping on her undergarments and paused at the question, looking briefly over her shoulder at the two other girls. “Well, I guess...”

It was the first time she had really stopped and thought about why she was doing what she was doing. 

“...I guess it first started in middle school, when my school disbanded the girl’s volleyball team.”

Hinata thought back to that first match—the feeling of soaring so high that she could see the other side of the net, the looks of awe on everyone’s faces as they watched her do it.

It had been a revelation. 

“I wanted to play so bad. So, I just pretended to be a boy so I could play in the tournament. I meant to stop there, honestly. But then I got this idea...”

The other two girls listened quietly, not interrupting, as Hinata continued, pulling on her clothes as she went.

“When I was younger, I was riding my bike and I saw the Karasuno High boy’s team playing at Nationals. It was so amazing! Watching the ball go fwoosh and wham back and forth the court. It was the first time I saw the Little Giant fly, and I thought to myself, I want to do that. I can do that.” 

Hinata looked up thoughtfully, hand on her chin in remembrance as she continued.

“I remember stopping my bike and asking the man next to me excitedly—is there a female volleyball team, too? Did they make it to Nationals, too? And he had looked down at me so skeptically and responded, ‘Yes. But the girl’s volleyball matches just aren’t as exciting. Who would want to watch that?’” Hinata glared down at her feet, as she repeated the words the man said to her all those years ago. 

“His words just echoed in my head for the longest time. Who would want to watch that? Who would want to watch a girl’s team?” Hinata spat out dispassionately.

“I remember asking him, ‘What do you mean? Why wouldn’t anyone want to watch?’ And the man said, ‘Well, girl’s volleyball matches might have higher ratings, but that’s just because the girls are...nicer to look at. No one really cares about women’s sports’,” the ginger-haired teen continued, her tone becoming angrier.

“The boy’s volleyball matches are way more exciting, he said, because they are stronger and faster.”

Hinata fumed to herself, recalling the memory and her determined hazel eyes met Shimizu’s straight-on. “So, I told myself. I’m going to make them care. One day, I’m going to fly just like the Little Giant, and everyone will look at me and know that a girl can soar just as high as any boy can."

"I’ll make them watch.”

Beneath her frames, Shimizu’s eyes gleaned in understanding and empathy. Yachi still looked like she was about to cry, but now for different reasons.

“Shouyou.” Surprised hazel eyes blinked up at the older girl at the familiarity, and Shimizu took a few steps towards her smiling softly. “I admire you so much for what you’re trying to do. And I understand.”

“We won’t tell anyone,” Yachi piped up from beside her, her amber eyes also shining in compassion. “You know, you’re really amazing, Shouyou.”

“Really?” Hinata swallowed, feeling her voice crack.

“Absolutely insane, don’t get me wrong,” Yachi asserted with a small grin, “But still amazing.”

Hinata found herself half hiccuping and half laughing at the comment.

“Soar high for the rest of us, okay?” Shimizu smiled, and her whole face seemed to radiate her sincerity.

At their easy acceptance, that she didn’t even feel like she remotely deserved, Hinata’s throat suddenly felt dry and scratchy, and she could feel the tears welling in the back of her eyes. She tried clearing her throat, but that only made her distress more obvious.

When she felt Shimizu approach and wrap her arms around her small body, the tears began to fall fervently without her permission. She didn’t even know why she was crying, but it had just felt so good to finally open up to someone and reveal the truth. After weeks of pretending to be a boy, hiding the truth from her friends and family, and trying to act like nothing was wrong. It became too much.

It was like someone had opened the floodgates, and the stress of keeping her secret was finally bubbling to the surface.

And truthfully, she had just missed having female companions more than anything. She loved Natsu to death, and Izumi and Koji, and her teammates seemed amazing, but having girl friends was something to be cherished. Girls are the best, she sniffed to herself solemnly, and held out her other arm when Yachi came into the folds of the group hug.

“I knew you were too pretty to be a boy,” the blonde girl muttered into her cheek.

Yachi’s words startled Hinata to first hiccup in surprise, and they all pulled back to stare at each other for a brief moment, blinking, before the three of them began to laugh uproariously.

In the days that followed, it did not go unnoticed by the rest of the team how Hinata and their two female managers seemed to become inexplicably attached at the hip. The three of them were often seen huddled together, whispering and giggling about something during practice. More than once, Noya and Tanaka would exchange confused glances when Hinata would stay back to help the two girls out with some of their managerial duties, but still...

No one thought to question it.

Chapter Text

2. Training Camp

Hinata couldn’t imagine a more laughable worst-case scenario than running out of medical bandages for her chest wrap during Nekoma’s training camp.

Her team had just finished their third flying penalty lap around the gym after losing yet another match to Fukurodani, when she felt the thin material protecting her modesty snap and felt the immeasurable pain that came from her unbound chest hitting the unforgiving floor with a loud smack. 

She had received more than one sympathy glances from Shimizu and Yachi when they saw what the penalty laps were, and not for the first or last time did she wonder if all of this was really worth it.

Yes, subverting gender stereotypes was great and everything, but at what cost?

Trying not to draw too much attention to her current predicament, she looked about the gym for her two female managers, hoping to get some assistance, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Seeing no other option, Hinata shot up from her prone position on the ground just as her teammates were getting ready to do another lap and raced towards the gym exit shouting something about needing to pee over her shoulder.

Her teammates stared after her in obvious confusion, but only shrugged at each other and soldiered on.

-

Trying not to panic, Hinata ran to the infirmary a few hallways down and almost cried in relief when she saw that the front desk was currently unoccupied. Taking a few surreptitious glances around the clinic to make sure no one was around, she shot herself around the desk to the cabinet labeled ‘Band Aids and Bandages’ and grabbed a generous handful of medical bandage rolls before sprinting out into the hallway.

Turning the corner, she saw an empty hallway of classrooms, and chose one at random. Sliding one of the doors open, she darted into one and quickly shut it behind her. Breathing a sigh of obvious relief, she set down her stolen goods and muttered a quick apology to the infirmary.

Hinata then proceeded to peel off her uniform top, still sticky with sweat from the day’s strenuous activities and eyed the torn bandages at her chest forlornly. 

She was just about to fully discard the strips precariously covering her breasts, when she heard a loud intake of breath from the far corner of the dark classroom. The orange-haired teen froze at the sound and slowly raised her hazel eyes to meet confused amber, cat-like ones from across the room.

A frightened screech was already half-way out of her mouth as she clutched her half-way exposed chest in an attempt to recover her sense of decency, before realizing exactly who it was she was staring at.

“KENMA?!”

“Sh-Shouyou?” The usually soft-spoken teen squeaked out and quickly averted his eyes from his friend’s form and back down to the brightly lit screen of his mobile game, an unwilling blush spreading on his cheeks. “Umm…”

Mirroring her friend’s embarrassment, Hinata was also flushing at her current predicament and trying, and failing, to maintain her cool. “Could you...um, possibly turn around while I change? I promise I can—I’ll explain after!” 

Kenma quickly nodded and turned around, eyes refusing to waver from his phone screen, which gave Hinata at least some comfort.

With her friend’s back turned towards her, Hinata worked at a frantic pace to remove her old bandages and replace them with the new ones she nicked from the infirmary. Her breasts had always been small, and while in another time and place, that might have bothered the 16-year-old, she had never been gladder for them than this moment.

Holding the end of the bandage down at her side, Hinata sucked in at much as she could, and then both quickly and efficiently began tightly wrapping the cloth around her chest. Once she had done a few thin layers, she secured the constricting bandage with her other hand and tore off the excess. 

Daring a glance up to make sure Kenma was still facing the wall in front of her, Hinata then grabbed her uniform top from the floor and quickly slipped it on, before gathering the scattered material off the floor and placing them on a desk beside her.

Taking a deep breath, her heart racing, she finally looked up. “Okay you can turn around now.”

Kenma turned around slowly, not wanting to spook the girl. He gave her a cursory glance over before his curious amber eyes met her anxious brown ones. 

“So...I’m a girl...obviously,” Hinata began to nervously explain, shifting from foot to foot. “And no one, not even anyone on my team actually knows the truth."

"...Well, except Yachi-san and Shimizu-senpai,” she added, almost as an afterthought, when he shot her an incredulous look.

There was a long pause before Kenma finally spoke. “So you’ve been cross-dressing as a boy all this time? Why go through all of the trouble?" Kenma asked, genuinely curious and wondering how he had never realized the truth before. "I mean...why not just join the girl’s team?”

Hinata frowned, looking up at him thoughtfully as she considered her next response.

“19 centimeters.”

Her words were met with a questioning glance.

“That’s the difference in the net height between men and women’s volleyball. The men’s net is about 19 centimeters higher,” Hinata’s eyes had taken on that familiar intensity. “They made that rule because, generally speaking, women are perceived as weaker than men—and smaller...meaning, they wouldn’t be able to jump or spike as high. So, they changed the regulations to make it ‘fair’ and lowered the women’s net by 19 centimeters.”

Kenma pondered over her words. That...made sense. Women were shorter and, biologically, less physically inclined. That was just the reality. He didn’t want to upset the girl, so instead he said, “So, doesn’t that just make it more fair for girls then?” 

“Giving girls a handicap doesn’t necessarily make it fair,” Hinata responded, trying not to let misplaced annoyance lilt her tone.

“If you tell me I can only jump this high,” the orange-haired girl gestured with her hand at an invisible spot before her, “Then I’ll always think that’s just how high I’m able to go, right?”

“...But what if you didn’t tell me that?”

Observant amber eyes blinked slowly as comprehension began to dawn on him. It was as if a missing piece of the curious puzzle that was Shouyou was finally coming together. He thought about what he already knew of his friend—the straightforward way Hinata could win over people effortlessly, the impressive display of tenacity when facing the odds, and when he finally connected this newfound layer—that Shouyou was actually a girl—it was as though he was finally looking at his friend for the first time and actually seeing her.

“If you didn’t tell me the odds, do you think I could jump even higher?”

Kenma looked at the small girl’s cropped ginger curls, her small, but toned lithe body, tell-tale feminine curves almost visible through the uniform, if one had the thought to look for them. And finally, his leveled stare settled on her clear, determined gaze intent on his own, and the setter’s lips titled into a slow, small smile.

Leave it to Shouyou to keep things interesting.

“I think...I understand,” and then after a considering pause, “Your secret is safe with me.”

Hinata let out a long sigh of relief that she didn’t even realize she was holding and grinned so brightly, Kenma had to wonder if uncovering this new information might be having more of an effect on him than he previously thought.

“I still won’t lose to you,” he added, almost as an afterthought, but the candor in his tone resonated clear to the girl before him who just beamed cheekily in return.

“You better not go easy on me!”

-

The problem was—Hinata liked to be at the center of everything. She thrived off of the attention the individuals from different teams were showering her with. Her eyes sparkled every time Bokuto offered to show her his spikes or Akaashi said he would toss to her. She was essentially a center of gravity for the Nekoma team, if the way Lev and Inuoka bounced around her was any indication.

Perhaps, Hinata considered, if she just chose to be anti-social, like say—Kageyama, who avoided crowds and conversations like the plague, then maybe hiding her identity wouldn’t have been much of an issue. 

However, because of her social nature, the rest of the week consisted of clumsy excuses and almost slip-ups as she pointedly avoided the public baths with the other first years and dodged the impromptu water fights on the lawn. More than once, she was cornered by a cackling Bokuto brandishing a water hose, followed closely by an equally armed Tanaka and Noya. Luckily, she became accustomed to using Asahi as her human shield, and the shy giant didn’t have it in him to tell her no once she directed her puppy dog eyes in his direction.

Now that Kenma knew the truth about her, Hinata found those cat-like eyes watching her more often than not. When the orange-haired girl caught him staring, she couldn’t help but stick her tongue out at him, and even his teammates began to notice.

“Kenma! Stop staring at Shrimpy-chan!” Kuroo called out during a practice match. “You’re making him skittish.” He gestured to the bright-haired player nervously scuttling on the other side of the net, and when Hinata heard him, she snapped her head in their direction.

“Yeah, Kenma! You have this weird expression on your face, too. Like you’re plotting something!” She pointed her finger at him accusingly.

Kuroo laughed when he heard her and smacked his friend on the back. “You hear that, Kenma? Even Shrimpy-chan can tell when you’re plotting."

Kenma only shrugged, responding, “I’ve got to plot if I’m going to stay one step ahead of Shouyou.”

His response caused the smaller girl to splutter on her reply, and Kageyama pulled her along to the next rotation so they could continue the match.

Kenma wouldn’t admit it out loud, but truthfully, he just couldn’t help but watch Hinata. Knowing her secret just added an element of unexpected amusement to all of her interactions with everyone, and Kenma would be lying if he said he wasn’t entertained. And to think, these training camps used to be so boring.

“Let’s all go to the bath together, Shouyou!!”

Case in point.

The pudding-haired setter watched the girl get dragged by the arm by Lev, flanked by players from different teams, all itching to go to the bath and freshen up. Hinata was trying to choke out some flimsy excuse about needing to run more practice laps, but the taller boy only laughed and essentially hoisted her under his arm in the direction of the baths.

Kenma blinked, suddenly wondering if he should intervene. 

As if right on cue, the two female Karasuno managers appeared at the gym exit and retrieved Hinata from the tall Russian’s clutches. “Sorry, we need Hinata-kun for something!” 

“Sorry, Lev! Maybe next time!”

Honestly, it was a wonder that no one else had uncovered her secret at this point.

-

Once she was out of the gym and out of range from anyone of the male variety, the bright-haired girl let out a loud sigh in relief and turned towards her rescuers. “You guys...I cannot keep this up any longer.”

Yachi patted her on the back consolingly. “I would have died of heart failure a long time ago if I was in your shoes, Shouyou.”

Shimizu ushered the two girls in the girl’s bath area, making sure to look around to ensure their privacy. “Luckily, the week is almost over. And it seems Kozume-san is proving to be a reliable confidante.”

Hinata had informed Yachi and Shimizu what had occurred as soon as she had the chance. Shimizu instantly noted to pack extra medical bandages as back-up for future trips, while Yachi melted into a puddle of secondhand embarrassment at hearing the story.

“I don’t know how I would have gotten through this training camp if it wasn’t for you two. Honestly.” Hinata’s hazel eyes glowed in gratitude as she sunk into the warm bath water. The two other girls lounging nearby smiled at hearing her words.

“Well, if you didn’t insist on being so friendly with all of the other teams,” Shimizu teased. “It wouldn’t be so hard to keep your secret.”

“I can’t help it, Shimizu-senpai!” Hinata whined, a small pout evident on her features. “Everyone is just so cool! And I’m learning so much!”

Yachi rested her face in her palms as she watched the other girl soak in the water. “So this is still all worth it, you think?”

Hinata nodded her head rapidly in confirmation. “Definitely!”

While their team’s overall scorecard might not reflect it, Hinata knew for a fact that she was getting stronger with every match and late-night practice. And she wasn’t just socializing for the sake of making new friends. Every player she interacted with had a cool technique or sound advice to bestow upon her, which she soaked up like a willing sponge. Since middle school, it always felt like she was playing catch-up to her teammates and opponents, but this trip was one of those rare moments when she knew she was leveling up, as if she were a character in one of Kenma’s video games.

That being said, by the end of the trip she was exhausted. 

Once the afternoon of their departure arrived, Hinata bid an enthusiastic goodbye to the other teams and found herself a victim to more than one bear hug and friendly hair ruffle. As she was exchanging numbers with a few other players from Shinzen, she felt Kenma’s eyes on her again, and she turned around to shoot him one of her brightest grins.

“Bye, Kenma!”

The other boy smiled. “Bye, Shouyou.”

Feeling the tiredness start to overtake her, once Hinata finally trudged onto the bus with the rest of her teammates, she promptly passed out almost as soon as she sat down. 

“Oi.” Noya nudged Tanaka once the bus started moving. “Should it maybe bother us how comfortable Shouyou is with our precious managers?”

They both looked over a few rows up where their ginger-haired teammate was curled up in a seat between Yachi and Shimizu, snoozing, head pillowed in the darker-haired girl’s lap. The other two girls continued chatting, not seeming to mind the small blob propped in between them.

Tanaka gaped at the sight. “It’s not fair! I want to be pillowed on Kiyoko-san’s lap! Hinata, trade places with me!”

Suga shushed him from beside Daichi. “Now, now. You’re going to wake the baby crow up.”

“Besides, he’s like the team’s mascot,” Tsukishima snickered to Yamaguchi, “You can’t possibly feel threatened by that.” 

Unaware of the conversation happening around her, Hinata continued to sleep, content with the fact that her secret was still safe for a little longer.

Chapter Text

3. Miyagi Prefecture Qualifiers

“Nee-chan, why did you have to go to a school so far away?”

Hinata glanced up at her pouting sibling as she continued to paint the younger girl’s toenails a vibrant shade of teal. Natsu’s expression seemed untroubled, but there was a curious lilt to her words that made Hinata pause in her ministrations.

Despite being six years younger, Natsu had a maturity about her that Hinata never had at her age. On the surface level, there was little to tell the two apart other than their ages. Before Hinata had cut her hair, her younger sister had essentially been a spitting image of herself at 10-years-old, with her matching bright hair and brown eyes. 

But where as Hinata was more straight-forward and outgoing, Natsu tended to be more clever and observant—her more care-free side only jostled out of her when Hinata prodded hard enough.

This closeness was why Hinata could instantly see that her younger sister was upset.

“Well, Karasuno High has the best volleyball team, Natsu! It’s where the Little Giant went! Don’t you want your Nee-chan to be the best?” Hinata tried to keep her tone light and playful.

“You’re just never home anymore,” Natsu muttered softly.

With the long commute to and from school, plus volleyball practice, it dawned on Hinata that she really only saw her younger sister at dinner and on the rare free weekends where no games or practices were scheduled. From spending almost every day together to only getting to catch up in the brief moments between dinner and bed, she understood why Natsu would be hurt.

Natsu took on a disgruntled expression on her face, and it only grew when she tilted her head to examine her sister’s shoddy work on her toes. Hinata chuckled sheepishly at her expression. “You know I’m bad at nails! That’s more of your thing!”

“I still don’t understand why you couldn’t go to Yukigaoka High,” their mother called out from the kitchen, overhearing their conversation. “You could have avoided that awful bike ride through the mountains. It’s just not safe for a young girl, you know. Especially with your practice running so late.” 

“It isn’t so bad! And it’s great exercise!” Hinata responded, now setting herself up behind her younger sister so that she could start braiding her hair. “And I usually get home before it gets too dark.”

Her mother appeared in the entryway to the living room and leaned against the frame, spatula in hand as she gestured towards her daughters. “And it’s such an odd campus, too. What high school forces girls and boys to wear the same uniforms?”

And here was where Hinata had to start treading carefully with her responses. She could feel a light flush spread on the back of her neck as she let out a small cough. “Well, Kaa-san, I heard a lot of Japanese schools were moving towards that trend now. It’s more inclusive. ”

This particular lie was what had been allowing her to get by with wearing the boy’s school uniform at home without anyone questioning her. One fortunate thing about living so far away from Karasuno was that her school life and home life were completely separated. She had enrolled herself as a boy without her mother knowing, and since none of her new classmates were from her old middle school, no one knew any better.

The only problem was maintaining the lie.

At school, it was pretty easy to hide. She had always been good about blending in and making friends with her classmates, as a boy or girl. The only difference now was that it seemed she could get away with being louder and goofier in class, without being sternly rebuked by her teachers for acting ‘un-ladylike’. 

“I just don’t know how I feel about these...modern schools and breaking away from tradition,” her mother explained, clicking her tongue in disapproval, “This was why we moved to the country-side, you know. Away from all of that.”

That was why Otou-san moved us out here. The biting retort came to her, resting on the tip of her tongue, but Hinata refrained from saying it aloud. Their father was long gone now. Left one night the summer of Hinata’s tenth birthday, and never heard from again. He had been a stern man, very fixed in his old ways, and the countryside had been a haven for him, away from the bustling city.

As time passed, her mother took on much of her father’s traditional mindsets in his absence. So, Hinata could only imagine how she would react if she ever found out that her 16-year-old daughter was traipsing around as a boy in her spare time.

“Kaa-san, you’re so old-fashioned sometimes,” Natsu said flippantly, and Hinata tugged a little too hard at a particular strand causing the younger girl to yelp in pain. Her sister had a habit of being a little too blunt at times, too, but luckily their mother usually paid her no mind.

“And this volleyball team of yours. I just can’t believe they’d make you cut your hair like that.” Her mom continued on, in the same displeased tone, “You’ll grow it back once you’re done playing, right?” And Hinata cursed when she missed a chunk of Natsu’s hair in the next twist of her hand at the question. 

“Kaa-san, I told you. As long as I play volleyball, I have to keep it short. Or it will just get in the way,” Hinata whined petulantly, the nagging nature of the conversation was already starting to push her buttons the wrong way.

“But how long exactly do you intend to play, Shou-chan? Won’t you be finished after this tournament of yours next week?” 

“Well,” Hinata grumbled, tying off her sister’s braids with a small rubber band. “If we win, then we keep playing. That’s how it works.”

“Tournament? Can we go?!” Natsu immediately asked, excitement creeping back into her voice. She looked between the two of them hopefully, with large doe-like eyes.

Hinata instantly felt bad, averting her eyes so she wouldn’t fall victim. “I don’t know, Natsu…I’ll be so focused on playing. I won’t be able to watch you.”

Natsu turned her full attention on her mother next. But, that was already a losing battle before it even started. The older woman at least tried to look sympathetic.

“Oh, it’s so far away, Natsu. And isn’t on a school day? 

As their mother trailed off, Hinata watched her sister’s face start to fall, and her shoulders tensed up as if Natsu was physically bracing herself for the disappointment. 

Hinata felt her heart wrench staring at her sister’s expression and couldn’t stand it anymore, the words spilling out of her mouth before she even realized what she was saying.

“Don’t worry, Natsu! You can definitely come! I’ll make sure of it!”

Well, too late to take it back now.

-

“...And so, now, I am kind of screwed, because I don’t know how I can let her watch me play while keeping my secret at the same time. But I like, couldn’t say no, you know? Because she’s my little sister. And she’s been so sad and lonely since I started school, and I just—”

“Shouyou .” 

The normally calm voice hinted at a growing impatience, interrupting Hinata in the middle of her rant.

“Kenma, what do I do?” Hinata asked desperately, falling backwards on her mattress, phone clutched to her ear.

The boy on the other line was quiet for a moment. “Why can’t you tell her the truth?”

“I—can’t?!”

A pause.

“Why not?”

And then Hinata actually considered it. Could she do it? Just tell her sister the truth? Natsu was the one person that Hinata could always confide in before. There were so many days when Hinata had come home dying to rant to Natsu about something Kageyama did or how amazing her teammates were, but had to hold back due to her secret.The only reason why she hadn’t told her the truth to begin with was the concern that she’d tell their mother. 

But thinking about it now, Hinata really didn’t think that Natsu would do that. Everyone who knew her secret now, only knew because they found out accidentally. If there was one person that she was actually going to profess the truth to, it would be Natsu. Hands down. 

After all, didn’t sisters tell each other everything?

“Kenma. You are absolutely right. I’m going to just tell her,” Hinata conceded, nodding to herself even though she knew he couldn’t see it. “You can unpause your game now.”

A sigh. 

“You’ve been playing this whole time, haven’t you?”

“Mm.”

Hinata huffed a fond sigh at her friend and bid him goodbye, tossing her phone on the bed. She contemplated how she should go about talking to her sister. Was she overthinking this? It was just Natsu. Her baby ten-year-old sister. How could Hinata possibly be so intimidated by a ten-year-old? 

Making up her mind, Hinata grabbed one of her pillows and darted out of her room, immediately knocking on the adjacent door.

“Come in,” a small muffled voice called out, and Hinata slid open the door and popped her head inside to see Natsu curled on the middle of her bed surrounded by a mountain of stuffed animals.

“Oooo fun!” Hinata instantly bounded in, pillow in hand, and plopped on the bed without even waiting for her sister’s approval. Natsu shrieked in delight at the dramatic dip in the bed from her sister’s impact and watched as her stuffed animals went flying in different directions.

“Rude, Nee-chan! I just got them all ready for bed.” 

Hinata giggled at her sister’s pout and ruffled her hair. “Whoops! Sorry. I’ll help you put them back later. I want to talk first.”

She propped herself up in between a particularly soft Pikachu plush and a large stuffed bear, and watched as Natsu mirrored her actions and made herself comfortable in what remained of her plushie mountain. 

“So, about my tournament next week…”

Natsu’s face immediately fell. “You’re going to tell me I can’t go, aren’t you?”

“No—!” Hinata exclaimed, waving her hands frantically. “I want you to go. I really want you to!”

“But it’s a school night…” Natsu trailed off, eyeing her sister doubtfully.

“You’re going,” Hinata stated firmly, nodding her head in confirmation. “I already texted Koji and Izumi, and they said they would take you to the bus stop with them! You three are going to play hooky for the day!”

“Really?” Natsu’s eyes sparkled, and Hinata’s heart warmed at the sight. “Yes, really! Besides, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”

The younger of the two tilted her head to the side, curiously. “Then what is it?”

Hinata sighed, and clutched at the pillow she was still holding to her chest. “You know how I always talk about wanting to be just like the Little Giant?”

Natsu nodded.

“You remember why?”

“Because he was small like you,” Natsu began to recite from memory, “But he was the Ace! Since he could jump really high, he proved to everyone that he could fly, and his height didn’t matter anymore!”

Hinata grinned, despite herself. She must have really talked her sister’s ear off on the subject. “Right. Well, if I want to be like the Little Giant, I have to prove that I can fly, too.”

“That’s why you’ve been practicing so hard...and why I haven’t seen you as much,” Natsu said softly, lips pursed as she played with one of her dolls.

“Yeah, that’s why,” Hinata admitted, hugging her pillow tighter, “But I have to do a bit more in order to prove myself, too.”

“What do you mean?”

Hinata paused for a moment, thinking about the best way to explain. “You know what Kaa-san always says about how we have to behave a certain way, because we’re girls?”

“Like how we have to be extra polite and proper…” Natsu began, rolling her eyes at the words.

“...and learn how to do all the cooking and cleaning, so we can maintain a respectable household…” Hinata continued, beginning to imitate their mother’s stern voice.

“...and find ourselves a nice, handsome boy to marry when we grow up,” Natsu finished with a giggle, and they both grinned at each other at their mother’s expense.

“Well,” the older girl explained, “Boys are expected to behave a certain way, too. But it’s the complete opposite. They are expected to be stronger and more capable, and people tend to respect them more and take them seriously!” 

“...What does that have to do with you playing volleyball?” Natsu furrowed her brows in confusion.

“A lot of people don’t expect a girl to be strong, Natsu. Not physically anyway,” Hinata professed, slowly, “They underestimate us. They don’t even want us to stand on the same court. If I want to prove I can fly like the Little Giant, I have to prove that I can be just as strong as a boy can be.”

“But how are you going to do that, Nee-chan?” Natsu asked, eyes wide with concern.

“Well…,” Hinata winced and just took the plunge. “By...pretending to be a boy...for a little while.”

“What?! You’re pretending to—” The rest of her words were muffled by Hinata’s pillow. The older girl took the opportunity to continue explaining her case. "SHH! Yes, I've been dressing up as a boy at school so I can be on the volleyball team. And you can’t tell anyone about this, Natsu! I mean it. Not Kaa-san. Not any of your friends. Only a few people know.”

Natsu shoved at the pillow in her face, and once free, clambered over to her sister, glaring all the way.

Hinata met her shrewd stare and suddenly remembered why she found her younger sister so intimidating.

“But you and Kaa-san always said that lying was bad.”

“It is bad!” Hinata insisted, placing her hands on her younger sister’s shoulders reassuringly. “But...if your intentions are good…and you’re not hurting anyone, then sometimes it can be okay.” 

Natsu’s stare remained accusing and doubtful. “And Nee-chan isn’t hurting anyone?”

“No...of course not.” Hinata looked affronted at the thought. “I would never hurt anyone on purpose! You know that."

The ten-year-old looked thoughtful, processing the words. “So, everyone at your school thinks you’re a boy?”

“Yep.”

"And that's the real reason you cut your hair like that?"

Hinata laughed sheepishly, nodding her head in confirmation.

Natsu’s eyebrows furrowed as a thought occurred to her. “Does that mean I look like a boy?”

“What? No! You are too cute to be mistaken as a boy, silly.” Hinata squeezed her sister's cheeks teasingly, causing the youngest to stick her tongue out in protest.

“Nee-chan, we look exactly the same.”

“No way. Your hair is longer now, and your face is way cuter,” Hinata explained in a no-nonsense tone.

“So, when I go to your tournament…,” Natsu squinted her eyes, “I should call you Nii-chan?”

Hinata beamed at her sister.

“Exactly.”

-

It was the day of the Miyagi Inter-high Qualifiers. Hinata stood steadfast in front of the Sendai City Gymnasium, hazel eyes gazing fixedly at the entrance as players donning different uniforms filtered in and out. She could hear the sounds of her teammates unloading from the bus and getting settled behind her, and the anticipation of what was to come had her rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet impatiently.

The last time they were here, Karasuno had just been defeated by Aoba Johsai. The bitter sting of defeat still felt fresh, despite the match taking place months before. When Hinata closed her eyes, she could still see the image of the ball falling on their side of the court in slow-motion. She could still feel the agonizing disbelief that followed. At night, she still replayed that moment over and over again—imagining herself moving faster, thinking smarter, getting there before that ball ever touched the ground. But it never changed the outcome.

But this time would be different, she’d make sure of it. Her team was stronger than ever, and so was she .

“We’re definitely going to have our revenge!” Hinata proclaimed and unable to wait any longer for her team, immediately started sprinting to the entrance. “Let’s go!!”

“You are not getting a head start on me, dammit!” Kageyama called out angrily, chasing after her.

The rest of their team watched them with a mix of amused and unimpressed expressions as they followed closely behind.

“They don’t even seem nervous, huh?” Yamaguchi noted, shaking his head.

“They’re like insects,” Tsukishima muttered dryly.

As soon as she entered the building, Hinata looked left and right trying to take everything in at once. Catching sight of a familiar figure, her mind flashed to a few months ago when she had intervened after seeing Shimizu getting cornered by a group of boys. Hinata squinted at the school’s name emblazoned on his jacket, and it suddenly came to her. “Hey! You’re that guy from Johzenji High!”

Curious tawny eyes flickered over at her. “Oh. It’s you. Karasuno’s Number 10. The name’s Terushima, by the way.” Then, realizing something, the other player immediately craned his neck to look over Hinata's head and began waving obnoxiously. “Hey, Glasses-chan! Be sure to tell me your number today!!”

From either side of Shimizu, Tanaka and Noya seemed to materialize out of thin air. “We’ll kill him.”

But Hinata was not having it herself. The orange-haired girl had already saved her friend from this Terushima guy’s tasteless come-ons once before. She stood on her tippy-toes and tried to look as intimidating as possible, pressing an accusing finger into the guy’s chest. “Hey! Don’t you dare hit on Shimizu-senpai again! She’s not interested!”

“You tell him, Shouyou!” Noya clamored from beside him, with Tanaka not far behind, sneering.

The taller boy only looked amused and looked down at the three of them, crossing his arms. “Karasuno, huh? Guess we’ll be seeing you the first round.” Terushima smirked and looked purposely back at Shimizu, before turning around to join the rest of his team up ahead.

Hinata continued to glare at his retreating back. “The nerve of that guy. We’ll beat him for sure!”

“Nii-chan!!”

A familiar, bright voice called out from behind her. Hinata twirled around and felt a small form immediately latch onto her side. “Natsu-chan!! You made it!” She twirled her around and grinned when she saw Koji and Izumi wave at her from the entrance. “Thanks so much for bringing her!” She called out to them, waving excitedly.

“I can’t wait to watch you play!!” Natsu beamed up at her, and then peering over her sister’s shoulder, she frowned and whispered, “Is this your team?”

Hinata looked over as well and saw that the rest of her team had stopped what they were doing and were watching them curiously. “Yep! This is everybody! Guys, this is my little sister, Natsu-chan!” She spun around, carrying her sister in her arms, and approached her team.

The members of the Karasuno team regarded the two with varying degrees of interest. Looking at the two siblings together was a bit unnerving to say the least. It was clear that the youngest Hinata sibling took after the eldest—if the bright hair and large, brown eyes were any indication. But, somehow seeing them side by side only helped to emphasize some of Hinata’s own soft features. If not for the roguish smile their smallest teammate always wore and the signature short, spiky mess of hair, one might have almost said Hinata looked... cute . 

“Oh, god.” Tsukishima groaned at the sight of them. “There’s two of them.”

Shimizu and Yachi took turns first, politely greeting the small girl in Hinata’s arms. Suga immediately smiled and waved, cooing to Daichi at how cute the siblings looked. The captain’s expression warmed momentarily as he tilted his head in greeting, while Asahi nervously smiled from beside him, which seemed to only spook Natsu further, much to Hinata’s amusement.

“Wow! This is your sister, Shouyou?” Noya asked, circling the two curiously. “You guys look so similar!” 

“I didn’t know you had a sister!” Tanaka exclaimed. 

Kageyama looked even more disgruntled than usual, blue eyes narrowing as they flitted from one sibling to the other. “Hmm.” 

Natsu seemed to latch on even tighter, her eyes darting warily from one team member to the next. “They look...scary, Nii-chan.”

Hinata laughed, and patted her sister’s head with her free hand. “They’re not scary. Promise! Well, maybe their faces can be a little intimidating.” At that, she stared pointedly at Kageyama whose eye seemed to twitch threateningly at her words. Point proven.

“Hmph.” Natsu only pouted further. “It’s nice to meet you all,” the smaller girl mumbled softly, remembering to be polite. And to her sister, she said, “Nii-chan, I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Well, let’s go! We’ll be back!!” Hinata called out to her team as she carried her sister towards the restrooms. 

Once they arrived, Hinata braced herself as she grimly stared down the bathroom doors, bracing herself for what was to come. “Okay, Natsu. You go into the girl’s bathroom, and I’m going to go in...here.” 

“Onee-chan,” Natsu furiously whispered, eyeing the sign that said boy’s bathroom, “You can’t go in there.”

“It’s okay. I’m almost used to it now. It’s only a little scary.”

Ever since Hinata decided to disguise herself as the opposite sex, the boy’s bathroom had become a place of dread and fear for Hinata. Not only was it bad enough attempting to pee in the stalls and go about her business discreetly without anyone taking notice, but for some reason, it was also where she managed to run into the most dangerous people. She thought back to her initial meeting of Kageyama when she was a middle schooler, and shivered at the memory. He really was a scary guy back then.

“Go ahead, Natsu! I’ll be fine!” 

Her little sister continued to look nervously back at her, but continued onwards to the girls’ restroom. Hinata watched to make sure she made it safely, before looking back at the boy’s bathroom door sullenly.

“What are you doing?”

Hinata spun around and immediately paled as two familiar figures towered over her. “It’s the Grand King! And Seijou’s Ace! Umm, hi!!” She managed to squeak out.

Oikawa arched a brow, looking as cool and as unimpressed as ever, while Iwaizumi at least attempted to make civil conversation to ease the nerves of the smaller player. “I hear you beat a 2-meter-tall guy. Not bad.”

“Yes!! I mean no! I mean not at all!” Hinata stuttered nervously. Where had all her bravado from earlier gone? This was just embarrassing. Iwaizumi just blinked down at her as if to ask, ‘Well, which is it?’ 

Oikawa narrowed his eyes and looked her up and down. “Seeing as this little guy becomes a real threat when it’s game time, shall we bury him somewhere while we still have the chance?”

Hinata’s face fell at his words, and as Iwaizumi turned to berate his captain, she turned to make her escape, only to run face first into another figure. “Oof! E-excuse me!!”

“Hinata Shouyou.”

Her face turned ashen at the familiar voice and she risked a glance upwards to lock eyes with none other than Shiratorizawa's Ace himself, Ushijima. The taller boy maintained his aloof air of superiority, despite the fact she was still basically pressed up against his chest, and Hinata immediately jumped back in alarm. 

Her wide hazel eyes darted rapidly from one player to the next, not knowing who she should be the most wary of. This confirmed it. The boy’s bathroom truly was the most dangerous place. How was she ever going to continue this ruse successfully if making the simple trip to the boy's bathroom continually became a life-threatening experience for her?

Ushijima nodded in acknowledgement to the other two players. “Oikawa and Iwaizumi. This is the final high school tournament for you two, isn’t it? I wish you the best of luck.”

Oikawa’s eye began to twitch at the other’s nonchalance and took a threatening step forward. “You really piss me off, you know?”

“We’ll be going to Nationals, so this won’t be our last,” Iwazumi bit out, following his captain’s lead so they were only a few steps away from Shiratorizawa’s Ace. Hinata continued to pale as she realized she was getting boxed in tightly between the three.

“But only one team goes to Nationals, though,” Ushijima responded, blinking slowly, the other players' irritation at his words completely lost on him.

“Ugh, this guy!” Oikawa exclaimed, tone growing more and more annoyed as his face darkened. “He’s not even trying to be rude, too.”

“A-actually,” Hinata piped up anxiously, attempting to put on an imposing expression, despite the fact that she was shaking in her shoes, “Karasuno is going to be the one to win and go to Nationals.”

At that, they all turned to look at her, expressions becoming incredulous. It was at that moment, Hinata noticed that they had garnered quite the crowd around them as well. People were beginning to point at her and murmur to each other, and she nervously began backing away again. When it felt like she hit another hard wall in her retreat, she looked up to see yet another tall figure looming over her. “Eep!!”

“Aone-san!!” The giant in question nodded his head at her politely and blinked at the surrounding company. 

“Nii-chan??”

When Natsu appeared next to her, just outside of the throng of incredibly tall, intimidating players, Hinata let out an audible sigh of relief and swept her up. Holding the smaller girl in her arms, she stared up with newfound defiance at the other three who were eyeing the two siblings speculatively. 

“We will beat anyone who faces us on the court,” Hinata stated firmly, and this time her voice did not waver. Then, bowing her head respectfully at Aone, she exited the area with haste, Natsu safely clutched in her arms.

Once they were far enough away, her younger sister let out an understanding hum. “So, that’s what you meant when you said the boy’s bathroom was scary.”

“Well, that and the urinals ,” Hinata conceded.

“Nee-chan. What’s a urinal?”

-

Once she got her sister settled with Koji and Izumi in the spectator seats, Hinata rushed to the gymnasium, hoping her team hadn’t gone too far ahead. She immediately caught sight of Suga and Tanaka talking nearby, the rest of the team not far behind, and bounced over to them.

“Looks like Shiratorizawa’s game is on Court A, and Seijou is on Court B,” Suga was explaining as their team observed the other players around them warming up. “Oh! And the Queens are on Court C.”

“The Queens?” Hinata asked curiously, overhearing the conversation.

Suga looked over at her skeptically. “You haven’t heard of them? They’ve been the girl’s side representative team for a number of years running now! Niiyama Girl’s High School.”

“Wow! So cool! An all girl’s high school, huh?” Hinata watched with wide eyes as a group of Amazonian-like women walked past them. They were all incredibly tall, with lean muscles, and fierce expressions. It was the first time she really looked at some of the other female volleyball players. “They look...strong!”

“They’re like models!” Yachi yelped, also watching the girls walk by.

Hinata craned her head back to look at Court C all the way on the other side of the gymnasium. For a moment, she wondered if the girl’s teams ever played on the center court, or if they were always the outliers.

“Heyyy!” Tanaka suddenly called out, pointing at one of the female players walking by.

“Do you know someone on the “Queen” Team, Tanaka?” A look of reverence appeared on Hinata’s face as her eyes sparkled. “Can you introduce us?”

“What? That’s pretty arrogant of you, Hinata!” Tanaka bellowed, staring down at his small teammate in disbelief. “You think you have a shot with one of those hot girls?” 

“Shouyou is my disciple. And if he would like to strike out and humiliate himself in front of the whole stadium, we must support him!” Noya declared, grasping Hinata’s shoulders firmly, an especially dignified expression gracing his features.

“No! That’s not it!” Hinata exclaimed, shaking her head and pointing vigorously at the female players. “They just look so strong and amazing! I bet they have some incredible advice to give. You think they can teach me something?”

Yamaguchi was attempting to shove Hinata’s hand down, when one of the female players must have overheard her speaking, and turned around to stare shrewdly at Hinata. The tall girl had short, bleach-blonde hair and sharp eyes that looked Hinata up and down, causing the smaller girl to fidget nervously. The rest of the girl’s team paused to watch the interaction, looking between the two players curiously.

“What did you just say?”

“Who, me?” Hinata pointed to herself. She looked around and noticed that the rest of her teammates had shrunk several feet behind her, with Tanaka making a neck-cutting motion at her and Noya already on his knees saying a prayer. 

“That’s right. You.” The taller girl crossed her arms, looking effortlessly intimidating with the rest of her team at her back. 

“It’s just…” Hinata looked up at the girl with large, admiring eyes. “You guys are so cool! And, and my teammate was just saying how you guys make it to Nationals every year. So, I was just wondering if maybe you could give me some pointers?”

The other female player seemed caught off-guard by the genuine adoration in her voice and looked as if she was at a loss for words.

Meanwhile, Hinata barrelled on, making wild motions with her hands. “I’m new to volleyball, but I’m good! I can jump really high! And I’m fast, too. One day, I want to be the ace!”

“Oh.” The taller girl said simply, blinking dumbly down at the grinning ginger. “Well, um. Come see us after we win, then. Maybe I can show you a thing or two. I’m the ace on my team, you know. Shiraki Rumi.”

“Hinata Shouyou,” the orange-haired girl beamed, introducing herself. “And one day, I’m going to beat you for sure!”

“What the heck, Hinata?!” Tanaka yelled furiously from somewhere behind her.

Hinata jumped at his voice and tilted her head back to look over her shoulder at him. “What?!”

“You can’t just say you’re going to beat a girl, you idiot!” 

Hinata looked back at Niiyama’s Ace and furrowed her brows. “But if I want to be the best, I have to beat the strongest players, right?”

Rumi narrowed her eyes. The rest of the Niiyama team traded disbelieving glances at one another. 

“You know, this is the first time...that a guy has ever considered me a rival,” Rumi said slowly, processing the words. 

Hinata lifted her chin up defiantly. “If you’re the strongest, then I’m going to beat you one day.”

Rumi took another long moment to assess the small player in front of her, before a fierce, self-satisfied smile slowly stretched across the other girl’s face at the words, and she nodded firmly in response.

“All right, Hinata Shouyou. One day, I’ll see you on the court.”

With that, the tall blonde rejoined her team, shooting the smaller girl one last backwards glance. Hinata beamed, extremely pleased with herself, and turned back around to her team, stopping dead in her tracks when Tanaka and Noya approached her with dark auras radiating from their figures.

“What?! What did I do now?!”

“I don’t understand what just happened,” Tanaka admitted in a low voice, “But I am not happy about it for some reason.”

Noya nodded his head rapidly in agreement. “Shouyou, you somehow have no idea how to speak with women. Yet, they always seem to like you. It’s just not right.”

Hinata only bit the inside of her cheek to hold in her laughter. 

-

Natsu honestly didn’t know what to expect when she caught sight of her sister’s slight figure making her way onto the court with the rest of her team. Under the harsh, fluorescent lights, she looked even smaller compared to everyone else, and Natsu tried not to feel anxious for her.

It’s not that she doubted her Onee-chan. Natsu knew her sister had been working hard, had seen her practicing night after night with a volleyball outside of their house long after it got dark. She listened to her talk about her practice matches and days at training camp, even as vague as she had been. But somehow, knowing that her older sister had been disguising herself as a boy all this time...made Natsu even more nervous for her.

Out of the two of them, Shouyou had always been the more reckless one. Once she got an idea in her head, she would always charge forward without thinking it through. Somehow, her sister would come out unscathed, for the most part, but it never failed to make Natsu worry. 

So when Shouyou’s team faced off in the first round against the energetic players from Johzenji High, Natsu already had her doubts. She had overheard the people next to her say that the other team used an element of surprise as a weapon, and she watched intently as one of the players performed a particularly tricky move. Johzenji’s number one had caught the ball with the tip of his foot and careened it over to his teammate, who then proceeded to slam it into Karasuno's side.

Natsu felt her heart jump into her throat in fear when she watched her sister literally jump after the ball, even as it veered toward the audience, appearing to everyone watching as though she was going to crash violently into a wall.

“Look out!” She heard Izumi scream from beside her.

“You’re gonna hit the wall, Hinata!” Her teammate yelled.

But then...instead of crashing, the nimble orange-haired player somehow managed to leverage herself against the wall with steady feet and propel herself back into the game without seeming to even break a sweat, and Natsu could only gape at what transpired along with the rest of the spectators. 

“Wait! He’s flying!”

“He’s-He’s Spiderman!!”

Adrenaline thrumming through her system, Natsu slowly felt herself grin as she watched her sister make play after play, darting from one side of the net to the other, and cheering triumphantly as she beamed up at the dark-haired player who continued to toss to her.

During the next game, when her sister faced against giants—2-meter tall players towering over her small form, the older girl seemed to only rise to the challenge, striking the ball down between their looming grasps.

And when the time finally came for her sister’s team to face against one of their most formidable opponents, the team they lost to before, Yachi informed them solemnly from beside her, Natsu found that she wasn’t scared at all anymore.

Because if anyone belonged on that court, if anyone was going to prove that they were the strongest—it was her Onee-chan.

-

“Shou, that was amazing!” 

Hinata spun around to see Izumi and Koji running towards her as the crowd of spectators milled about them after the match. Natsu appeared to be passed out and draped over Koji’s shoulder, drooling. Hinata greeted them both, grinning excitedly, still feeling the effects of the high from today’s win.

“Thank you guys so much for coming! And for watching Natsu-chan!!”

Koji smiled softly at the sleeping girl. “She was so excited watching you, that she immediately fell asleep once your game ended. She’s going to talk your ear off when she wakes up, though.”

Hinata laughed at that, and remembering something, she looked back to where her team was and made eye contact with Shimizu who had turned to see where she had gone to. “Shimizu-senpai! I’m going to catch up with my friends really fast! I’ll meet you guys on the bus in a bit!”

The dark-haired girl smiled and nodded, and Hinata grabbed her friends’ hands and dragged them into an adjacent hallway where fewer people were passing by. Hinata looked around to make sure no one was paying them any mind, and once she was satisfied, her grin quickly turned conspiratorial. 

“I can’t believe you’ve managed to pull this off for so long,” Izumi finally said, taking a moment to actually look at his long-time friend. 

To him, she was still clearly the girl he grew up with, only with shorter and wilder hair, and well, he couldn’t help but notice how her once lanky arms were now much more defined with lean muscle. But Shouyou’s face was the same. The same bright, hazel eyes and lightly freckled nose. She looked a little older, but she definitely still had some of that familiar baby fat clinging to her round cheeks, making her look years younger than she actually was.

“Me neither,” Hinata replied honestly, shrugging. “I keep pinching myself to make sure I’m not dreaming.”

“Is it weird? Lying to your teammates all the time? And pretending to be a boy at school?” Koji curiously interjected. He had also been giving his childhood friend a once-over. Honestly, he was just shocked that more people hadn’t realized that Shouyou was a girl. It seemed so obvious to him looking down at her small frame.

The ginger-haired girl looked up thoughtfully at the question. “Well, on most days, it doesn’t really feel like I’m lying, you know? It’s not like I act much differently than I normally would. And it’s not like I have much to hide, right?” She laughed, gesturing down at her body. 

At that, Koji and Izumi traded disbelieving glances. They didn’t want to tell her outright, but they both knew that their friend’s body was only going to act as a ticking time bomb until the ruse was up. That was the nature for girls, wasn’t it? For now though, it seemed, she was safe.

“I guess I do feel a bit guilty at times, though,” Hinata continued, thinking about all of her teammates and the friendships she’d made. She honestly didn’t know how she was going to tell them, when the time finally came. “But then I think about how far I’ve come, and I can’t say that I feel too bad about it. I just...don’t think I could have gotten this far, if I hadn’t done this, you know?”

“This is worth it, right…?” Hinata trailed off, eyes flitting from one boy to another, as if waiting for their validation.

Feeling as though the orange-haired girl was starting to feel uncharacteristically doubtful, Izumi quickly shifted the tone of the conversation. “We’re just really proud of you, Shou! I know we doubted you before, but you clearly proved us wrong!”

“Yeah! I still can’t believe you guys kicked Seijoh’s ass!” Koji punched the air in front of him excitedly, careful not to wake the sleeping girl in his arms. "I can't wait for your match against Shiratorizawa tomorrow!"

“Right?! It’s so gwahhhh , like so cool!” Hinata responded with equal excitement, taking the change in topic with stride. “Did you see that last play we did when I...”

On the other side of the wall, his teammate’s words began to taper off as a certain raven-haired setter realized that he had heard enough. He uncrossed his arms and pushed himself up from where he had been leaning and began walking in the opposite direction.

Kageyama blinked slowly, attempting to process what he had just heard.

Hinata was a...girl.

Right.

Dumbass, brash, loud, idiot Hinata...was a girl.

It’s not that it didn’t make sense. Hinata obviously had a smaller stature, and if he really thought about it, her features were arguably softer . He just never really gave it much thought. But now that the truth of the matter lay bare before him, he couldn’t help but add up all of the instances where his teammate’s odd behavior could now be explained.

Like the constant bathroom breaks...was that a girl thing? Or how Hinata would seem to disappear into thin air when the other guys were changing? Where exactly did she go?

Come to think of it, Kageyama could not pinpoint a single moment where he had actually seen his teammate change in their club room or anywhere in all of the time the team spent traveling and sharing spaces with one another. 

His mind flashed back to all of the lunches they shared, the nights before an exam spent cramming together, every practice and match, and all of the training camp trips in between, sleeping side by side, and him never even knowing that his rival, teammate...friend?...partner? was a girl.

How exactly she had gotten away with it all this time was the real mystery. Hinata didn’t appear to be the tricky or deceptive type, or even smart enough to pull it off, but then again...this girl had been pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes for almost a year now. Maybe his teammate wasn’t as stupid as she made herself seem.

Well, Kageyama definitely couldn’t say that he had never hit a girl now. His sister would be most displeased if she ever found out. He suddenly wanted to take back all of the times where he had smacked his loudmouth teammate on the back of the head or pushed her when she was being annoying. Knowing that Hinata was a girl tinged those once lighthearted moments in a different light now.

“Hey, Kageyama! Did you happen to see Hinata on your way to the restroom?” Daichi called from up ahead, where the rest of the team was already gathered by the entrance. Lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t realized that he already made it there.

For a brief moment, a part of him felt compelled to share what he had just overheard. The truth was bound to come out eventually, right? Wasn’t Hinata only making more trouble for herself and for the team by keeping such a huge secret? Kageyama opened his mouth to respond, the words on the tip of his tongue. But then unexpectedly, her earlier declaration came drifting to the surface of his mind.

“But then I think about how far I’ve come, and I can’t say that I feel too bad about it. I just...don’t think I could have gotten this far, if I hadn’t done this, you know?”

And then changing his mind, Kageyama shook his head. 

“No, I didn’t.”

-

After the long day of matches, Hinata took her newly chosen seat on the bus next to Kageyama, after it was so kindly pointed out to her that it wasn’t fair that she got to sit with the female managers on bus rides. She had traded disbelieving glances between Yachi and Shimizu, but just shrugged. Boys really were silly. And strangely territorial.

Despite glaring at her and saying a few choice words, the dark-haired boy didn’t seem to be upset by her decision to sit next to him. Although, she noted, he was just shy of pressing himself against the window to avoid any physical contact.

Hinata narrowed her eyes and poked him in the shoulder. “What. Do I smell or something?”

Kageyama scoffed, shrugging her hand away. “Of course you do. We just spent the whole day playing.”

She made the effort to look offended by the comment, but then just went back to getting herself settled in her seat, pointedly ignoring him in favor of texting someone rapidly on her phone.

From the corner of his eye, Kageyama watched her carefully, remembering his thoughts from before. Because the thing was—Hinata wasn’t like any girl he knew.

He thought of his sister, Miwa, who had given up her love for volleyball, for the mere reason that she didn’t want to cut her hair. Clearly, that was something Hinata had no qualms with, he thought, eyeing the cropped sprawl of spikes atop his teammate’s head. Kageyama tried to imagine what she must have looked like before, but it was hard to visualize the girl she used to be in place of the teammate he knew.

He thought of other females he knew, his mind turning to Yachi and Shimizu and their sweet, more nurturing personalities—the way that they always seemed to exude a distinct feminine grace about them. One could make the argument that Hinata was kind, maybe even nurturing, based on what he observed between her and her little sister...but graceful? Kageyama internally scoffed at the idea. The idiot had received too many balls to the face for him to ever consider her graceful.

The problem was this—Hinata wasn’t like other girls. She wasn’t made of soft lines and delicate proportions alone. She was small, yes, but she was fiercer than anyone else he knew—a bundle of raw energy and compact strength. When he pushed her, she shoved him back even harder. 

He didn’t even know girls were made like that. 

Nothing about the way she carried herself even remotely compared to the blushing modesty of his classmates at school or the gentle poise of the female players he used to watch his grandfather coach day after day.

On and off the court, Hinata proved to be the most demanding, fiercely competitive, and obnoxious individual he had ever encountered. Her single-minded persistence never ceased to amaze and frustrate him. But was that cheekiness girly? Could that unrivaled energy and peppiness be considered a feminine trait? Kageyama honestly didn’t know.

The truth of the matter was, he had never met anyone like Hinata before—girl or boy.

And the problem was that Kageyama didn’t know if learning the truth about his teammate meant that things would have to change. Did he have to treat her any differently now that he knew? Would changing his behavior somehow reveal that he was on to her? And did Hinata being a girl actually change anything?

No, Kageyama realized, staring fixedly at a particular spot on the seat cushion in front of him. The Hinata before and the Hinata now were somehow one in the same. She didn’t magically become girlier just because he knew the truth. The only thing that changed was him, and he wasn’t about to let that get in the way of playing volleyball.

Not wanting to spend more time pondering on the subject, Kageyama pulled out his volleyball journal intending to record his thoughts on the previous game, and from beside him, Hinata let out a long groan at the sight. 

“Lame-yamaaa. Is this what you do when you say you can’t hang out with us on the weekends? Are you just practicing by yourself and writing in your volleyball diary? Because that is the reason why you don’t have any friends! So lame!!”

Kageyama's eye twitched. Yes. Still the same Hinata.

And internally, he was grateful for it. In the long run, this didn’t actually change anything at all. Because when it came down to it, girl or boy, he’d toss to anyone who he deemed essential to winning.

Chapter Text

“What about me?!”

Yachi traded a worried glance with Shimizu as they both watched Hinata approach Takeda-sensei, frustration clearly evident in her tone. The smaller player had her fists balled at her sides, as she pointedly refused to look at Kageyama and Tsukishima behind her, who both appeared to be taking turns shooting the poor girl boastful glances.

It was difficult to feel excited for the other two players and their invitations to their respective training camps when she knew that Hinata was probably dying on the inside at the idea of being left out. Yachi frowned when she saw Kageyama advancing on the smaller girl, knowing that in the moment, Hinata wouldn’t take any form of cajoling lightly.

“Looks like I’ll be going ahead,” the tall setter declared, staring down at his bright-haired teammate challengingly. Hinata looked back at him, her normal cheerful expression twisted in resentment as they stared each other down. 

When the coach called for practice to begin in a few minutes, Yachi pulled the other girl to the side of the gym before she seized the opportunity to verbally disparage her teammate, with Shimizu following closely behind and ensuring that no one paid them any mind as they spoke in hushed tones.

“Shouyou, are you okay?”

There was a long moment of silence, as Hinata watched the court where her other teammates had begun tossing the ball around with a seemingly blank expression. When she finally turned to look at Yachi, the blonde was surprised to see the look of growing determination and awareness displayed in those hazel eyes.

“Hey, what’s that western saying we learned in class about how it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission?”

Yachi felt the tell-tale pinpricks of dread, as she nervously looked up at Shimizu for assistance and back down at the girl whose growing smile was quickly turning mischievous by the second.  “Oh no. No, no, no. What? What are you planning now?”

Shimizu sighed softly, her expression unsurprised, almost as though she had been expecting nothing less from their orange-haired companion.

“How can we help?”

-

Hinata stood in line with the other players, puffing out her chest in a desperate attempt to look as though she belonged there, even as the players next to her continued to shoot her dubious glances. The coach taking attendance kept doing a double-take to his clipboard and back up at her, and she gulped nervously, feeling the sweat start to form at the back of her neck.

“I’ll be going on ahead.”

She gritted her teeth as Kageyama’s words rang in a continual loop in her head. They had one week until Nationals, and there was no way she was going to let everyone around her get stronger and better, leaving her to play catch-up once again. 

Hinata was not going to let herself get stuck.

“Karasuno’s number ten, right?!” An excited voice chirped to her right, and Hinata gave a small, sheepish wave to the familiar Date Tech first year who seemed to not have noticed the tense stares everyone else around them was giving her.

Speaking of which…

“Have you gone mental?”

Hinata spared a glance upward at the irate tone and felt herself shrink inwards when she locked eyes with Tsukishima’s disapproving glare. She had never seen the tall blonde ever look so angry before, and she had been on the receiving end to that glare more times than she could count on both hands.

“Why are you here?” He gritted out under his breath. “Did you actually think you could get away with this?!” Tsukishima glowered down at his smaller teammate, who seemed mere moments away from fleeing the conversation if she could. “I’ve kept my mouth shut all of this time, because I knew you’d slip up at some point. But now you’re really trying to get into trouble, you moron!”

On the other side of the line-up, Kindaichi elbowed Kunimi and tilted his head to gesture at the two Karasuno members beside them. “Never thought I’d see that glasses guy lose his cool like that.” The other boy raised a brow coolly at the exchange. “That little guy really has some nerve showing up here uninvited, though.”

Hinata blinked slowly, furrowing her brows as she began to process her teammate’s words. There was something clearly off about what he had just said.

“I’ve kept my mouth shut all of this time…”

“I knew you’d slip up…”

She froze in place, the faint tendrils of panic beginning to form at the pit of her stomach. “Tsukishima...do you—?” 

“Hinata-kun!” 

Hinata jumped in surprise at her name being called and spun around to see Coach Anabara from Johzenji High beckoning her over. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”

The orange-haired girl nodded sharply, and sparing Tsukishima one last apprehensive look, she followed the coach outside of the gym, feeling everyone’s eyes at her back as she did so.

The creeping uneasiness that followed seemed to dull her senses as she braced herself for what was to come when Coach Anabara led her to the coach’s office down the hall and handed her an inconspicuous-looking phone. The dark-haired man at least had the decency to look sympathetic when the yelling started.

“Damn it, Hinata! What the hell do you think you’re doing?”  She had to pull the phone away from her ear when she heard Coach Ukai’s reprimanding voice yell from the other end.

Wincing internally, Hinata squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m sorry!!” Clutching the phone close to her cheek, she took a deep breath when she heard Takeda-sense’s soft, disappointed voice next—which was somehow far worse than her coach screaming at her just moments before.

“Hinata-kun, giving it your all and being plain reckless are two very different concepts, you know?”

Hinata knew the risks she would be taking when she came to the decision to sneak into the training camp uninvited. She knew the stern lectures she would receive as a result of it. Shimizu and Yachi both warned her of the consequences for her actions. But…

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, “I’m not saying that being here is more important than training at Karasuno...but, I-I want to be where the strongest players are. Otherwise, how am I ever going to improve?” Her mind flashed to Kageyama and Tsukishima and then to the other players she faced at the gym just moments before.

“I refuse to get left behind, Takeda-sensei. Coach Ukai. Please understand.”

From beside her, Coach Anabara gave her an appraising look, something close to respect showing in his expression.

“I can understand your desire to be there. But you’re causing a lot of trouble to the organizers by showing up uninvited.”

Suddenly, another hand grabbed the phone from her, and Hinata blinked in surprise as Coach Washijou himself put the device to his ear, not bothering to spare her a glance as he did so. 

“I don’t mind if we have an extra ball boy.”

There was silence on the other end of the line at first, and then the Shiratorizawa coach continued the exchange for a moment longer, confirming his decision to let her stay temporarily, before extending a formal goodbye to her coach and sensei and hanging up the phone. 

Hinata tensed when his stern gaze finally fell on her fidgeting form, and the coach crossed his arms, eyeing the small player up and down critically. 

“But maybe the more accurate term would be to say ball girl.”

The temperature in the room seemed to drop at his words. “E-excuse me?”

Coach Washijou watched her reaction closely, noting the way in which she seemed to inch almost unconsciously towards the exit.

“After your match with Shiratorizawa, you...impressed me. I’ll admit it. Even as short as you are. I couldn’t believe that someone like you could have just come out of nowhere and bested Ushijima.”

Hinata bit her lip hard, tasting a hint of blood as she did so, but she didn’t interrupt as the coach continued on.

“So, I looked you up. I wanted to see what middle school you attended—how you missed my radar before. Imagine my surprise when I asked about one Hinata Shouyou from Yukigaoka Middle and was told that she never played volleyball in middle school, because there was no girl’s team.”

Hinata felt her palms begin to sweat as she flitted her gaze in growing alarm from the frowning Shiratorizawa coach to the expression of complete shock on Coach Anabara’s gaping face. “I-I can explain…”

“No need.”

Coach Washijou crossed the room to look out of the office window disinterestedly surveying the people below. “You wonder why you weren’t invited to this training camp? You don’t belong here, Hinata Shouyou.”

He looked back over his shoulder to watch as Hinata’s expression fell, her hazel eyes staring unblinkingly down at her feet.

“Honestly, I understand. When I played volleyball at your age, they wouldn’t even let me on the team because of my height. That’s why I decided to be a coach, to create the strongest team possible—that was my way of proving myself,” Coach Washijou said, his stern voice becoming nuanced with nostalgia. “I know what it’s like to want to rebel against your own nature. That’s why I haven’t told anyone what I’ve discovered...”

Hinata scrunched up her face in confusion, as she raised her head back up to stare at him. “But why…? You obviously...don’t owe me any favors. You don’t even seem to like me. Why keep my secret?”

At that, Coach Washijou turned to face her fully, his eyes becoming speculative as he furrowed his thick eyebrows in discontent.

“Because the truth of the matter is, girl or boy, without Kageyama as your setter, I don’t see any value in you. You’re...insignificant. You’ll never belong here...no matter what lengths you go to trying. I’m offering to let you stay as a ball boy, because that is the closest you’re going to get to being on the same level as any of these players.”

Hinata felt like she was frozen in place, each one of his words like a shard of glass striking deeper than the last, leaving shattered cracks in their wake. 

“You don’t belong here.”

“I don’t see any value in you.”

“You’re...insignificant.”

Not wanting to remain in the room any longer, Hinata bowed her head to hide the hot tears threatening to fall, and choked out the words, “Excuse me,” before exiting the room as fast as her legs would allow.

Watching the girl flee the room, clearly distressed by what had just occurred, Coach Anabara cast a disapproving look at his colleague. “That was completely uncalled for, Washijou-san. Hinata-kun might be hiding who she really is, but she has just as good of reasons to be here as anyone else. You had no right to speak to her in that way.”

“You might think I’m being harsh, but I’m only helping her in the long run by discouraging this charade. The rest of the world won’t be as understanding or as forgiving. And it’s not fair for her to think that she has an actual chance.”

Coach Washijou turned his head to look back out the window, expression unreadable.

“I could never find it in my heart to dislike a kid that pushes themselves so hard to exceed their limits. But...there is nothing more dangerous for her right now than hope.”

-

“Is it just me or is he getting yelled at more than us?” Hyakuzawa remarked, gesturing with his chin over at the Karasuno ball boy.

The other players watched the small ginger dart about the gym, looking frazzled and overwhelmed, while the Shiratorizawa coach barked orders from his seat.

“That’s not where the ball boy belongs.”

“That ball could have hurt someone! Make sure to pick them up properly!”

“Keep your eyes on the damn ball!”

The other coaches gathered by the gym doors observed the display curiously as well.

“Why didn’t Coach Washijou just send that kid home if he’s not going to let him play properly?” One coach questioned, wincing when he saw the ball boy get berated yet again for not toweling the ground fast enough.

Another coach beside him shrugged and clicked his tongue in distaste. “It’s a waste if you ask me. That’s Karasuno’s number ten, you know? You saw the spring tournament prelims, right? If it were me, I would be grooming that kid into a wing spiker. He’s damn good.”

They all watched with varying expressions of sympathy as the orange-haired player ran past with an armful of empty water bottles, only to drop all of them when a stray ball came flying his way, earning him another earful from the head coach.

“Maybe this is Washijou’s way of getting back at Karasuno for taking the spring tournament away from Shiratorizawa?”

“No way. He couldn’t possibly be so petty to take it out on that poor kid, right?”

Nearby, Tsukishima glared at the ball in his hands, unwillingly overhearing the conversation between the other coaches. He tried to pinpoint the exact cause for his annoyance at that very moment. 

Was it the fact that his idiot teammate was getting yelled at? He scowled up at the ceiling, gripping the ball even harder in his hands. No, somehow it was even worse than that. 

Did he actually feel bad about it?

Tsukishima groaned internally as he watched from the corner of his eyes as his normally cheerful teammate continued to get verbally reprimanded by the other coach. It was a sad sight, even to him. And normally, such an occurrence would have brought the blonde great satisfaction or even amusement, on an especially good day.

Because there were only a few things that brought him more irritation than his orange-haired teammate.

It wasn’t just Hinata’s hyperactive, ever positive personality—which was vexing in itself.

It wasn’t even that playing with Hinata also compelled some innate part of Tsukishima to actually try—although that was admittedly enough to make the blonde want to strangle the other player on a daily basis.

It was the fact that he knew the idiotic brat with the stupid, bright hair, currently getting badgered off of the court by their opponent’s coach just happened to be some half-witted girl masquerading herself as a boy for some ridiculous unknown scheme. And somehow, no one else has seemed to figure it out.

Stupid Hinata.

Tsukishima couldn’t recall the exact moment when he realized the truth. Perhaps it was when he caught her sneaking into the girl’s club room more than once, almost confronting her for being some kind of crazed pervert, until he saw that the two female managers seemed to be in on it. Or maybe it was the moment he saw her with her little sister, their appearances so startlingly similar, that one could only be an idiot to deny the truth that was presented before him.

Luckily for Hinata, it seemed as though they were both surrounded by idiots on their team.

He couldn’t say for sure who else knew her secret, but it was apparent to him that something about the way the head coach of Shiratorizawa was addressing the girl gave the impression that he might know more about the situation than he led on.

As much as he would rather avoid the impending encounter with the girl, Tsukishima knew that it was inevitable. When practice ended late that night, he actually went out of his way to approach his irksome teammate, going against his better instincts.

Hinata had just finished chatting animatedly to some of the other players outside of the gym, paying special attention to Goshiki, who seemed to preen unexpectedly when she complimented him on his spikes, and Hyakuzawa, whose ridiculous height should have given the guy more confidence, but instead seemed to somehow debilitate him. Man, if she had his height...Her eyes lit up at the thought.

“Just give it up already.”

Hinata jumped at her teammate’s voice, and she looked back at him with wide, panicked eyes. “O-oh! Tsukishima!”

“Go home,” the taller boy demanded flatly, advancing on her, “You’re just embarrassing yourself.” Hinata stiffened at his brisk tone, and she backed up a few feet, making a placating motion with her hands in front of her.

“Tsukishima...I’m-I’m…terribly so-sorry for causing you trouble—”

“Oh please,” he interrupted her, expression unimpressed as he adjusted the gym bag over his shoulder. “Save it for someone who cares. Your reckless antics aren’t anything new.”

Hinata was quiet for a long moment, eyebrows furrowed in a contemplative manner, before she took a deep breath. “Tsukishima, do you...know?”

“Do you know that I’m a girl?”

Tsukishima raised a singular eyebrow, snorting derisively as he did so. “It really wasn’t very hard to put two and two together.”

Hinata bit her lip, petulantly huffing at the response. “How long have you known?”

“I’ve had my suspicions for a while. I’m surprised you actually made it this long, to be honest,” the tall blonde rolled his shoulders and aimed his golden-brown eyes upwards to avoid having to look at the girl’s stormy expression. “Isn’t it enough for you to be going around pretending to be a boy? Do you just do whatever you please without thinking of the consequences for your actions?”

Hinata growled, throwing her gym bag to the floor, and proceeded to march up to her taller teammate, finger outstretched and poking into his chest vehemently. 

“If I don’t carve out opportunities for myself, I’ll never get them.” 

“Guys like you,” she used her hands to dramatically gesture up and down his body, “Naturally tall and talented—you get opportunities like this handed to you without question. And you don’t even have to try! But me?” She pointed her thumb back at herself, hazel eyes steadfast and unwavering on his, “I have to force my way in by tooth and nail, and if that means I’m stupid or crazy then so be it!”

Tsukishima sneered at her passionate display. “People like you...who try so embarrassingly hard...who have to lie and deceive others in order to get ahead...really piss me off.”

Hinata frowned at him, but did not disagree with his sentiment. “I’m not saying that what I’m doing is right. But...I’ve come this far already…And now you and Coach Washijou both know the truth.” She let out an unusually bitter laugh, and rubbed her tired eyes with the palms of her hands as she did so.

“Maybe it would just be easier for my secret to come out now.”

At that, Tsukishima surveyed the girl’s wearied expression, and pursed his lips in distaste.

“Honestly, what makes me angrier is that you’re running around chasing balls and acting like some kind of idiot,” the usual sardonic tone lacked any of it’s normal heat, and Hinata blinked in confusion at the change. “And as a result, you’re wasting all of this precious time leading up to the tournament.”

“But-”

“If you aren’t going to try and learn something new, then what is the point of you even being here?” The taller boy chided, putting one hand on his hips to motion mockingly with his other. “You just really like being a ball boy or something?”

“No, of course not!”

“Well, then stop wasting everyone’s time.”

The orange-haired girl pouted, kicking a foot on the ground aggressively, before turning her back on her teammate. Grabbing her discarded gym bag, she stomped her way towards the bus stop, muttering darkly under her breath, “Stupid Snarkyshima.” 

The blonde watched her go with another confusing mix of satisfaction and annoyance. Great. Now he was actively trying to encourage the idiot? He sighed, turning the other direction and heading home.

-

“So, what’s your deal? Why aren’t you playing?” The red-head tilted his head in confusion, following Hinata around the outskirts of the court as she handed out fresh towels to the other players.

Hinata smiled sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her neck, turning around to face him. “I actually wasn’t chosen for this camp….so, I kinda invited myself?” Every time she had to explain to someone, it sounded worse and worse, and she kicked herself mentally for it.

At her blunt response, Tendou threw his head back, laughing hysterically as he motioned for his partner to pay attention. “Wakatoshi-kun, did you hear this guy!? He’s totally nuts! He said he invited himself to the camp!”

Ushijima only looked back at her contemplatively, before turning back to the court to continue watching the practice match. “Well, then, if that’s the case...What are you doing just standing there?”

Blinking rapidly at his words, Hinata opened her mouth to respond, only to close it again, and then eyes taking on a speculative glean, she wandered off in a different direction. Tendou stared after her, head cocked in blatant curiosity at the smaller player.

“When he gets that weird look on his face, it always gives me the creeps.”

“Yeah, I don’t like it.”

“But it almost sounded like you were encouraging him just then.”

Ushijima narrowed his eyes at the smaller player’s retreating back. “Hinata Shouyou is here to create a chance for himself that he was never initially given. What he chooses to do with this chance will decide what kind of player he really is.”

Tendou smirked inwardly at that. Karasuno’s number ten really was amusing—they’d have to keep a closer eye on him.

“Hmm. He really is a little monster.”

-

From her perch at the top of the balcony overlooking the gym, Hinata rested her chin on her arms as they gripped the metal railing in front of her. 

Everyone was right. She couldn’t keep wasting her time doing the same thing over and over. She had to look at things from a different perspective—think outside of the box—if she truly wanted to improve. 

As the practice match below between the training camp invitees and the Shiratorizawa third years began to heat up, she realized that from this position, she was able to see the full court all at once, and her eyes widened in comprehension. It was the first time she really watched all of the players on the court, rather than focusing only on her own position and whether she would be able to spike the ball.

Were Goshiki’s spikes always that straight? Amazing! And did those blockers already move to accommodate the spike before he even hit the ball? 

She remembered Noya-senpai telling her about how the most highly-skilled players were able to predict the course of the ball just by looking at the spiker’s form. She narrowed her eyes as she watched closely. The spiker’s form . If she paid attention, she could actually see what her senpai meant by those words. The way the spiker twisted and turned their body communicated everything that the blockers and receivers would need to know. How had she never noticed that before?

When Ushijima perfectly received an especially dangerous-looking spike, her hazel eyes widened in shock. He was so cool! It’s like...he never made any wasted movements. Every motion that he made was measured and deliberate. If it were her trying to pull that exact same move...Hinata positioned her body, mimicking what she had just seen, and frowned when she realized that there was no way her arms would have been able to reach it. 

Not unless she was even faster.

Realizing that she had finished hanging the jerseys to dry several minutes ago and there were other duties for her to attend to, she jogged lightly back down the stairs, eyes transfixed when she saw one of the Shiratorizawa players ready himself for a serve.

“Semisemi! Give us another service ace!”

The other third year glared at the loud red-head over his shoulder. “What’s with the ‘Semisemi’ crap? Quit that!”

Hinata remembered the other player during their last match. He had the crazy, devastating serves that even Daichi and Noya had struggled to receive. Watching his form and the way he propelled his momentum to jump and strike the ball over the net, her eyes widened when she noticed the distinct spin to his hit, causing the ball to jerk slightly out of reach from any of the players attempting to receive it.

What did he do just now?  From behind the lines of the court, Hinata watched as Semi readied himself for yet another serve, and suddenly she thought back to when she used to practice tennis with her friends from middle school, and the way in which the tennis ball would spin after a particularly good serve.

“To receive a ball with top-spin like that, all you gotta do is lift your feet off the ground. That’s one of the most fundamental movements in tennis. It’s called a split-step.”

From behind the other players, Hinata eyed the way in which the server began to line himself up with the ball.

“The moment the opponent makes contact with the ball, you just take your feet off of the ground for just a split second…”

She watched the way he arched his body, noting that he was planning to do the same type of serve as before.

“...to reset your movements…”

And then, as if on instinct, she moved her feet, positioning herself right where the trajectory of the ball would go.

“...and then use that momentum to kick-start your very first step upon touching down.”

When the ball slammed over the net, the other players struggled to make it in time, with Kunimi barely grazing the ball with the side of his arm before it shot past him. 

SMACK!

Everyone turned to look as Karasuno’s number ten lifted the ball from his face where it had impacted straight-on, revealing the beginnings of a nosebleed and a curiously delighted grin, as he spun the ball effortlessly in his hands. Tsukishima felt his eye twitch at the sight, while Koganegawa was openly gaping from beside him. How did he—?

“Once you get the timing down, your reaction time should improve drastically! To see those huge gains though, you gotta get to the point where you’re just able to move your body subconsciously.”

Rubbing her sore nose lightly, Hinata couldn’t help the grin that spread on her face when she realized that she had predicted the ball correctly, and was able to react accordingly and move...without once stopping her feet. 

Not aware of the several sets of eyes intent on her form, she made her way towards the water bottles with a noticeable skip in her step.

There really was so much more to learn and take in when she actually visualized the whole court.

-

When the time came to return back to Karasuno, Hinata was more than pleased to have a few more numbers saved on her phone, and a great deal more confidence in her gait. 

Bending over to lock her bike against the metal wrack, she caught sight of Kageyama’s distinct figure stopping across the sidewalk to face her, and smiled inwardly at the rush of comfort she felt at being back on familiar ground. Without exchanging a single word, the two began dashing towards the gym entrance, matching each other stride for stride.

“What have you been up to these past five days?” The dark-haired boy asked once they had reached their destination and promptly collapsed on the ground in their exhaustion.

“Ball boy.”

The two traded fierce smirks at that, a shared understanding passing between them.

“How was camp?” Hinata questioned, reaching over to retrieve a spare volleyball from her gym bag. “Were there any amazing players?”

“Yeah. Everyone was really good,” Kageyama responded, receiving the ball with ease and passing it back over. “There was even a 'small giant' there.”

The bright-haired girl caught the ball and stared at her teammate with wide eyes. “A small giant? How tall was he? Was he any good?”

“He was about a hundred times better than you.”

“Hey!” Hinata threw the ball indignantly at the other boy’s face. Frowning, when it didn’t make the impact she was hoping.

When their senpais finally arrived, she received more than a few hair ruffles and back pats, causing her to grin in noticeable contentment at being back with her team. The time apart, as short as it had been, took quite a toll on her mentally and emotionally. Suga seemed to recognize that, and he took special care to welcome her back, making her grin warmly in return when her taller senpai patted her cold cheeks fondly.

Yachi immediately gravitated to her side when she entered the gym, and Hinata buzzed with the anticipation of wanting to divulge everything that happened while she was gone. But surrounded by her other teammates, she knew it wasn’t the time or place.

Feeling a rough brush against her shoulder, Hinata looked up just as Tsukishima breezed past her, not bothering to spare her a glance or an apology. Typical.

So, what if Saltyshima knew?

It didn’t seem like he was planning to shout her secret to the masses just yet. Despite the obvious animosity he displayed towards her, he had obviously kept her secret for a while now, for reasons unbeknownst to her for the time being.

With Tsukishima and Coach Washijou discovering the truth, it almost seemed like her time was running out. But there was still so much left she wanted to do...

“Oi. You…” 

Hinata glanced back at Kageyama who was still trailing a few paces behind her, framing the entrance of the gym. She tilted her head curiously when intent cobalt eyes fixed on hers.

“You are going to jump even higher.”

She felt excitement thrumming through her veins at his words, and she flexed her fingers on instinct as she turned to face him fully. 

“What do you mean higher?”

-

(Inarizaki v. Karasuno)

Her eyes darted left, diligently tracking Inarizaki’s ace, Aran, as he lept and struck the ball down, the ball barreling towards their side of the court with impressive speed. Her legs and arms were moving faster than her mind was able to process exactly what she wanted her body to do. And then suddenly she was right there, in the perfect position, receiving the ball with an elegance even she didn’t know she was capable of.

The ball connected against her outstretched arms hard, and she had to roll backwards, willing her legs to fold neatly behind her in order to change the momentum of the ball and aim it towards Kageyama who was already getting ready to set the ball, despite the look of clear disbelief etched on his face. 

Her face felt hot, hotter than usual, but she chalked it up to the long rally that had just occurred.

“In the absence of their libero, middle blocker Hinata Shouyou makes the perfect receive on that powerful spike. Nice receive!” 

The announcers crackled on the loudspeaker above, and she wouldn’t have fully grasped what she had just accomplished until she heard the loud cheers erupt around her. She wanted to cheer along with them, but the point was far from over.

What occurred next was a painstaking power struggle to rally the ball back and forth and gain the momentum of the court. 

Follow the ball. 

She watched as Asahi aggressively spiked it over the net, only for the other team’s libero to successfully receive it. 

Anticipate where it’s going to go. 

The Miya twins were already in position to make another one of their dangerous quick attacks, and she watched as her team followed suit to create a line of three blockers at the net. The ball slammed through their defense, with Tsukishima managing to land one touch on it before it hurtled towards the ground.

Where will it land? 

In a flash, she was already there, leaping across the court and somehow managing to hit the ball and direct it back towards her team. Her cross court jump managed to land her dangerously close to the camera crew, but she quickly refocused her weight by the balls of her feet to get her sprinting back within the lines of the court, yelling, “Kageyamaaaaa!!” and willing her teammate to toss the ball to her.

“Hinata Shouyou connects the ball...and is now attempting to do a run up back attack all the way from back there?!”

But she wasn’t called the team’s “Greatest Decoy” for nothing. She inwardly grinned as she felt the other team’s attention on her, while Kageyama set the ball for Tanaka on the other side of the court instead.

Come on. Come on. Come on.

Yet somehow, despite the maximum effort from every single one of her teammates, they lost the point. She could feel everyone’s breaking points nearing. They needed that point.

“That was a superb rally performed by both sides, but the goddess of victory is perhaps smiling down on Inarizaki at this moment!”

As the Karasuno team called for a time-out, Atsumu watched as the disappointed members of the other team gathered in an discouraged huddle. Maybe this was it. Maybe his team finally got Karasuno to admit their overwhelming defeat at this moment. 

He watched their slow, tired movements as they wiped the sweat from their faces, clutching their water bottles as they listened to their coach attempt to hype them back up.

And then suddenly...

“Hey guys, did you see my receive just now?!”

Everyone, including Atsumu, turned to look at the grinning ginger as he strutted up to his team’s huddle, with little regard to the air of disappointment surrounding them. 

A pause, and then Kageyama snidely remarked. “Nah. I missed it.”

“You’re totally lying, right?!” The petite player exclaimed, gesturing wildly at his teammate. “I could have sworn I heard you say ‘nice receive’, yeah!”

“Hmm.”

“Well then, you better see the next save I make!” The bright proclamation seemed to ring through the stadium, making its way to their side of the court. Atsumu watched as one by one, each of the Karasuno players started to relax again and laugh along with their excited orange-haired teammate. 

“It’s like eating rice.”

Atsumu turned to look at his brother confusingly. “Huh what? You’ve just been thinking about rice this whole time?”

Osamu shook his head, explaining, “You know how you have rice multiple times a day, and yet you still get hungry straight after? And regardless of what your actual meal is, you never get full off just the rice.”

The grey-haired twin looked across the net at the still smiling ginger, furrowing his brows in contemplation. “He’s, you know, one of those people...who can play volleyball like eating plain rice.”

Atsumu thought back to each ridiculous point Karasuno’s number ten made throughout the match, at first chalking it up to be a fluke, and then later begrudgingly admitting that his short opponent had more to him than what meets the eye. Each time, the small first year always had a grin that stretched for miles and an excited yell of encouragement for one of his teammates even at the lowest of moments in the game. 

“Hey, Atsumu, you know,” Osamu began again, thoughtfully, “When you’re hungry, and you eat a small mouthful of something…”

The buzzer rang, and Atsumu and the rest of his team slowly made their way back to their starting positions. The blonde cocked his head curiously as he met the wild, intensity in the hazel eyes from across the net. He was struck, at that moment, by something impossibly magnetic about the other player. 

“...it makes you even hungrier.”

Atsumu absently licked his lips, feeling his mouth go dry when he caught sight of the other player grinning almost ferally in his direction. There really was something decidedly perplexing about Karasuno’s number ten, that was for sure. Though, for the life of him, the blonde could not figure out what it was.

Well, if anything, Atsumu knew a thing or two about insatiable hunger...

“Aaaand Karasuno saves this one too! Now this is one long rally. A rally of willpower between setter Miya Atsumu and setter Kageyama Tobio. Who will win?”

Hinata closely guarded the net as Inarizaki’s number five managed to spike another one in on their side, but luckily Nishinoya was there in a flash, diving to get the ball up before it hit the ground. The ball shot up high, too high, for Kageyama to set properly for her to spike down, and she watched as his face contorted in anger at his limitations, making it so he could only direct the ball downward...down…

She shot her leg out immediately, catching the ball and shooting it up in an arc across the net and watched as it landed untouched on the other side. The action caused her to lose her balance, hitting the ground hard as she fell to the side. But the pain was worth it.

“Saved it with his foot!! What a terrifying balance and game sense Hinata Shouyou has…!! Karasuno has toiled to defend themselves against Inarizaki’s break point!”

“Wow! You can really tell Hinata probably plays around with the ball on a regular basis!”

“Woohoo!” Hinata yelled, high-fiving Tanaka and Daichi. In her excitement, she could still feel assessing eyes on her, and she turned around to meet her partner’s dark glare. “What?!”

“Go on,” the raven-haired setter muttered, “Complain.”

It took her a moment to realize what her teammate was talking about. He was waiting for her to bait him because he had missed that set.

“Complain? Why?” Hinata finally responded, grinning easily at Kageyama as he glared down at her. “Give me the next one, too!”

Her words seemed to have taken him by momentary surprise. “Even if it’s low or short, or too close to the net, as long as you toss to me, I’ll take it, Bakayama,” Hinata exclaimed, her smile not once wavering from her face.

Around them, her teammates stared disbelievingly at her gall, and across the net, Atsumu matched her smile, feeling inspired by her words himself. Wow. I’m deeply moved, Shouyou-kun.

Kageyama, on the other hand, grimaced in frustration and went back to his starting position. As another rally continued on the next point, his eyes widened in anticipation when he finally saw his chance to get back at his smaller teammate.

As if I’d lose…

Daichi just received the ball, but it was going too long and too high, similar to the positioning of the last point. Kageyama stared intently at the ball and calculated his jump to, this time, successfully set the ball for the orange-haired blur already jumping up beside him to strike down the ball to the other side of the court.

The dark-haired setter smirked inwardly. As if I’d lose…

Hinata grinned up at him in mid-cheer and froze at the look on his face. 

As if I’d lose to her.

“Hinata Shouyou from the center!! Kageyama Tobio miraculously tossing a ball that was on the verge of crossing the net. What a high spiking point! It’s as if Hinata-kun has wings, and his stamina is incredible.”

“Additionally, Kageyama-kun did extremely well to precision his toss right at the point of contact! Amazing play by Karasuno!”

“Why are you giving me such a scary expression, Bakayama?! I was the one that scored that point, you know!” Hinata growled at the look on the setter’s face.

“Oh, nice kill.” Kageyama tossed his shorter teammate a self-satisfied glance. You got that point because of me, dumbass.

“You see, when you use that tone, it doesn’t sound very genuine.”

From the other side of the net, Osamu watched his twin as he stared down at Karasuno’s duo with an appraising look. “What was so special about that?”

Atsumu turned back to his brother and let out a small laugh. “Karasuno’s number ten. It’s not even that he trusts his setter. It’s just that he honestly believes that the ball will come to him every time. He’s going, ‘Surely, you’re going to toss to me, right?’” 

The blonde looked back as the duo once again bickered back and forth. I feel for you, Tobio-kun. You’ve got yourself a hell of a partner. 

When the final set was taken from them, Atsumu couldn’t even find it in himself to feel that upset about it. He approached the net and called out to the shorter player who had captured his attention since the game began.

“Hey, Shouyou-kun!”

The bright-haired boy turned around to look back at him in confusion, pointing at himself with wide eyes. Beside him, Kageyama appeared to look irritated at the exchange, which only made it more amusing.

“I’m going to toss to you one day.”

“Really?!” 

The way that bright grin transformed the smaller boy’s face seemed almost criminal, and Atsumu blinked rapidly as he found himself at a loss for words. What sorcery was this? The blonde whirled around to look at his twin with comically wide brown eyes, attempting to non-verbally convey the strangeness that just transpired, only for Osamu to raise an unimpressed brow in his direction. 

Was no one else witnessing this?  Atsumu narrowed his eyes in suspicion as Kageyama herded the smaller boy off the court, the other setter pointedly glaring back at him over his shoulder as he did so. Was that stupid goody two-shoes in on it?

The blonde clicked his tongue in displeasure. One day he’d figure out the intriguing puzzle that was Hinata Shouyou, and whatever weird voodoo he was trying to pull with that smile.

-

(Nekoma v. Karasuno)

“I want to play a real match against you! One where it’s game over if one of us loses.”

“Don’t you dare go easy on me, Kenma.”

Kenma watched intently as his grinning friend spun around in excitement after making another point, remembering the very specific instructions he gave his team just hours earlier.

-

“Not to state the obvious, but Shouyou is going to be a thorn in our side. We need to commit-block him with three blockers every time he is at the net. Target your serves at him so he’s forced to receive. Make it so he can’t run up to the net and jump. You stop his flow, you clip his wings. Keep putting pressure on him.”

Kuroo let a low whistle in response.

“Kenma, you sure can be terrifying.”

-

Well, Shouyou did tell him not to go easy on her.

“That serve was definitely targeted at Hinata-kun, and they’ve effectively sealed his quick attack...Except?! In a spectacular show of reflexes, Hinata Shouyou, even though he only just received, pulls off a broad quick attack from the right!!! An eye-opener of a first point in this second set!”

As the match continued, Hinata found herself growing more and more exhausted attempting to receive the ball and ready herself for an attack immediately after. These long rallies were no joke.

She watched as Yamamoto saved a particularly aggressive spike from Tanaka, only for the ball to return too close to the net. She raised her arms as high as she could to push the ball over, but Lev appeared right before her, easily pushing it past her using his height to his advantage. The taller boy shot her a pleased grin at his success, and Hinata scowled playfully in return.

But when Lev turned his back on her, she frowned in disappointment, knowing that she would have had the ball over the net if she had just been fast enough. 

“Hey, Shouyou.”

Hinata cocked her head curiously at her friend, as Kenma addressed her from the other side of the net.

"Stay interesting."

With that, the pudding-haired setter turned his back on her to rejoin his team, leaving the bright-haired girl blinking confusingly at his back. What did he mean by that?

-

I don’t see any value in you without Kageyama as your setter.

I’ll toss to anyone I deem essential to winning.

-

Wait, why was she thinking of that just now?! Hinata slapped both her hands across her cheeks, trying to snap herself out of her negative thoughts. What was going on?

“You okay, Shouyou?” Noya asked, passing by as he jogged off the court. Tsukishima walked in to replace him, casting her an unreadable sidelong glance.

“I’m fine!” She called out. But was she? She felt heavy all of the sudden, a weariness growing like lead in her stomach. And why did she feel so goddamn hot?

Hinata felt a comforting hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Suga coming in to serve, smiling down at her. “It would be a shame for this to end in just two sets, right, Hinata?”

He was right. They couldn’t let it end this way! Not when they could be playing more volleyball if they won! She couldn’t let it end on just their second match. Hinata nodded at Suga determinedly and took her position on the court.

The game continued on, with her still getting forced to receive, making it difficult for her to reach the run-up distance required to make her quick attacks. Just when she finally managed to find the perfect opening for herself, she ran to get into position until…

“Oh my!? What’s this?! Hinata Shouyou appears to have slipped...on his own sweat, taking him out of the offensive for this play!!”

Hinata growled at her poor luck. She almost had it, too!

“Are you alright?” Kenma called from the other side of the net, and she could feel his cat-like eyes assessing her carefully.

“I’m fine, sorry!” She quickly responded, casting him a cursory half-smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Stay interesting.

Hinata would get her chance soon enough. She readied her legs, positioning herself to dart forward at any given chance.

“OPEN BALL!” 

Hinata looked up to lock eyes with Kageyama as he looked back at her from over his shoulder, arms still raised from his high toss. The corner of his lips twisted upward as he watched her instinctively start sprinting towards it.

She could still fly.

She jumped...

Across the net, Kenma smiled inwardly at the sight of his friend reaching an even higher jumping point than ever before, his teammates around him seeming to take turns gaping upwards in shock as the ball slammed on their side of the court, untouched.

He shouldn’t have worried. Shouyou would always stay interesting.

-

“I wonder why...” Hinata started, thinking out loud, as her and Kageyama made their way to the rest of their team after speaking to Saeko-nee-san and, surprisingly enough, the Little Giant himself. “I don’t feel very disappointed knowing that the real Little Giant, the one that inspired me to do all of this in the first place, doesn’t play volleyball anymore.”

Kageyama cast a questioning sidelong glance from beside her.

“I thought I would be more disappointed, but I’m really not.”

“I guess in the end, that’s not really the title I’m trying to achieve, huh,” Hinata murmured mostly to herself. When she caught Kageyama staring back at her with an inscrutable expression, she gave him an easygoing smile in return.

“Kageyama, are you going to go watch the other matches? We’re going to play whoever wins the next game!” Hinata asked excitedly as she followed the taller boy to where their other teammates were sitting.

“Shut up,” the setter mumbled angrily, “Food first.”

“Hmm, okay, I’m going to check things out first!”

Spinning around, Hinata was about to make her way back court-side when she felt an arm shoot out and grab her by the wrist. Blinking down at it slowly, she looked back to find Kageyama staring back at her intently. “What?”

His blue eyes traveled from his hand and back to her face, before slowly removing it. “Nothing. Just make sure you rest and eat before our next match, dummy.”

Hinata tried to discern what exactly the boy in front of her was thinking, but there was not a hint she could find on his face. Shrugging, she turned back around and headed onward. “Okay, see you later!”

Kageyama’s eyes followed her steadily as she slipped out of view.

-

“Rumi-san!! Nice kill!”

Niiyama High’s Ace looked up in surprise at the loud voice booming from the side of the court, and the blonde raised her clear, blue eyes to see a familiar bright-haired player raising two thumbs-up over-enthusiastically at her from the sidelines. Rumi couldn’t help the small smile that played at the corner of her lips at the sight, and she casually raised one of her hands to match Hinata’s thumbs-up, much to the smaller girl’s delight.

“Hey, hey, hey! You know the Niiyama Girls’ team?!”

Hinata grinned as she turned to greet Bokuto and Akaashi, who both appeared to have just finished changing after their own match concluded.

“Yeah! Rumi-san is amazing. She taught me a few things at the Inter-high Qualifiers!”

Bokuto’s eyes widened comically at that. “What!? That’s so cool! Teach me! Teach me!”

Hinata's voice took on a playfully instructing tone. “She told me how a spiker’s body angle needs to be at a very specific degree right when their hand connects with the ball to determine the...uh...the velocity!” She readied her stance and pretended as though she was about to spike a ball. From beside her, Bokuto mimicked her stance, and they were both taking turns angling their bodies in different directions.

Akaashi watched the display with the sort of impatient fondness one could only develop after spending multitudes of time with Fukurodani’s ace. “Hinata-kun, you guys are playing Kamomedai next, right?”

Hinata nodded excitedly at the setter. “Yes! In a little less than an hour now!”

“Shouldn’t you be resting? You just finished your match with Nekoma not too long ago, right?” Akaashi furrowed his brows in concern as the smaller player waved his hands in front of him dismissively.

“Oh, I’m fine! I want to play now! I can’t wait!”

“And guess who you’ll play next if you win?” Bokuto grinned mischievously as Hinata turned to look back at him with wide, eager eyes.

“No way?!”

Pursing his lips thoughtfully, Akaashi watched as the two continued to converse animatedly about the upcoming match. He narrowed his verdant eyes at the Karasuno player’s flushed complexion and seemingly damp hair at the base of his neck. Wasn’t their match with Nekoma at least an hour ago now? Why would the smaller player still be so worked up?

“Ah! There’s Yamaguchi waving at me from over there. I should probably go!” Hinata smiled exuberantly at the two Fukurodani players. “You guys better be watching our match, okay?”

As they both watch the smaller player’s retreating back, Bokuto turned to look at Akaashi curiously. “Eh, Kashi-kun! Why were you looking at Shouyou like that?”

The setter shook his head. “We’ll have to watch their match and see. Hopefully...I am incorrect in my assumptions.”

-

(Kamomedai v. Karasuno)

“Now let’s decide...which one of us is the true “little giant” of today,” Hoshiumi leveled her with his intense stare. “Being the “little giant” is not merely a description of my physical attire, but a name that describes someone who achieves big things in spite of adversity.”

The amount of energy Hinata was using would explain why her heart felt like it was beating even faster than normal, and why her own skin felt scorching when she moved to wipe the sweat of her forehead with the back of her hand.

But she had to keep going! They had to win!

“And another thrilling quick attack pulled off by Karasuno’s demon duo!”

Hinata cheered along with the crowd, riding along with the adrenaline high of scoring the point. These 2 meter blockers were really making her work, forcing her to use the full width of the court at any given moment. It meant that she was constantly weaving herself between her teammates and darting from one side of the net to the other to expose holes in her opponent’s defenses.

The rallies felt long and she felt every spike and receive reverberate through her body where the ball made an impact with her body. She watched as Hoshiumi did another one of his killer jump serves, and once she saw Tanaka receive it, her legs were already pumping, moving just a hair’s width behind Kageyama and willed him to notice her.

Beyond a doubt, Hinata’s weapons to deal with blockers were her speed and height, and she knew how to use them accordingly. She pinpointed the exact location she needed to be in and steadying her legs and putting the pressure needed at the balls of her feet, she propelled herself upwards. When her hand met the ball and struck it down uninterrupted to the other side of the court, a pure feeling of ecstasy rushed through her.

“Faster than we even thought possible! And even higher than normal! Hinata Shouyou scores the point!!”

When the cheers erupted once again, she turned towards Kageyama and made a huge show of grabbing his hands in hers. “The ball came! Do you have the hands of GOD?!”

There was a slight pause where the setter looked at their joined hands disbelievingly, before snatching his own away as if burned. “Quit it!”

“That was amazing!! Toss the ball to me again, okay?”

Hinata rushed back to her next position, leaving Kageyama once again staring at her with a distinct frown etched on his face.

“Karasuno hangs in there keeping the ball alive!”

Noya barely received a really nasty strike from beside her, and Hinata fought the urge to dash to the net and grab the attention of all of the blockers. Lost in the crowd, lost in the crowd, blend in.

The 2-meter blockers were front and center, but that meant that the right side of the net was all hers to use. She was already sprinting there, and once the blockers caught on, they moved to follow her almost instinctively, and before they knew what was happening Asahi was slamming the ball powerfully from the other side of the court.

Everyone broke out into cheers around her, and she caught the eyes of Hoshiumi from across the net.

“I think...if someone were ever to give me a good nickname...well, ‘The Strongest Decoy’ is a pretty good one, right?” She grinned at him, and unexpectedly, the white-haired boy broke out into a laugh. “So you can have ‘The Little Giant’, okay?”

“Hey! Don’t say it like you’re giving it to me or something! It was already mine to begin with!” Hoshiumi retorted indignantly, surprising even himself. There was a pause, and then both of them began laughing together as if the mid-game banter was something they partook in on a normal basis.

Around them, their teammates looked on incredulously. When did they even become friends?  Though undoubtedly, the unexpected laughter lightened up the tension shrouding the final set of the match.

“I’ve told you all along,” Kageyama said from beside her, “Strongest Decoy is cool. It’s the best after setter.”

Hinata smiled, feeling almost lightheaded as the game continued. This was fun. The most fun she had ever had. They were already on the last set, but she just wanted to keep going. Maybe if they just kept breaking, she could stay on the court for just a bit longer.

At the server’s corner, Tsukishima hit the ball cleanly over the net, beginning yet another furious rally. 

With his height, he knew that he would be the most instrumental at the net to block any incoming spikes. And he tried to time it perfectly when Gao’s wing-spiker wound himself up for a powerful spike.

Internally, he knew he wasn’t going to be able to stop it, and annoyingly enough, as if sensing his thoughts, a familiar orange blur was already rushing to the exact spot where she’d need to receive the ball. It made a resounding smack against her outstretched arms and the momentum of it forced her to fall forward on her hands and knees. “Ugh.”

But her receive was successful, and if not mere seconds after, Kageyama got ready to toss the ball and knew that she was already readying herself for yet another impressive leap. 

As she soared overhead, Kageyama felt the same crazed grin on her face reflected on his own the moment she slammed the ball across the court. 

“Karasuno yet again breaks free!! Hinata Shouyou finishes it off with a fast back attack just mere moments after receiving the ball himself!”

The cheering that erupted was so loud, and he looked back at his teammate, expecting her to be jumping along with the cheers, but for some reason she was still on the ground. That is weird.

“Oi! Oi! Oi!” Tanaka approached the girl, offering her an outstretched arm, “That was amazing!”

“Thanks!” Kageyama watched her flash a smile and attempt to get up on unsteady legs. 

The crowd was still cheering loudly around them, when suddenly it seemed as though in slow motion, Hinata’s legs suddenly gave out from beneath her and she fell forward in a terrifying lurch, catching herself on her hands and knees yet again.

Kageyama felt an inkling of dread starting to build deep in the pit of his stomach as he watched from afar. His mind flashed to the memory of her hot hands grasping his just moments before. That idiot.

An immediate hush seemed to fall upon the audience, as everyone watched with bated breath as the small player attempted to get back up again and fail.

“Oh?! What’s this?! Some sort of accident involving Karasuno’s number ten? They’re calling for a time-out!”

Hinata willed her legs to move, her face becoming even hotter from embarrassment and something...else? She could sense her teammates begin to gather closely around her, could hear the cries of concern, but she just...didn’t understand what was happening.

Why did the game stop?

“He...probably has a fever,” Kageyama suddenly stated, causing everyone to turn around to look at him. Hinata looked up at him helplessly from her spot on the ground, and he quickly flitted his eyes away from her.

“I didn’t think much of it because he had been running around so much, but...before...when he grabbed my hands during the match, they were abnormally hot.”

Hinata wanted to protest, she wanted to cry out and refute his words, but for some reason her mouth wasn’t working properly and the words kept dying in her throat as he continued.

“He’s been off since last night. The first night, I overheard him tell Yachi-san that he fell asleep in the bath. And he was so high-strung all of yesterday. Normally after a match, he would jump at eating, but he didn’t rest or eat after our last match with Nekoma,” the raven-haired setter finally looked back at her at that, his assessing cobalt eyes taking her in.

“You’ve basically been running on fumes for the past few days...it only makes sense that it would catch up to you sooner or later.”

Around them, their team appeared to be in various states of shock and guilt at not realizing the situation sooner. Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei looked completely taken aback, while Daichi and the others looked down at her in dawning realization.

She hated this. She just wanted to play. 

“But I can still jump!” Hinata insisted eagerly, “I can still play, I promise!”

“Shouyou.” Shimizu appeared before her with a thermometer, pressing it between the younger girl’s lips. “You’re running a fever of 102 degrees Fahrenheit. We need to get you to the hospital.”

Hinata shook her head in distress, still not believing the situation. “But I’m not even injured!”

Takeda-sensei kneeled in front of her, taking her small hands in his own. She didn’t want to look up at his face, knowing it would reflect just how heartbroken she was. “Hinata...I can’t let you play in this match any longer.”

She looked up at her sensei through her sweat-drenched bangs, desperately willing him to change his mind. Her fingers clenched the sides of the bench, forcing herself to keep from making more of a scene than she already was.

“Remember this feeling. There will surely be times in your life when you will feel this way again. There will be a time where there won’t be anything you can do.”

Her heartbeat sounded so loud in her own ears and she desperately tried to hold back the choking sob rising to the surface.

“You said you were going to win a gold medal one day. And not just one. And now, you know that there are walls you cannot overcome with just reckless effort. When that time comes, what you need is logic...and thought. This moment right now, this is also volleyball. Think about how to win. ”

Knowing his words to be true more than anything, Hinata’s tears began to fall unbidden, and she harshly bit into her lip to contain the following sobs. She couldn’t believe the painful reality that she was being forced to confront. She had come so far. After all of the painstaking effort she had put in to be here on this very court, and worse…

“I-I’m sorry.”

She had let her team down.

“Getting so excited that you caught a fever? What are you a baby?” Tanaka interjected suddenly, his bright tone catching her by surprise in her distress.

“He’s always been a toddler, Tanaka. I’m sure the endurance monster will heal up with just a night’s sleep,” Tsukishima supplied from beside him, his sarcastic tone lacking its usual bite as she blinked up at him.

The rest of her teammates began adding their own words of encouragement, as Yamaguchi wrapped his arm around her shoulders and helped to lift her from the bench.

“Don’t worry!”

“Guess you get dibs on the ginger fried pork!”

“Just eat some food and rest up!”

“‘I’ll be the one to stand on the court the longest.’”

Kageyama’s unyielding tone contrasted with the rest, causing her to stiffen abruptly. And when Hinata looked up at those deep cobalt eyes, she felt her once wavering resolve start to strengthen again. 

“I win this time, too.”

Wiping the stubborn tear tracks on her cheeks with the back of her hand, she met his gaze with a leveled stare calmly and nodded, once, but before she could move forward, she felt herself falling again and let the darkness finally close over her. 

-

Hinata awoke to find herself tucked securely into a hospital bed, the moonlight filtering through the barely strewn curtains alerting her to the time of day. She felt...dizzy and lightheaded, but at least the almost unbearable heat that she had been feeling had died down a bit.

The orange-haired teen slowly sat up, tugging down the sheets of the hospital bed as she went before suddenly freezing. At some point, someone must have stripped her of her damp volleyball uniform.

She was wearing a hospital gown...and her breasts were completely unbound. 

“Shit.”

“Ah, you’re finally awake.”

Hinata immediately tensed at the unfamiliar voice, and her hazel eyes shot to the doorway where a woman in a white coat stood.

“I-”

“My name is Dr. Himura, and don’t worry.” The doctor had an almost amused expression on her face as she approached the bed, picking up a clipboard from a nearby table as she went. “Your secret is safe...for now. I am oath-bound as your doctor after all.”

Hinata let out a long breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me just yet,” Dr. Himura looked down at her clipboard, clicking her tongue in disapproval. “Fever over 102 degrees, evidence of lack of sleep and over-exhaustion...You don’t need to explain your personal situation to me, but whatever you’re doing, you need to take much better care of yourself.”

The younger girl looked down at her lap growing more and more ashamed at the doctor’s firm tone. “I didn’t even realize I was sick...or that anything was even wrong.”

“That’s the problem, Hinata-san,” Dr. Himura chided softly. “You weren’t listening to what your body was trying to tell you. Imagine if you had collapsed like that in a more compromised position. What if you were in the middle of the road or on your bike? You could have really hurt yourself. Do you understand?”

Hinata nodded slowly, feeling deservedly chastised. 

Dr. Himura gave the girl a sympathetic glance and placed the clipboard back on the desk. “Good. You’re a volleyball player, right? You always need to make sure your body is in tip-top condition.” 

“I promise I’ll do better.”

“Good.” Dr. Himura smiled. “Now, if you’re feeling up to it...you do have a visitor waiting for you outside.”

Hinata immediately pushed herself back into the bed and pulled the blankets up to her chin. She wondered who it could be, and felt an unexpected jolt of nervousness at having someone see her in such a vulnerable position. “Ummm....”

“I don’t have to allow visitors, if you don’t want,” the doctor assured her, “Actually, you’ve had quite a few visitors tonight, but we had to kick them all out after they caused quite a ruckus. A few of them even attempted to come onto some of our nurses, which was quite a scene. But this particular one refused to leave with the others.”

A mental image of Nishinoya and Tanaka chasing after some nurses came to mind, and Hinata couldn’t help but giggle.

“It’s okay. You can let them in.”

Dr. Himura nodded and giving her one last smile, she walked out of the room. Seconds later, a familiar figure replaced her in the doorway.

“Kageyama?”

The raven-haired teen lingered in the door for a long moment before, before trudging towards her bed. His dark, blue eyes looked over her form with an unreadable expression before resting on her face as she lay there, glancing up at him. 

“So, you’re okay?”

Hinata nodded, “I’m better,” and immediately followed with asking, “And the game?”

“We lost. 23-25.”

Kageyama watched as the girl’s face immediately fell at his words, and she turned to groan into the pillow beside her. “Ugh, it was so close. I don’t know why, but knowing that makes it feel worse somehow.”

“Like…” Hinata trailed off, voice still muffled into her pillow, “If I had just been there, if I hadn’t gotten sick, then we would have won or something.” 

Part of him wanted to say something mocking like “Oh, so you’re that arrogant, huh?” just to get a rise out of her, but the other part needed her to know the truth.

“Well, we would have.”

The ginger-haired girl shot up from her bed again, brown eyes blinking rapidly in disbelief. “What?”

“Don’t be stupid,” Kageyama scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Of course we would have won.”

“So, you think it’s my fault we lost?” And for a moment, her voice sounded really small. It was not Kageyama’s goal to make her feel guilty, but he wasn’t going to just let her mope about and feel sorry for herself.

“Yes.”

“Eh? Bakayama, you really know how to comfort someone, don’t you?” Hinata threw the pillow she was clutching at his head, which he easily caught before it made impact. Her expression seemed to lighten, which was good.

“But, it’s my fault, too.”

“How is any of this your fault?” 

Hinata looked up at him with disbelief clearly etched on her face. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her lips were turned downwards in a curious frown. Looking at her now, so small and seemingly vulnerable on the hospital bed, Kageyama felt the guilt start to claw at him.

“Look...I knew you were sick,” Kageyama admitted. “At least a part of me did. And I didn’t say anything. I didn’t interfere.” He thought of all the little moments the past few days that added up to him making his conclusion. Her warm hands, lack of appetite, little sleep, and running high on whatever energy she managed to retain despite everything. He thought of every opportunity he had to say something to her, to just tell her to get some rest—to slow down. But he didn’t.

“I wanted you to play. I...put volleyball first, and so did you.” Kageyama looked down at her, taking in her surprised expression at his words, hoping she understood. “So...technically, we’re both at fault.”

Hinata was quiet for a long moment. “I just...wanted to play. I didn’t think about anything else.”

“I know.”

“And we lost. It’s over.”

“There’s next year, and the year after. Don’t start taking it easy just because you’re feeling sorry for yourself,” Kageyama huffed, and for some reason, his chest felt tight when her hazel eyes seemed to brighten.

“You’re right. We’ve got time,” Hinata grinned.

"Yeah," the setter repeated resolutely, "We've got time."

Chapter Text

3rd Year

It was mere weeks before graduation, and a few months after losing to Itachiyama during the semifinals of their last Inter-High tournament. The familiar sting of defeat felt small and almost welcome in comparison to the growing anxiety Hinata was beginning to feel at the looming prospect of what lay beyond after graduation.

Today was one of their last practice sessions with the team, and as she followed her fellow teammates along the familiar path leading to the Sakanoshita Store, Hinata couldn’t help but contemplate the uncomfortable tightness at the center of her chest.

The feeling made her think of one of her last conversations with Kenma, who had been in the process of moving out of his family home just a few months before. Hinata had stopped by to help him pack up his things, and as they reached his massive video game collection, Kenma began pointing out some of his favorite Japanese RPGs and describing them in depth.

-

“The thing that makes these games really special is that the game developers back in the day tried to create that feeling of ‘mono no aware’, or ‘gentle sadness’,” Kenma had explained, holding up what looked to be a vintage edition of Chrono Trigger.

“‘Mono no aware’,” Hinata had repeated thoughtfully, “What does it mean?” She asked, peering curiously over his shoulder at the rest of his collection of well-kept games in his closet. She momentarily wondered if his new place closer to the city would be able to house all of his gaming arsenal.

“You know that feeling of nostalgia? It’s like that moment when you recognize that nothing is ever permanent, but you wish for everything to stay the same anyway.” 

The older boy looked pensive as he rummaged through his items and carefully placed things into the open cardboard boxes at his feet. “These games have the ability to make you feel that way.”

Hinata had furrowed her brows, pondering the concept. “Is it like a...longing?”

“Exactly,” Kenma had confirmed, giving the girl a small, impressed smile, his amber eyes glowing in the dim closet lighting. “Like a longing…”

“...Like saying goodbye to the halcyon days.”

-

In these last few days of high school, Hinata had been thinking a lot about the idea of ‘mono no aware’ and whether she was ready to say goodbye to her halcyon days.

Hinata remembered what it had been like at the end of her first year—the constant state of denial for all of the days leading up to their third years graduating. She had followed Suga around like a lost puppy, afraid to even blink and miss another moment with her affectionate senpai. 

“Maa, Hinata, you act like I’m going to die or something.”

Luckily Suga didn’t seem to actually mind, and Hinata knew she hadn’t imagined all of the extra hair ruffles and cheek pats he managed to sneak in leading up to their graduation day.

As their team practices began to dwindle, Hinata began watching Daichi like a hawk, intent on absorbing all of her captain’s wisdom like a sponge. He actually had to bat her away when she tried jotting down some of his motivational speeches on a notepad that he then later confiscated in order to further discourage her antics. 

“But Captain, I want to look at them for inspiration when you’re gone,” Hinata had cried out when the older boy handed the notepad to his snickering vice captain, never to be seen again.

When their last day of practice finally came, Asahi had made a passing comment about how he was passing the mantle of ‘Karasuno’s Ace’ down to her, his brown eyes kind and endearing, and Hinata actually broke down crying. Shimizu had to usher her away before she made a bigger fool of herself in front of her teammates.

“But you guys can’t just leave!” Hinata had managed to heave out between tears against the older girl’s shoulder, as Shimizu rubbed her back comfortingly. 

“What am I going to do without you?”

“Shouyou, you’re going to be okay,” Shimizu murmured into tufts of orange hair. “You’ve got Yachi and the rest of the team here to support you! And you know that you can always call if you need me.”

In the days following their graduation, Hinata was sure she made the older girl regret that offer, as she was constantly calling to check-in, sometimes even multiple times a day. 

Fortunately, Shimizu seemed to almost expect it, and always managed to answer by the second ring, ready to talk the other girl down from whatever panicky hill she had clambered up to.

Hinata had thought that after her first year, she would have gotten better at the goodbyes. She got older—became a seasoned second-year in a blink of an eye—with a whole year going by without her secret getting uncovered again. 

She thought she could handle it.

Although, thinking back on it now, nothing could have prepared her for the sight of her senpais in their dark graduation attire waving goodbye to them enthusiastically with their diplomas in hand—her emotions flip-flopping interchangeably between sadness and pride.

“See ya later, Shouyou!!” Noya had called out in between his cupped hands at the openly sobbing second-year.

“Take care of the team for us!” Tanaka had grinned broadly, throwing two thumbs-ups in her direction.

Ennoshita had then placed a hand on both of their shoulders, ushering them to the exit while smiling encouragingly back at the rest of the team while Narita and Kinoshita had waved excitedly from behind them. 

“Bye, everyone!” 

Hinata sobbed.

“You’re so embarrassing,” Kageyama had muttered, narrowly avoiding an ill-timed hug from the crying second-year, as Tsukishima shoved Hinata away when she attempted to latch onto his arm for support. Yamaguchi could only sigh, expression both fond and put upon, when she had cried her way into his shoulder instead, with Yachi gently sniffing alongside her.

But now, almost nineteen-years-old, Hinata found herself contemplating Kenma’s ‘mono no aware’ more and more. She felt that familiar longing every time she biked to school, breathing in the crisp, country air as she examined the way the sky seemed to brighten in the horizon, wondering if she could paint the image into her memory.

She felt it every time she met Kageyama at the school entrance, the two of them racing down the pavement, huffing and shoving like they were still the brash, competitive first years they once were.

And she felt it now, looking around at her teammates, the cold air comfortably biting as the fluorescent lights of the store made their shadows stretch out long and almost unrecognizable as they walked down the street, her own kouhais looking down at her expectantly as they walked beside her.

How many more moments would they have like this?

Everything seemed so fleeting and temporary and the space stretching between her and this moment seemed larger and larger with each passing day.

“Hinata-senpai! Are you going to teach us how to do your baaaam jump before you leave?” A particularly bright-eyed first year questioned excitedly, distracting her from her thoughts.

“He said he would already, stop nagging him!” Another first year interjected, sticking his tongue out at the younger boy from Hinata’s other side.

Amused by their antics, Hinata laughed out loud. Then to appease her kouhais, she began animatedly demonstrating the proper footing for her jump, the bright sound of their chatter drawing the attention of the other third years in the vicinity.

“Man, Shouyou is really popular with the younger ones, isn’t he?” Yamaguchi commented, eyeing the laughing third year as they paused outside of the store. “As the team captain, should I be upset by this development?”

“That guy goes out of his way to baby those first years,” Tsukishima said, rolling his eyes at the sight. “It’s a wasted effort.”

“He’s an idiot,” Kageyama supplied gruffly, readjusting the scarf around his neck.

Yachi only laughed at them good-naturedly, a small, secret smile playing on her lips at their words. 

Hinata probably didn’t even notice it, but Yachi had been observing the other girl for years now. She recognized better than anyone how people seemed to gravitate to the other girl whether she or they were even aware of it at all.

Yachi coined the phenomenon the Hinata Effect.

The blonde noted the way the younger players seemed to orbit around the bright-haired third year, who was now doing her best to demonstrate some sort of jumping move to her rapt audience. 

She wondered how they would all react when they eventually learned the truth about her best friend. To this day, it was still shocking to see how easily everyone just accepted that Hinata was a boy at face value, no questions asked. Just one look at those ridiculously long lashes and high cheekbones was enough for Yachi to question everyone else’s intelligence. She was glad she had Tsukishima at least, who also knew the truth, and the two of them often took turns acting exasperated at the other girl’s expense.

“So, have you decided what you’re going to do once you graduate, senpai?”

Everyone turned to look at Hinata then, who was noticeably avoiding their gazes by meticulously adjusting and readjusting the front buttons of her coat. Yachi watched, concern etched on her face, wondering if the other girl was ready to disclose that information just yet.

“Well, I…”

It wasn’t that Hinata didn’t have a plan for what she wanted to do after high school. She did.

It was just that the other third years seemed to have figured out their post-graduate plans so easily in comparison.

Yachi had already been accepted to several universities, following in her mother’s footsteps to start a career in design. Both Tsukishima and Yamaguchi decided to attend the same university in Miyagi, with the former pursuing a career as a museum curator and the latter wanting to major in tech.

Kageyama, on the other hand...

Hinata had nagged and prodded him for weeks, demanding that he divulge his plans, but the dark-haired setter wouldn’t budge an inch. More than once, she had voiced her curiosity out loud to Yachi during one of their many sleepovers, and the other girl could only raise her eyebrows knowingly.

“What?! I just want to know!” Hinata yelped defensively at her friend’s expression.

“You’re obsessing again,” Yachi pointed out, “Kageyama-kun will tell us when he’s ready.”

In retrospect, Hinata knew she had become overbearing in her insistence at discovering Kageyama’s career plans. The other boy had even begun avoiding her at lunch, opting to duck out when she arrived to eat with him and the other third years. Yamaguchi and Yachi could only shrug helplessly when she looked back at them in frustration, while Tsukishima just looked visibly annoyed by bearing witness to it all.

She knew she should have probably just let it go and let Kageyama tell her when he was ready.

But the thing was…

Hinata had dedicated the past few years trying to match her life’s trajectory to align with his. She had promised him, back when they were just kids in middle school, that she would be the one to beat him one day. And then later…

“Even if it takes ten years or twenty! I am going to be the one that stays on the court the longest!” 

“Then that means you’re going to stay on the same playing field as me the whole time, right? Even if that’s at the top of the national stage? Or the top of the world stage?” 

Hinata knew how ridiculous it sounded to base her entire life around that one promise—to be the best, to make it to the top, to stay on the court longer than even the king himself—but more than anything, she needed to know that everything she had done up until this point meant something —that she had made the right choice. 

She needed that validation.

Because Hinata promised that she would meet him on the world stage, and she wasn’t planning on giving up just yet.

-

Two Months Prior

“Coach Ukai....Takeda-sensei, could I speak with you both for a moment?”

Both parties looked up curiously when Hinata knocked on their office door. The third year was unnaturally serious, staring both of them down with an air of intensity that she usually only saved for the court.

“Coach…,” Hinata turned to the blonde man first. “You once told me that ‘it’s not above overcoming your limits, it’s about raising them’ .”

Coach Ukai’s eyes shot up in surprise at hearing both his words and his grandfather’s words reflected back at him.

“And sensei,” Hinata turned to her teacher next, “You said that there are walls that I can’t just overcome with reckless effort, and when that time came, what I needed was logic and thought,” she repeated, firmly, “You said...that I needed to grasp those chances while making sure I don’t let any of them slip away from me. I know that better than anyone now.”

Takeda-sensei furrowed his brows at hearing the same words he spoke at their first Nationals, all those years ago.

“So, with that being said, I have something that I need to tell you both…”

Hinata took a deep breath—

“I’m...actually a girl.”

Whatever the two men had expected to hear next...it definitely was not that.

“What the f—“

“I—what?”

“I’ve been a girl this whole time. And I pretended to be a boy because...because I wanted to prove that girls could stand on the same court as men and be just as strong. I thought disguising myself as a boy would be the only way to prove my point.”

Hinata knew she only had a limited amount of time to get her explanation out in the open before the two men got over their initial shock and began asking too many questions, and with hazel eyes wide and earnest, she looked at them both imploringly, silently begging for their understanding.

Coach Ukai was still reeling from the boy—no girl’s—earlier announcement, barely processing the rest of her explanation.

A girl?! How had no one realized? As the coach, how could he not have realized…?

Hinata’s pleading brown eyes flicked from one man to the other. “I’m sorry for deceiving you both for so long…for deceiving the whole team...”

“But I’m not sorry for what I did.”

Takeda-sensei knew after hearing such a bombshell declaration, he should have been more angry at Hinata for lying to them. Or disappointed that after all of these years, she didn’t trust them enough to tell the truth. Or even more shocked that a girl had successfully blended in with their team of rowdy boys for the past three years, and no one knew any better.

But instead, as Takeda-sensei stared at Hinata, and took in the third year’s determined expression and sincere brown eyes, remembered her amazing feats on the court, and recognized how she had worked harder and flew higher than anyone thought possible—he found himself blinking rapidly as his face scrunched up in an embarrassingly familiar expression.

“Oi!! Are you actually crying right now?!” Coach Ukai exclaimed incredulously as he watched his colleague break down in tears.

Hinata’s eyes widened in surprise, and she jerkily waved her hands in front of her in an effort to soothe her crying teacher. “Takeda-sensei, I’m so sorry!! I didn’t think—“

Takeda-sensei shook his head and raised his hand to stop her from continuing her apology.

“No, Hinata, I’m not upset with you. I’m just...so moved .”

Hinata and Coach Ukai stared at him in disbelief.

“It’s just…you know, when I told you that there would be walls for you to overcome I was referring to your height . I would never have expected that you were fighting a different battle all together.” Takeda-sensei sniffed again and moved to clean off his glasses. “You’re truly amazing, Hinata.”

Coach Ukai wanted to yell. In fact, it was his first instinct to start shouting and get to the bottom of everything, because he wasn’t ready to just let this go. But looking between the emotional teacher and the now tearful Hinata, he couldn’t find it in himself to act in misplaced anger.

Instead he said, “...I’m not going to lie. I am still extremely shocked. It might take me awhile to actually comprehend what you’ve just told us...but there is no doubt that I am proud of you, Hinata.” The blonde man scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Boy. Girl. I guess it doesn’t matter. You’ve worked hard, kid.”

“And it’s not that I’m not glad that you are opening up to us with the truth. But...I guess...why now ?”

Hinata hastily wiped the tears that began to fall at her sensei and coach’s unexpected reactions. She had mentally prepared herself for angry outbursts and had even thought up all of the possible explanations and reasonings she would need in order to convince them of her integrity. But their continued support was something that she only dared hoped for and would never take for granted.

Smiling with newfound resolve, Hinata gazed upon them with shining, bright eyes.

“It’s because...I’m not done yet. And I need your help.”

-

With Hinata’s non-stop research, Coach Ukai’s many connections, and Takeda-sensei’s careful planning, they all reached the same conclusion—beach volleyball.

Somehow, the prospect of playing beach volleyball unexpectedly seemed to check every single one of Hinata’s boxes.

First of all, pursuing beach volleyball meant the opportunity for her to finally spread her wings and explore what life was like outside of her small, countryside home on the outskirts of the Miyagi Prefecture. Although Hinata loved her family and her friends more than anything, she knew that real growth had to happen outside of her comfort zone. 

And she had learned better than anyone, that if she wanted to have new life experiences, she would have to create them for herself, because they’d never happen if she just waited around for them.

Secondly, trading the hard court for the hot sand meant having the opportunity to hone all of her skills and become an even more well-rounded player. And because the outdoor sport was played in doubles, there were no specialized positions—she wouldn’t just be a wing spiker, anymore—she’d have to learn to spike, dig, set, and block, with only a single partner at her side to support her. Just the idea of it filled her with nervous anticipation.

And most importantly, after three years—three long, painstaking, grueling years—of donning layers and layers of tight medical bandages, that she later thankfully replaced with a much more comfortable binder by her second year, and lying continuously to her mom and her teammates and classmates—she would finally be able to drop the ruse.

Because beach volleyball allowed for the one thing Hinata had been looking forward to all of these years.

She could play volleyball and be a girl.

Because unlike professional indoor volleyball, professional beach volleyball allowed for coed teams.

It sounded like a dream. 

Hinata could do what she always wanted, compete at the highest level in the sport she loved, and she didn’t have to hide who she was anymore.

The catch was—it was an entirely new concept and only a few countries had accommodated for coed teams so far. Meaning, her options were limited to say the least. She and her senseis had hit a wall trying to find the right opportunity for her.

Surprisingly her opening came in the form of the most unlikely source.

“Coach Washijou?!”

The older man raised one large brow at the undignified screech and made his best attempt to look disinterested, despite the small, almost smile playing on the corner of his lips. “Hinata Shouyou.”

“I—but—you?” Hinata floundered in an attempt to formulate a proper response. Out of all the people in the entire volleyball industry who she thought would step up to provide her help in her professional career, she would never have suspected that Shiratorizawa’s demon coach himself would be standing there before her. 

“But I...thought you hated me,” Hinata said dumbly, recounting their interactions at training camp her first year that still continued to haunt her to this day.

“I...believed that I was looking out for you.” Washijou’s expression remained unchanged, but there was definitely a hint of regret lurking in the depths of his dark eyes as he surveyed her. “I thought...that as a girl...it would be dangerous for you to compete with males who were much bigger and stronger than you.”

Hinata frowned at the words, already wanting to interject. How exactly is that looking out for me? She wanted to shout back, ignoring all pretenses of politeness.

As if sensing her rising anger, Washijou’s voice seemed to soften and Hinata felt herself deflating at the sound of it. “The things I have seen you accomplish these past three years made me realize just how wrong I was to exclude you from that training camp your first year.” 

“I thought that being an adult, being a coach, that I was somehow exempt from being…” the coach scrunched up his face in distaste as he spat out the word, “... sexist .”

“But I suppose that even I have some learning to do myself…” Coach Washijou looked down at her imploringly, the most open she had ever seen his expression, and offered a hand to her.

“So, I am sorry, Hinata Shouyou. I promise to never underestimate you again.”

For a moment, Hinata just stood there, conflicted as she regarded the outstretched hand before her. This was the man who made her feel so worthless her first year. ‘Insignificant’ had been the word that echoed in her mind for weeks after the training camp ended, and she’d never forget the verbal scolding she had received daily during her time as a ball boy.

But staring at him now, the sincerity shining in his eyes, Hinata could not find it in herself to resent the man any longer. She couldn’t fault someone for wanting to learn and be better. 

Wasn’t that the whole point of her doing this to begin with? To teach people to look past their own unfair judgements?

Hinata reached out to grip his hand firmly, and Coach Washijou seemed to visibly sigh in relief as they shook hands. 

“I have a former student, Lucio Kato, who trains beach volleyball players in Brazil. He specializes in coed teams. I think it would be a perfect fit for you.”

-

“You’ve got one year.”

-

“I’m actually going to Brazil…”

Her words trailed off as everyone around her froze imperceptibly, each member of the Karasuno team processing the information at different speeds.

“Senpai, you—?!”

“Brazil?!”

“W-when?!”

“Why?” Kageyama’s firm voice rose above all the others, and Hinata looked back at him, eyeing his glare and the way in which the other players took turns flitting their surprised gazes between the two of them.

She lifted her chin up defiantly at her partner. “To play beach volleyball, of course!” 

There was more indignant spluttering at her response, but when she met Kageyama’s gaze steadily, there was an appraising gleam there.

“Beach volleyball?” Tsukishima repeated, voice incredulous, as he watched the orange-haired girl with narrowed eyes. And then suddenly, it clicked.

Of course. 

Beach volleyball actually allowed coed teams. He had just read an article about it in a sports magazine the other day. Playing on a coed team would mean that Hinata would actually be able to hone her skills without having to keep up with her ill-advised disguise anymore. And as he thought about it, even Tsukishima had to admit...the plan was surprisingly smart, he’d give her that. 

It was unexpected, to say the least. He hadn’t been sure what the girl had up her sleeve post graduation, and part of him had even wondered if she would just decide to give up the act and move on from it. But he should have known better...

Tsukishima internally sighed. It seemed Hinata was still full of surprises.

“Just you guys wait! When I come back in a few years, I’m going to be such a badass! Training in the sand is no joke, you know!” Hinata’s eyes were sparkling in excitement, and her exuberance easily won over most of the team as they began asking her rapid-fire questions.

“What language do they speak in Brazil?”

“Who’s going to train you?”

“When do you leave?” Yamaguchi questioned, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“In one year!” 

There was a short pause, and then Kageyama, ever the abrupt one, decided to make an announcement of his own.

“I’ll be joining the V. League straight after graduation.”

Truthfully, this declaration shouldn’t have been much of a surprise. The once proclaimed ‘king-of-the-court’ had received several offers to start in the professional league right out of high school, but that didn’t stop Hinata from gaping at him, an outward combative expression forming on her face.

“When?” 

“April.”

“That’s a month from now.”

“I know.”

“You’re going to the V. League a month from now,” Hinata echoed, narrowing her eyes as the other boy stared down at her coolly. 

Almost immediately, her thoughts began to spiral. How long had Kageyama planned this? Why did he choose to keep it from her? Hinata knew she probably didn’t have a leg to stand on in the honesty department, but for some reason, the decision to purposely exclude her hurt. Which was stupid, if she was being honest with herself. Because why should she feel hurt at all?

Feeling the attentive eyes of their teammates on the both of them, Hinata forced a grin on her face, patting the taller boy on the back in a weak attempt at offering him praise on what was a momentous accomplishment. 

It was only weeks later, after their own graduation ceremony—their dark, formal garments discarded by the entrance of the gymnasium as they passed the ball back and forth over the net—when Hinata finally plucked up the courage to actually ask him about it.

“You know...you could have told me...about your plan,” Hinata managed to muster out, as she looked up at him beneath long, overgrown bangs. She brushed the orange strands out of her face and tossed the ball back. “I mean, we’re friends right? Don’t friends tell each other things?”

Kageyama caught the ball in his hands, cobalt eyes narrowing at her words as he regarded her closely.

“What?”

Hinata swallowed nervously at his darkening tone, but she tried not to let it show. “What, Bakayama? Did you not think we were friends or something? After all this time?” She placed her hands on her hips challengingly.

“That’s...not it,” the setter responded slowly, frowning as he looked at her through the net. “You didn’t tell me either…”

“About Brazil.”

Something about the way Kageyama said those words had Hinata blinking rapidly in confusion. Was he really upset about Brazil? It wasn’t like she was leaving any time soon—unlike him, who was leaving next week—so what could he possibly be mad for?

“Do you think it’s a bad idea or something?” Hinata asked suddenly, the worry slipping into her voice. “Switching to beach?”

Kageyama didn’t respond for a long moment, spinning the ball lightly in his hands. When he looked up at her next, his blue eyes were flashing, and there was that familiar tingling of anticipation building deep in her stomach at the sight.

“Switching to the sand isn’t easy, you know.”

“I know that!”

“And Brazil is really far and you don’t even know the language, so it’s probably going to be even harder for a dummy like you.”

“Jeez. Okay. I get it,” Hinata pouted, sticking her tongue out at him and feeling like a silly first year all over again.

Kageyama paused then, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face as he seemed to consider something.

“Will you get stronger?” 

“O-of course, I will!” Hinata responded indignantly, caught off guard by the question. “I told you. I’m going to beat you one day, Bakayama!”

The taller boy seemed satisfied by the response, tilting his head in acknowledgement as he stepped back to get into a serving position, and Hinata found herself immediately side-stepping to get herself ready to receive.

“Good. I’ll be waiting.”

-

“See you later, Kageyama!”

“...Yeah. See you later.”

-

Natsu bit her lip anxiously as she watched her Onee-chan and Kaa-san continue to yell at one another from across the kitchen table. Just a few days after her graduation, her older sister decided that it was time to finally come clean to their mother. Suffice it to say, their conversation went from the initial shock and disbelief, then quickly transitioned into the angry fever pitch currently taking place at the dinner table.

“It’s my decision! I’m an adult now! Shouldn’t I be able to go out on my own?!”

“Being an adult means making smart decisions! Was it smart of you to pretend to be a boy all of this time? Do you know how much trouble you could have gotten in if someone caught you?”

“But no one found out! I kept it a secret for three whole years!”

“Lying to your family all this time, deciding to travel to a foreign country—Did you even think about me or your sister when you decided to do this?” Their mother slammed her hands on the table, causing the surrounding dishes to shake at the impact.

Hinata wiped her face angrily as tears began to form against her will. She looked back at her mother, the frustration and hurt clearly evident on her face.

“I’m following my dreams, Kaa-san! Don’t you care at all?!” 

“You’re being selfish. If your father was here—”

“Well, he’s not!”

“—He would be so disappointed in your behavior. It’s completely ridiculous what you’ve been doing. We didn’t raise you to act this way!”

“He didn’t raise me at all,” Hinata angrily bit out, hazel eyes narrowing.

“Your father—“

“Tou-san left!” Hinata felt the resentful words escape before she could stop them. “It doesn’t matter what he would think or what he would do. He didn’t care enough about us to even stick around.”

She and Natsu both jumped back in shock when her mother suddenly stood up from the table, the chair she had just been sitting on slamming into the floor in her haste. 

“...Then maybe you should leave, too.”

Natsu gaped at the words, not fully comprehending what she was hearing as tears began to fall. She shook her head in denial.

“Kaa-san!! No!!”

The older woman didn’t respond, her expression pained and severe as she turned her back to them, leaving the room and not looking back once.

“Natsu—it’s okay.” Hinata reached out for her younger sister, wrapping her arms around her smaller form. “I have a lot of friends I can stay with, and you’ll still see me all the time before I leave!”

“W-why did you have to tell her?” Natsu rubbed at her eyes, expression turning confused and angry as she looked up at her sister. “Why couldn’t you have just kept it a secret for a little bit longer?”

Hinata sighed at the question, stroking her sister’s orange curls gently as she did so. “Remember when I said that sometimes lying could be okay...as long as you weren’t hurting anyone?”

Natsu nodded solemnly. “And you said that you weren’t, right?”

The older girl bit her lip, furrowing her brows. “If I kept it a secret for any longer, then I definitely would have been hurting Kaa-san even more than I already am.”

“Imagine if I had told her right before I left for Brazil...that would have been really careless of me, right?” Hinata had a feeling that she would have been disowned on the spot if she had tried to do that. “Telling her the truth and then just leaving for two years?”

Natsu sniffed and tilted her head in understanding. “That would have been worse, I think.”

“Exactly,” Hinata confirmed grimly.

“But…” Large, brown eyes looked up at her older sister, the worry evident in her expression. 

“...Where will you go, Nee-chan?”

-

Hinata stayed with Yachi for the first few weeks. 

The blonde was more than willing to accommodate for her after hearing what had happened. But with attending university, Yachi had to take on a roommate of her own, and it was only a matter of time before Hinata decided to move on so that she wouldn’t inconvenience her friend further.

Yachi had not been pleased by her decision, but even the blonde could tell that her roommate was getting antsy from having an extra occupant in their tiny, cramped dorm. 

“Okay, but you’ll let me know right away if nothing else works out, right?” Yachi had insisted, eyes shining in concern as she watched Hinata stuff her meager belongings in her overnight bag.

“Don’t worry! I’ll be fine!” Hinata had smiled reassuringly up at her. Luckily, she had a few more options.

Shimizu offered her place next, and for a short time, the two cohabited with ease. The older woman had begun working for a sports equipment store, and Hinata enjoyed accompanying her and helping out where she could.

It was only when Tanaka began showing up to the apartment more and more, forcing Hinata to either hide out in a closet indefinitely or leave the flat for an extended amount of time, that they both realized that she had to find a new place to crash.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Shimizu had asked, frowning when Hinata had told her that it was time for her to move on.

“Of course!” Hinata assured her. “I can’t keep hiding in the guest closet with my headphones on when Tanaka-senpai comes over! You guys need your privacy!” She winked as she said so, causing the older woman to blush slightly and nod her head.

And that was how she found herself trudging up the cement steps of an unfamiliar Tokyo dwelling, her overnight bag slung over her shoulder. Hinata kept glancing up at the impressive-looking house and back down at her phone to confirm the address.

“No way! Kenma lives here?!”

Once she rang the doorbell, it didn’t take long for the front door to swing open, revealing the former Nekoma setter himself, clad in a large black hoodie and long hair tied in a loose bun at the base of his neck.

“Shouyou.” His smile was small and warm, and the sight of it alone was enough to send a wave of comfort through her. “Come on in.”

Hinata wasted no time following her friend through the entrance, looking a bit sheepish as she took off her shoes and placed her bag down in the foyer. 

“Sorry for the intrusion! I...didn’t know where else to go…”

Kenma glanced over his shoulder, noting the tired, hazel eyes and the uncharacteristic downward twist of her mouth. He tilted his head to the side, frowning. 

“You should have come sooner.”

Grabbing her bag, he padded softly down the hallway, the smaller girl trailing closely behind, her eyes wide as she surveyed the large rooms and seemingly endless walkways. 

“A game room?”

“A home theatre?”

“Man, Kenma, you’ve got this whole place to yourself!?”

He stopped by one of the guest rooms, switching on the light, and stood by the doorway to let Hinata walk past and look around the room. Doing a small spin, she looked almost like her old self again, beaming up at him. “Are you sure that you’re okay with me crashing here for a bit?”

Kenma walked in the room and ruffled her bangs as he passed by to place her bag beside the bed. She smiled softly at the easy affection and naturally leaned into his touch.

“You know you’re always welcome here, Shouyou. Take however long you need.”

-

When the time came for her to start packing for Brazil, almost a whole year had passed with her staying under Kenma’s roof. Their domestic coexistence was almost effortlessly easy—with Hinata seamlessly fitting into Kenma’s day-to-day routine as though they had lived together for years.

When she wasn’t out training or playing in practice matches, she found herself spending most of her time with her new roommate. They had movie nights frequently in the theater room, and on other nights, Hinata would curl up beside Kenma during one of his gaming streams. On nights when she was feeling especially playful, she’d steal his headphones and trash-talk the other players, much to Kenma’s amusement. 

“That’s right, you rotten bastard, we’re going to grenade you right in your smug face! Take that!”

“Shouyou. That’s not even how you play.” 

But Kenma never made a move to steal his headphones back. In fact, it was only after a few weeks that he purchased her a pair of her own, much to her delight.

Suffice it to say, Hinata became a crowd favorite during those streams, and Kenma noted smugly that his numbers always increased on the nights when she was featured.

More often than not, some of his old Nekoma teammates would stop by, and Hinata had to pull out her old gear in order to not give herself away, tying her growing hair back in a similar fashion to Kenma’s. 

“You guys start living together for a few months and all of a sudden you start looking alike, too?” Kuroo had mused aloud, noting the matching buns and oversized hoodies the two of them began donning when he visited.

She and Kenma had only traded amused glances at the words.

Hinata had initially worried about letting her hair get long, but no one seemed to ask her outright about it, even if she did get a few more questioning glances her way on the off days that she let it down.

Living with Kenma was nice, more than nice—better than she could have ever hoped for after getting kicked out of her house and not knowing where she’d end up. If Hinata wasn’t impatiently counting down the days she had left before she could begin her training in Brazil, she would have probably appreciated the time together even more. 

But the truth was, Hinata felt like she had spent the past year waiting for her real life to start.

When the day finally came for her to head to the airport, Hinata was bursting with restless energy and excitement. In the days leading up to her departure, Kenma seemed to sense her growing discontent and did his best to distract her when he could—even offering to practice setting to her and rolling his eyes fondly when her bright, hazel eyes would sparkle at his words.

But after a year of waiting, it was finally, finally time for her to go.

-

Koji and Izumi were already waiting at the airport by the time she and Kenma arrived. Her two childhood friends were eager to catch up with her and hear about what they had missed while they were away at university. While they were chatting, she heard Natsu’s excited voice call out to her and there was suddenly a familiar orange fluff latched onto her side. 

“Nee-chan!!”

“Natsu-chan!!”

Hinata looked up to make brief eye contact with her mother, who she hadn’t spoken to all year. After she had left, Hinata had only made the effort to keep in contact with Natsu, meeting up with her younger sister at least once a week to go get something to eat or to watch a movie. But she had made the effort to avoid any contact with her mother as much as possible, her pride making it difficult to look past the hurtful words that were said all those months ago.

But when her mother looked at her now, there was a light in her eyes that hadn’t been there before, and against her will, a sense of hope fluttered deep in her chest. When Hinata finally gathered up the courage to walk up and greet her, the older woman didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around her eldest daughter, whispering apologies into her orange hair, as she hugged her tight.

Blinking back tears at the unexpected reaction, Hinata hugged her back just as tightly, the layers of unspoken words and walls built the past year instantly coming down. 

“Hinata!”

“Shouyou!”

Spinning around, her eyes brightened when she saw the various members of her old Karasuno team smiling back at her. Tanaka and Noya had been the ones to call out, grinning and waving excitedly when she waved back. She hadn’t realized that their former libero was still in town. Daichi and Suga had turned to look at her just then, matching smiles on their faces when she called out their names. On the other side of them, Asahi and Shimizu appeared to be trying to comfort a crying Yachi, while Yamaguchi and Tsukishima were catching up with Ennoshita and the other second years. 

The sight of them all together caused her to choke up a bit, and she rubbed at her eyes so she wouldn’t start crying right then and there.

There was only one notable person missing...

“Where’s Kageyama-kun?” Suga asked, blinking curiously around at everyone.

“Didn’t you hear? He got scouted for the Olympic team,” Yamaguchi responded, unconsciously glancing at Hinata worriedly as he did so.

That very morning, her former teammate had sent a brief text message, wishing her safe travels, and after reading it, Hinata had proceeded to grumble to herself, stuffing her phone deep into her backpack, purposefully choosing not to respond.

“He couldn’t even say goodbye?” Tanaka wondered out loud, yelping when his girlfriend elbowed him roughly in the ribs. 

“Who’s the dumbass, now?” Tsukishima muttered under his breath, watching as the orange-haired girl avoided making eye contact with anyone as the conversation shifted to the Olympics and how their former teammate was doing.

“Flight 2105 to Brazil boarding now.” 

It was time.

Taking a deep breath and bracing herself, Hinata spun around to face her friends and family to give them one last wave, beaming as she was met with excited shouts of goodbye and well wishes. It hit her just then that this was probably the last time she was going to see any of them for two years, and just the thought of that alone had her sniffing and rubbing at her eyes again.

“Wish me luck!”

“Safe travels, Shouyou!!”

-

“That was a nice jump!”

Hinata furrowed her brows as she hit the ground, sand spraying where she landed. As she expected, it was still difficult to get her full vertical height on the beach, and she tried not to get too frustrated at the thought. Lucio walked up to the net, waving her over to join him. 

“With sand you can’t really just kick it like you do on the hard court,” the coach continued, kicking at the sand at his feet to make a point. “You have to step into the jump.”

Wiping the sweat forming on her brow, Hinata mentally reminded herself not to get impatient as she nodded in response. Step into the jump. Step into the jump. 

From the other side of the net, Lucio studied the girl closely. He had heard from his former coach that Hinata had been a high-level player among the male high school teams. While it had initially surprised him to hear of her story and how she worked to mask her identity for years in order to play volleyball at the highest level, he was mostly moved by the sheer determination that the girl must have had to keep playing against the odds.

Washijou had even expressed, in so little words, just how poorly he had treated the girl himself. And the uncharacteristic regret in his former bull-headed coach’s voice over the phone was enough to convince Lucio to take the girl under his wing.

Truthfully, it was stories like hers that had made him want to pursue coaching coed teams to begin with. He had seen first-hand how the female players were not taken as seriously on the court and on the beach. When the concept of coed teams became an actual reality, Lucio jumped at the chance to coach.

Because why couldn’t men and women compete at the same level?

Watching as the orange-haired player missed yet another set and landed on the sand roughly, Lucio smiled grimly. Honestly, when it came to beach volleyball, it didn’t matter if you were male or female. There was a definite powerlessness that came from playing on sand, and he knew better than anyone how it would shake any self-confidence that she had built in her abilities so far.

But as he watched Hinata grit her teeth and stare steadfast at the net before her, Lucio nodded approvingly. He couldn’t wait to see what kind of player she would become in two years time.

“Let’s go again!” Hinata called out to him.

-

At first, Hinata had a hard time getting partners to team up with her, given her lack of notoriety and obvious height, many players seemed to pass her up when given the opportunity. And it didn’t help that she could barely speak the language, either.

For the first few months, she had taken to hanging back by the courts and watching for players who were looking for partners by chance. Since teaming up with others on the beach was so casual, Hinata had to work every time to find someone to play with in an upcoming match.

So, it was by luck that she managed to find Heitor.

When she first arrived in Brazil, Hinata had planned to pick up a few side jobs here and there to make some money on the side. After her first week acting as a food carrier in the unfamiliar country, she quickly decided against it. Not only was she continually getting lost in the winding streets, but the amount of unwanted advances made her skin crawl.

After narrowly escaping a group of gentlemen who complained about receiving their food too late and then proceeding to come onto her, Hinata realized that maybe there were other perks in being disguised as a boy that she hadn’t truly considered.

It had never occurred to her that being a girl might be unsafe in this unfamiliar country, and she suddenly felt very small and naive for not being more careful. 

But sadly, Hinata still needed some sort of income, and she spent the next few days looking into different opportunities.

After seeing a “Help Wanted” sign posted on the front window of a small neighborhood restaurant, Hinata decided to take a chance and walked in, her eyes taking in the homey atmosphere and the quaint, welcoming setting.

“Bem vindo! Como posso ajudá-lo.”

Hinata blinked dumbly at the tall, extremely attractive blonde who approached her when she entered the establishment. 

“Você está procurando emprego?” The woman had a hand on her hip and gestured to the sign in the window with her other hand, raising a brow at Hinata’s dumbfounded expression.

Emprego. Job. “Sim! Yes!”

The blonde gave her a quick once over, eyeing the bright orange waves tied at the base of her neck and the casual t-shirt and shorts that she wore. Seemingly satisfied with what she saw, the other woman turned around, waving a hand over her shoulder to indicate that the smaller girl follow her as she went behind the bar counter and into the kitchen area. 

“Estamos procurando uma garçonete de meio período. Você está interessado?” 

Hinata pursed her lips in thought. Garçonete. Waitress. Meio período. Only part time?  

“Sim! Obrigado! Thank you.” 

“De onde você é?” Where are you from?

“Japan!” The orange-haired girl responded brightly, happy to have understood the question without much thought. The other woman looked back at her surprise and handed her an apron, which Hinata hastily put on. 

The blonde woman, who later introduced herself as Nice, proceeded to show her just what the job entailed—how to take orders, clean tables, and even make a few drinks behind the bar. Hinata spent the rest of the afternoon learning the ropes and studying the modest selection of items on the menu, hoping to memorize it by the end of the day.

When it started getting dark and the last of their patrons departed, she helped Nice clean up the restaurant and stack up the chairs. As Hinata helped to wipe down the tables, the blonde woman turned to her curiously.

“O que voce esta fazendo todo o caminho no Brasil?” So what are you doing all the way in Brazil?

“Treinar vôlei de praia!” To train in beach volleyball!

Nice’s expression quickly turned to one of excitement as she dropped the cleaning rag she was holding to grasp the other girl’s hands. “De jeito nenhum! Meu namorado joga vôlei de praia também!” No way! My boyfriend also plays beach volleyball.

“Você está procurando um parceiro?” Are you looking for a partner?

Hinata gripped the other woman’s hands even harder as her hazel eyes shined. “Um parceiro?! Sim por favor!”

She couldn’t believe her luck.

The next day, Nice introduced her to Heitor, and Hinata hit it off with the easygoing volleyball player right away. Not only did he prove to be a reliable partner on the court, but she enjoyed his relaxed attitude and how willing he seemed to explain things that she was still learning on the court.

“The sand is strict, but kind,” Heitor had informed her after a particularly good game. The two of them sat on the sand at the edges of the court, watching the waves together.

After a moment, Hinata began doing her post-game breathing exercises and stretches, as Heitor watched on thoughtfully.

“Doing everything so diligently,” the tanned player began, eyeing his partner’s calm demeanor as she leaned down to stretch her calves. “Do you not get tired of it?”

“No way!” Hinata responded cheerfully, giving him a thumbs up, “I take proper breaks and get 8 hours of sleep every night.”

Heitor shook his head, laughing at her response. “That’s not what I mean...doesn’t it ever feel suffocating to you?”

Hinata tilted her head in confusion at the words. “Suffocating?”

“To me, volleyball is just a job,” the other man said, stroking his chin in thought. “But to you, it’s different isn’t it? It’s like a hobby? But not in the sense of not being serious about it, though.”

The orange-haired female contemplated his words, thinking suddenly of her old teammate and the way in which Kageyama made sure to keep his nails perfectly trimmed and wrote in his volleyball journal every day.

“Practicing and training...it’s like part of a daily routine,” Hinata said finally, shrugging her shoulders. “Like eating food. You know?”

Heitor looked disbelieving at that and shook his head. “Ninja Shouyou, you’re really something else, aren’t you?” 

-

As the months went by, Nice became quite the asset in helping Hinata to embrace her once hidden femininity. After over a year of not hacking off her hair every other week, her orange waves were starting to grow even longer and now almost reached her shoulders. On especially hot days, it was long enough where she could tie it up in a small bun if she wanted to.

Hiding her female nature at 16 had been difficult, but Hinata had to admit that it wasn’t like it was very hard given her ahem lack of development in certain areas. It had been as easy as a roll of medical bandages back then.

Now, 20-years-old and feeling every annoying bit of it, she knew it would have been no easy feat to disguise herself as she once did—especially on the hot beaches of Rio de Janeiro, where all Hinata wanted to do was strip down and try not to overheat herself in constant direct sunlight.

While Hinata wasn’t exactly a fan of the more revealing aspects of playing beach volleyball as a woman, she couldn’t quite say that she hated the opportunity to show off her body for once after trying desperately to hide it for years.

Professional women’s volleyball uniforms were basically form-fitting bikinis, but luckily not of the string variety. The stretchy dri-fit material was incredibly comfortable and great for maneuvering across the court in, but it left little to the imagination. To help her comfort level, Hinata usually donned a long-sleeve sun protective shirt rather than the sports-bra like top most of the female players wore, but kept the bottoms because they were comfier and more versatile than shorts.

It was wonderful, freeing, and the most herself that she felt in a long, long time.

But it was still terribly lonely. 

Her roommate, Pedro, was so shy at first that he couldn’t bear to communicate more than two words to her, let alone handle any direct eye contact. It wasn’t until after realizing he was into manga and video games, and consulting Kenma’s help, that she won him over. She grinned at her roommate when she pulled out her copies of One Piece and Naruto in Portuguese that she had used to learn the language, and watched excitedly as he pulled out matching sets of his own.

It was only much later that Pedro apologized for his initial behavior and admitted that it was because he wasn’t really used to talking with the opposite sex, and the irony was not lost on Hinata.

While they had gotten comfortable enough to share some of their meals together, Pedro still wasn’t the type to hang out with her outside of their apartment. She had to coerce him into watching some of her matches with promises of getting a shoutout on Kodzuken’s gaming livestreams. 

“Wait. You are the same Shouyou that Kodzuken featured on his streams last year?” Her roommate had gaped at her, cheeks darkening adorably when she smirked in response.

On most days, it was usually Heitor and Nice she found herself spending the most time with. 

“You’re not like any other girl I’ve ever met,” the beautiful Brazilian woman once said after studying the younger girl as she meditated across from her on the beach, “I cannot tell if it’s a Japanese thing, or just a you thing.”

Hinata tilted her head curiously, adjusting her baseball cap and placing on her sunglasses. “What do you mean?”

The blonde narrowed her eyes as she regarded the other woman before her pensively. “You’re so friendly and carefree, yet also so intense and disciplined at the same time.”

“Your mannerisms and the way you hold yourself outside of volleyball...it’s like you're not used to your own body or being open about it. Yet when you’re playing, well—there’s not a single other female beach volleyball player here that can rival your skills,” Nice explained and watched as the orange-haired girl flush at her words.

Hinata coughed awkwardly. “I didn’t realize you were psychoanalyzing me this whole time. I thought you were just being bitchy.”

Nice threw her head back, laughing at the familiar jibe. “I was not being bitchy. I was just trying to make sure of your intentions,” she shrugged, tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “It’s not every day your boyfriend decides to take on a female volleyball partner. Especially one so curious as yourself, Ninja Shouyou.”

“You are the one that told me to partner with Heitor!” Hinata glared at the other woman, one eyebrow raised.

“I don’t know what it is,” Nice continued, clicking her tongue, “But you’re like a walking contradiction. I don’t know whether I want to put you under observation to get to the bottom of it or take you under my wing and mother you.” 

To this day, Hinata didn’t know why she did it—maybe it was the loneliness getting to her, or just the overwhelming desire to just open up to someone—but the truth came tumbling out of her mouth before she even knew what she was saying.

“So, about that…”

After basically vomiting out her life story to the older woman, Nice seemed to be even more enamored with her. The two of them had moved to one of the nearby bars to continue their conversation, and the blonde was now three or four beers deep while Hinata was still nursing her first.

“So, you spent all of high school pretending to be a boy?”

“Yep.”

“And people just believed you?” The blonde laughed hysterically, throwing back the rest of her beer when the smaller woman just shrugged helplessly in response.

Now, she was basically Nice and Heitor’s third wheel when they went out to social gatherings. More than once, they had tried to set her up with different eligible bachelors, friends of friends, but most of those encounters left her flustered and looking for an excuse to leave the premises immediately.

“Shouyou! You traveled all the way to Brazil to make some life experiences for yourself, yes?” Heitor had commented when she turned down another one of his friends.

“I’m not here for romance!” The younger woman cried out, throwing her hands in the air. “Stop setting me up with people!”

Nice only laughed. “It’s not like we’re trying to marry you off, silly. But no one comes all the way to Brazil without a few flings here and there. Aren’t you even a little curious?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Haven’t you ever spent the night with someone before?” The blonde asked, raising her eyebrows suggestively as Hinata and Heitor threw her unimpressed looks.

“Nice,” Hinata said flatly, “I’ve never even been kissed before.”

The older woman had gasped dramatically at the words, hitting her boyfriend’s shoulder in shock as he rolled his eyes. “This is what happens when you pretend to be a boy for too long!”

“You cannot come all the way to Brazil and never have been kissed before! It’s disgraceful!”

Hinata had only flushed embarrassingly, and Heitor proceeded to change the topic of conversation, much to her relief.

Hanging out with them was fun—but it did little to ease her homesickness.

Hinata video chatted with her mom and Natsu twice a week. After the long year of not speaking, Hinata had finally managed to worm her way back into her mother’s favor, and Natsu could not have been happier to have her family back on good terms again. 

She also texted and video chatted with Shimizu and Yachi frequently. They were always checking in to make sure she was okay and gave her the latest updates on everyone. When Shimizu began tossing in the words marriage and proposal into their conversations, Hinata and Yachi had immediately hounded her with questions, not believing that Tanaka actually had the gall to take their relationship to the next level. Hinata made the older woman promise not to hold the wedding until she came back, to which the woman solemnly agreed.

She and Yachi still regularly talked in the OG First Year group chat as well. Since Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were also at university, they would regale them with stories of their exam woes and college parties. Kageyama would even respond from time to time, and when she saw his name pop up on her phone, there was a moment when her pulse would race just a tad faster. But then she’d tell herself how ridiculous she was being.

It’s just...Kageyama seemed to text her a lot. 

The setter could go weeks ignoring a text on their group chat, but somehow be rapid-fire responding to Hinata’s questions about Ushijima’s diet intake and whether Hoshiumi grew a few centimeters since she last saw him. Kageyama would inquire about the finer points of beach volleyball and ask after her health and what Brazilian dishes she would recommend. Despite the time difference, it seemed like they were always chatting, only pausing the flow of their conversation to go to sleep, and she’d wake up to a text already waiting for her—which was confusing.

Because it was only now, 20-years-old, lonely, and homesick that her well-dormant hormones decided to finally make an appearance. And it was in these moments that Hinata realized that her old teammate and partner was really, frustratingly attractive.

Months before, she had forced Nice, Heitor, and Pedro to watch the Rio Olympics with her at their apartment and almost immediately regretted it when her old teammate appeared on the screen. Now that they were all properly informed about Hinata’s adventures in crossdressing through high school, she could finally open up to them more about her time there.

“Oh, that’s him, Shouyou?” Nice had asked, eyeing the dark-haired Japanese player on the screen. “He’s pretty handsome, huh?”

“I’m right here,” Heitor muttered from beside her on the couch.

“Is he?” Hinata asked, feigning innocence. She definitely wasn’t checking out her former teammate and rival and wondering if his hair always looked that shiny and smooth, and perfectly touchable. Absolutely out of the question.

“Did you two ever…?”

“NO! God, no,” Hinata mumbled out, becoming flustered, “He still thinks I’m a boy, remember?”

Above her head, Nice and Heitor traded inquisitive glances with Pedro, who simply raised a brow at the interaction.

“Well, he’s really good.”

And Kageyama was. He’d gotten even better—stronger in the past year after playing professionally. And watching him do his jump serve was doing strange things to her mental state. How was it fair for him to look that good? And be so close? The closest remnant of home she’s had in months, but still so absolutely unattainable. 

Maybe it was just the homesickness, she told herself. She was only confusing the joy of seeing an old friend with something else. It was nothing to have a whole mental breakdown over. Once the match was over, and in the safety of her bedroom away from the prying eyes of her new friends, Hinata texted him.

Hinata (21:20) That only counts as 1 win. 1060 wins and 1065 losses for me.

Kageyama responded only minutes later. 

Kageyama (21:23) If you’re going to count all of my matches, you’re going to fall really behind.

She scoffed at her phone, reading his response.

Hinata (21:24) It’s like you think I’m just on vacation over here.

Kageyama(21:29) Sure seems like it.

Hinata (21:30) I’ll catch up. Don’t worry.

Kageyama (21:40) Still waiting.

For some reason, reading those words made her feel something. As if those two words meant more than he intended, but he couldn’t possibly know that—couldn’t possibly give meaning to whatever it was that was making her heart beat just a little bit faster. Laying there in the dark of her bedroom, her phone light casting shadows on the ceiling above, Hinata realized that she didn’t have a name for it yet, either.

-

It was weeks later, after losing her wallet and her cool dealing with some particularly rude customers, when the unexpected happened.

Hinata had just finished a grueling pick-me-up game with some locals and was taking a much needed break at one of the shaded cabana bars right off the beach, chatting with the bartender who she had befriended over the past few months.

”Como foi seu jogo?” How was your game?

”Foi derrotado pela areia mais uma vez,” she responded with a roll of her eyes, causing the man to laugh.

Hinata had taken off her baseball cap then, letting her hair out of the loose bun and running a hand through the messy orange strands, when she felt eyes on her.

She looked up, suddenly, and locked eyes with familiar brown orbs that seemed to be staring at her intently from the other side of the cabana. She blinked once. Twice.

“Oikawa-san?!” Hinata exclaimed.

The tall brunette only seemed to stare even harder, narrowing his eyes in rapidly growing disbelief. “Chibi-chan.”

That was when Hinata realized what exactly he was staring at. She looked down at her attire and noted the sandy bikini bottoms and the tight long-sleeve dri-fit shirt that did little to hide her curves. Flushing, she looked back up at him and noticed that he had moved closer, and seemed to be circling around her, eyeing her up and down.

“Hey! Stop that!” Hinata swatted his arm when he moved to poke her in the side experimentally.

“I’m just...confused. Very confused,” Oikawa began, shaking his head. “Are you…?”

“A girl? Yeah…” 

“Have you always…?”

“Been a girl? Yep.”

Oikawa just stared blankly at her. “Somehow I just have more questions…”

“Tooru! Do you know that cute girl?” A voice called out. Hinata peered behind Oikawa to see a group of guys gathered at one of the tables nearby. They seemed to be foreigners from the looks of it, and looking back at Oikawa, she wondered what exactly he had been up to all this time.

“Yeah! An old fan of mine from Japan,” he responded back at them in English. And Hinata had to roll her eyes when she understood what he was saying.

“An old girlfriend, maybe?” One of the guys teased. “Wouldn’t be the first we’ve run into.”

Hinata gave them all an unimpressed look. “I should get going--”

“Let’s get something to eat, Chibi-chan,” Oikawa cut in, waving a hand at his friends dismissively, “I’m starved, and you apparently seem to know this place better than I do. My treat!”

She gave him a thoughtful once-over, and against her better judgement, she nodded. Oikawa could be exasperating at times, but it would be nice to catch up with someone from home. Plus, her wallet was still lost and she could use a good meal.

-

“So, the Argentine league? Not what I would have expected from you. I was thinking Italy was more up your alley!”

“Well, I would fit in perfectly in Italy, you’re not wrong.”

“You’re still so full of it.”

Hinata and Oikawa both laughed as they continued their meal. Surprisingly, it was really easy to carry a conversation with the older male. She wasn’t sure if it was because he knew the truth about her now, or if the years that passed between them only helped to ease them into a relaxed sort of companionship.

Oikawa was giving her another speculative glance-over, and she quirked her mouth at him, knowing what was coming.

“You can ask me anything. I mean, you already know the worst of it.”

Immediately, he asked, “So, who knew?”

“Yachi and Shimizu, our managers. They actually caught me changing one time in the girl’s locker room, so it was pretty difficult to hide after that.” The memory made her chuckle fondly. “Tsukishima found out on his own somehow, and very unlike himself, decided to actually keep his mouth shut about it. And I told my coaches before I came here.”

“Not Tobio-chan...?” Oikawa trailed off suggestively, eyebrows raised.

“No…definitely not Kageyama,” Hinata shook her head, quickly dismissing the notion.

Oikawa looked thoughtful at that. “Hmmm...Curious.”

The orange-haired girl blinked at his response. “What’s curious?”

The brunette seated across from her shrugged offhandedly, twirling the contents of his glass. “Tobio-chan might be impassive and annoying, but he’s not an idiot.”

“There’s absolutely no way he knows,” Hinata insisted. “He would probably be mortified if he found out…”

Hinata had mentally played out that scenario multiple times, thinking of how her raven-haired teammate would react—what he would say if and when he found out. It never ended well.

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

Oikawa rested his chin in his palm and tilted his head, regarding the girl in front of him with a contemplative stare. Looking at her now, it seemed almost ridiculous that he and so many others fell for the ruse. The bright-haired, smart-mouthed shrimp had definitely grown up and filled-out in many places. Once he probably considered her scrawny and small, but now the girl’s broadened shoulders looked sharp and strong, and the line of lithe muscle adding definition to the curves of her arms and legs was a clear testament to her training the past few years. 

Despite the sheer strength resonating through her shorter frame, there was a distinct softness that gave her away, if one knew to look for it, he supposed. It was in the sloping curve of her neck, the delicate shape of her face, and the way her long lashes seemed to rest so demurely against her cheekbones when she blinked.

It seemed impossible to him that his precious Tobio-chan, being the prodigy that he was, could go years as her partner and teammate without making the same observations as Oikawa did now. But it made him feel almost giddy at the thought of keeping something so precious and secret just to spite the younger boy. It wasn’t even his secret to keep, and yet here Hinata was, sharing it with him so trustingly as though he was a close confidante, rather than a former rival and opponent. 

One day, he was going to rub this into that prodigy’s face, and internally Oikawa smirked. Maybe he really was a crappy guy.

“So, are you going to explain how this all came about, Chibi-chan?”

Hinata pouted at his continued use of that particular nickname, but didn’t comment on it. “At first...it was just so I could play in middle school, when there was no girl’s team. And after...I guess my reasons just kept changing or...evolving, really.”

“Then what’s your end goal?” Oikawa asked, curiosity only growing the more he heard.

“Being a girl...it puts you in such a confined box.” Hinata frowned, curling a wayward strand behind her ear as she spoke. “No one really expects much from you, but at the same time they expect everything. They want us to keep our heads down and follow society’s unrealistic expectations for us.”

”Don’t talk too much, but don’t be boring. Keep up with your appearance, but don’t be so vain. Stay fit, but don’t be too athletic, it’s not cute,” she rolled her eyes as her list went on.

Oikawa never really considered this perspective, if he was being honest. It never occurred to him what sort of expectations fell on the opposite sex.

“Even volleyball,” Hinata continued, thinking of all the things she learned about the sport over the years, “Women’s volleyball is great, don’t get me wrong. There are so many amazing, talented players. But they’ve all been running under the assumption that they can’t achieve more or be equal to their male counterparts...and women just learned to accept life inside that box.”

“All of the changing rules and regulations—lowering the net, in some cases, making the volleyball bigger so it would be easier to hit and making the points less because they thought females would get too tired in long rallies…” Hinata listed all of the differences she could remember at the top of her head, some of which had fortunately changed over time.

“Wow, I never actually knew all of that,” Oikawa admitted, feeling almost guilty and averting his eyes from hers when she threw him a knowing look. 

“Well, when was the last time you watched women’s volleyball?” Hinata inquired, one brow raised challengingly. 

“...I’d rather not say.” Never.

“Exactly. And you’re not the only one.” She laughed at how uncomfortable the Grand King looked then, clearly out of his element with a distinct pout evident on his features.

“So, you want to prove that women can play in the same league as men, then?” Oikawa asked.

“I want to prove a lot of things,” Hinata confessed with an honest laugh. “I want to prove that a woman can last the longest on the court. I want to prove that if people didn’t lower their expectations for women, then maybe we wouldn’t lower them for ourselves either.”

Hinata looked up at him then, hazel eyes sparking as a fiery smile played on her lips. 

“Because why is it we only expect greatness from men?”

Oikawa felt the tell-tale rush of excitement and anticipation as his brown eyes fixed upon hers with interest. “I’ll be rooting for you, Shou-chan. After all, I should know what it’s like to want to overturn every single expectation of you.” 

“We can both show the world.”

-

Hours later, the both of them out of breath laying on their backs on the cooling sands of the volleyball court after treating the “Buy-Me-Beer Brothers” to another round, Hinata realized something. She turned onto her stomach and propped her head in her hands, as Oikawa turned to cast her a sidelong glance.

“You know, today, just for a moment, I was really depressed.” Hinata took a deep breath, closing her eyes as the seabreeze played with the loose strands of her hair.

“But...after meeting you, I’m feeling way, way better now.” Her grin was radiant as she directed it towards him. “Thank you, Oikawa-san!”

For a moment Oikawa felt his breath catch in his throat, before he inwardly shook it off and threw his companion a saucy wink. “Well, then you treat me to dinner next time.”

Hinata felt herself flush at the implication in his words, and then suddenly, an unbidden idea took root in her mind.

“You traveled all the way to Brazil to make some life experiences for yourself, yes?”

“Aren’t you even a little curious?”

“You cannot come all the way to Brazil and never have been kissed before!”

“Hey...Oikawa-san.”

The handsome brunette looked over at her curiously. It was clear that the girl seemed to be struggling internally with something as she scrunched up her face in thought.

“C-could you do something for me?”

“Sure?”

Hinata felt all of the nerves flutter in her stomach as she prepared herself mentally for what she was about to ask. “It’s been pointed out to me that I...can’t leave Brazil until I’ve made a few life experiences for myself.”

She felt her cheeks flush as she nervously poked at the sand with her fingertips. “To be honest, I feel like I’m playing catch-up on all my female milestones...I’m 21-years-old now, and I’ve never been on a date, I’ve never even held hands with anyone...”

“And...I’ve...never been kissed…”

Oikawa looked down at her in surprise.

“Chibi-chan…Are you asking me what I think you’re asking me?”

Hinata froze and proceeded to bury her face into her arms and shove them into the sand. “Oh my god. You know what? Forget it. I had a minor lapse in judgement. Please forget this conversation ever happened.”

“Wait.”

He placed a hand on her shoulder, and Hinata lifted her head back up, blinking through the grains of sand that stubbornly stuck to her lashes as she did so.

Oikawa watched her for a long moment, a considering look in his eyes, before reaching down to rub at the sand still sticking to her cheek. Before she could process what was happening, he was swooping in, cool lips pressing softly against her own, insistent and commanding, not unlike the owner himself.

At a loss for how to respond, she tilted her head to get a better angle, and Hinata suddenly found herself pressed back against the sand, a warm body hovering just above her own as the kiss deepened imperceptibly, Oikawa’s hand continuing to gently caress her cheek.

“So,” the brunette said once he pulled away, noting the wide hazel eyes and darkening cheeks with mild satisfaction, “What were those other milestones on your list?”

-

When Kageyama checked his phone later that day after practice to see a bunch of new notifications, he already had a bad feeling.

“What the hell is this?”

He glared at his phone.

Hinata had texted him a picture of her and, of all people, Oikawa. They had their arms around each other’s shoulders and were both making goofy expressions with the backdrop of the sunny beach behind them. They had also both posted it on their respective social media accounts.

Kageyama stared intently at his old teammate, the first close-up picture he had seen of her in months. Her hair had gotten longer, but it was tied back in a loose bun at the nape of her neck. There wasn’t anything overtly girly about her, the picture cut off right above her chest, and she was wearing a normal t-shirt, but somehow she looked more womanly and mature than he had ever seen her. And it bothered him.

She looked happy, healthy. The Brazilian sun was obviously doing wonders to her complexion. Her freshly tanned skin, and even brighter hair making her look other-worldly somehow.

His eyes flicked over to his old senpai, and felt the muscles at his temple twitch. The bastard was just as annoyingly attractive as ever it seemed. Against his own wishes, he wondered if Hinata agreed with that popular sentiment. She never seemed to fall for the older boy’s charms in high school, but that was before...she looked like... that.

Did Oikawa know the truth now, too? Would she have shared something so private with him, when she hadn’t even felt compelled to do the same with her own partner?

Kageyama scowled.

“Ushijima-san, look at this.”

-

“Hey, Shouyou. I-I’m going to propose to Nice...if we win the next match.”

Hinata spat out the water she was drinking to gape at her partner in shock. “What?!”

Heitor rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for it to put any extra pressure on you…”

The orange-haired woman shook her head rapidly. “No way! This is amazing!” She stretched out her arms and readjusted her baseball cap to gaze at the man before her determinedly. “I’m going to watch your wedding, and then I’m going to go back to Japan!”

The two grinned at each other, high-fiving, and took their respective spots on the court, facing down their opponents—another male and female pair in their tournament’s circuit.

Pedro begrudgingly took a seat next to Nice who smiled at him in greeting. “Ah, so the antisocial roommate decides to come out of hiding?”

The university student shrugged, sighing as he tried to adjust his seating so he wouldn’t be in direct sunlight. “It’s Shouyou’s last match.”

The two watched as the match began, with the opponents on the other side of the net instantly targeting the smaller woman with their serves. 

“Man, Shouyou always gets targeted at first,” Nice commented, shaking her head.

Pedro frowned at that. “Is it because she’s shorter?”

The blonde nodded. “Their strategy is to force Heitor to set the ball and Shouyou to spike, thinking because she is so much smaller, she will be at a disadvantage…”

They both grinned inwardly when they saw their friend suddenly redirect the force of her run-up upwards and soared high above the net, causing their opponents to stare up at her in shock when she slammed the ball into the sand. “Nice kill!”

“Oh, I made it just in time!” 

Lucio smiled at the two as he took a seat next to them, keeping one eye firmly on the match taking place in front of them as Hinata somehow managed to save a ball that was on the completely opposite side of the net.

“Does it ever feel like Shouyou knows exactly where the other side is going to hit it…?” Nice pondered out loud.

Pedro narrowed his eyes, staring at his roommate and looking back at the other two. “Are Japanese people like real psychics or something?”

Lucio laughed at that. “Shouyou is an expert at signaling to the other spiker one thing—hinting that she’s about to go to the other side—in order to tempt the other player to do the exact opposite. Then, once they fall for her feint, she’s there in a flash, because she set them up for that move. Make sense?”

Nice and Pedro stared at him blankly, causing the older man to wave his hand at them good-naturedly and wink. 

“In other words, she’s not called Ninja Shouyou for nothing, right?”

Lucio turned back to the match, crossing his arms as he watched his student proudly as she set the ball for Heitor to then spike to the other side of the net.

"So, did you master the sand and the wind, Hinata-kun?"

The young woman grinned, eyeing the sand beneath her feet fondly. "Not in the slightest!"

-

Just a few weeks later, Hinata found herself cradling her glass of champagne as she watched her two friends spin and dance under the twinkling string lights strewn up amongst the trees not far from the sandy shores of the beach.

A soft melody was playing softly on the speakers, and Hinata took out her phone to capture the moment on her social media account, smiling when she instantly got notifications of responses once she posted it.

Knowing that they would take several pictures at the event and taking into consideration the fact that she was leaving back for Japan in just a few days, Hinata had opted to wear a suit for the occasion. With Nice’s help, she had cut her hair short again, the familiar cropped spikes making her smile when she looked in the mirror.

Hinata couldn’t believe that her two years were already up.

What had she accomplished during this time?

She had gotten stronger. Her reputation on the beach was a testament to that. Ninja Shouyou had become a popular contender in the beach volleyball circuit. And suffice it to say, she didn’t have to wait around begging for partners when she wanted to play in a quick pick-me-up game anymore.

She was able to embrace her femininity. Hinata had thrived off playing against male and female opponents alike on the beach, all the while being herself. She loved being able to dress and look the way she wanted, without feeling like she had anything to hide. Though it made her sad to think about temporarily going back to the way things once were when she returned to Japan, she knew it was for the best.

She had definitely gained some life experiences. And Hinata had to hide her flustered smile into her glass as she took a generous sip of champagne, recounting the time spent with a certain brunette setter.

And best of all, she had made some lifelong friends. Hinata grinned delightedly when Nice grabbed her hand when a particularly upbeat song began to play. The two jumped and swayed to the beat, singing loudly along to the popular Portuguese song playing while the surrounding guests made a circle around them.

When the next song started, Heitor grabbed Pedro, who had been doing his best attempt at hiding behind the buffet table, and the four of them danced together, all the while taking several photos and videos that were shared instantly to Hinata’s social media account. 

In several pictures, the four of them were striking different poses, and in the next she had captured a photo with her arms wrapped around her roommate, mid-laugh while the dark-haired boy looked flustered and wide-eyed back at her.

When she glanced at her phone next, a few hours later, she saw that she had a few unread messages and swiped through them as she took a break from the dance floor where the bride and groom continued to loudly entertain their guests as the night went on.

Kenmaaa! (23:01) You cut your hair again :(

Yachiii (23:10) T-Minus 48 hours until you are back home!! 

Natsu-chaann (24:05) Kaa-san has already started cooking your favorite foods for when you get back home! And she won’t let me eat ANY of it until you get here! Hurry up!

Oikawa-senpai! (24:15) I see you’re back to your old bag of tricks ;)

Kageyama (24:30) Shouldn’t you be packing or something?

Hinata’s smile was wide as she gazed down at the screen fondly. She couldn’t wait to be back home.

-

Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium

“So, who’d you say was next on our list for tryouts, Meian-san?”

Atsumu peered over his captain’s shoulder curiously, inspecting the clipboard that contained the list of names for their potential players. It looked like almost all of the names were crossed out, and glancing over at the clock hanging over the gym entrance, it was already nearing time for tryouts to end.

The blonde setter let out a displeased sigh, thinking back to all the players he had seen that day, and unable to really pinpoint one that had caught his eye. There had been a few impressive plays, but not a single standout player that he could think of. Atsumu wondered if his teammates felt the same, and he cast a cursory glance to see similar expressions of disinterest on Barnes’ and Sakusa’s faces. Well...maybe that was just Omi-kun’s face.

“I think that’s everyone—”

“Wait!!”

Everyone looked up to see a lean, golden-skinned figure with bright, orange hair skid into the gym, athletic bag thrown haphazardly over his shoulder. 

“You guys got room for one more?” A familiar, radiant grin.

Holy shit.

“Holy shit. Is that Hinata Shouyou?!”

“SHOUYOUUU!! You lied to me!! You said you wouldn’t be able to make it.” Bokuto, who had been moping in the corner of the gym for most of the tryouts, suddenly shot up from his prone position with noticeable stars in his eyes as he looped his arms around the smaller man. 

The former Karasuno player, smiled sheepishly and ran a hand through freshly cropped locks of orange hair.

“Heh. Surprise?”

He then turned and politely bowed to Meian and the other players. “I apologize for the inconvenience! My train from Miyagi was delayed, so please excuse my tardiness.”

Atsumu was at a loss for words, mouth opening and closing, as he blinked rapidly at the sight before him. Sakusa, who was nearest to him, gave him a disgusted look. “What is wrong with you?”

“I—wh-where has that guy even been all of these years?” Atsumu asked, trying his best to sound coolly disinterested.

“I heard he had been in Brazil playing beach volleyball,” Sakusa responded, and the blonde whirled his head to shoot him a dumbfounded look.

“What?! Beach volleyball? Brazil?” Atsumu spat out. “How do you even know that?”

“Hmm. Hinata-kun and I are friends on social media.”

Shouyou-kun was friends with Omi-kun on social media and not him? Did that even make sense? Wait. Omi-kun had a social media account? How had he not known that already? Did that dark-haired bastard have him on blocked?!

“Someone make this make sense?!” Atsumu groaned, hands covering his face, while Sakusa raised an eyebrow at his reaction.

“Hinata-san, why don’t you go get warmed up first?” Meian called out to the shorter player, who was still excitedly catching up with Bokuto. 

“Yes, sir!”

They all watched as the tanned player put away his bag and began stretching, his aura quickly changing from open friendliness to a focused intensity that gave even Sakusa an unsettled feeling when he saw it.

“Is he any good?” Adriah whispered to Inunaki, who was also watching the other player curiously from beside him. His dark eyes flitted from the oblivious orange-haired player to his blonde teammate who seemed to be glaring holes into the guy’s back.

“I guess we’re about to find out…” The libero trailed off, shrugging. 

As Hinata began practicing his serves with Bokuto and Meian, Atsumu felt like he was experiencing some sort of existential crisis. Because it was happening again. That stupid, inexplicable magnetic pull he felt every single time he was in close proximity to the orange-haired player.

The last time it had happened, it was his third year, and his team finally bested Karasuno after their loss the year prior. The entire match, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of the other player. He would call out to Hinata in-between points, playful jibes and carefully phrased remarks, hoping he could keep that laser-focus attention fixed on him. Look at me, Atsumu had wanted to shout at Karasuno's small number ten every time he tossed an exceptionally well-placed set. Look what I can do.

When Inarizaki finally secured the lead and the final set of the match, the blonde wasted no time marching up to the net, just like he had the year before, and all but demanded for the second year’s attention.

“Hey, Shouyou-kun!”

Curious, hazel eyes immediately turned wary when Hinata turned to look at him through the net. “Miya-san...good game. Congrats on your win.”

“Do you remember what I said last time?” Atsumu asked, impatiently, hand reaching up to grip at the net in front of him.

“Last time…” The orange-haired player tilted his head as his words trailed off, then Hinata’s whole demeanor seemed to brighten as he snapped his fingers suddenly. “Oh! You said you would toss for me one day! Right?”

Atsumu felt a rush of warm satisfaction at that. Good. So he remembered. The older boy let a lazy smile stretch on his face, and it only grew when he noted that Kageyama was, once again, watching their interaction closely, only a few paces behind his shorter teammate. 

“That’s right. And don’t ya forget it, Shouyou-kun.”

After the match, Aran and Kita took turns berating him for his noticeable fixation on their opponent, while Osamu simply looked at him consideringly. Atsumu whined and pouted at his teammates and all but glared back at his twin. 

“What now?!”

Osamu shrugged on his sports jacket and packed the rest of his items neatly in his gym bag, before leveling the blonde with a sharp, knowing look. “You know, last year...when we played Karasuno, I thought that number ten was one of those players that could play volleyball like eating rice…”

“Ugh, you and your rice metaphors again, ‘Samu?” Atsumu questioned, rolling his eyes.

“Every time you see that shorty,” Osamu clicked his tongue, “It’s like...you get another small mouthful...but it’s not enough for you, is it?”

Atsumu scowled at his twin, crossing his arms, but not interrupting as his twin continued his train of thought.

“When I said that before...I guess I didn’t realize just how far that hunger stretched for you…”

Atsumu thought back to his twin’s words as he watched Hinata hit a particularly devastating jump serve, with Bokuto whooping in amazement from beside him. “Damn! Training in the sand made you crazy good, huh, Shouyou?”

From his spot on the sidelines of the court, Atsumu narrowed his eyes as a single bead of sweat began to form on the other man’s brow, and blinking rapidly to gain a better focus, he watched the traitorous bead fall almost in slow-motion as it traced the lines of Hinata’s cheek before landing precariously at the corner of his mouth. 

I’m straight.

I’m straight.

And then, the devil himself darted his tongue out to lick his lips absentmindedly, and Atsumu all but leapt out of his skin when the object of his intense scrutiny suddenly paused what he was doing to gaze back at him.

I’m straight?

“Hey, Miya-san!”

Atsumu knew that there was some sort of conspiracy going on. He was sure of it. The blonde felt himself grow resigned as he mentally bid farewell to his loved ones.

Goodbye, ’Samu, you have now proven to be the happier twin out of the two of us. I was bested by some strange, orange-haired demon, and I will allow you to keep my sake collection that I’ve known you’ve been secretly eyeing for years.

Farewell, Aran-kun, I shoulda listened to you more when you told me to not joke around all of the time. What I wouldn’t give to hear you shut down my jokes one last time.

And Kita-kun, I will especially miss the way you always looked after us. I am sorry for not properly taking care of my health like you taught me to do. Maybe if I had just listened to you, I could have lived past my twenties.

Hinata waved over at him, and Atsumu felt like he was being exposed to direct sunlight when the other man beamed excitedly at him, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“You said you would toss to me, remember?”

Atsumu was absolutely, 100% screwed.

Chapter Text

Kageyama rolled his shoulders, stretching out the kinks in his neck as he dropped his athletic bag in the entryway of his apartment, closing the door shut behind him. 

Cool, blue eyes adjusted to the dark, not bothering to turn on the lights as he padded quietly through the kitchen and into his bedroom.

He had stayed late at practice yet again. Ever since Kageyama had informed Hoshiumi of Hinata’s intentions to try out for the Black Jackals, the white-haired spiker had become a force to be reckoned with. 

His shorter teammate’s expression had turned almost frenzied at the mere mention of her name, and Hoshiumi all but demanded that the two needed to work out a new aerial move to practice before their upcoming match with the opposing team.

“You don’t even know if he’s going to make the team,” Kageyama had commented lightly, raising a brow at the other man’s insistence.

“It’s Hinata Shouyou,” Hoshiumi had said, grinning sharply, “You should know better than anyone not to underestimate that guy.”

Once Ushijima had overheard their reasons for staying late for extra practice, the normally reserved man became equally motivated, the zealous sheen to his green eyes evident as he requested to join them as well.

“Hinata Shouyou? Finally, a chance for a rematch.”

Kageyama had to inwardly scoff at their behavior, begrudgingly imagining how pleased Hinata would be if she were aware of the effect she had on people. Even from thousands of miles away, that idiot was still unknowingly riling up their former opponents.

Upon entering the bedroom, Kageyama’s gaze was immediately drawn to his desk, where he had forgotten to turn off the lamp before he left that morning—the bright light casted a dim glow against the stark white calendar posted beside it on the wall.

And there it was, a familiar date circled in red. The 13th of March. Sandwiched in between a lunch date with his sister and a practice match with the Sendai Frogs.

It was the day that Hinata arrived home from Brazil.

Honestly, Kageyama wasn’t even sure why he had put it up there. The idiot had already sent him a virtual calendar invite of her arrival reluctantly saved straight to his phone, serving as a constant reminder when the daily notification popped up on his home screen. 

There hadn’t been any reason to re-write it on his desk calendar.

Yet every day, Kageyama found himself eyeing the circled date expectantly, wondering what he planned to do with the information of Hinata’s return.

It wasn’t like he was going to join Yamaguchi and Yachi to pick her up at the airport, like the three had been discussing on the group chat—a conversation that both he and Tsukishima had pointedly ignored responding to.

Plus...it wasn’t like Hinata would even want him there. 

Things had started to gradually change between them even before Brazil, probably around the time of graduation, if Kageyama had to pinpoint an exact moment.

Before then, the relationship that existed between them had been almost easy. The rivalry was always a familiar backdrop to fall into. And even as the years passed, with everything else around them seeming to be in a constant state of flux and change, Kageyama had come to rely on the incessant push and pull to get better, to get stronger that he associated with being in Hinata’s presence.

There was an unfamiliar sense of comfort that only grew over time at the sight of that orange hair, the flash of a teeth when she’d throw him a smile, and the teasing lilt to her voice when she’d purposely try to get a rise out of him.

All of that had become expected—reassuring even, if he was being honest with himself.

It was the closest he had ever come to having a friend.

-

“What, Bakayama? Did you not think we were friends or something? After all this time?”

-

But they weren’t like that…not anymore, anyway.

During their third year, Kageyama had struggled with the fact that Hinata still had not deemed him trustworthy enough to tell him her secret.

Before, it hadn’t mattered much to him. Her secret didn’t impact the team in any shape or form; and most of the time, it was relatively easy to ignore the fact that his teammate was female.

But somewhere along the way, Hinata had become someone important to him. She was someone he actually trusted—the person that he immediately turned to after a gratifying win, and the only one he knew that could make him momentarily forget about a loss with just the ease of being in her presence.

Yet, despite everything they had been through together, all of the hardships and triumphs—Hinata never confided in him about her secret.

Kageyama realized early on that Yachi probably already knew, as well as Shimizu-senpai, and that made sense to him. It made sense that Hinata would turn to the other females on the team for support.

What didn’t make sense was the discovery that Tsukishima, of all people, also knew of her secret.

-

“You’re getting really careless about the girl’s club room, by the way.” 

Kageyama froze in place on his way back to the gym. He had been on his way back up to the club room when he realized that he had left his jacket and went back to retrieve it.

Taking a cursory glance around him, Kageyama slid back behind the corner of the building as he watched the tall blonde turn and address the girl locking up the gym doors behind him.

“Ah, really?”

“Some of the first years were looking for you yesterday, and if I hadn’t distracted them, they would have definitely seen you sneaking out.

There was a long, drawn-out sigh, and Hinata’s voice sounded sheepish as she said, “Sorry about that, Tsukishima. Thanks for covering for me! I’ll be more cautious from now on.”

A short, patronizing snort could be heard in response. “Please do. I’d rather not involve myself in your mess anymore than I have to.”

Kageyama had stormed away before either of them could take notice of him, the anger and confusion taking root deep within, causing him to scowl unconsciously as he tried to mentally process what he had overheard.

One part of him wanted to march back over to his two teammates and berate them for having such a private conversation out in the open, where anyone could hear. While another part just wanted to bemoan his luck for continuing to unwittingly walk into conversations that clearly he should not have been privy to.

And even more than that, he just wanted to know why.

Why Tsukishima and not...him?

-

Kageyama would never admit it out loud, but there had been a small piece of him that actually liked the idea that he knew something about Hinata that few others did. For some reason, the notion that he was, in some fashion, protecting her by safeguarding her secret was immensely pleasing to him.

It had been something that he had grown to covet—this vital piece of knowledge, so colossal, and so secret—and it was his. 

Until it wasn’t.

Until she had to go and ruin it and confide in Tsukishima , the one person on the team who had made it his personal life’s mission to torment Kageyama every chance he got.

The sinking realization had hurt, to say the least.

And so, it was with childish resentment that Kageyama had later withheld the information that he was joining the V.League until the last possible moment. 

He ignored her persistent attempts at questioning and prodding, knowing it would drive her crazy trying to get to the bottom of it. There had even been a cruel, spiteful part of him that revelled in Hinata’s hurt expression when he chose to avoid her in the days leading up to their graduation.

Selfishly, he just wanted her to know what it felt like—to not be trusted, to feel excluded from something. Kageyama imagined that someone like Hinata, someone who didn’t have a single, negative bone in her body—who drew people to her like moths to a flame—had never been forced to feel that way.

So, yes, it felt good to feel like he had some sort of effect on her, like Hinata wasn’t as untouchable as she seemed.

...And then she announced that she was going to Brazil, and he realized that maybe he hadn’t thought his plan through. 

Let it be known that Kageyama was a prodigy. 

He could memorize volleyball signals and plays in a near-instant after learning them. His perfect accuracy on the court made his sets impossible to recreate by a normal standard. And his incredible game sense and technique allowed for him to make split-second decisions in the heat of a match in order to strategize the right move to make at any given moment.

Kagayama could do all of those things without a second thought.

But for the life of him, he just didn’t know how to talk to people.

In his attempt to quell his righteous anger, Kageyama had unintentionally pushed his one and only friend away, and he didn’t know how to fix it. He didn’t know how to convey his wayward emotions into words; or how to say ‘I know your secret’ or ‘why him and not me’ or ‘ I’m sorry’. 

And somehow, he just continued to make things worse. 

Kageyama knew he could have made it to the airport. Olympic training didn’t start for another day or so, and it would have been easy to make the thirty-minute train ride over to see her off with the rest of the team.

But despite an entire year having passed since graduation, with the both of them only seeing each other a handful of times in between, there was still that small, bitter part of him that continued to hold onto the residual anger that remained.

Hinata had personally asked him to come say goodbye, and Kageyama didn’t know how.

Weeks later, as Kageyama spent every night dissecting the situation in his head, examining it from every angle and wondering if the emotion he was feeling at the pit of his stomach was regret , a surge of unbidden thoughts began to take over.

Did Hinata make it to Brazil okay?

Was she taking care of herself?

What if she got lost?

Was her training going well?

And against his better judgement, Kageyama decided to do two things. First, he reluctantly unmuted his group chat, causing an influx of alerts to sound off on his phone; and second, he clicked on Hinata’s contact and sent the first (of many) texts.

He tried to ignore how his pulse seemed to spike when he heard the familiar beep that alerted him of her reply.

Now, two years later, Kageyama spent the passing weeks leading up to Hinata’s arrival staring at the circled date on his calendar, idly counting down the days, wondering and waiting…

He tried to convince himself that it didn’t mean anything.

-

“So, all of the Jackals share the top floor of this apartment complex,” Meian gestured around the spacious flat, and Hinata noted the impressive kitchen, dining and living areas with wide eyes, smiling in greeting when she saw several of her teammates milling about around them as the tour continued. 

“Other than myself and Oliver, that is! We live on the floor just below this one with our families.”

Oliver nodded his head in accord to what the captain was explaining. “Our team is especially lucky to have this penthouse set-up. Everyone gets their own rooms, but the rest is shared space.”

“So…” Hinata paused in her casual perusal of the apartment at the words shared space, and her mental red flags began waving. “...What exactly is the bathroom situation?”

Meian gestured for the smaller player to follow as he began walking down a long corridor. “There are only three suites on this floor that have private baths…”

“One of them is mine,” Sakusa stated flatly through his mask as he walked past them, hands in his pockets, in the direction of the kitchen. “And no one else is allowed to use it.”

“And the other two belong to Adriah and Inunaki,” Meian supplied, shaking his head in fond exasperation at the dark-haired spiker. “It was mostly a seniority thing.”

“Omi-san, aren’t you the same age as me?” Hinata called out to him, knowing for a fact that they were in the same year back in high school.

“I’d rather die than share a bathroom with any of you heathens,” Sakusa scowled, pointedly glaring at Bokuto who was currently blocking his way to the refrigerator as the other man rummaged through its contents haphazardly in search of his sports drink.

“Sakusa is the exception, of course.”

Meian stopped in front of two large double doors and pushed them open, revealing a large bathroom with four separate vanities, and a set of bathroom stalls and showers. From the loud whooshing sound of water hitting tile, it seemed as though one of them was currently in use. 

“And this is the shared bathroom for everyone else.”

“Wait!” Atsumu voice called out from the occupied stall, his upper half popping out from behind a curtain, blonde hair damp as steam billowed out around his bare form.  “Shouyou-kun is going to share a bathroom with me and Bokkun!?

Hinata blinked rapidly at the sight, before quickly averting her eyes, coughing into her hand awkwardly as Inunaki appeared next to her in the bathroom doorway.

“Well, duh! Where else is he going to go?” The libero chimed in, and turning to Hinata, his expression turned apologetic as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “We’re sorry in advance.”

Hinata quirked a half-smile at her teammate, torn between amusement and resignation. As they walked back to the shared living space, she took a moment to consider her options. 

After living in Brazil as herself, she had gotten so used to living freely. Even during her stay with Kenma, she was able to function normally when it was just the two of them—only donning her binder and looser clothing when they had guests.

Now with the prospect of having to go back into hiding looming over her, Hinata was not too keen on the idea that she’d have to sacrifice the freedom that she had so valued during her time abroad in order to be on the team.

But what choice did she have?

“So, is all of you guys living together,” She took a cursory glance around the room, eyeing the various team members, “…like a team requirement?”

Oliver smiled at the question, nodding obligingly at her. “Here with the Jackals—we’re like a pack—we prioritize teamwork and connection above all else. Coach purposely chose a living environment for the team that would reflect those ideals.”

“Because of the close living proximity, we are able to do morning and afternoon workouts together in the downstairs gym—” Meian explained, interrupted by a loud noise, and he threw them an apologetic look as he walked around to enter the kitchen area in order to tug a whining Bokuto away from the now beeping fridge with one hand. Sakusa threw their captain a grateful look over his shoulder. 

“There is even a shuttle that picks us all up and takes us to the courts for practice every day!”

Part of Hinata was elated at the idea of being so close with her team and the convenience of the living situation, but the other part of her remained doubtful as to how she would be able to pull it off.

Because she wasn’t sixteen-years-old anymore—it wouldn’t be as simple as making sure she had enough medical bandages and sneaking into the girl’s club room after practice. Hiding herself at twenty-two would take a lot more effort and a certain level of vigilance she wasn’t sure she was capable of.

And the consequences of getting caught were much higher than they were before.

No longer was Hinata just a middle schooler trying to pass off as a boy to join the school’s volleyball club. She was now a professional men’s V. League player—a member of the MSBY Black Jackals. 

Now, she had way more to lose if her secret got out.

Momentarily, Hinata wondered if she had any other options. With the Jackals stationed in Osaka, there was no one she knew nearby that she could stay with and getting a place on her own was apparently out of the question.

And...when she really thought about it, Hinata wanted to be part of the pack. She had longed for the team camaraderie that she wasn’t able to achieve with just Heitor alone when she was in Brazil. Her beach volleyball teammate was amazing, no question about it, but being on a team was different.

She missed the familiar team dynamics—the way in which everyone relied on one another to form a cohesive unit, every motivation and heartache compounded together to create a drive that pushed everyone to do better and work harder than before.

Her mind unconsciously flashed to memories of loud, spirited team dinners, gathered around a table, to nights after practice chatting aimlessly and eating meat buns on the walk home, and to the words of encouragement shouted from across the court, accompanied with a ruffle of her hair, a pat on the shoulder.

Being part of a team again...meant everything to her.

“Is that going to be a problem?” Meian asked, eyeing her expression curiously, after she had not spoken for a long moment.

Hinata looked up at them and shook her head good-naturedly, smiling as she crossed her arms behind her head.

“No…I’ll make it work. Thank you so much for having me.”

-

“What are you doing?” 

Sakusa narrowed his eyes at his blonde teammate, who was currently perched precariously on a barstool overlooking the balcony area, staring intently at something outside. Atsumu turned around at his sharp voice and made a wild, dismissing motion at him with his arm, putting a finger to his lips.

“Shut yer trap! Shouyou-kun is meditating outside.”

It had been a month now since their newest addition to the team had settled into their living space, and Sakusa was pleasantly surprised at how easy the transition had been. He would never admit it out loud, but their orange-haired teammate was, for lack of a better word, a delight to have around the apartment.

For one, Hinata was incredibly thoughtful. He was very mindful of shared spaces, never leaving a mess or using someone else’s belongings, and even let them know in advance if he was having guests over.

As one of the earliest risers in the apartment, the other man usually went about his morning routine quietly, careful not to wake anyone up as he completed his personal workouts and cooked breakfast for himself. By the time Sakusa woke up, he was always pleased to find that there was plenty of extra coffee, still hot, left in the pot and a tupperware of leftover breakfast to share, carefully arranged in different containers so the food was never touching.

Not only that, but Hinata was also clean. 

The kitchen was always left spotless after use, and more than once already, Sakusa had caught sight of a flash of orange hair in the shared bathroom scrubbing at the tile on the floor and wiping down the vanity countertops—the imagery had left him feeling warm and sated for hours afterward. 

After his first year, Sakusa would never have expected himself to warm up to the other player. He had been none too impressed by Karasuno’s little number ten when he watched the other boy collapse on the court during Nationals. 

Because who would be so careless as to let their body collapse on them like that? Sakusa had clicked his tongue in distaste, turning away from the spectacle when the paramedics had come to place the small, motionless body on a stretcher and wheeled the player off of the court.

It wasn’t until his third year, playing against the bright-haired spiker for the first time, that he found himself begrudgingly impressed as the match went on. It seemed that in only a few years time, the once reckless and unpredictable player had become a much more perceptive and formidable opponent—a danger to be reckoned with on the court, despite the bright smiles and loud cheer always surrounding his person.

And what surprised Sakusa even more was when Hinata approached him after the match, careful to not get too close or to offer his hand in greeting, and asked him about how he was able to hit his spikes with so much spin.

“There’s just like...so gwahhh! You know what I mean? How do you do that?” Hinata had gazed up at him with so much admiration that Sakusa could only narrow his eyes and blink down at him in response.

And then the smaller player had proceeded to ask him for advice on his training regime and diet supplements, and Sakusa became unwillingly caught up in the whirlwind of Hinata’s excited chatter—had somehow exchanged numbers with the grinning ginger before he even realized what had happened as Komori chuckled in amusement beside him.

As time passed, he’d still get a text or two with different volleyball-related questions. And one day, he woke up to an unexpected follow request on his social media account.

Sakusa knew the other player had been training in Brazil, because he had scrolled through the pictures posted on his timeline more times than he’d like to admit—a photo of the sun rising on the horizon of the beach, a shot of a volleyball being spiked over a sandy net, a plate of colorful food in the backdrop of a quaint restaurant, a picture of the city skyline of Rio de Janeiro. 

Sakusa noted, almost as an afterthought, how the other player seemed to rarely post pictures of himself while he was abroad, but didn’t think much of it. It was a passing curiosity when he found himself pondering on what the Brazilian sun would do to the other boy’s delicate and pale complexion. 

He wondered if Hinata was wearing enough sunscreen.

So yes, it might be correct to say that Sakusa had developed a slight interest in the other player and was more than pleased when Hinata made it onto the team.

Currently the man in question was outside on the balcony, sitting criss-crossed, hands resting loosely against his knees, eyes closed. His entire being radiated a stillness and calm that Sakusa had grown to respect.

Meanwhile Atsumu...

“Yes, I see that,” Sakusa looked from Hinata and back at the suspicious-looking blonde attempting to watch the other man from over the counter. “But what are you doing right now?”

Atsumu froze at that, and when he turned back around to face him, his expression looked dodgy at best.

At that moment, Inunaki walked into the kitchen, mug of coffee in hand as he made his way to the fridge. “He’s been waking up early to watch Hinata-kun do his morning meditations and yoga.”

The blonde’s expression twisted into mortification at that, brown eyes darting from one man to the other. “I have not.”

Sakusa sighed, going around the counter to make his own cup of coffee. “This is getting ridiculous, Miya.”

“Yeah, you’re being a creep,” Inunaki scrunched up his face at the blonde.

Atsumu unwittingly moved his gaze back to the balcony where the lean orange-haired man now had his back to them and appeared to be doing a series of enticing yoga stretches. The blonde felt his eye inwardly twitch at the sight, and he had to drag his eyes back to meet Sakusa and Inunaki’s flat stares.

“Okay…okay. I admit it. I have been keeping a close eye on our newest member.” Atsumu scowled as his other teammates continued to look at him with various unimpressed expressions on their faces.

“But, in my defense, there is something off about our Shouyou-kun, and I will get to the bottom of it.”

Adriah entered the kitchen just as Inunaki opened his mouth to retort and slid into the available seat next to Atsumu, raising a brow at the others. “Who wants to tell him?”

“Not it.”

“I’d rather not.”

“Come on, guys. You have to have noticed.” Atsumu huffed in disdain, crossing his arms at his chest while glaring at his teammates in disbelief. 

“Oh we noticed something, all right,” Inunaki commented, resting his chin on his palm as he smiled mischievously at the blonde. “But go ahead and try to explain. This will be fun.”

Atsumu glowered, opening his mouth to respond, and suddenly froze.

Because...how could he possibly convey into words what the actual problem was? Before Hinata had moved in with them, Atsumu’s observations had just been through the scope of a match, but now...

Now that he was up-close, sharing the same space, breathing the same air—he was beginning to notice just how perplexing Hinata was.

It was the way that Hinata’s presence seemed to brighten up a whole room. The man just simply smiled and Atsumu found his gaze immediately drawn to him, unconsciously following the lines of his mouth as the corners lifted upwards in warmth as he greeted someone. 

And it was the way he seemed to just get along...with everyone? Atsumu had watched with his own eyes how his teammates just welcomed him into their fold without question. 

Bokuto’s excited reception was, of course, no surprise. The weirdo finally had someone who matched his level of energy, which should have been terrifying, but instead seemed to temper the other man down and made him easier to manage.

Inunaki had someone he could tease good-naturedly and seemed to enjoy how Hinata gave as good as he got, while Adriah thrived off of the conversations they shared on healthy cooking recipes and supplements.

He had even won over Omi-kun! Omi-kun!  

Once, after Hinata had politely turned down an invitation to go drinking with some of the team in order to get a good night’s rest, Atsumu had actually caught the reclusive wing spiker smiling approvingly at the orange-haired player.

The fond expression was so foreign and strange on the other man’s face that Atsumu had to do a double-take. But before he could even comprehend exactly what he was seeing, Sakusa was already pulling his mask up, hiding the rare smile from view.

To this day, Inunaki still didn’t believe him about it.

Not to mention, Hinata had already been invited to family dinners at both Meian and Oliver’s respective apartments, something that Atsumu had never been privy to. He had overheard their team captain complimenting Hinata on having a way with his little ones, and he’d even seen the shorter man taking walks outside the apartment with a beautiful young woman, who he recognized to be Barnes’ wife.

The orange-haired demon was working his magic on all of them right now...right under their very noses. And they didn’t even realize!

But to make matters worse...

It was Hinata’s stupid, cheerful praise everytime Atsumu tossed the ball to him, the excited intensity in his hazel eyes when his hand made perfect impact and struck the ball over the net—the way his compact, yet powerful body lept from the ground and seemed to fly as Atsumu could only watch with rapt attention as those lithe muscles contracted and stretched, the hem of his slightly over-large uniform lifting slightly to reveal an enticing strip of tanned, slender skin.

The way Hinata would look back at him and that fiery grin stole all the thought and oxygen right out of his body.

“He’s...he’s…” He’s messing with my head! Atsumu wanted to shout at his teammates, near hysterical as he tried to follow his own train of thought.

“I guess he’s...uh...” Adriah trailed off, clearly sympathizing on his teammate’s behalf, as he looked from Atsumu to the balcony, absentmindedly scratching his chin.

“...Pretty attractive, one might say…”

Atsumu’s jaw dropped open. The other two looked at Adriah appraisingly at his words, expressions turning contemplative.

“Wow. Everyone is up so early, huh?”

They all turned around to the balcony entrance to see Hinata smiling at them unsurely, wiping the sweat off of his forehead with a towel that he had in his hand. His other arm was loosely gripping his yoga mat. The breeze drafting in through the open door caused the short, loose strands at the crown of his head to sway softly.

Atsumu tore his eyes away and glared back at his teammates, making an exaggerated motion with his hands just out of view from Hinata, as if to say Hello?! Are any of you seeing this?!

Sakusa gave him an even stare, while Inunaki and Adriah chuckled respectively behind their hands, coughing out morning greetings to the oblivious man.

“Morning, Shouyou!” Bokuto chimed in, joining the others as he bounced into the kitchen, completely ignorant of the conversation that just transpired as he stole the tupperware of food right out of Adriah’s hands before the older man could protest. 

“Morning!”

Hinata plopped into the seat next to Atsumu and beamed up at him. “Morning, Atsumu-san!”

The blonde glared sullenly back at the chipper greeting and got up from his seat abruptly, storming off without a word, leaving Hinata to blink confusingly at his back until he slipped out of view.

-

Hinata had to admit, despite her earlier trepidations about her new living situation, things had been going surprisingly well the past few weeks.

She had come up with a new bathroom schedule to avoid having to run into Bokuto and Atsumu. Once she got used to their routines, it was just a matter of timing. Her alarms were set early so she could be up hours before they would wake, and she was usually done showering and getting ready long before they got out of bed. 

The hardest part so far had been finding ways to avoid her teammates right after practice, as everyone filed into the locker room to shower and change before getting back on the shuttle to the complex. She had flashbacks to her first year, but this time, she didn’t have the luxury of the girl’s club room or Shimizu and Yachi to help hide her.

So instead, she improvised.

“Shouyou? Watcha doin’?” 

Bokuto tilted his head in confusion as he watched the shorter player change out his volleyball shoes for a pair of running ones. The rest of the team were in various states of undress as they milled about the locker room around them, some of them casting their new teammate curious looks as well.

Hinata was careful not to let her eyes linger on anything for too long as she jumped up from her spot and inched backwards towards the door.  “Well, I still got a lot of energy left, so I thought I could jog back to the apartment instead of taking the shuttle! See y’all there!”

Bokuto opened his mouth to respond, but Hinata had already taken off running before he could formulate a reply. He looked back at his team, making eye contact with Oliver, who only shrugged his shoulders.

“Does that kid ever rest?”

-

Feeling the cool air against the heated skin on her cheeks, Hinata groaned in relief as she jogged back in the direction of their apartment complex. 

It’s not that she minded the extra workout, but she honestly could not think of a better solution. Luckily for her, she had mapped it out on her phone ahead of time, and she discovered the perfect short-cut route through a nearby park that got her back to their place in less than twenty minutes if she made good time.

By the time the rest of her team arrived home, Hinata was already freshly showered and lounging on her bed when she heard the sound of the front door opening, and light chatter began to fill the common spaces of the living area.

“Ugh, I’m so tired!”

“Whose turn is it to cook tonight?”

“If it’s Bokuto’s, I’m ordering takeout.”

Hinata smiled to herself as she heard them bustle about and get settled. She had been surprised by how welcoming everyone had been when they learned she made it on the team.

Meian’s easy confidence and leadership reminded her so much of her former captain that her heart ached. Not to mention that she had been completely won over by his two little girls the second she laid eyes on them. Meian assured her that the feeling was mutual and proceeded to extend an open invite to their family dinners whenever she liked.

Inunaki easily fell into the role of an older, teasing brother, while Adriah seemed to be more than relieved to have someone else to talk to about travel and other worldly exploits, always ready to ask about her time spent abroad. 

Oliver had been the most intimidating by far, with the taller man towering over her by several centimeters. But the offensive powerhouse was essentially a cuddly giant on the inside and was pleasantly surprised when he introduced Hinata to his wife, Sophia, and the two of them hit it off right off the bat.

There was really only one person on the team that she just couldn't quite get a read on... 

When she had initially received the call from Bokuto back in Brazil to let her know that the Jackals were holding open tryouts, Hinata had been more than a little enthusiastic about the idea.

“What?! The MSBY Black Jackals?! No way!” She had clambered excitedly over the phone.

“That’s riiiight!” Bokuto had responded in a sing-song tone. “So I better see you there, Shouyou!”

“We’ll see, Bokuto-san!”

After hanging up, she had immediately pulled up the team roster on her phone, scrolling through the team’s stats as her eyes widened when she recognized some of the names and faces.

The Jackals had not one, but two of the top aces in the nation—Bokuto and Sakusa. The mere prospect of being on the same team with players who she had idolized for years made her eyes sparkle at her phone screen, squealing internally. 

But when her eyes landed on a familiar smirking blonde, Hinata felt her smile drop as she found herself lingering on the page.

Miya Atsumu.

Something about the blonde setter made her feel...uneasy to say the least. 

Ever since high school, Hinata had not known exactly how to react around the other player. The Miya was undoubtedly talented, his feats on the court had kept her and her team on their toes the entire game. Normally, discovering another opponent with the skill and drive to challenge her own would push her to go out of her way to engage and learn more about them.

But playing against Atsumu had been different.

It was the way he watched her sometimes, those intense brown eyes scrutinizing and assessing as they followed her form closely from across the net. Hinata still remembered the weight of his gaze on her skin—the way her hair rose on the back of her neck when she met his heavy stare.

Even now, Hinata couldn’t quite feel at ease around her new teammate.

One moment Atsumu would be as cheery as ever, offering to toss to her throughout practice and thriving off of the compliments and attention Hinata gave him when he hit a particularly good serve or pulled off a trick play. 

But then in the next, his smile would become strained, his words turning dismissive and cold. 

Atsumu’s moodiness was confusing. And part of Hinata worried that he was somehow onto her secret and was just waiting for the right moment for her to slip up…

Why else would he be watching her so closely?

The unwelcome thought made Hinata freeze in her doorway as she exited her bedroom, hazel eyes widening as they landed on Atsumu himself, who had been leaning against the wall just outside it.

“A-Atsumu-san! What’s up?”

The blonde quirked a brow at her and tilted his head to the side. “It’s your turn to cook tonight, remember?”

“Oh!” Hinata’s expression immediately turned apologetic, as she sheepishly smiled up at him. “I almost forgot! Thanks for reminding me.”

Atsumu frowned, quickly turning away as they walked side-by-side to the kitchen. “So whatcha planning to make, Shouyou-kun?”

“I picked up a couple of things from Brazil. You think anyone will mind?” Hinata made a mental list of the ingredients she would need, and once they got to the kitchen, she immediately began opening the pantry, pulling out various items.

Atsumu hummed lightly in response and slid into one of the barstools facing the kitchen, chin resting in his hand as he propped himself up on the counter to watch as his orange-haired teammate bustled about, chatting absentmindedly about something that had happened during practice.

While she began chopping up the vegetables, Hinata jumped when her phone began ringing, alerting her of a call. She threw a glance at Atsumu who seemed distracted by something on his own device and paid her no mind.

Hinata pulled out her phone from her back pocket and instantly brightened when she realized who it was. She was already grinning when she answered the call, propping the phone up against the counter so that she could see the two faces smiling back at her.

“Olá!”

“Olá! Shouyou!!”

“Nice! Heitor! Como você está? Quão longe você está agora?” How are you? How far along are you now?

“Doze semanas! E eu já me sinto uma baleia!” Twelve weeks! And I already feel like a whale! The other woman pouted, and Hinata giggled as she placed the chopped vegetables into a bowl and began heating up the stove.

“Você está bonita,” Heitor insisted, kissing his wife on the top of her head, causing her to lean into him. Hinata felt herself warm at the sight.

The already beautiful blonde looked as though she was glowing on the other side of the screen, her pregnancy clearly starting to have an effect on her. Heitor seemed to be basking in it, throwing his wife fond, loving looks continually as the three of them caught up.

Hinata was just adding the finishing spices into the now steaming pot, closing the lid, and moving to grab something from the refrigerator with phone in hand, when she saw Nice pause in the middle of saying something as she narrowed her eyes at something on the screen.

“O que é isso?” What is it?

“Oh meu Deus,” the blonde’s voice turned excited as she leaned in closer. “São aqueles seus companheiros de quarto?” Oh my god, are those your roommates?

Hinata froze, suddenly becoming aware that she had been unconsciously cooking and chatting with her friends without really considering her surroundings. She looked up and around to see that the rest of her teammates had filtered into the room without her noticing, and they all appeared to be in various states of eavesdropping. 

Atsumu had not moved from when she first started cooking, still seated at the counter watching her with wide, almost glazed over eyes. Adriah was seated beside him, clearly pretending to look at something on his phone, while Inunaki and Sakusa were standing by the counter casting her sidelong glances. On the nearby couch, Bokuto was peeking over the edge and fell backwards with a thump when she shot him a confused look.

“Oww!”

“Um…”

“Don’t mind us!” Inunaki called out quickly, stifling a giggle when Adriah elbowed Atsumu sharply in the side, causing the other man to yelp in confusion and look around wildly. Bokuto rolled back on the couch laughing at the sight.

Hinata glanced down at her phone screen to see her friend’s expression quickly become sly. “Você não mencionou que eles eram todos atraentes, Shouyou.” You didn’t mention that they were all attractive, Shouyou.

Hinata gaped at her phone, mentally thanking the gods that none of her roommates understood Portuguese. “Eles são meus companheiros de time!” They are my teammates!

“Isso significa que você não pode apreciar a vista.” Does that mean you can’t appreciate the view?

“Niiice,” Hinata groaned, wanting to hide her face in her hands. It’s not as if she hadn’t realized that her new teammates were attractive. It was hard not to when they spent almost every waking moment together practicing and hanging out at the apartment.

Of course she noticed.

But, rather than dwell on her turbulent, wayward hormones, it was just easier to pretend that they didn’t exist. Hinata focused her attention on practice, practice, practice. She reminded herself that she was a man, and none of her seemingly straight teammates would probably appreciate her ogling at them.

Nice, on the other hand, didn’t seem ashamed at all. The blonde’s smile resembled a cheshire cat’s as she watched Hinata glare back at her. “Aquela loira é especialmente deliciosa.” That blonde one is especially delectable.

Hinata could die, right then. Her reddening face probably reflected as much, because Heitor had immediately taken the phone out of his wife’s grasp and gave an apologetic smile.

“Desculpe, Shouyou. Você sabe como ela fica.” Sorry, Shouyou. You know how she gets.

“O que?” Nice appeared back on the screen, pouting at being chastised by her husband. “Ele é o único que está olhando para ela esse tempo todo.” What? He is the one who has been staring at her this whole time.

Hinata instantly felt her face flushing further, and she had to stop herself from automatically looking up to see if the statement was true. “Você deve estar enganado.” You must be mistaken.

From the amused look on Nice’s face, Hinata knew she wanted to pursue the subject even further. But rather than do so, the blonde seemed to take pity on her. “Se você diz, Shouyou!” She said in a sing-song voice. If you say so, Shouyou!

“Falaremos com você mais tarde!” We’ll talk to you later!

Hinata sighed, hanging up the phone in relief. When she looked back up, she noticed that her teammates were still unabashedly staring.

She tilted her head at them and furrowed her brows at their behavior. “W-what?”

Adriah had the decency to at least look sheepish, unlike some of the others. He cleared his throat awkwardly, garnering her attention first. “Were you speaking in Portuguese just now?” 

“Oh, yeah! I had to learn during my time abroad,” Hinata replied, suddenly realizing that it was one of the first times she had spoken in Portuguese since she had returned from Brazil. It occurred to her that it was probably odd for anyone back home to hear such a foreign language.

“Is that why you guys are acting so weird?” 

“Weird? We’re not being weird!” Bokuto immediately piped up, his not-so guiltless tone causing Hinata to narrow her eyes at him.

Brandishing her ladle in his direction, Hinata demanded, “Tell me the truth or you aren’t getting any food, Bokuto-san.”

“Nooo! Shouyou! It smells so good!” Bokuto immediately clambered over the side of the couch and circled around the kitchen, giving her wide, puppy dog eyes. “It was just like super cool to hear you speak another language like that! Right, guys?!”

The silver-haired man swiveled his head back and forth from Hinata to his other teammates. 

Unexpectedly, Sakusa inclined his head at that. “It was nice,” he admitted, “Hearing you talk to your friend.”

“Oh.” Hinata blinked up at him in surprise and turned to the others for confirmation.

“Yeah. Really nice.” Inunaki smirked knowingly at the blonde seated beside him, who was currently massaging his temples and grumbling to himself. “Right, Atsumu?” 

Atsumu shot both Inunaki and Hinata a sharp glare that made the latter shrink into herself in confusion. “D-did I do something wrong?”

“Tsum-Tsum is just really hungry, right?” Bokuto smiled innocently at her as he grabbed a spoon to try and steal a bite of the contents of the steaming pot, only to be thwarted by Sakusa’s hand darting in the way and removing the spoon from his grasp. 

“He gets a little grumpy when he’s hungry. Like me!”

“I am nothing like you,” Atsumu responded flatly, lifting his chin up and rising from his seat quickly in an attempt to hold onto some sense of dignity. “I’ll set the table for ya, Shouyou-kun.”

Hinata raised a brow at him, scratching the side of her chin in confusion as the others followed in Atsumu’s lead and began settling themselves around the dining table, joking and snickering as they urged each other along.

It seemed that, despite pretending to be a male on and off for the past several years, Hinata reflected that she still didn’t quite understand the opposite sex.

No matter how old she got, boys were still weird.

-

That night she pulled out the gaming system Kenma had purchased for her when she returned from Brazil and booted it up, placing the headphones over her ears as she did so.

Hinata immediately grinned when she saw Kenma’s face appear on her TV screen.

“Kenma!”

“Hi, Shouyou.”

The famed Kodzuken had not changed much over the past two years. The only noticeable difference was that his hair had gotten longer, falling past his shoulders and pulled into a low half-bun. Although the blond strands had begun to fade at the ends, the former Nekoma setter couldn’t be bothered to re-dye it. 

“You ready for the stream?” Hinata asked, watching the screen as Kenma appeared to be setting something up just out of sight.

“Yeah, just give me a minute.” There was a sound of rustling, and Kenma peered over at her while hooking up some cables to a speaker. “What’s the new living situation like?”

Hinata grinned and immediately began chatting happily as Kenma continued to set-up for the stream. “Everyone has been really great and welcoming so far! The apartment is so nice, too!”

“...And no slip-ups, so far?”

“Nope!” For a brief moment, Hinata entertained the idea of voicing her concerns about Atsumu to her friend, but she decided against it. There was no reason to worry Kenma when she had nothing to really base her concerns off of. 

“And practice has been going super well! I missed being back on an actual court!”

Kenma looked pleased at that, smiling at her excited tone. “I bet your jump is even higher now.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe,” Hinata beamed back, her voice becoming playful. “You’re going to watch our first game with the Adlers, right?”

“Of course,” Kenma assured her. And then after a small pause, his expression turned thoughtful. “...Against Kageyama, huh?”

“Y-yep!”

“Have you guys spoken since you’ve been back…?”

Not expecting the question, Hinata took a moment before responding, absentmindedly playing with her gaming controller. “No, we haven’t actually…”

Thinking about Kageyama only caused her to feel even more puzzled. Ever since she had returned to Japan, it was like her former teammate had fallen completely out of contact. They still texted from time to time, but nowhere near as frequently as they had been when Hinata was abroad, which only added to her heightened feelings of uncertainty regarding her old teammate. 

Kageyama all but ignored her attempts to schedule a meet-up, providing perfunctory excuses every time. And after confiding to the others about it, no one seemed to be able to provide a solid reason for his behavior.

“He’s probably just focused on training,” Yamaguchi had said consolingly when Hinata broached the topic during a visit to his university dorm. Seated beside him, Tsukishima appeared less than sympathetic.

“The king can’t be bothered.”

Yachi had given the other blonde a reproachful look at that, before advising, “Just give him some time. You know how he is.”

And Hinata did know. She had expected that things would be different when she came back, the time apart only adding to the distance created between them since their third year.

“I knew it would be weird coming back and facing him for the first time in two years. But we had been texting each other all of this time, and I thought…” Hinata trailed off, biting her bottom lip in thought.

Kenma only looked at her expectantly, silently urging her to continue. 

“...I thought that when I came back...Everything would just go back to the way things used to be, you know?”

Kenma hummed in acknowledgement as he watched his friend’s expression carefully from his side of the screen. From her pursed lips and contemplative bearing, it was clear to him that there was probably more that could be said between the two former teammates. He had his own theories about why Kageyama was behaving the way he was, but a large part of him didn’t feel like sharing those thoughts.

It really wasn’t any of his business.

Seeing a blinking icon on the corner of his screen, indicating someone had entered the stream’s waiting room, Kenma decided not to press the issue further.

“Ah. Pedro just joined.”

Hinata immediately perked up at that, and her smile grew eager when a familiar dark-haired university student popped up near their own faces on the screen, waving enthusiastically at the camera. 

“Shouyou! Kodzuken! Let’s play!” Pedro called out in his heavily accented Japanese, causing Hinata to laugh and momentarily forget about what she and Kenma had been discussing as she caught up with her friend.

“Pedro! I hope you haven’t been cooped up in the apartment since I’ve been gone!”

-

Hinata stared imploringly at her friends, hazel eyes wide and pleading as they flitted from one girl to the other. “Please just let me stay here with you.”

Shimizu and Yachi traded amused glances at that. 

“I don’t think Tanaka and the guys will be very receptive to that idea, Shouyou,” Shimizu responded, her tone teasing as the younger woman’s expression grew even more frantic. “Plus, they’ve been looking forward to this night for months now.”

Yachi giggled at Hinata’s distressed expression. “Yeah, they’re being really dramatic about it, too. I heard Tadashi calling it ‘Tanaka’s Last Fling Before the Ring’.”

Hinata groaned and slid further down in her chair. “That’s not even the worst part!”

“Do you guys have any idea what those hooligans have planned? Our group chat has dissolved into chaos,” the orange-haired woman looked pained as she continued, “If you both had any ounce of love for me at all, you’d let me stay here where it’s safe.”

Suddenly, the kitchen door slammed open, and a familiar voluptuous blonde framed the doorway, brandishing several bottles of liquor in her arms.

“Saeko-nee-chan!”

“LADIES! Are you ready to party tonight?!” 

As Saeko grinned roguishly in their direction wiggling what looked to be a bottle of tequila, Hinata turned back to the others, muttering under her breath, “On second thought, you two might be just as screwed as I am.”

“Shouyou-kun! What are you still doing over here? All the other guys are about to head out,” the tall blonde gestured with her chin to the doorway where loud, boisterous yelling could already be heard.

“Please save me.” Hinata closed her eyes and tilted her face upwards, saying a mental prayer as the noise seemed to only get louder and louder as the seconds passed.

Moments later, two grinning faces appeared in the kitchen doorway as Noya and Suga peered around Saeko’s form to immediately narrow in on Hinata, who was doing her best attempt at blending in with the kitchen scenery.

“We found Shouyou!! Let’s go!!” 

Hinata shot her friends one last pleading look as she was unwittingly dragged by both arms out of the kitchen.

“Worry not, Kiyoko-san! We will have your dearest husband-to-be back before you know it!”

And that was how Hinata found herself unwillingly dragged along to Tanaka’s ill-conceived bachelor party. The members of the event consisted of everyone from their old Karasuno team, minus Kageyama, who wouldn’t have been caught dead participating in such shenanigans.

When Hinata had texted him the night before asking if he would make it, his blunt reply had been expected, if anything.

Hinata (12:50) Are you coming to Tanaka’s?

Kageyama (13:23) Absolutely not. 

Kageyama (13:24) Should you even be going to that?

Hinata (13:26) I wish I had a choice.

Hinata (13:27) I’ll write you into my will.

As stated in the itinerary that Ennoshita was so kind as to make for the ragtag group, they started at one bar, and as the night progressed, they hopped from one establishment to the next, everyone getting decidedly more and more inebriated as the night went on.

When the group filtered into a particularly seedy bar with a flashing neon light that said ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’, Hinata had frozen in the entryway and looked back at Tsukishima, who had been walking a few paces behind her, with wide, pleading eyes.

The tall blonde rolled his eyes at her expression and when the rest of the group looked back at them questioningly, Tsukishima waved his hand at them dismissively. “Hinata and I can’t be seen in such an establishment. Professional athletes and all.”

Hinata’s eyes sparkled at the perfectly crafted excuse, as she nodded at the others in confirmation. “Yep. So sorry, guys. We’ll wait out here!”

Yamaguchi glanced back and forth between them and the unruly group making their way into the darkly lit room, clearly torn as to who to stay with. But Noya seemed to make his decision for him when he pulled the younger man to follow along. “Come along, Gucci Guchi, let’s show you a real good time!”

Hinata grimaced and looked back up at Tsukishima. “I owe you as many Kahlua and Milks as you want.”

“I’m holding you to that.”

By the end of the night, it was nearing one in the morning, and they stopped by a quaint patio bar. The string lights hung around the perimeter casted an effervescent glow on their faces as they joked and laughed through a rowdy game of Never Have I Ever.

“Never have I ever called Officer Daichi to come and escort me home after a late night out,” Asahi stated, looking none too surprised when almost everyone around the table took generous sips of their drinks while their former captain rolled his eyes.

“I worry about what would become of you all if I hadn’t become an officer of the law,” Daichi said, one eyebrow raised disapprovingly. “Some of you would definitely be in jail right about now.”

Narita smiled wryly at that, casting a knowing glance at his fellow teammates. “Never have I ever been arrested!”

Noya and Tanaka grinned wildly at the statement, clinking their glasses together before tilting them back, taking large chugs from their beverages.

“Best third year prank ever pulled at Karasuno,” Noya declared once he was finished, turning to the rest of the group. “Vice Principal Kushida was so pissed. It took them weeks to get rid of the smell of chickens.”

Kinoshita shook his head, but couldn’t hide his own amusement. “Do you guys know how many times I accidentally stepped in chicken shit after that?”

“Class 3A!!” Tanaka drunkenly bellowed, standing up abruptly and pulling aggressively at his shirt as he went.

Ennoshita rolled his eyes fondly, smacking Tanaka’s hands away before too much damage was caused. “We made it this far with your shirt on. Let’s keep it that way.”

“Who’s next?”

“Yamaguchi!”

The younger man rubbed his chin thoughtfully and snapped his fingers. “Never have I ever kissed another guy!!”

Hinata watched as Daichi and Suga immediately raised their glasses, winking at one another, before taking a sip from their drinks. While the other men hooted and howled at them, Hinata glanced nervously down at her own beverage, pondering the question. 

There was no reason for her to drink and give herself away.

The fact that she was even considering it was a testament to how much alcohol she had consumed that night.

But the beer was doing weird things to her mental state, and she found herself lifting the amber beverage to her lips and taking a modest sip before realizing what exactly she was doing.

“SHOUYOU?!”

Everyone turned to stare at her, and the realization as to what she had inadvertently admitted to caused a light flush to grace her cheeks.

“Um.”

Yamaguchi’s tone turned conspiratorial as he leaned in closer to her. “Was it in Brazil?”

Hinata reddened even further, not trusting herself to speak.

“Oh my god.” Everyone turned to Suga whose eyes began to widen in realization. “There is only one person you mentioned running into in Brazil…”

There was a long pause as everyone considered his words, until Tanaka abruptly spit out his beer and slammed his hands on the wooden table.

“OIKAWA?!”

Hinata averted her eyes and coughed awkwardly. “I don’t have to confirm that.”

“Right?” She turned her gaze towards Daichi, who raised his hands up defensively. 

“I am not policing this game!”

Suga’s eyes took on a mischievous gleam as he smiled almost innocently at her, “...Never have I ever kissed someone we played against in a volleyball match!”

The other men watched with rapt attention as Hinata huffed to herself softly and brought the glass back up to her lips once again, taking a small sip, purposefully not making eye contact with anyone at the table as she did so.

The table broke out into loud guffaws and shouting. Tanaka leaned over and jostled her shoulder roughly, slurring as he said, “Shouyouuu!! You dog! Are you dating the Grand King?”

“Does Kageyama know about this?” Asahi muttered to Tsukishima, who was seated beside him, and the other man only shrugged in response. 

“I highly doubt it,” the blonde responded under his breath, eyeing the blushing female speculatively.

Hinata cleared her throat, eyes darting around nervously. “It was just a one time thing!”

And it had been. Although the kiss she had shared with Oikawa was something she thought about a lot, if she was being honest—it had been nothing more than a pleasing show of friendly affection—a perfect memory representing her time in Brazil.

...The fact that the two of them still talked quite frequently from time to time was not something she was planning to disclose to anyone seated at the table before her.

To only further her embarrassment, Noya began raising his eyebrows suggestively while Tanaka made exaggerated kissing noises, causing Hinata to glare at the men around her, most of whom were watching with various expressions of amusement on their faces.

“Anyway, it’s my turn!” Hinata declared loudly, slamming her drink back down. 

“Never have I ever bullied one of my kouhais!”

Hinata watched on, expression turning smug as the majority of them traded rueful glances amongst one another and took turns chugging their own drinks. 

Serves them right.

-

By the time Hinata made it home, it was nearing two in the morning. She was mindful of the late hour as she closed the front door quietly behind her.

Although she had made sure to let her teammates know in advance that she would be coming home late, that didn’t stop her from tip-toeing through the apartment as carefully as she could, trying to ignore the way the room seemed to be swaying as she made her way to her bedroom.

Acting on instinct alone, Hinata went through her nighttime routine, changing out of her clothes and into a soft, oversized MSBY sweater that landed just above her knees. Hinata let out a relieved groan as she freed herself from the binder that she had been forced to wear all day, mentally longing for the days when she had been able to function without it.

In her rush to get into bed as quickly as possible, she opted out of her pajama bottoms, and sleepily padded her way into the bathroom instead, flicking on only one of the lights so that the room was bathed in a dim, yellow glow.

It was while she was brushing her teeth absentmindedly, recalling some of the events from the night with a fond smile on her lips, that the bathroom door opened, and another figure entered the room.

Hinata froze as she met sleepy brown eyes in the mirror in front of her.

Toothbrush hanging loosely in her mouth, she watched as Atsumu blinked slowly at first, taking in her reflection, and then saw how clarity seemed to grow in his eyes by the second as they traveled leisurely down her body and then back up again.

Hinata spat out her toothpaste and quickly rinsed out her mouth. Her mind raced as she tried to think through the drunk fog in order to quickly come up with a proper excuse to give. Mentally, she thanked the dim lighting in the bathroom, hoping that it did something to hide her barely concealed features.

She kept her back to him, meeting his gaze in the mirror and hoping that none of her anxiety crept into her voice as she said, “Atsumu-san! What are you doing up?”

The blonde took a moment before responding, voice still raspy from sleep as he responded, “I heard you come in and needed to piss, so…”

“Oh,” Hinata forced a smile, ignoring the way her pulse was racing as she inched towards the exit. “S-sorry for waking you up. I’ll just...get out of your way then?”

It should be noted that, given the late hour and the result of heavy drinking, neither party was in full functioning awareness. In Hinata’s haste to leave the bathroom as quickly as possible with her dignity and secret in tact, she had accidentally bumped her shoulder into the doorframe hard, causing her body to lose balance and teeter sideways into the man next to her, who had taken a second too long to realize what was happening and react in time.

Atsumu let out a resounding ‘oof’ as her elbow connected with his chest and suddenly he was falling backwards, one arm shooting out to try and brace himself for the impending impact while the other moved forward to catch the smaller body that had barreled into him, inadvertently pulling her towards him in the momentum.

It took a good minute before his mind had caught up to what exactly had happened.

Atsumu had landed in a half-sitting position on the bathroom floor, head spinning from where it had banged against the vanity cabinet behind him. Laying almost completely on top of him was the orange-haired demon himself, hazel eyes blinking dazedly down at him as they both considered the precarious position they were in.

And that’s when Atsumu realized something particularly odd.

Perhaps he could have attributed it to his sleep-addled brain, or maybe even to the headache that was slowly beginning to form at the back of his head...but staring down at Hinata who seemed to finally be getting his bearings in order, Atsumu noticed that the smaller body laying on top of his was decidedly...not quite masculine in nature.

His brown eyes narrowed in on where Hinata’s ridiculous sweater had ridden up and noticed that his own knee was bent and pressing up against the other man’s body, just between his legs... 

Just then, a wild thought occurred to him. Atsumu wiggled his leg experimentally, and watching as Hinata’s mouth fell open in shock, the blonde noted that yes, there was something definitely lacking in a particular masculine department. 

There was no question about it.

And when his gaze traveled upwards to Hinata’s chest, Atsumu could not help but freeze when his eyes were immediately drawn to features that were...startling...erm... feminine, definitely feminine, in nature. 

“H-hey, uh, Shouyou-kun,” Atsumu began, attempting to keep his tone light and even, despite the inner panic attack he was currently experiencing. 

At the sound of his voice, Hinata jolted into action, immediately falling backwards and scooting as far away from him as she could while simultaneously attempting to pull her traitorous sweater down.

“Umm,” Her eyes darted up to meet his, noting the stunned, slack-jawed expression on his face, and back down to herself and the compromising position she was in. 

“Y-you…” Atsumu struggled to get the words out, his mind coming up blank as his eyes kept trying to process exactly what he was seeing in front of him. 

There was no way. There was absolutely no way...

Dazed, Hinata reached up to grab onto the counter next to her and pulled herself up from the floor, immediately wrapping her arms across her chest as she did so. Mind still hazy as she regarded the man still half-propped up on the ground before her, she let out a small, hysterical laugh. 

“I am way too drunk for this conversation,” she admitted, and the crazed amusement that she felt only grew at Atsumu’s incredulous expression.

“Come on. I’ll explain everything.”

Disoriented and more than a little stunned, Atsumu could only pull himself up into a standing position and trail after her as she exited the bathroom.

-

“What the actual fuck.”

Hinata tried to stifle a laugh at Atsumu’s deadpan response. It was now nearing four in the morning, and the two of them were laying on her bed. Hinata was propped up against the headboard, her head resting on the pillows behind her, while her teammate laid horizontally at the foot of the bed, currently face down in the comforter as he attempted to process everything she had just told him.

“I knew there was something weird about you,” Atsumu said accusingly, lifting himself up and turning to glare at Hinata, who waved her hands in front of her apologetically. “I told everyone that something was up, and they all said I was crazy!”

“I already said I was sorry!”

Hinata did feel bad. It was clear how distressed Atsumu was at the discovery that she was, in fact, female the entire time. She hadn’t fully prepared herself for what might happen if one of her teammates found out, and she felt a part of herself become resigned at the realization that the jig was up.

“You know, I wouldn’t stop you...if you decided to tell everyone the truth,” she said, frowning as she clutched another pillow close to her chest. “I would deserve it, after lying to everyone all of this time…”

Atsumu scoffed at her self-deprecating response, rolling his eyes when she looked down at him in surprise. “That’s stupid. I wouldn’t do that to you, Shouyou-kun.”

“Not when you have this whole inspiring, yet ill-advised backstory about proving yourself,” he continued gesturing a hand vaguely in her direction. “I’m not that much of an asshole.” Though, some, particularly his own flesh and blood, might argue otherwise.

“...Oh?”

Turning away from her confused expression, Atsumu flipped himself around so that he was now resting on his back, arms folded neatly behind his head as he closed his eyes. 

“Look. Yer completely insane, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not about to rat ya out.”

Hinata regarded him silently, and Atsumu peeked open one eye to look back at her. 

“Gotta let ya see this one through, after all.”

Hazel eyes filled with gratitude as Hinata smiled down at him, and Atsumu did his best to pretend that he was unaffected, even as his heart began to beat just a little bit faster at the sight. “Atsumu-san, you’re actually a really nice guy deep down, aren’t you?”

“Shut yer trap.”

“Like super, super nice!”

“I’m warning ya…”

“The nicest!”

“I changed my mind. I’m telling everyone.”

Much later, with the sun just beginning to rise and her breath already evening out into sleep, Atsumu laid awake for just a bit longer, unable to fully comprehend everything that he uncovered that night.

Hinata was a girl—no, a woman.

What the hell.

Hinata Shouyou, of the famed Karasuno freak quick-attack, the same ridiculous player that rendered Atsumu wonderstruck when he watched her play during Nationals, was a woman. 

His mind kept short-circuiting in disbelief at the word. 

How was that even possible?

“He’s...pretty attractive, one might say…”

Yeah, no frickin’ kidding.

Now, that Atsumu wasn’t completely terrified about his turbulent sexuality, he could finally let himself admit it. Shouyou-kun was stupidly attractive. 

He turned his body to face her then, eyes roving from her short, spiky strands of hair fanning out against the pillow behind her to the way her slender eyebrows furrowed softly, nose wrinkling adorably in sleep as she breathed in and out. 

Thankfully for Atsumu’s failing mental state , the comforter hid the rest of her body from view. But that didn’t stop the man from imagining the way it had felt to have her pressed up against him—surprisingly soft, despite the firm lines of muscle that he had recognized beneath the thin sweater she wore. He couldn’t let himself follow that train of thought any longer, not when he was literally sharing the same bed as the woman in question.

And to think, Atsumu had only been mere moments away from coming out of the metaphorical closet. Every day he had spent in Hinata’s presence, he had slowly grown more and more resigned to the idea. The number of times he had called Osamu in his throes of panic were a testament to that.

He paused mid-thought.

...Oh no. Osamu.

His twin would never let him live this down.

-

Hinata took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders and bracing herself as she faced the men’s bathroom door. Truthfully, it was silly of her to still be wary of such a predicament. One would imagine that she would have become used to it already.

But even still, it was difficult to quell the bundle of nerves in her stomach, especially because it had been over three years since her last official indoor volleyball match.

Hinata couldn’t quite believe it. 

Because somehow, despite all of the odds stacked up against her, she had made it this far. 

Hinata thought of all the tournaments and practice games she played in high school—the rules and tactics of the game drilled into her bones as she counted her wins and tried not to mourn over her losses.

She recalled the two years she spent training under the hot, Brazilian sun, day in and day out, learning to grow and adapt and evolve into something else, something better.

And finally she was here.

Hinata was about to play in her first ever professional V. League match, and she couldn’t wait for the opportunity to prove her worth on the court.

“Not gonna have bowel issues today, are you?” A familiar voice called out behind her, and she froze.

-

“What have you been doing the last three years?”

“Even if it takes ten years or twenty!”

“This time, I win, too.”

“...I’ll be waiting.”

-

Hinata inwardly smirked and looked over her shoulder, meeting Kageyama’s cool, blue gaze as he stared right back, the corner of his lips turning upwards in a ghost of a smile.

“Heck no. I’m not the kind of guy that gets stomach troubles before games anymore.”

“You’d better not, idiot.”

And it was like coming home.

-

Hoshiumi Korai was a lot of things—but one thing he never claimed to be was patient.

Ever since he first saw Karasuno’s number ten, he knew he had met his match. The unparalleled excitement that thrummed just beneath his skin at the sight of a fellow Little Giant only made his anticipation grow knowing he would soon be facing Hinata Shouyou on the court.

Finally, there was someone else like him.

Someone else who refused to be defined by his own weaknesses and physical limitations, who instead, laughed in the face of adversity—never backing down an inch or following society’s expectations—all in order to make it to the top.

Hoshiumi had been waiting for someone like Hinata Shouyou his whole life.

He still remembered that moment when Hinata had collapsed on the court during Nationals. Hoshiumi had been so exhilarated throughout the whole match as the orange-haired player met him head-on with every set they played. 

When Hinata jumped and proved that he could fly, too, Hoshiumi could only smirk as he watched everyone around them stare up at the smaller boy in wonder. For some reason, seeing the other boy succeed filled him with a strange sense of pride and joy. In some ways, Hoshiumi considered Hinata’s incredible feats as his own.

Look at us, Hinata Shouyou. We are gonna show everyone. We are going to take on the world.

But when Hinata’s small body hit the ground and didn’t get back up again, Hoshiumi forced himself to reconcile with the idea that this wouldn’t be the last time they faced each other—it wasn’t really over. Not yet.

He had waited hungrily for the day he could play Hinata again.

“Hinata Shouyou! You’re here!”

“Hoshiumi-san! Hi!”

His green eyes crinkled in delight as the two greeted each other. Hoshiumi took in the familiar head of orange spikes, cropped even shorter than before, just like his. The radiant smile on the other man’s face made him grin in turn, as he noted just how strong Hinata looked after not seeing him in years.

Hoshiumi wanted to tell him, I’ve been waiting for this day...since that one spring tourney my second year of high school. He wanted to say, I’ve been waiting for you, Hinata Shouyou. 

But surrounded by his teammates and opponents alike, he smirked instead and asked, already knowing the answer, “How tall are you now?” 

-

“The game is on!”

-

Hinata felt herself vibrating with nervous energy as she watched Kageyama walk up to the serving line, ball spinning lightly in his hands.

This was it.

“And the match will begin with Kageyama's serve. I still remember when Kageyama did a service ace five times in a row against France in the world championship. Will the Black Jackals be able to handle it?”

The dark-haired man tossed the ball straight up and jumped high, arching his back, before smacking it hard across the net. Blue eyes widening imperceptibly, Kageyama inwardly smirked when he saw a flash of orange, and suddenly the ball was up. 

She actually did it.

“Hinata Shouyou somehow manages to bring up the serve that once defeated France!”

Hinata didn’t wait a second longer to gloat in her achievement, leg sliding after receiving the ball, she pivoted her body forward, feet moving as quickly as they would allow her as she watched Atsumu toss the ball in a high arch. He winked at her over his shoulder. Let’s give them a proper greeting!

“Hm? The receive went up cleanly but Miya Atsumu is using neither a swift attack nor combination.”

Hinata grinned as she drove all of her weight into the balls of her feet, urging the hard surface beneath to push her up higher than ever before. This was nothing like the sand.

She was flying.

From the other side of the net, Hoshiumi smirked in disbelief as he watched her soar. Damn…

With a sharp smack of her arm, Hinata hit the ball cleanly straight over the net, before laughing wildly as she landed on steady feet.

“I’m back!” Hinata shouted out to the arena, arms raised in excitement, not caring how ridiculous she looked to the rest of the audience.

“WELCOME BACK!!” Came the deafening roar from the crowd, the voices of all her friends intermixed together as they cheered her on.

“Who is that guy?”

“That’s crazy!”

“How did he do that?”

“That guy was literally flying!”

Kageyama felt the smile stretching across his lips before he could even stop it, as he made eye contact with Hinata from across the net, her hazel eyes bright and sparkling. Suddenly everything that had transpired between them seemed so small and insignificant in comparison to this.

“You’re late.”

“The first point goes to Hinata Shouyou who’s just playing his debut match today!”

-

After the match, Bokuto all but tackled Hinata in a celebratory hug.

“Shouyou! That was so sick!”

She laughed heartily and shoved at his arms, while the rest of the Jackals swarmed them. Hinata was subjected to a round of hair ruffles and shoulder pats by the rest of the team, the affection causing her to almost glow in contentment. She waved excitedly at Sakusa, who had maintained himself at a healthy distance, nodding to her in acknowledgement when he saw her, while Atsumu wrapped an arm around her shoulders, throwing her a victorious grin.

And to think, this was only the first game of the season.

There was still so much more volleyball to play.

The thought had Hinata riding on a high for the duration of the post-game debriefs, and when Bokuto shouted the words, “AFTER PARTY,” as he entered the locker room, she could only whoop in excitement.

After a moment of deliberation, Atsumu declared that the after party would be held on the rooftop of the MSBY apartment complex and didn’t even wait for confirmation from the rest of the team before he pulled out his phone and started inviting people.

Inunaki, Adriah, and Oliver were easily on board with the idea, while Meian took some prodding before he was reluctantly persuaded as well.

The only one left to convince was Sakusa.

“Since it’s on the rooftop, no one will actually be in our apartment, Omi-san!” Hinata said brightly to her scowling teammate. “And I will, of course, be in charge of cleaning up!”

To everyone’s shock, it only took a few minutes before Sakusa conceded to his teammate’s whims, nodding his head in agreement at her.

“Fine. But I’m bringing an extra box of masks for people to wear.”

Shaking his head, Atsumu observed the interaction in amusement. “You know if any of us had asked, Omi-kun would have automatically said no,” the blonde muttered to Bokuto, who could only snicker in response.

“Shouyou’s got all of you suckers wrapped around his little finger.”

After volunteering to be the one to invite the opposing team, Hinata found herself hesitantly knocking on the door of the Adler’s locker room and trying not to look too intimidated when Ushijima opened the door and glared down at her.

“Hinata Shouyou.”

“After party at our place!” Hinata blurted out excitedly to the occupants of the room, all of whom whipped around at the sound of her voice.

Both Ushijima and Kageyama’s expressions turned blank, as if the words were completely foreign to them. While Hoshiumi, on the other hand, cheered in excitement when hearing the invitation, yelling, “Finally!! Our team never has any fun.”

Apparently, after parties were not a common occurrence for the Schweiden Adlers. 

Once her team was shuttled home, everyone immediately split up to start getting ready for the event. Hinata made a beeline to her bedroom, all the while texting the invite to her Karasuno team, along with Kenma, who politely declined, and laughed to herself at all of the jovial responses she received in turn.

When she saw a flash of yellow in her doorway, Hinata looked up from her phone to see Atsumu leaning against the frame and she immediately gestured for him to come in, watching as he closed the door behind him.

“Atsumu-san! You can help me pick out what to wear for tonight!”

The blonde halfheartedly attempted to put up a fight, grumbling as Hinata pulled him towards her closet. “If I had known that this was what was in store for me after finding out yer secret, I would have much preferred to be left in the dark.”

“You don’t mean that!” Hinata said, innocently looking back at him from over her shoulder. “And you’re so much better at choosing outfits. I wish I had your sense of style, Atsumu-san!”

It should have bothered him at how quickly he caved when hearing such simple praise, but Atsumu was already swiping through the articles of clothing in her closet before he could dwell on it further. “It’s cold outside...so you should probably wear layers...maybe this one hoodie with that black jacket?”

Hinata only grinned, grabbing the aforementioned items before ushering the man out of her closet so she could change. 

Somehow, in the span of a few months, Atsumu had unexpectedly become one of her closest confidantes on the team. Now that he knew the truth about her, it was like the tremulous relationship they had before had been paved over, and they were able to fall into an easy friendship that neither of them would have anticipated.

While the rest of the team had definitely noticed the change in their dynamic, almost everyone just seemed to accept it. Although Atsumu was still subject to a few teasing comments made in passing.

Once she was done changing, Hinata opened the closet door to see Atsumu already sitting at the foot of her bed, tilting his head as he gave her a quick onceover. 

“Do you even know how to style your hair?” Atsumu said, standing up to better survey her form.

Hinata shook her head, pouting. “Not really. That’s why I keep it so short! Everytime I tried, it always looked so fluffy.”

Atsumu smirked, flicking his fingers against her forehead. “Real men use hair gel. Honestly, that should have been the first give away.”

Hinata rolled her eyes, letting Atsumu lead her to the bathroom where he pulled out an impressive selection of hair products. 

“You have more hair styling products than any girl I know,” Hinata pointed out, snickering to herself when she saw his put-out expression.

“Jeez, do ya want my help or not?”

“Sorry, Atsumu-san!”

Bokuto bounced in just as Atsumu was about to plop some unidentified substance into her hair, looking more than a bit amused by the spectacle. “That’s not enough gel, Tsum-Tsum! Watch me!”

Hinata and Atsumu both watched, horrified, as the silver-haired man grabbed one of the bottles and demonstrated the correct amount of hair gel needed to style his own hair back. 

“So, that’s how you get your hair to stick up like that,” Hinata observed, eyes wide with wonder Bokuto generously lathered the gel into his hair.

“Yer makin’ me sick, Bokkun.”

As the men began to lightly bicker about how much gel to use in her hair, Sakusa appeared in the doorway, his expression affronted as he took in the sight of Hinata sandwiched between the two blithering males.

“Hinata-kun, I would not trust either of these two idiots to style your hair,” the dark-haired man stated coolly, ignoring when the other two men shot him offended looks. “I mean, have you seen their dye jobs?”

“How dare you.”

“Omi-Omi is so mean!”

Hinata didn’t even protest when the other man pulled her away, allowing Sakusa to tastefully brush her hair back in a simple style using only a modest amount of gel, grinning at their reflections in the mirror as he did so.

It had definitely been sad to temporarily say goodbye to her feminine side that she had become so well-acquainted with in Brazil, but seeing her boyish features reflected back at her in the mirror was like greeting an old friend. 

And with her roommates’ help, even Hinata had to admit that she looked almost...handsome, something that she had never even considered when she had dressed up as a boy back in high school.

Others must have agreed with that sentiment, because when they finally made it up to the rooftop to the party, Hinata felt more than one gaze on her person as she made her rounds, glad that she could attribute her flushing cheeks to the alcohol in her cup. 

Once the party was in full swing, Hoshiumi instantly sought her out, grabbing them both a shot of something suspiciously clear as he demanded they participate in a drinking contest.

“Hoshiumi-san, I have to warn you. My time in Brazil has made my tolerance pretty high,” Hinata said, eyeing his shot glass warily.

“We’ll see about that!” Hoshiumi declared, only more spurred on by her warning, tilting the glass back before she could protest further.

Hinata shrugged, a small smile tugging at her lips as she followed in suit. Just as she expected, it didn’t take long before the other self-proclaimed Little Giant was slurring his words and holding on to her arm for support.

“Sh-Shouyou, you think I can j-jump from this rooftop to that one?” Hoshiumi pointed to a building about twenty yards away, as she shook her head in dismay, patting him on the shoulder lightly.

“I’m afraid that if I tell you that you can’t, you’ll only want to do it more…” Hinata said good-naturedly, chuckling as Hoshiumi attempted to glare at her. When Hirugami came to collect his wayward teammate, she looked at the taller man gratefully.

“Sorry about this guy, Hinata-san!”

“Make sure he drinks lots of water!”

Once she was sure that her drinking partner was in good hands, Hinata turned around and was surprised to see a familiar, tall Brazilian smiling down at her.

“Hinata Shouyou! É tão bom finalmente conhecê-lo!” It’s so good to finally meet you.  

“Nichollas Romero! Eu sou um grande fã!” I am a huge fan. Hinata beamed up at Nicollas in admiration. This was a world-renowned ace! One of the most famous volleyball players to ever make it to the international league, and he actually knew her name?!

“I have to ask,” Nicollas began, continuing to speak in his native tongue, “My kids are huge spectators of the beach volleyball scene in Brazil, you see, and they spoke to me constantly about this one player they really loved…”

“...A player named Ninja Shouyou.”

At the familiar nickname, Hinata froze.

“And when they watched the game today, they swore up and down that you were the player they were talking about,” he continued, completely unaware of Hinata’s inner panic at his words, “Which wouldn’t make sense, right?”

“...Because isn’t Ninja Shouyou a woman …?” 

Hinata forced out an awkward laugh, casting a cursory glance around her to see that while a few guests had stopped to observe their interaction, no one appeared to understand exactly what they were saying.

“You know, I get that a lot! People always mistake me for a girl, because...I’m so small,” she bit out nervously, praying that the older man would believe her.

“Oh! Of course, that makes sense.” Nicollas nodded his head sympathetically in response, and Hinata let out an inward sigh of relief.

“I knew that couldn’t have been possible!”

Hinata felt her uneasiness start to diminish as she grinned up at him, “But I would love to meet your kids at the next game! Show them the real Ninja Shouyou!”

She did some mock ninja moves, causing the taller man to laugh.

“They would love that! And you definitely proved to be a ninja on the court. I look forward to our next re-match.” 

Nicollas bid her farewell, and Hinata sighed again as she watched him leave. She took the opportunity to inch away from the other partygoers, suddenly desperate for a moment of reprieve, as she made her way to the exit.

Unbeknownst to Hinata, her teammates had been watching the conversation with rapt interest.

“Okay, I still don’t know what the heck they’re saying. But I could watch Shouyou-kun speak Portugeuse all day,” Atsumu admitted to Adriah, who was standing beside him.

“Oh, so are we allowed to actually talk about this now?” The dark-haired man inquired, raising a brow to the rest of the team.

“Talk about what?” Oliver asked curiously, taking a sip from his beverage.

“Oh, you know. Atsumu’s ridiculous crush on Hinata!” Inunaki proclaimed, dodging when the blonde tried to swipe at him.

“I do not have a crush!”

“No rough-housing, you two,” Meian ordered firmly, and then lightly he added, “But we did place bets.”

“Excuse me?” Atsumu scowled at them, eyes turning suspicious as he glared at his teammates.

“Well, you two had gotten so chummy,” Inunaki said, shrugging his shoulders, “So we placed bets on whether you had confessed or not.”

“You what?!”

“So is it true?”

“Did I win the bet?” Bokuto asked excitedly, jumping from one foot to the other. “What do I win?”

“I did not confess,” Atsumu declared, angrily waving his finger at the others, “Because there is nothing to confess.”

There was a slight pause as the members of the MSBY Black Jackals traded both amused and incredulous glances between one another.

“So, that means I won,” Sakusa inserted, looking at them all smugly, “I told you he was a coward.”

“Omi-kun!"

-

Honestly, Kageyama did not know what he was doing at this party. Once his team had arrived, he and Ushijima had immediately found a quiet corner to sit at, and the two had spent the majority of the time people watching and making small observations here and there, while the rest of their teammates milled about socializing.

When Hirugami came back to their corner, a mostly limp Hoshiumi draped across his shoulder, Kageyama gave him an unimpressed look.

“What happened to him?”

“Hinata Shouyou happened.”

At the mention of her name, Kageyama looked up and sought her out immediately, seeing a flash of orange by the bar as Hinata appeared to be animatedly chatting with none other than Romero himself. Surprisingly, she appeared to have all her bearings in order, not looking remotely as inebriated as his own teammate. 

Taking a moment to actually examine Hinata’s appearance, Kageyama noticed that her hair looked different, as if she had actually made the effort to style it back. Even her outfit seemed uncharacteristically modern, and it made him realize that he had never really seen her in street-style clothes before. Not since they were kids, anyway. All in all, she looked...nice, he supposed.

“I will call us a ride home,” Ushijima offered, standing up and pulling out his phone to call a rideshare. “Who would like to join?”

He looked back at Kageyama expectantly, and the setter was very inclined to agree until he saw Hinata darting towards the rooftop exit from the corner of his eye.

“I’m going to stick around for a little bit longer,” he said finally, earning him an appraising look from the taller man.

“If you think that’s best.”

“Don’t stay out too long!” Hirugami added, winking at him.

Kageyama nodded in confirmation at them, before slowly making his way to where he saw Hinata leave. Luckily for him, it didn’t take long to find her. 

Hinata was leaning over the metal railing near the rooftop exit, looking out into the city. When she heard him approach, she turned around and smiled brightly at him.

“Kageyama! You want to head out of here?” Hinata asked, gesturing with her thumb at the door.

“You sure you want to leave?” Kageyama inquired, having anticipated that she’d probably want to stay longer, seeing as how the festivities were still as lively as ever.

Hinata only grinned and reached up to tug on his jacket sleeve, pulling him towards the exit. “Yeah, I made my rounds already! And if we’re lucky, Saeko’s shot tower is about to come down any second, giving us just the distraction we need to sneak out.”

Moments later, the two of them were slipping out of the apartment complex, the cool evening air greeting them once they made it outside. Hinata closed her eyes and took a deep breath, taking a second to appreciate the brisk November air. When she opened them again, Kageyama was quietly watching her from just a few paces ahead.

“Let’s walk to the park,” she said, leading the way forward, “It’s about 15 minutes away.”

Hinata cast a sidelong glance at Kageyama, taking in how different he looked since she last saw him. He was as handsome as ever—though his dark hair was parted differently now, and she momentarily wondered if his sister had styled it for him. 

Although his expressions were just as disgruntled and cool as when they were in high school, she noted just how much more relaxed Kageyama seemed, his posture exuding a sense of confidence and maturity that he didn’t have before.

When Kageyama looked down to catch her staring, Hinata felt her pulse quicken, smiling awkwardly in return for having been caught red-handed.

“I’m surprised you’re not more inebriated,” he remarked off-handedly, “Like the rest of our teams.” 

Hinata laughed at that, as it was not for the lack of her teammates trying. Atsumu had made more than one attempt to refill her drink when he thought she wasn’t paying attention. And Inunaki and Bokuto had dragged her from one game of beer pong to the next, ignoring her protests when she refused to drink from the cups where the ping-pong ball had landed.

Not to mention, Hoshiumi had put in a solid effort.

“I’m pretty good about knowing my limits now,” Hinata stated lightly, and Kageyama tilted his head in acknowledgement at the statement. 

“So,” her tone turned teasing, “Are you not going to tell me how great I was during the game?”

Kageyama rolled his eyes, huffing at her familiar attempt to fish for compliments. “Looks like you were actually training in Brazil, after all. And here I thought you had just taken an extended vacation.”

Hinata stuck her tongue out at him. “You were impressed. Admit it.”

“I was expecting a lot, you know,” Kageyama said, quelling the urge to shove her playfully in the arm.

“And did I meet those expectations?” 

“Well, you guys won, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, we did.” Hinata grinned broadly, pleased with his curt answer. And almost as an afterthought, she tilted her head and added, “You know, I had high expectations for you, too, Bakayama.”

“And?”

“Honestly, I should just stop being surprised by how much you improve every time we meet. It’s annoying,” Hinata complained teasingly, her tone lacking any heat. “I always think, ‘Man, I definitely caught up to him now. ’ And then I see you, and…” She trailed off, staring up at him, hazel eyes illuminated by the street lights above them.

“...You always make me want to work even harder, you know?”

Kageyama abruptly stopped in his tracks at her words, eyes narrowing as he glared down at the ground before him. Hinata paused mid-step to look back at him in confusion. 

“Hinata.”

“What?”

Kageyama clenched and unclenched his fist as he continued to stare down at his feet. “You said...before...that we were friends, right?” The words sounded forced coming out of Kageyama’s mouth, and normally Hinata would laugh if she wasn’t so caught off guard by the question.

“Of...course.”

“We used to talk all the time.” His dark, cobalt eyes bore into hers, and Hinata blinked rapidly at the intensity in them. "We still do."

“Well, yeah…”

“And friends tell each other things, right?” Kageyama pressed, taking a step forward and stopping right in front of her so that she had to look up at him as he spoke.

“Right…”

“So,” Kageyama took a deep breath, his voice almost betraying his nerves and frustration, “Are you ever going to tell me the truth ?”

Hinata froze at the words. “Huh?”

“I know, Hinata.” 

“Know…what?” The orange-haired female inquired, not really comprehending what the Kageyama was implying.

“I know you’re not a guy!” He finally blurted out, watching as her eyes widened in disbelief as she processed the words. “I’ve known since our first year in high school.”

“W-What?!” Hinata exclaimed, inhaling sharply, not quite believing what she was hearing. “How? When?!”

“I overheard you and your middle school friends talking after our match against Shiratorizawa,” Kageyama sighed, running a hand through his short dark hair. 

“And you didn’t say anything?!” Hinata yelled incredulously. She thought back to that very moment after the match, how she had updated her friends on her situation, and their words of encouragement to her at the time. What had she said? How could he have overheard? Why didn’t he ever confront her about it?

“Well...I was waiting for you to bring it up yourself,” Kageyama professed reluctantly. He didn’t want to admit that he just didn’t know how. And then so much time had passed, and it felt like it was already too late.

“That was almost seven years ago…” Hinata narrowed her eyes as she processed the information, growing more frustrated by the second.  “You waited seven years?!” 

“Well, to be fair,” Kageyama began, frowning down at her, “I thought you’d tell me sooner.”

“Oh my god.”

Hinata dropped to the ground suddenly, sitting on the curb and covering her face in her hands. “I cannot believe this.”

“I honestly didn’t think it would go on for this long,” Kageyama continued, peering down at her as she seemed to be muttering unintelligibly into her hands.

-

“Tobio-chan might be impassive and annoying, but he’s not an idiot.”

-

Hinata remembered Oikawa warning her back in Brazil. Somehow the other man had known that Kageyama already knew her secret, and she internally scoffed at how pleased he would be when she confirmed his suspicions. It would be just another thing for the annoyingly attractive brunette to gloat about.

And suddenly a thought occurred to her.

"Wait a second." Hinata tugged at Kageyama’s jacket roughly, and the dark-haired man let out an undignified squawk as he was pulled downward and forced to sit next to her. “So you knew I was a girl this whole time and you were still such an ass?”

Kageyama raised a brow at her, crossing his arms. “What? Did you expect me to be nice to you just because you decided to crossdress all throughout high school?”

Hinata let out a loud groan at that, head falling forward into her arms yet again. “I can’t believe it! I can’t believe you!"

"So why are you telling me this now then?”

Kageyama pursed his lips, staring down at the young woman sitting next to him consideringly. Honestly, he hadn’t come to the party tonight planning to tell her that he knew. He probably would have spent the rest of his life keeping her secret to himself, if he had to.

But there was something about playing against her today that struck a chord deep within him. Kageyama had watched her fly, impossibly higher than she had before, watched her subvert and outmaneuver his team at almost every play—against players who should have been far better and far stronger than she could have ever hoped to be. When they were younger, he had placed her in such a confined box in his mind of what she was capable of, but despite every single expectation he had of her, Hinata never failed to exceed them.

And he remembered his grandfather’s words.

-

“You know, Tobio...If you get really good...I promise you...somebody who’s even better will come and find you.”

-

Kageyama realized that he didn’t have to keep waiting anymore.

At that realization, he looked down at her in astonishment. Because for once in his life, Kageyama felt the sudden, inexplicable urge to actually say how he felt, the words stumbling out before he could stop them. “It always bothered me...that you never told me…” He thought of Tsukishima, and the misplaced anger he had felt when he found out that the other boy knew. 

“I kept thinking that one day you would, but you never did."

And years had passed, continents crossed, and still Kageyama had waited for an admission that he wasn't sure would ever come. Hinata frowned at his words, but didn't interrupt as he looked away to stare at the empty street in front of them.

"And once you came back, I guess I just had to know if you were ever going to..." He shrugged his shoulders slightly, "…Or if I was going to have to wait like everyone else.”

Hinata was quiet for a long moment contemplating his words. While a part of her wanted to continue being indignant and angry at Kageyama for not saying anything this whole time, a larger part of her recognized that this was a pivotal moment for him—for the both of them. Kageyama was actually opening up to her about something important.

All of the talking they did, all of the stupid texts and silly arguments...and they never actually spoke about anything that meant something.

“I just...,” Hinata began, peering up at him as she nervously bit her lip, "I never wanted you to see me any differently."

”I thought that if you found out the truth...you wouldn’t see me as a rival anymore—as an equal...” She frowned at that. “And I couldn’t let that happen.”

Kageyama looked back at her with dark, assessing eyes, his voice soft as he said, “You know...Boy or girl, it never really mattered to me. That’s why I never said anything.”

“You’ve always been my rival and...my friend...so it never mattered.”

“God dammit, Bakayama." Hinata shook her head in disbelief, unable to stop the smile from spreading on her face at his unexpected admission. "When did you get so freaking cool?”

Kageyama tried to look unaffected, but even she could see the small smile that also played on his lips. There was a long, comfortable silence between them, and then Hinata abruptly stood up from the curb, brushing off her pants as she did so.

“Once I make it to the world stage,” she said, voice growing determined as Hinata looked down at him, hazel eyes almost luminescent in the dim glow of the streetlights. “Once I make it there and prove that I belong there. That’s when I plan on telling everyone. That’s when I’ll show the world that a woman can stay on the court the longest."

Kageyama smirked, following her lead and pushing himself up off the ground as well.

"Well, you're going to have to make it there first."

Chapter Text

Hinata breathed deeply, feeling the soft rhythm of her own heartbeat as she felt the tension ease and slowly leave her body. As she was taught to do during her meditations, she tried to focus her mind on things that would ground her.

The gentle caress of the morning breeze as it filtered through her hair, causing small, imperceptible tangles in its wake. The firm press of her palms as they rested flat against her knees. The touch of velvety soft fur as a wam, feline body stretched and rubbed against her back affectionately.

Finally reaching a state of stillness and peace, Hinata thought to herself.

What is my body telling me?

Her muscles and joints ached from the heightened physical training that the team had recently been subjected to. With the Olympics only a year away, Iwaizumi decided that it was high time to enforce an even stricter training regime. At Coach Nakagaichi’s bequest, the athletic trainer began incorporating an extra hour of strength conditioning and weightlifting after practice each day.

Not to mention, the six mile interval sprints that the athletic trainer had them running every morning.

If Hinata wasn’t so fond and respectful of Iwa, she would have begun to suspect an inclination towards physical torture. 

By the time practice ended each day, she found herself texting a string of complaints to Oikawa, who was not only amused by her behavior, but also seemed to delight in someone else objecting to his former teammate’s disagreeable character. 

Hinata (13:38) HSDFKJAKJSF

Oikawa-senpai! (13:40) What was it this time?

Hinata (13:41) Bearcrawls...outside...on the track.

Oikawa-senpai! (13:42) Oooo...Iwa-chan being cruel and sadistic? That’s so unlike him.

Hinata (13:44) ...There were pieces of gravel indented into my palms!

Hinata (13:45) That can't be good for spiking, you know.

Oikawa-senpai! (13:46) You want me to talk to him for you? I am his former captain after all...Ah—wait a second.

Sitting on a bench in the locker room, Hinata discretely looked up from her phone screen to shoot a surreptitious glance over to Iwa. The athletic trainer currently had his hands on his hips as he berated a pouting Bokuto for hiding a stash of non-Olympic diet approved treats in his locker.

She watched Iwa pause mid-speech to take out the vibrating phone from his back pocket, and his face instantly twisted into a scowl when he saw whose name was flashing on the screen. 

At his annoyed expression, Bokuto curiously leaned over to take a peek at the name.

“Who’s Shittykawa?”

Beside her on the bench, Kageyama snorted softly at the name, and Hinata bit her lip to stifle a laugh, amusement growing when she felt her own phone start to vibrate in her hands.

Oikawa-senpai! (13:48) He’s blocking my phone calls!!!!

Oikawa-senpai! (13:48) Iwa-chan is so mean!!

Oikawa-senpai! (13:49) Hand him your phone right now! I would like to speak to him!

Oikawa-senpai! (13:55) Shouyouuuuu! Don’t ignore me, too!

As amusing as an exchange between the two disgruntled childhood friends would no doubt be, Hinata knew better than to try and land on Iwa’s bad side. With the practices already being brutal as they were, she could only imagine what sort of punishment he would latch on if he knew that Hinata was in cahoots with his irksome former teammate.

Just earlier that week, Iwa had given them a detailed rundown of what exactly he had planned for the duration of training leading up to the Olympics.

-

“Eh? What’s this?” Hinata asked curiously, blinking down at the thick, laminated binder that Iwa had just dropped into her lap.

“This is how Team USA trains their athletes,” the dark-haired athletic trainer had said frankly, tossing another oversized binder at Kageyama, who caught it easily mid-air.

Hinata opened the binder onto a random page and winced when she saw the charts and graphs meticulously detailing their recommended training routines and calorie intakes. 

“Fortunately for you all, I was able to study their workouts intensively while I was in California,” Iwa continued, mouth twitching in amusement when he saw her eyes bug out as she frantically flipped from page to page, trading horrified glances with Yaku from across the locker room. 

“And I believe with this newer, rigorous program, we will be in tip-top shape by the time the Games begin.”

At Iwa’s words, the light-haired libero made an exaggerated neck cutting motion with his hand, causing Hinata to snicker weakly to herself, while on the other side of her, Atsumu groaned despairingly into the open binder on his lap.

“Fuck Team USA.” 

Hinata could only nod to her head in agreement, listening in growing dread as Iwa began to list the changes to their training regime one by one.

-

The thing was—Hinata never had a problem maintaining the stamina needed to keep up with her teammates on the court before. When it came to speed, agility, and endurance, she was at the top of her game. No question about it.

However, with the added physical conditioning, the glaring differences between her and her male teammates suddenly came to light. And it had been an unfortunate surprise to find that Hinata didn’t quite have the physical strength to heavylift the same amount of weights as the others.

It didn’t help that many of the weights were more than twice her body mass.

And given her own competitive nature, it was hard for Hinata not to rise to the challenge when Kageyama started keeping a tally of their number of reps, or when Hoshiumi seemed to goad her on when he added extra weights to his barbell, shooting her a pointed smirk every time he did so.

It only made her want to work even harder, striving to reach the height of her own potential, but keeping careful mind not to strain herself in her efforts. 

Because, Hinata wasn’t as naive as she once was. She knew better than anyone to not push her body too far, even if there were days when all she wanted to do was curse her female body and its apparent limitations.

Still, Hinata refused to be discouraged with the idea that—despite years of training and honing her own body to its physical peak—she couldn’t fight against something as simple as physiology.

-

“If it came down to it, Romero would still beat Thaísa Menezes! No question about it!” Kageyama asserted, gesturing to the television where Brazil’s most famous female volleyball player was shaking hands with someone after winning yet another championship tournament with her partner.

“No way!” Hinata responded heatedly, her gaze also glued to the screen as she sipped at her beverage absentmindedly. “There’s no way you could possibly know that unless they were in a match against each other.”

This was a recurring argument between the two of them. Now that they could both be candid and open with each other again, Kageyama took advantage of the opportunity to finally talk about everything that had been circulating through his mind ever since his first year when he had found out Hinata was actually female.

Case in point...

“Okay, but men are physically stronger than women, you can’t deny that,” Kageyama argued, one dark eyebrow raised as the orange-haired woman seated before him began to splutter into her drink and glare at his words.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t compete on the same playing field!” Hinata indignantly responded back, wiping sloppily at the mess she made as Kageyama’s expression turned curious.

“Doesn’t it, though?” The dark-haired man inquired, head tilting slightly to the side. “Don’t you think there is a reason that sports are separated by gender?”

“It depends on the sport, Bakayama!” The orange-haired woman replied heatedly in turn.

Kageyama still did not look convinced. “Men have a greater muscle mass — that’s a fact.”

And honestly, he wasn’t actually trying to be insensitive with his line of questioning. This was just something that was universally accepted when it came to sports. Just because Hinata happened to individually excel at what she did—that didn’t necessarily mean that all women were up to the task.

It was something that Kageyama thought about often when Hinata roped him into watching some of the women’s matches with her. Kageyama couldn’t deny how talented many of the female players were, but some part of him still found it difficult to believe that they all would be able to keep up with any of the men’s teams.

But when he found himself going down that line of thinking, his blue eyes would wander over to his female companion in an appraising manner. Because here was Hinata...who had spent her whole life defying every single preconceived, societal convention concerning men and women's sports like it was as simple to her as breathing.

If women like Hinata existed, did that mean gendered sports were a thing of the past?  Was it possible that there were other female players like Hinata? Or was she somehow the exception to the rule?

“I’m not arguing that!” Hinata interjected, voice rising slightly as she leaned forward in her seat. “But just because you guys are naturally stronger, it doesn’t mean that you guys will excel at all sports.”

“But we’re still at a clear advantage because of it, right?”

Hinata scowled in response to his words, one eye imperceptibly twitching at the other man’s successful attempt to bait her.  “So, you’re saying just because you’re a man—you’re automatically a better athlete than me?”

Rather than answering the question outright, Kageyama gave her a pointed look, prompting Hinata to gasp dramatically and retaliate by throwing her wadded up napkin at him.

When it bounded off of his broad shoulder and onto the table of a nearby couple, the orange-haired woman instantly shrinked at the sight of their unimpressed glares, mouthing her sheepish apologies in turn.

“What I mean is,” Hinata continued, turning back towards her male companion, who annoyingly began to smirk as an embarrassed flush graced her cheeks, “Sports are not all about physicality!”

“One might argue that sports are all about physicality,” Kageyama replied, looking thoughtful, “But go on.”

Hinata huffed at him, narrowing her hazel eyes in annoyance. “Okay, yes, it would definitely be an advantage to be stronger and more physically like gwaaaahh…”

Kageyama rolled his eyes as she waved her arms wildly to add to her description, but she barrelled on unbothered.

“...But players who are more talented skill-wise and have better game sense can still be more powerful overall!” Hinata declared, expression bright and sparkling. “You should know that better than anyone, Bakayama!”

“Humph,” Kageyama clicked his tongue in annoyance at her impassioned response. “So, you’re saying if a female player has more finesse and technique, they could still defeat a male player who is physically built stronger?”

“Exactly.” 

“...You see, I’m never going to beat you in an arm wrestling match,” Hinata said with a smirk, leaning back in her chair as she crossed her arms behind her head. “But put me on a volleyball court?”

“I think I stand a pretty good chance, don’t you think?”

Kageyama felt the corners of his mouth tug upward when she grinned at him, and he made his best attempt to look annoyed in an effort to hide it.

“Okay, dumbass. Why don’t you actually try facing me in an arm wrestling match right now and find out?”

"Ohoho, is that a challenge?"

Hinata was already rolling up her sleeves and flexing her arm by the time they were politely asked to leave the establishment.

-

It had been refreshing to be able to bicker with Kageyama like they used to, even more so now that he seemed to easily accept her female identity without issue. Though, perhaps it was because he had quite a few years to get used to the idea. 

Hinata still had to wrap her mind around the fact that her seemingly obtuse teammate actually knew more than he let on. And it was a pleasant surprise to discover that as he had claimed, he really didn’t treat her any differently.

Even when it came to the laborious Olympic training, Kageyama continued to try and match her stride for stride during their interval sprints, and he would never let her hear the end of it on the days that he managed to outpace her. Despite everything, he treated her like his equal.

However, not everyone was as unbiased it seemed.

When Atsumu had pulled her aside after a particularly gruelling session in the weight room, questioning whether she should take it easy on the physical training, Hinata had pointedly refused to speak to the man for the rest of the day. 

“I—I just thought you should maybe take it easy, Shouyou-kun?” Atsumu had attempted to clarify, expression confused when Hinata shot him an incredulous look from over her shoulder when she began marching away from him. 

“You just...looked like you were having a hard time?”

She flicked him off over her shoulder.

Throughout practice, the blonde continued to send her wide, distressed looks from across the court, not used to receiving the cold shoulder treatment from the normally cheerful female. Their other teammates quickly noticed the change in their dynamic, and Bokuto patted him on the back sympathetically when Hinata made a beeline towards Kageyama to practice spiking.

“Tough luck, Tsum-Tsum.”

The dark-haired setter raised a brow at the behavior, but didn’t question it. And Atsumu felt his eye twitch in annoyance when Kageyama cast him a sidelong glance from the other side of the net, expression too close to smug for his own liking. 

“Wow, you even managed to piss Hinata off?” Aran had commented lightly when he passed by, huffing a laugh when the blonde seemed to sink further into his depressive state. “That’s impressive, even for you.”

And as stubborn as Atsumu was, faced with the decision of choosing his own pride or dealing with the prolonged consequences of Hinata’s anger, it was surprisingly easy for him to screw the former and show up on Hinata’s doorstep, holding a bag of takeout in one hand and a DVD of an old high school volleyball match in another in an attempt to grovel.

-

“Shouyou-kun!” Atsumu called out the second the orange-haired woman appeared in the doorway, wearing an unimpressed expression on her face.

“Atsumu-san,” Hinata said shortly, hazel eyes narrowing as she opened the door to let him in. “What are you doing here?”

“I came by to apologize, of course!” Atsumu responded with mostly false bravado, immediately stepping inside the second the door opened before she decided to change her mind.

Hinata frowned, giving him an evaluative stare, before whirling around and making her way past the entryway. 

“Do you even know why you’re apologizing?” She shot back from over her shoulder.

“Well yer obviously mad at me!” Atsumu responded, voice petulant and bordering on whining as he followed her down the hallway and into the living room. “And yer never mad! So I know I had to have done something wrong.”

When they passed by the game room, Atsumu peaked in just as Kenma had looked away from his computer screen. The owner of the household did not hesitate to stare at the blonde dispassionately, adjusting the headphones over his ears before turning back around.

Atsumu’s eye twitched, and he resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at the other man. It wasn't that he personally had anything against Kenma. But if you asked him, it was unfortunate that Hinata had decided to move back in with the less than amicable gamer.

He would have much preferred if the female had decided to room with him and some of the members of their Olympic team in an apartment they shared closer to the city, but Hinata had insisted that she was much more comfortable staying at a place where she didn’t feel the need to hide her identity constantly.

After one too many mishaps and almost slip-ups at the MSBY complex over the years, her concerns were no doubt valid. But Atsumu would be lying if he said that he didn’t miss sharing a living space with his cheerful teammate, though he was glad to be free of Inunaki and Adriah’s incessant teasing at his expense.

Taking a seat at the dining table, Hinata crossed her arms over her chest as Atsumu dropped the bag of takeout food in front of her, immediately pulling out boxes of neatly packaged onigiri and placing them on the table.

“‘Samu packed you extra of course.”

Hinata’s face noticeably brightened at the mention of his brother’s name, and she straightened up in her seat to survey the food options.

“Especially since I told him that I was coming here to grovel,” Atsumu added under his breath, mouth downturned into a pout as he pushed the boxes toward her. 

Hinata let out a small, amused huff at that, breaking her seemingly affronted exterior if only for a brief moment. “Osamu-san gave you ‘apology onigiri’ for me?”

Atsumu scrunched up his face in displeasure, earning him another small giggle, the bright sound unfurling the unease in his gut. “That guy wouldn’t know the first thing about apologizing if food wasn’t somehow involved. Such a brat.”

“I’m going to tell him you said that.”

“Go right ahead.”

Atsumu watched as she turned her attention to her phone, a small smile playing on her lips as she texted his twin. Part of him wondered just how often the two communicated, given how familiar they seemed to behave around one another. What bothered him even more was that he couldn’t quite recall when they would have ever interacted without him present in order to develop this odd friendship. 

Though, knowing Hinata and her natural charisma, it was no surprise that she had somehow managed to win over his normally impassive twin. And he definitely wouldn’t put it past ‘Samu to be a sneaky bastard about it and purposefully leave him out of the loop. 

Moments later, a vibration in his back pocket alerted him to what was likely a goading text from his little brother himself, and he pointedly chose to ignore it in favor of watching Hinata decide on which rice ball to eat.

“Don’t tell Iwa-san that we are going over our carb intake for the day,” Hinata said, helping herself to one of the salmon-crusted onigiri before her. “He’s already on my case for missing my annual physical.”

“Curious to see how yer goin’ to get outta that one,” Atsumu commented casually, one eyebrow raised.

“Simple—Dodge and avoid.”

As Hinata munched happily on the rice ball, Atsumu eyed his own takeout box before opting to wait, content with just watching her eat for now. 

Well, this was as good a time as any.

“So...are ya finally going to tell me what’s got you so pissy at me?” Atsumu finally asked, scratching the side of his chin in noticeable discomfort. “I’ve really been wracking my brain here.”

Hinata chewed thoughtfully, considering his question for a moment before glancing up at him through her long lashes.

“You doubted me,” she said simply with a shrug of her shoulders.  

Atsumu choked at her response, spluttering as he straightened himself up in his seat. “I thought I was lookin’ out for ya!”

“You were trying to go easy on me, and I didn’t appreciate it.”

“But the extra practice had all of us wiped out, so I thought— ”

“If you didn’t know I was a girl,” Hinata interrupted him, placing down her rice ball as she narrowed her eyes at the man seated across from her, “Would you have still told me to take it easy?”

The blonde man blinked, eyebrows furrowing as he processed her question. “I...no? I mean, I didn’t think it had anythin’ to do with you being a girl. I was just worried.”

“If that’s the case, did you worry about anyone else then?” Hinata asked, raising an eyebrow curiously. “I didn’t see you asking Ushijima-san to take it easy.”

She squinted her eyes at Atsumu when he suddenly froze, continuing on, “Or Komori! And he was on the floor by the time practice was over. Did you ask him to take a break?”

The blonde winced, realizing that she had a point. And judging by the challenging glint in her eyes, she knew it, too. 

When Atsumu really thought about it, there was no doubt that he was consistently keeping an eye out for Hinata during practice. It wasn’t just that he was concerned for her well-being, but it was also just the curious, disconcerting sight that she made in their midst.

This small, bright giant standing among monsters and men.

He couldn’t help but worry.

But was it because she was female? Or was it because…

Atsumu’s expression became sullen as he looked across the table at her, brown eyes unwittingly following the corners of her lips as they turned downward, the rare frown making his insides twist with unease once again.

“That’s not fair,” Atsumu finally muttered aloud, voice low and rumbling, “Ya know I don’t really care about anyone else.”

His words made Hinata freeze, blinking up at him in surprise, and Atsumu wondered if he had finally given himself away.

Did she know? She must know by now.

But instead of inquiring as to what he meant, Hinata awkwardly averted her gaze and reached down to retrieve her half-eaten onigiri. And internally, he didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed.

“I’ll be the one to decide if I can’t handle something, okay, Atsumu-san?” Hinata said, taking another bite, and staring up at him steadily. 

“But—!”

Hinata shot him a sharp look, and Atsumu huffed incredulously in response, shaking his head at her behavior.  

“What? I’m not even allowed to look after ya?”

“Not your job.”

‘But what if I wanted it to be?’ Atsumu thought miserably to himself, resisting the urge to say the words out loud as he watched her wipe at the remnants of rice sticking to her cheek.

Instead, the blonde grumbled under his breath, “Yer really something else, you know that?”

Hinata chuckled at his words as she finished off the rest of the onigiri. Her phone vibrated again on the surface of the table, and she leaned over to read the message displayed on her screen.

“Osamu-san is asking if I’ve forgiven you yet.”

“Tell him to fuck off,” Atsumu responded flatly.

Hinata rolled her eyes in fond exasperation before gesturing to the half-forgotten DVD case next to the bag of food. 

“By the way, is that what I think it is…?”

The blonde smirked as he followed her gaze, grasping the flimsy plastic case that displayed the words ‘Inarizaki v. Karasuno (2013)’ written in blocked Sharpie letters of his own handwriting and dangled it slightly before her face. 

“That’s right, Shouyou-kun. You ready to relive the glory days?”

“Heck yeah!” Hinata slapped her hands together excitedly, the familiar grin making its way to her face as she looked up at him with shining eyes. “I get to watch us beat your asses all over again!”

“I wouldn’t go thaaat far,” Atsumu stated flippantly, shooting her a mock glare from over his shoulder as he removed the disc from the case and made his way to the television. “I think yer forgetting that it was a pretty close 3-set match.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And don’t ya forget that we had ya guys beat the following year!”

“Only because we had all those new first years,” Hinata replied, as she watched him place this disc into the DVD player. “Meanwhile you and Osamu-san were in your third year! We didn’t stand a chance.”

“Don’t be such a sore loser, Shouyou-kun!”

Hinata stuck her tongue out at his back, not caring that he couldn’t see it, and took her tray of food with her as she made her way over to the couch so that she could face the television properly. As she did so, her hazel eyes caught sight of the worn DVD case gripped in his hand, the plastic encasing coming off on the sides, and a slow smirk made its way to her face in realization.

“Say, Atsumu-san,” Hinata began, voice teasing as she tilted her head to observe the blonde when he turned around to face her.

“...Just how often have you watched this recording?”

At the front of the room, Atsumu visibly froze up and spun around to gape back at her, clearly at a loss for words. When he caught sight of the mischievous twinkle in her expression, his eyes immediately narrowed and he proceeded to throw the empty case in her direction. 

“I knew it!” Hinata cried out, easily dodging the flying object.

“You don’t know anything!”

Hinata laughed heartily when Atsumu made to jump on the couch beside her, clutching the tray of food against her chest when a wayward pillow came hurtling her way.

-

Though, Hinata had been rightfully upset at Atsumu’s ill-advised attempt at looking out for her. He did have a point. But despite his good intentions, telling her to take it easy only served to further remind her of the startling physical differences between herself and her teammates.

She already doubted herself in her lowest moments, and Hinata couldn’t take it if her teammates started to doubt her as well. 

And if they didn’t believe she could keep up, then what chance did she really have?

Taking another, long deep breath, Hinata steadied herself once again, not wanting to spiral down that line of thinking.

Listening closely to the sounds around her, she noted faintly how the ambient noises of the bustling morning seemed to blend together—the chirping of the birds and the sounds of traffic from the street nearby intermixing with the faint sound of her own breathing as she once again turned her attentions inward.

Reaching that familiar moment of stillness, Hinata asked herself another question.

What am I trying to achieve?

The answer should have been simple, but in truth, it was far from it.

If you had asked Hinata that same question ten years ago, it would have been easy. Her younger self would have confidently asserted that she had done it already. That the only thing she had ever wanted to do was play volleyball.

But recently, it was clear that her goal had not remained the same or as simple as it once was.

Because now?

Now, Hinata had years of experience playing professional beach and indoor volleyball under her belt. She had earned the esteemed titles of ‘V. League MVP of the Year’ and ‘Best Overall Player’ and had the medals and recognition to prove it.

Now, she had people looking up to her for leadership and guidance, and not to mention...

...Out of all the other amazingly skilled male athletes in the country, Hinata was one of the select few chosen to be part of the National Men’s Volleyball team.

The National Men’s Volleyball team.

Just the thought of it made her brain short-circuit.

She was going to the Olympics.

Her younger self would be sobbing in disbelief at the accomplishment. This had to be it, right? What more could she ever hope to achieve?

Yet despite all of her accomplishments, Hinata couldn’t allow herself the luxury of celebrating so soon.

Because even now, over a decade after she had initially cut her hair in the gym bathroom of her first middle school volleyball tournament in order to pass herself off as a member of the opposite sex, Hinata found that she was still having to hide who she really was.

What am I trying to achieve? Hinata asked herself again, slowly blinking open her eyes to allow the sunlight in, the bright light momentarily blinding. 

She took one long, final breath.

...Well that depended.

How far would she be willing to go?

-

Natsu folded her arms across her chest as she cast another annoyed sidelong glance to where her older sister was currently getting swarmed by her classmates outside of the school. Hinata was grinning sheepishly, swiveling her head back-and-forth as she attempted to answer question after question. 

It had been almost five years since her sister last stepped foot at Karasuno High. And now a professional athlete, with the build and confidence to back it up, Hinata was a far cry away from the small, wiry first year she had been when Natsu had first seen her on the court. 

Whereas before, the two sisters were startling similar in their likeness, now Hinata’s tanned skin and her slim, yet muscled physique created a stark difference between the two of them. Even her older sister’s orange hair seemed brighter, bleached by her days spent out in the Brazilian sun. Though Hinata usually kept her hair shorter for volleyball, the older girl’s hair was starting to grow out again, her wayward bangs continually falling over her eyes, as she absentmindedly brushed them away as she spoke.

Natsu wondered, not for the first time, how people could possibly not see Hinata for the woman she was.

“Hinata-senpai! You used to play on the Karasuno team, right?” One of the boys in her class asked excitedly.

“Ah, yes!” Hinata responded with a grin, “Went to Nationals every year!”

“Hinata-san, I saw you on television when you were playing with the Jackals! You were so cool!” An enthusiastic voice shouted.

“Thanks!” Hinata replied, bashfully rubbing at the back of her head.

“Natsu-chan said you were on the Olympic volleyball team? Is that true?” Another one of her classmates questioned, cheeks flushing when Hinata turned her smile in their direction.

“It’s true! He’s on the team roster online!” A loud voice interjected, as the surrounding students began to chatter clamorously in response.

“No way!” 

“Amazing!”

“Natsu-chan is so lucky to have an older brother like you!” One of the girls in her class praised animatedly, causing Natsu to roll her eyes, deciding that her patience had just about run dry. 

Grudgingly pushing past the other students, the orange-haired third year tried to keep the irritation out of her voice as she called, “Onii-chan!”

Hinata whirled around at the sound of her voice and tried not to let the relief outwardly show on her face when she caught sight of her younger sister waving at her over the heads of the boisterous crowd.

“Ah, Natsu!” 

“We have to go!” Natsu insisted loudly, raising her voice over the sound of the others talking over one another. 

When Hinata eased her way slowly through the crowd, Natsu wasted no time grabbing her older sister’s hand to drag her away, only letting go once she had pulled her past the bike racks and onto the neighboring street just beyond the school. 

Hinata let out a loud sigh of relief, and turning to express her gratitude towards Natsu, she began to feel an inkling of unease when she saw her younger sister’s expression was still far from pleased. 

“I guess I should have known better than to show up unannounced…” Hinata said apologetically, tilting her head forward to try and catch her sister’s eye.

Natsu’s nose twitched imperceptibly, a clear sign that she was upset, and the younger girl continued to march on down the street towards the bus stop as Hinata trailed behind her still chatting lightly to ease the noticeable tension.

“But I wanted to surprise you! And to see Takeda-sensei and Coach Ukai! They definitely have their hands full whipping up that new team of theirs,” Hinata laughed, intertwining her hands behind her head as they walked. 

“And I got to see you with your team! You were so cool, Natsu-chan! I can’t believe you’re the captain now!”

Natsu huffed in exasperation, adjusting her backpack over her shoulders as she trudged ahead, not turning around to face her older sister even as Hinata sped up to match her pace.

“Onee-chan,” the younger girl finally said, hazel eyes still focused straight ahead. 

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m tired of pretending.”

“What do you mean?” Hinata questioned, eyebrows furrowed as she observed her sister in concern.

Natsu abruptly stopped walking, shoulders heaving as she turned around to look up at Hinata. 

“I miss having my sister.”

There was a long pause as Hinata considered her words, stopping in her tracks as she frowned in thought.

“I miss being able to hang out with you like we used to, you know? Without feeling like we have something to hide,” Natsu continued, sighing at her sister’s downcast expression as she spoke. “Most of the time, I don’t really care...I don’t mind pretending that I have a big brother...but…”

“But…?” Hinata urged, tone imploring.

“It’s also just…” Natsu looked up at her sister earnestly with wide, hazel eyes. “You’re this amazing, badass female player! And I’m not even allowed to talk about it!”

Hinata blinked rapidly, not expecting her sister’s change in demeanor. Natsu brought her hands up to her chest eagerly. “All of my classmates have no idea that all of those amazing moves and plays were done by a girl! Can you imagine all of their faces if they ever found out?”

Natsu let out a wistful sigh. “I want to be able to watch you play and say, ‘Look! That’s my Onee-chan!’ You know?” 

“I...want that, too,” Hinata admitted, smiling ruefully back at her. “More than anything! It’s just...”

“...Not time yet?” Natsu finished for her, a frown etched on her face as if already expecting the answer. 

“Will it ever be?”

“I don’t know,” Hinata said honestly, shrugging her shoulders.

Natsu pursed her lips, kicking softly at the ground with the tops of her shoes. “And there’s something else you should know, too.”

“...What is it?”

“Kaa-san has started getting phone calls about you,” Natsu confessed, chewing at her bottom lip. “Old family friends...relatives, even a few of your classmates from middle school. They must have seen one of your games or saw you on that Olympics promo you were in.”

“ Shit,” Hinata cursed under her breath, mind racing as she began to consider her options. “Koji and Izumi mentioned something similar happening to them, too. That people were starting to ask them questions...”

“Which means...” Natsu trailed off, looking away into the distance as the realization began to dawn on her older sister.

“...I’m running out of time,” Hinata breathed aloud.

The two girls stared at each other silently, contemplating the gravity of the situation as they did so.

“What are you going to do?” Natsu asked after a long moment.

Hinata wanted to be able to reassure her sister, to tell her that she had a plan—that she had it all figured out, because by now, one would think that she would. But the truth of the matter was...

...She had absolutely no idea what she was going to do now.

Every night, Hinata would lie awake, mentally playing out the different scenarios in her head of what could possibly happen if her secret were to be uncovered. She imagined the shock on her teammates’ faces when she finally admitted the truth, their expressions quickly turning to anger when they began to realize the extent of her betrayal. 

No matter how many times she played it out, even changing the words she would say and the setting she was in, it always ended the same disastrous way.

She would lose her team’s trust.

They would kick her off of the team.

And she wouldn’t be able to play volleyball anymore.

Hinata couldn’t stand the mere idea of it, especially the thought of losing her team.

Because these weren’t just her teammates...these were people that Hinata had grown up with and admired for years on and off the court. These were her rivals, her friends, her partners. The idea of losing them hurt her more than she could bear.

But what could she do?

Looking at Natsu’s worried expression, a thought suddenly occurred to her. 

Hinata might not know what to do, but she knew just the people who would.

-

When Kuroo had arrived home that evening, he had been looking forward to relaxing and taking the time to catch up on some of the shows he had put off watching, maybe even cook dinner for himself instead of ordering in for once.

But the moment he had stepped into the threshold of his nicely furnished, upscale apartment, he was met with several annoyingly familiar figures lounging about his home as if they owned the place.

What the hell.

Kenma greeted him at the entryway, handing him back the apartment key that Kuroo had been foolish enough to give him months ago. "You'll probably want this back after all is said and done."

And Kuroo knew his plans for a nice, relaxing night were completely thrown out the window.

Now, hours later, the dark-haired man was sighing and rubbing at his temples as he studied each of the seemingly random occupants in his living room carefully.

“So…you’re telling me...that Shrimpy-chan here,” the dark-haired man gestured vaguely at Hinata who was nervously pacing at the front of the room, jolting into alertness when everyone turned to look at her, “...has been pretending to be a boy this whole time…”

“...And all of you knew about it?”

There was a chorus of responses. 

“Yep!” Atsumu said, a little too enthusiastically for his liking, popping the ‘p’ for emphasis. Kuroo’s eye unwittingly twitched at the sight of the blonde lounged on his living room couch, legs propped up on his coffee table in an annoyingly arrogant manner.

“Err...yes?” Yachi had swiveled her head around nervously from Shimizu, who was seated next to her at the dining table, and back to the dark-haired man currently squinting at them suspiciously at the front of the room. 

“Unfortunately,” Tsukshima muttered from beside them, clearly unimpressed by the proceedings going on around him. When Kuroo’s curious eyes landed on the blonde, a part of him wondered at just how the normally aloof man had managed to land himself in such a quandary. This definitely didn't seem like his kind of scene.

“That’s right,” Kenma softly stated. His childhood friend was curled up in one of his upholstered chairs, a gaming device laid forgotten on his lap as Kuroo shot him an accusing look that clearly said, ‘What the hell did you get me into?!’ to which the smaller man merely shrugged in response.

Meanwhile, leaning up against the back wall facing the others, Kageyama wore a pinched expression on his face as he regarded the former Nekoma captain silently.

Kuroo shook his head incredulously when he met the other’s cool gaze, crossing his arms as he continued his train of thought aloud. “And since Hinata has been selected to be on the Japan’s Men’s Olympic team, that means…”

“...We are fuuucked,” Atsumu supplied helpfully, drawing out the last word as he ignored the exasperated looks thrown his way.

“He’s not wrong, you know,” Hinata admitted, trying to keep her voice light as she momentarily stopped her nervous pacing to look back at the others. “That’s why we’re all here. We need a plan.”

“...And this is where I come in?” Kuroo asked disbelievingly, pointing to himself with one eyebrow raised. Hinata turned to look at him, her hazel eyes wide and hopeful, causing an inkling of foreboding to form in his chest at the sight of it. 

“...What exactly are you asking me to do?” 

“Kuroo.” Kenma cleared his throat, causing the others to look back to where he was seated. “You’re the new chairman of the Japan Volleyball Association.”

“And?”

“That means you have some pull with the FIVB,” Kenma continued, staring steadily back at his childhood friend when Kuroo narrowed his eyes at him.

“So what if I do?” Kuroo asked, uncrossing his arms so he could rest his elbows on one of the chairs in front of him.

From the other side of the room, Yachi leaned in close to Shimizu as she whispered, “What’s the FIVB again?”

“The FIVB is the International Volleyball Federation. It’s like the ultimate authority on volleyball,” Shimizu responded, rubbing absentmindedly at her belly as she stared at the other occupants in the room with a look of concern. “They act as the governing officials when it comes to issues...like if there is any concern over drug use or nationality changes, and most importantly…”

“Gender determination,” Kageyama finished, surprising the others with his response. 

“Fuck,” Atsumu said again. And this time, Kuroo couldn’t help but mentally repeat the turn of phrase. Fuck, indeed.

But suddenly, a thought occurred to him.

“Whoa. Wait a minute,” Kuroo said loudly, waving his hands rapidly to get the attention of the others. “This is pretty cut and dry here, isn’t it?”

“It’s called the Men’s National Team,” he said, emphasizing the word ‘Men’s’ as he stuck out his thumb to point at Hinata, “And Shrimpy-chan here just admitted that she is not a man. Right?”

“What’s left to figure out?” Kuroo looked confusedly at the others, whose expressions turned pensive and somber at his words. 

At the front of the room, Hinata gave him an almost apologetic look as she bit at her bottom lip. “Well...the thing is...I still want to play, Kuroo-san. I’m not ready to give it all up yet.”

Her hazel eyes were bright when she said firmly, “I want to stay on the team.”

Kuroo closed his eyes, groaning at her answer as he rubbed at his temples. “So...you’re going to keep pretending to be a man, then?”

“What would the repercussions be?” Tsukishima suddenly questioned, eyebrows furrowed in thought. “If Hinata plays in the Olympics, continuing to pretend that she’s of the opposite sex, then what happens?”

“Well, that depends on if she wants to reveal the truth after the fact,” Kuroo responded, looking at the orange-haired woman thoughtfully as she looked between all of them as they spoke. “If Team Japan were to win any medals…”

“They’d be stripped from us,” Kageyama said, cobalt eyes narrowing as he pushed himself against the wall to steady himself. “Our wins would be disqualified.”

At his words, Hinata whipped her head around to stare at her teammate with wild, disbelieving eyes. “Kageyama. I would never let that happen.”

The dark-haired man’s expression turned unreadable as he watched her carefully. “But do we have a choice?”

“Well, there’s another option, ain’t there?” Atsumu spoke up, dropping his legs from the coffee table to lean forward in his seat as the others turned to look at him, “What would happen if Shouyou-kun kept her secret?”

They were quiet for a moment as they considered his words.

“Until when?” Yachi suddenly asked, her voice incredulous as she frowned at them. “She retires?”

“What choice does she have?” Tsukishima inquired, hands folded beneath his chin as he regarded them with narrowed eyes.

Hinata tilted her head to the side, rubbing her chin thoughtfully as she contemplated the idea. Hiding her secret until she retired? She never even thought to consider it, always holding onto the hope that there would be another option.

But if it meant protecting her team…

Hinata locked eyes with Kageyama, who seemed to be gauging her own reaction closely.

It would be worth it, right? She got herself into this mess to begin with, and Hinata would never live with herself if she brought her team down with her.

“Shouyou.”

Hinata turned to face Shimizu, whose voice held a serious weight to it as she addressed the younger woman. 

“You have to consider how that decision would affect the rest of your life as well.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about what that would mean for yourself,” Shimizu said pursing her lips as she spoke, “You’re 24-years-old now. You are going to want to start thinking about your future…About what you could be sacrificing if you choose to put your life on hold for longer...” 

The older woman placed a hand to her growing belly for emphasis, causing Yachi and Hinata’s eyes to widen in realization as to what Shimizu was implying.

“Oh.”

It took another moment before the other men in the room caught on as well, and they all turned to look at Hinata with a variety of wide-eyed, contemplative stares as she flushed uncomfortably at the attention, not meeting their eyes.

“I...just want to focus on volleyball right now...” Hinata looked at the other women imploringly. 

“We are going to support you no matter what you choose...” Yachi said reassuringly, “We just want to make sure you understand the gravity of your decision. Waiting until you retire is like…”

“Maybe ten years from now?” Kageyama responded, eyebrows furrowed as he counted out the years with his hands.

“Or even longer if you maintain your top physical condition,” Tsukishima pointed out, shaking his head in shame at the look of confusion on Kageyama’s face as he recounted his math.

Atsumu considered their words, before turning to face Hinata. “Ya think that’s all worth it?”

“I…” Hinata furrowed her brows in thought, clearly conflicted by the undesirable options laid out before her.

At her expression, Kenma immediately shook his head, frowning. “There’s got to be another way.”

“Well…” Kuroo ran a hand through his dark hair, becoming anxious as the others looked to him expectantly. “Technically, there is something we can work with…”

“Ya gotta give us something,” Atsumu said, staring at the other man intently.

“The gender verification regulations of the FIVB are mainly to ensure that men aren’t secretly disguised as women in order to compete, because given their physical advantages, that would be cheating,” Kuroo informed them, using his hands to gesture as he explained.

“Even now, women athletes have to get tested to ensure that their testosterone levels aren’t too high,” the chairman looked uncomfortable as he looked at the others, “It’s actually quite a huge controversy right now, given the rise of transgender athletes as well.”

Tsukishima raised a brow at his words. “So, what are you saying exactly?”

Kuroo sighed, giving Hinata a pointed look. “I’m saying that...there has never been a fear of a woman disguised as a man in the sport.”

Hinata narrowed her eyes as she realized what he was saying. “Because why would they be concerned with the so-called ‘weaker sex’ competing against them, right?”

“Meaning…” Hinata paced the length of the room, while the other occupants watched her curiously. Suddenly, she stopped to look at them, a certain gleam appearing in her eyes. 

“...Would it still be considered cheating, if I’m the one at a disadvantage?”

The occupants of the room traded glances at one another silently, as they took her words into consideration.

“I can’t believe I’m even saying this, but…” Kuroo shook his head disbelievingly, a small smirk turning at the corner of his lips. 

“I think you’ve actually got yourself a case.”

“Wait. Really?” Yachi exclaimed, pushing herself abruptly up from her seat.

“We would have to get ahead of the media circus, of course,” Kuroo said, giving the orange-haired woman an appraising once over as she stared back at him with wide eyes. “But if we played our cards right, we might stand a chance.”

“So...you’re saying it’s possible?” Hinata questioned, blinking in disbelief when Kuroo tilted his head forward in acknowledgment.

“It’s not impossible,” he clarified.

Hinata grinned at his words, the smile spreading across her face infectious as she looked at the others in confirmation, seeing their support and satisfaction reflected on their faces as well. 

All she needed was a chance.

“What do we need to do?” 

-

Fumi Enaga adjusted her press badge dangling from her lanyard, while Akane looked up briefly from her phone as they waited impatiently for the door to their briefing room to open.

“So did Kuroo-san tell you what this meeting was about?” Akane asked curiously. The smaller woman also donned her press credentials, though hers displayed the word ‘intern’ in clear blocked letters at the bottom.

Fumi shook her head, though her mind was racing at the possibilities. “He mentioned something about it being extremely ‘Top Secret’, and how we were the only ones he trusted to cover the story.”

“Sounds juicy.”

It had been a while since anything truly interesting happened in the sports world. While there were always amazing games to cover and top-notch athletes to interview, there was something immensely thrilling at the prospect of something even more news-worthy falling into their laps. 

Fumi wondered what it could possibly be. A doping incident? A scandalous affair? A controversial change in ruling?

All of the above would be a sports journalist’s dream to cover.

Just then, the door slammed open to reveal a startlingly familiar head of orange hair, followed by the new FIVB chairman himself. The former Karasuno player surveyed the room curiously before his gaze rested on the two of them, hazel eyes widening in recognition.

“Fumi-san! Akane-san!”

“Hinata-kun?”

Fumi couldn’t help but smile at the genial player as he approached them and immediately began to chat with Akane about how her older brother was doing. Hinata just had that natural charisma to him that journalists like herself loved to work with. 

If Hinata was playing in one the matches she was covering that day, Fumi would always seek him out, knowing he would have the most enthusiastic recaps and insights to share.

Not to mention, interviewing Hinata also meant the added plus of having the other players on the court getting pulled into the interview as well, whether they liked it or not.

Get Hinata behind the camera, and suddenly there was the ever cocky Miya hanging off of the orange-haired player’s shoulder, making a playful remark here and there; or the infamously boisterous Bokuto wrapping the smaller man in a bear hug as he joined in on Hinata’s attempts to reenact some of game’s highlights; and if they were lucky...even the ever elusive Sakusa would get drawn in by Hinata’s enthusiasm, grudgingly appearing by the grinning man’s side as the ginger provided a play-by-play of the match, the other man providing reluctant input whenever prompted.

Even better was the curious way in which Hinata could get the players from rival teams behind the camera with him. Whereas before, Fumi would rarely get the opportunity to interview some of the more standoffish players—like the ever-so soft-spoken Hyakuzawa from the Railway Warriors or the deadpan Suna from the EJP Raijins—now, all it took was a cheerful greeting from Hinata and even the anti-social Kageyama Tobio was cracking a reluctant grin on camera.

Blinking curiously at the charming man, Fumi wondered once again what this meeting could possibly be about.

“Before we get started,” Kuroo finally began, pulling out a few manila folders from his satchel and placing one in front of each of the journalists, “We’re going to need you to fill out these non-disclosure statements.”

Fumi and Akane traded surprised glances at that. “Should we have brought our attorneys to this meeting?” Akane asked, half-joking, flipping through the pages, brows furrowing in concentration.

“I don’t believe it will have to come to that,” Kuroo countered easily, casting Hinata a sidelong glance as he did so.

“Now things are getting interesting,” Fumi stated, one eyebrow raised as she regarded the NDA form coolly, grabbing a pen out of her purse so she could begin filling it out.

When both ladies were finished, they returned the completed forms back to Kuroo, who then nodded in confirmation, neatly placing the manila folders back in his satchel.

“So, are you guys going to actually tell us what this is about?” Akane questioned, expression turning almost suspicious as she regarded the men seated before her. “I mean, it’s not every day we get the head chairman of the Japan Volleyball Association in here asking to meet with the press.”

Kuroo opened his mouth to respond, but Hinata beat him to it by clearing her throat loudly to get everyone’s attention, trying to keep her nerves at bay as she did so. “Well, the thing is…”

Fumi and Akane both turned to look at Hinata expectantly.

“I’m...actually a woman.”

There was a long, drawn-out pause as the two journalists processed the words, before Akane was abruptly standing up from her seat, accidentally knocking over the chair in her haste.

“...You’re a what ?” 

“Umm,” Hinata stared wide-eyed back at Kuroo who rolled his eyes in response to her deer-in-headlights look.

“It’s really not that hard to understand,” Kuroo said, crossing one leg over the other as he carefully observed their reactions. “Long story short—Hinata here has been playing dress-up so that she can play in the big leagues.”

Hinata’s expression turned sheepish at his candid explanation. “You make it sound so simple, Kuroo-san.”

“It might sound that way, but it’s anything but ,” Kuroo retorted, shaking his head in dismay.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Fumi felt like she was having an out-of-body experience.

“You’re...a woman,” the brunette repeated slowly, the words feeling foreign in her mouth. “A woman...playing in the Men’s V. League.”

“That’s actually fucking amazing,” Akane managed to say, voice tinged in awe, still frozen in place from when she initially jumped up.

Fumi couldn’t even bother to correct her intern for her language, finding herself nodding dumbfoundedly along with Akane’s crass words. What the fuck, her mind helpfully supplied, but out loud Fumi found herself saying, “Have you always been a woman, or is this like...a transition for you or something?”

Not expecting the straightforward question, Hinata blinked rapidly for a moment before shaking her head. “Ah, no. I was born a girl. Also still identify as one, too.”

“But, you’ve been acting as though you were a man all of this time,” Fumi clarified again, mind still reeling.

“Like I said,” Kuroo asserted with a shrug, “Playing dress-up.”

“Okay,” Fumi said slowly, eyes squinting as she processed the information, the journalistic side of her beginning to take over. “And you want us to keep this to ourselves…?”

The thought of having to hide what could possibly be the story of the century was making her mind itch. A woman disguising herself as a man to play in the Men’s V. League. The headlines would literally write themselves.

“Quite the opposite actually,” Kuroo said, leaning forward as his smile turned calculating. “You see, with Hinata now being a part of the National Men’s Volleyball Team...”

“Ohhh, boy,” Akane muttered under her breath in realization.

“...We’ve reached quite the predicament. You know, seeing as how she doesn’t quite meet one of the main requirements needed in order to compete.”

The three of them turned to look appraisingly at Hinata who regarded them with wide eyes, clearly uncomfortable with the attention as she fidgeted in her seat.

“If we took this to the FIVB directly, they would just shut us down without even hearing our case,” the chairman continued, tapping his fingers against the polished wood of the table. “Hinata would be kicked off the team instantly, and her entire professional career destroyed.”

Akane gasped at that. “We can’t let that happen!”

“So, what do you want us to do?” Fumi asked, voice turning speculative as she looked back at the chairman.

Kuroo took a deep breath, not believing himself what he was about to suggest.

“...We want to start a social media campaign. ”

Fumi immediately let out a small hysterical laugh, her head falling into her hands as she pulled at the short strands of her hair. “You guys are batshit crazy.”

Akane blinked, looking at her supervisor as the older woman appeared to be trying to get her bearings in order. “But we are going to do it, right?”

Fumi pulled herself together, snapping back without any heat, “Of course we are going to do it.”

“W-what? Really?” Hinata’s expression instantly brightened at that, and she moved her head so that she could look eagerly between the three of them. “So, what does a social media campaign actually entail? What do we need to do?”

“Going the social media route is like forcing the hand of FIVB,” the dark-haired man explained, his expression lightening now that the other women were on board with their plan. “It’s like a coordinated attack.”

“With our weapon being the general public, of course,” Akane added, finally moving to pick up her chair off the floor and settle back down in it. 

“We’d have to start with a press conference first, to get things moving,” Fumi declared, mind racing as she pulled out her notepad and quickly began making notes. “Then, we’ll launch the campaign on Twitter. Akane, start thinking of hashtags.”

“Got it!”

“Kuroo-san, do you still have all of your old connections with the sports promotion division?”

“Of course.”

Hinata could only stare in amazement as the other three worked in tandem, mapping out a plan right before her eyes. “What would you like me to do, exactly?”

“Two things.”

“First,” the reporter held out a single digit, “You’re going to need to tell your team first. If we don’t have Team Japan to back you, then we don’t have a leg to stand on.” 

Hinata frowned at that, feeling her heart start to constrict at her words. But of course, it made sense. If her own team didn’t back her up, how could she expect all of Japan? Let alone the rest of the world?

“What’s the second?”

Fumi’s eyes were gleaming when they met Hinata’s, and the dark-haired woman tilted her head consideringly as she assessed her. 

“We’re going to have to work on your look.”

Akane’s head shot up from where she was jotting ideas down on a piece of paper. “I know exactly who to call. Though, it might take a bit to get her schedule cleared.”

-

“So...you’re going to campaign to force the FIVB and the International Olympic Committee to let you play on the Men’s team?”

On the computer screen, Oikawa’s expression reflected just how impressed he was as he leaned back in his chair, letting out a low whistle. His chestnut hair was damp from the shower he had just taken, and there was still a towel wrapped around his neck.

Hinata glanced at him briefly, trying not to let her eyes linger for too long, before looking to the other side of the screen where their digital chess board was depicted.

Unlike her own bedroom that was bright and sunny, indicating the early hour where she resided, Oikawa’s room was dark—the only light from the computer screen casting his face in a dim, white glow. It was almost eerie to see his eyes gleam iridescently as he regarded her from the other side of the camera.

“Um, yes,” Hinata answered distractedly, trying to focus her attention back to the board, where she had just moved her rook a few spaces down, anticipating that his knight would follow suit.

“Man, Chibi-chan,” Oikawa said, diverting his eyes on the screen after she made her move. “You might be a woman, but you definitely got balls.”

Hinata was startled into a loud laugh at his choice of words. “Oikawa-senpai!”

The brunette smirked, leaning forward as he rested his chin on his palm. “You know, after you returned to Japan, I wasn’t sure what you had up your sleeve.”

There was a sound of clicking, and her rook instantly was taken over by a bishop that she had not noticed lurking before. Hinata pouted as she considered her next move.

“So, what can I do to help?”

Hinata shot him a confused look on the screen, cursing softly to herself when she noticed that Oikawa had somehow also made quick work of her own knight without her noticing. “You’re all the way in Argentina. What do you think you can do?”

“Humph,” Oikawa hummed softly to himself, “I’m sure that me being abroad could be helpful in some way.”

She scrunched up her face in thought, tapping her fingers against the side of her laptop as she considered his offer. “I don’t know—”

“Ask Kuroo. He’ll know how to utilize my services.”

Hinata sighed, rolling her eyes at his adamant tone. “Fine. Thank you, Oikawa-senpai.”

“Still so formal, Shouyou-chan?” The man asked teasingly, an ever-present smile playing on his lips, as Hinata gave him a stubborn look in turn.

“Fine then,” Oikawa continued off-handedly, as he lazily clicked on his mousepad, the corner of his lips turning upwards when he glanced back at Hinata’s image on the screen. “Also...checkmate.”

Hinata narrowed her eyes as she surveyed the chess board, and then had to do a double-take. She knew that she wasn’t the best at the game, but somehow her opponent had managed to secure a win from right under her nose.

“H-how did you?” 

Oikawa blinked at her innocently on the screen as she pointed a finger at him accusingly. “You distracted me on purpose!”

“And if I did?”

“Oikawa-senpai,” Hinata huffed, furiously clicking at the window displaying their chess game so that she could restart the game. “You don’t play fair, do you?”

At her words, Oikawa hummed under his breath in amusement, watching intently as Hinata stuck her tongue out in concentration as the next game began.

“If I played fair...I’d never get the things that I want.”

And something about his tone made Hinata pause and look up at him suspiciously, his handsome face a picture of innocence, while his dark eyes held an inscrutable gleam of something else. She gulped nervously, wondering why she felt like Oikawa was referring to more than just chess.

-

“Have any of you guys seen Hinata?”

Iwa surveyed the locker room speculatively in search of a familiar head of orange hair, dark eyes roving over the various members of Team Japan who looked back at him questioningly in turn.

“He was just here, Iwa-san!” Aran called out as he slipped on a clean shirt, looking at his other teammates in confirmation. “I could have sworn that he was right here just a second ago.”

Hoshiumi swiveled his head back and forth in search of the smaller player who he had just been heatedly comparing his new mile time to, but confusingly enough Hinata was nowhere to be found.

“Weren’t you looking for him the other day, as well?” Ushijima inquired, eyebrows furrowed at the dark-haired trainer who huffed a sigh in response. 

“He’s the only one left who hasn’t completed his annual physical, and somehow I keep just missing him,” Iwa frowned at them, scratching the bottom of his chin contemplatively. “I’m beginning to think that kid is avoiding me.”

On the other side of the locker room, Atsumu gave the raven-haired setter next to him a very pointed look, to which Kageyama responded by imperceptibly tilting his head back towards the seemingly vacant shower stalls. The blonde followed his line of sight and squinted his eyes, barely making out a small shadow crouching behind one of the shower curtains. 

“That’s very unlike Hinata-kun,” Sakusa interjected, carefully taking out a mask from his newly opened box and placing it over his face. “He’s usually so attentive about such important tasks.”

“Have you checked with the girl’s team?” Komori asked suddenly. “Hinata is always hanging out in the other gym with Rumi-san and Kanoka-san. Honestly, sometimes it’s like he blends in—“

Atsumu coughed loudly at that, drawing the attention of the others in the room. “It’s so weird that ya keep missing him, Iwa-kun! I saw him leave to take a phone call just before ya came.”

The blonde didn’t notice Sakusa narrowing his eyes at him skeptically at his words, but Iwa only shrugged his shoulders in response, shaking his head in dismay. “Well, if you do see him, let him know that we need to submit those physicals as soon as possible for our team candidacy evaluations. I wanted them done before we left for our training camp this weekend!”

At that, the physical trainer turned to leave the locker room, waving his hand goodbye as he did so. The rest of the team continued to chat softly to one another as they finished getting changed, before filtering out of the room one after the other. 

Kageyama had propped himself against his locker, casually filing down his nails, while Atsumu attempted to be extremely invested in reorganizing his own locker. When the last of the team greeted them goodbye, with Gao and Yaku waving at them as they closed the locker door behind them, Atsumu finally let out the breath he was holding.

“Shouyou-kun! You can come out now!”

Moments later there was a sound of a curtain rustling and Hinata appeared in the entryway, smiling sheepishly at them as she tugged at the towel wrapped around her neck. She was still in her practice clothes—a slightly oversized white dri-fit shirt with the Japan Olympic logo in the corner, and simple black shorts that hugged her hips.

“Phew, that was a close one…” the orange-haired female stretched her arms over her head, groaning in relief when she heard the satisfying crack in her shoulders. “I was getting tired of hiding out in there.”

“How did you even sneak off so fast like that?” Kageyama questioned, immediately regretting his question when Hinata began doing her mock ninja moves again.

“Ninja Shouyou strikes again!” She laughed jokingly when the other two men made faces at her as she made her way to her own locker and began putting her things away.

“Yer really starting to stress me out,” Atsumu whined petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest. “I don’t know how ya managed to do this for so long, Shouyou-kun.”

Hinata shot him a grateful look as she undid her knee pads and placed them in her gym bag, missing how the blonde man’s eyes seemed to fixate on her movements as she did so. “Sorry, Atsumu-san! If it helps, you did a great job.” She looked up at him and grinned, giving him a thumbs up. 

“You can’t keep avoiding Iwa forever.” Kageyama frowned, pursing his lips in thought as he looked between his two teammates. “And with the press conference coming up in a few weeks, we don’t have a lot of time left…”

As the dark-haired man trailed off, Hinata sighed, running a hand through her wayward strands of hair that had gotten loose from her headband.

Kageyama was right, of course. With Kuroo’s guidance, and Fumi and Akane’s expert planning, they were well on their way to being completely prepared for the upcoming conference. Using his ties with the sports promotion division, where he left Kaori, Fukurodani’s former manager in charge, Kuroo contended that they had just enough footage and personal testimonials to create a promo to show alongside the campaign.

According to the JVA chairman, Oikawa actually had been of great help, though, everytime Hinata asked to see the promo herself, she was pointedly redirected.

“I don’t understand why I can’t see it! Isn’t it about me?” 

“We need your reaction to be purely genuine when we show it at the press conference. Trust me. It will make all the difference.”

Hinata didn’t know what to make of the vague explanation, but judging from Kageyama and Atsumu’s reactions when she asked, they clearly appeared to know more than they let on.  But despite her prodding, even they wouldn’t budge. And as much as she wanted to dedicate the time to be more insistent in her questioning, there was still far more worrying matters to be concerned with.

“It won’t be long now…” Hinata murmured mostly to herself, turning away from her locker to look back at Kageyama and Atsumu with concern etched across her face. 

“Ya still planning on telling everyone this weekend at the training camp?” The blonde questioned, noting the wrinkle in her brow with a frown.

Hinata nodded solemnly in response. “I don’t really have another option at this point. I’ve been putting it off for as long as possible.”

The two setters traded glances at that, and Atsumu stepped forward to place a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Ya know, we’ve got yer back no matter what, right?”

Hinata grinned at that, nodding in confirmation at the blonde before turning to look up at Kageyama expectantly. 

“Even a dumbass like you couldn’t screw this up.”

Her eye twitched, the smile on her face freezing in place as Atsumu snorted at the other man’s blunt reply. Meanwhile, the dark-haired man looked coolly back at her, expression intentionally left blank.

“What the hell was that, Bakayama?!” Hinata suddenly yelled, placing her hands on her hips.

“What the hell was what?” Kageyama shot back, face pinching together.

“How can you still be so bad at encouraging people?” She exclaimed, voice disbelieving, as she advanced upon the taller man. “I’ve literally given you so much practice!”

“That was me being encouraging,” Kageyama responded back hotly, crossing his arms. “Maybe it’s your fault for not getting encouraged!”

“That doesn’t even make sense!” Hinata cried, turning to Atsumu for support, “Tell him!”

Atsumu huffed in amusement as he regarded the two. “Tobio-kun, ya can’t encourage for shit. We’d have better luck getting a pep talk from a brick wall.”

“At least the brick wall would be more comforting,” Hinata muttered under her breath, dodging when Kageyama shot his hand out to swipe at her.

“You want to test out that theory?”

As the two continued to bicker on their way out of the locker room, Atsumu followed closely behind, eyes trained at their backs as he frowned in thought.

-

“Ya ever heard about something called a window of opportunity, ‘Tsumu?”

The blonde blinked slowly, the sound of his twin’s voice shaking him out of his stupor. As his eyes refocused, Atsumu realized he had been involuntarily staring at Hinata for an undisclosed amount of time. 

The oblivious orange-haired female in question was chatting away happily seated between Oliver and Bokuto. Across from them, Inunaki, Meian, and Adriah were also seated, and the light-haired libero was raising his eyebrows suggestively back at Atsumu, who instantly grimaced in turn.

Scowling, Atsumu whirled around to face the annoyingly knowing expression on his brother’s face.

“Eh? Whatcha on about?”

“A window of opportunity,” Osamu repeated again, leaning his elbows on the counter as his brother spun around on his stool. “It’s that rare moment in time when something ya want is finally within yer reach…”

Atsumu furrowed his brows as the younger of the two tilted his head to the side, purposefully drawing his attention back to Hinata, who had begun laughing uncontrollably at something Bokuto had said.

“Look, ‘Samu,” Atsumu said, frowning, “I don’t know what ya mean...”

“‘Tsumu,” Osamu responded flatly, “Do you want a shot with Shouyou-kun or not?”

Atsumu’s eyes widened comically at his words, and he whirled around to make sure that no one else was close enough to overhear what his twin just stated aloud. Once he realized that he was in the clear, the blonde spun back around to glower at his twin.

“What? Yer actually not going to deny it?” Osamu asked, one eyebrow raised in surprise. “I was expecting ya to be a little bitch about it.”

The grey-haired man snickered in amusement when the blonde seated across from him made a rude gesture with both hands. 

“...So what? Are ya saying this is my window right now?” Atsumu finally grumbled, averting his eyes when his twin shot him a smug look.

Osamu shrugged, pulling out a clean rag from below to start wiping down the counter. “If not now, then ya better act fast...”

“I’ve got a feeling that others won’t be as cowardly as you about this.”

They both looked over when they heard Hinata’s voice excitedly rise in greeting when none other than Sakusa entered the restaurant, surveying the establishment disinterestedly, before walking swiftly to her side and leaning down to say something in her ear.

Atsumu’s mood soured further when he watched her jump up from her seat, and take her food over to the empty table next to the rest of the team. Sakusa looked quietly relieved as he took the seat across from her, and Hinata continued on chatting as though nothing had changed.

“I’m not some scrub coward, ‘Samu,” Atsumu finally gritted out. “I don’t know why everyone is suddenly accusing me of being one.”

“Maybe it’s because you’ve been infatuated with Shouyou-kun since we were in high school, and yer still too chicken to actually do anything about it.”

Atsumu made a loud, keening noise at the back of his throat, the sound resembling something akin to a dying animal, and the rest of his team from the other side of the restaurant spun around to stare at the two with wide eyes.

“Atsumu-san?” Hinata called out warily, “You okay over there?”

“Yeah, Miya, you sound like you’re dying,” Sakusa said, not an ounce of concern evident in his flat tone.

Osamu waved at them all politely from behind the counter, putting one hand on his twin’s shoulder, while the blonde’s eye twitched imperceptibly.

“Sorry about him! He’s still upset by the new server rankings that were published yesterday!” The grey-haired man responded almost too cheerily in turn.

Hinata’s eyes seemed to grow wide in realization. “Ah, don’t mind, Atsumu-san! Number three is still very admirable.”

Bokuto cupped his hands around his mouth to call out to him encouragingly. “Tsum-Tsum! You’ll definitely beat Omi-kun and Kageyama-kun next time!”

It was impressive how the dark-haired wing spiker could convey such a smug expression through his eyes alone, the trademark mask shielding what was no doubt a self-satisfied smirk from view.

By the time the others had turned their attentions back to their meals, Atsumu was far past disgruntled and bordered on murderous when he surveyed his twin with narrowed eyes.

“Fuck you. And fuck yer stupid windows.”

“What? Yer not even going to take my advice?” Osamu clicked his tongue disagreeably as Atsumu rolled his eyes.

"Don't need it."

"Well, all right then. Just don't fuck it up."

“Ugh, fine…” Atsumu sighed in a long-suffering manner, before his eyes flicked over to Hinata and back to his twin.  “...What happens if you miss your window?”

Osamu’s expression turned somber as he regarded his twin speculatively.  “Then you might never get another chance...”

-

The whirring of the ceiling fan kept Hinata in a half-asleep daze, eyes dry and hurting from being awake for so long. But despite her body’s overall exhaustion, the throbbing ache in her joints and the thoughts racing through her head stubbornly kept her from sleep.

Blearily looking over at the clock on her bedside table, Hinata wondered if it was too late to call someone. The red numbers on the screen blinked 1:04 AM. 

Her friends in Brazil would be awake and going about their day, given the twelve hour time difference. Nice would be back at work now that the little ones were attending daycare, and Heitor would probably be training for his upcoming match this weekend. Meanwhile, Pedro had exams coming up, and she knew calling him would only serve as an unneeded distraction for the future engineer.

There was always Oikawa, her mind easily supplied. And Hinata knew the charismatic man would no doubt welcome a phone call from her at any given time. But as it would be in the middle of the day in Argentina, as well, the setter was probably at practice. And they usually saved their video calls for their days off.

Sighing loudly at her lack of options, Hinata threw off her covers and slid out of her bed. There was always one person that she could count on to be awake despite the late hour.

Once she exited her room, Hinata padded down the hallway quietly, noting the lack of sounds from the game room that usually indicated a late-night stream. So instead, Hinata veered left to where her roommate’s bedroom was located and rapped her knuckles lightly on the door.

The action was more as a courtesy than for permission, because Hinata was already sliding the door open just as Kenma softly called, “Come in.”

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room, and as they roved over the familiar bedroom features, she caught sight of a familiar face illuminated by the tell-tale bright screen of a gaming device.

“Are you playing New Horizons again?” Hinata asked, instantly making her way over to the bed where Kenma was situated comfortably under his comforter, surrounded by pillows.

The long-haired man was propped up against his headboard, Nintendo Switch in hand, and scooted over to the side when Hinata pulled the covers open to slide herself snugly inside.

“Nah, I got bored with it,” Kenma responded, adjusting his position as Hinata made herself comfortable at his side. “Plus, you stopped coming to my island.”

“I got busy!” Hinata said, the sound of a pout in her tone, as she peaked over at his screen to see a familiar Hylian hero slicing and hacking at a defenseless moblin.

“Even after I went out of my way to get you one of the new consoles with the Animal Crossing theme that you wanted. So ungrateful,” the soft-spoken man murmured, clicking his tongue in dismay.

Hinata huffed at that, shoving at Kenma’s shoulder lightly. “I told you I didn’t need two Switches.”

He chuckled at her response, and the two of them laid there in comfortable silence for a long moment as Hinata continued to watch Kenma play his game, blinking tiredly at the screen.

“Can’t sleep?”

At the question, Hinata let out a loud sigh, half-rolling so that she was on her side, staring up at him. “It’s just…”

“Everyone’s going to know the truth soon, Kenma…”

Kenma tilted his head to peer down at her. “Are you ready for that?”

“No,” Hinata said immediately, allowing a small, hysterical laugh to escape. “I’m really scared.”

Dropping the gaming console to his side, Kenma turned to give her his full attention, eyes automatically scanning her face and making small mental notes as he did so. 

There was that tell-tale wrinkle between her brows that revealed just how much her previously stated concerns were weighing on her person. His eyes were drawn to where Hinata was nervously gnawing on her bottom lip, a curious habit that she had recently developed when she was deep in thought, causing small imprints on the tender skin from where her teeth had bit down.

And when he met her gaze, her hazel eyes were red-rimmed and tired, causing Kenma to wonder just how long she had been having trouble sleeping, internally berating himself for not noticing sooner.

“Why are you scared?” He asked gently.

Hinata frowned, pulling the covers up to her chin as she gazed up at him. “What if everyone hates me?”

Rolling his eyes, he let a small smile play on the corner of his lips as he pictured the various members of Team Japan. Only a blind man would miss the way in which the other men regarded their orange-haired teammate. “I can’t imagine a single person on that team hating you,” Kenma said simply.

However, Hinata was far from satisfied with the answer, eyebrows furrowing further as she immediately followed up with another. “But what if they never forgive me?”

At that, Kenma sighed, taking a moment to consider the possibility. Even he couldn’t predict what all their reactions might be upon learning the truth. “It could take some time for others to come around. But I have no doubt that they will.”

Hinata continued to frown, ducking lower into the comforter, causing her voice to become muffled slightly in the sheets. 

“What if...they don’t want me to be on the team anymore?” And there was a small crack in her voice, as she settled herself further in the bed, almost as though she was trying to sink into it. “...Once they know I’m a girl?”

“They will.”

“But how do you know?”

“Because, that’s what you do, Shouyou,” Kenma said, shrugging his shoulders lightly as tired hazel eyes turned to look up at him through long orange bangs. “You have this way of making everyone want to root for you…”

She blinked in surprise, mouth opening and closing as Kenma continued.

“...You win people over.”

“Whether they like it or not,” he added shortly after, poking her softly in the forehead and drawing a small, bright smile out of her.

Hinata pulled herself closer to her roommate’s side, wrapping her arms comfortably around his torso and resting her head firmly against his chest. “What did I ever do to deserve a friend like you, Kenma?”

The taller man hummed softly in response. And as her breathing began to deepen, indicating that she was on the cusp of falling asleep, Kenma finally allowed himself to get drawn into her warmth, turning his body and pulling her even closer so that her head rested just below his chin. 

“I’d take care of you, you know,” he said into the wisps of orange hair tickling his cheek.

And for a moment, Kenma wondered if he made a mistake. It wasn’t something that they ever really talked about. This unspoken thing between them. 

“You already do,” Hinata replied drowsily, clearly half-asleep as she nuzzled even closer still, until the steady breathing indicated that she had finally drifted off.

Savoring the feeling of her smaller body wrapped up against his and counting the beats of her pulse in time with her long, drawn-out breaths, Kenma let himself enjoy the moment for as long as he could.

It occurred to him then, that Hinata was not so unlike the stray cats that Kenma found himself unwittingly drawn to. The curious felines that wandered into his care, seeking the shelter and the affection only he could provide, but never his to keep.

Even still, Kenma held her close and let himself pretend for just a bit longer.

-

“Mine!” Hinata yelled over her shoulder as she bumped the ball with her outstretched arms, sending it sailing over her shoulder and into Kageyama’s awaiting hands. Once the ball was set, Aran didn’t hesitate to slam it over to the other side, smirking when Komori had to dive in order to keep it into play.

“Nice kill, Aran-kun!” She called, already preparing herself when the ball came flying back to their side. 

Hinata traded glances with Hyakuzawa, and the taller man instantly switched places with her to receive the ball and direct it towards her, giving the female ample time to set the ball back over her head for Sakusa to strike.

The ball spun madly, and if not for Gao’s quick reflexes, it would have easily earned the other team a point. 

The former Kamomedai player passed it to Atsumu, who surprised almost everyone by attempting a setter dump. But Hinata, anticipating the move, was already diving forward, catching the ball with the tips of her fingers, and then the ball was in play yet again.

From the sidelines of the court, Iwa watched the rally with immense satisfaction. These guys…

“How is it possible they are still rallying over the same point?” One of the assistant coaches asked beside him, shaking his head in amazement. “I’ve never seen a ball go back and forth so long over a single point.”

Iwa huffed a laugh at that, sharing the sentiment. “Not only are these some of the best players in the world, but you have to remember that these guys have been playing against each other since high school. Maybe even since middle school for some of them!”

“So does that mean they are just able to read each other’s moves?” 

The dark-haired man nodded. “It’s definitely one of the advantages and disadvantages of putting them against each other.”

Coach Nakagaichi, the head coach for the team, shot them an amused look. “Which means that sometimes the only way for them to really get the one up over the other is…”

There was an uproarious yell when Bokuto managed to head butt a ball over to Hoshiumi, who managed an emergency set right into Ushijima’s palm. Despite Yaku’s brave attempt to receive the ball, the olive-haired man’s left-handed spike sailed cross-court landing just inside the lines.

“...the element of surprise,” Iwa finished with a smirk.

“They’re insane,” the assistant coach said, laughing softly in disbelief as he watched the players on the court yell excitedly to one another over the hard-earned point.

By the time the practice match ended, almost an hour later, all of the players were in various states of exhaustion. It was the last day of practice before they headed to their scheduled week long training camp in Misawa, and they were all looking forward to the short reprieve they would have in between.

While the rest of her teammates were chatting light-heartedly to themselves about what their plans were for their short break, Hinata was internally freaking out. Because it was during their week away from home that she had decided to confess the truth about her identity to the rest of the team.

The thought was already making her stomach feel queasy.

But with the press conference scheduled in just two weeks time, this was her last, real opportunity to come clean to them before, to put it mildly, the shit hit the fan.

Taking a long, generous pull from her water bottle, Hinata tried to let her thoughts drift to somewhere else momentarily, willing her pulse to slow down from the mix of adrenaline and nerves. 

It was only when she was reaching up to wipe the sweat off her forehead using her free hand that her eyes were immediately drawn to a strangely familiar figure speaking to the coaches at the entrance of the gymnasium.

A shorter man with bright, orange hair...just like hers…

“Hinata!” Iwa called over, waving his hand to get her attention. “There is a man here who would like to speak with you.”

“...He says he’s your dad?”

Hinata instantly dropped her water bottle, mind blanking even as the open container landed on the floor causing the remainder of the water to spill at her feet. Bokuto and Hoshiumi, who were both nearest to her, looked at her in surprise.

“Shouyou?”

“Are you okay?”

But her mind could not even process the fact that her teammates were even speaking to her, as all Hinata could do was watch helplessly as the man who she hadn’t seen for over fourteen years slowly approached and stood quietly before her.

“Tou-san?”

Involuntarily, her eyes roved over the familiar lines of her father’s face, trying to match what her ten-year-old self had remembered and comparing the image to what she was seeing now. In Hinata’s memories, her father’s face had always seemed so stern—a trademark frown fixed on his lips while his dark, brown eyes reflected little warmth. 

But the man that stood before her now was not the same, hard man that lived in her memory. 

Now, her father seemed softer around the edges somehow, yet more world-weary than not. Although his frown lines remained startlingly familiar as he stared at her with a mix of disbelief and something else that she couldn’t quite read.

“Shouyou. I...can’t believe it.”

Hinata Shizuo stared at his fully grown daughter with something akin to amazement.

The last time he had seen her, she had just turned ten-years-old. They had spent that birthday out by the stream next to their house. His wife had laid out a picnic for them, and little Shouyou had spent the whole afternoon skipping rocks and splashing in the cool water.

When she had mistakenly misstepped and slipped, scraping her hands on the sharp rocks below in her effort to catch herself from falling, the ten-year-old had cried and cried all the way home. The man ashamedly remembered how irritable he had been to her then, so unhappy that he couldn’t even comfort his own daughter when she turned to him for attention. 

It had been in that exact moment that he had realized that he just wasn’t cut out to be a father.

But contrary to popular belief, Hinata Shizuo was not an unkind man. 

Since he was young, Shizuo had always prided himself on his good upbringing and his reputation for being an upstanding member of society. And what he lacked in charm and wit, he made up for with his stern attitude and his strong, quiet demeanor. 

He had never intended to be the type of person who abandoned his own family.

And despite being someone who was so set in tradition—in doing what was right and just, Shizuo could not find it in himself to stay and be the father his family needed him to be. He couldn’t bear to stay in that little, suffocating countryside home any longer, and when he found his chance, he had packed up and left.

As the years passed, every now and then, he thought of them—of bright and happy Shouyou and her reckless nature, of sweet Natsu and her soft smiles, and of his own wife, the one whose eyes he couldn’t dare even meet when he announced that he was leaving.

And it wasn’t until years later, when he caught sight of the familiar flash of orange hair on the screen of a television, that Shizuo realized what a grave mistake he had made.

Because there was Shouyou—his own daughter—dressed like a man and traipsing around a volleyball court as if she owned it. 

Shizuo could only stare, slack-jawed as he watched the rest of the match in growing horror. What was she doing? What was she thinking? For the first time in his life, he felt pure, genuine fear for his daughter as he watched her interact with the other, much larger and stronger men on the court.

He thought of his little girl, so small and so bright that he couldn’t even find it in himself to say goodbye to her when he had left.

It was at that moment that Shizuo realized that...maybe it wasn’t too late. Maybe he could still be the father that Shouyou needed him to be.

“What are you doing here?” Hinata asked, casting a quick glance around her to see that the rest of her teammates had also stopped to observe their exchange curiously. She felt her stomach tighten further into knots, the dread creeping up her spine as she tried to keep her cool.

“I...heard that the Olympic volleyball team was practicing here,” Shizuo began, watching her carefully, “And...I had to see it with my own eyes. Had to see you.”

Hinata clenched her fists at her sides, biting the inside of her lip so that she wouldn’t go and say something that she would later regret. From a few paces away, Kageyama narrowed his eyes at her tense form and quickly made his way over, stopping beside her. 

“Excuse me, Hinata-san, but I think you should probably leave,” Kageyama said, his voice cold and firm.

“Look. I’m not here to cause any trouble,” Shizuo assured gently, looking between them both before his eyes rested on his daughter. “I want to help you, Shouyou. I’m here because I’m worried about you.”

“Y-you’re worried?” Hinata bit out incredulously, not able to control herself any longer as her face twisted in confusion. “What could possibly make you so worried that you’d actually go out of your way to come see me after not talking to me for over fourteen years?”

From behind her, there were several sharp intakes of breath. 

Hinata could only imagine how dramatic this scene must look from an outside perspective, and she couldn’t help but flush in embarrassment of having to do this in front of her entire team.

“Shouyou—”

“Tell me!” Hinata demanded, eyes fiery.

Shizuo looked conflicted at first, before steadying his breath and meeting Hinata’s gaze straight on. “Maybe it’s because I found out that my own daughter was playing on the Men’s National Volleyball team.”

There was a long stretch of silence following his declaration.

Hinata felt her face slacken in shock as she processed her father’s admission, and she didn’t have to turn around to know that the rest of her team was in similar states of shock.

“Daughter?”

“W-wait. Shouyou? What is he talking about?”

Kageyama looked down at her with wide eyes, not knowing what to say.

“I…”

At his daughter’s pained expression, Shizuo felt an inkling of doubt and shame at what he had just done, but he reminded himself that he was only doing the right thing.

“Shouyou, I just want to protect you,” the older man said, voice pleading, “I respect what you’re trying to do here. But this is the Olympics! You’re a woman playing against the world’s best male athletes. You’re going to get yourself hurt!”

“Look, mister—” Atsumu began angrily, but Hinata’s hand shot out to grip his sleeve and stop him from walking any further. The blonde looked back at her in disbelief, but she only shook her head firmly.

“In many ways, I blame myself…”

Hinata clenched her fists even harder as her father spoke, teeth biting hard on her bottom lip to stop herself from yelling.

“...Maybe if you just had a strong male figure to look up to, you wouldn’t have resorted to such extreme measures...”

At that, Hinata felt something within her snap, eyes narrowing in thinly-veiled fury. 

“You’ve got a lot of nerve coming here, Tou-san,” Shouyou said finally, gritting her teeth. “Claiming to be concerned for me...assuming that you somehow still have any sort of say over my life after you voluntarily walked out of it fourteen years ago.”

She stepped closer to him then, angry tears pricking at the corner of her eyes as she continued her tirade. “The truth is...if I had a male figure like you in my life, I would never have been able to achieve what I have. I would have kept thinking that I was somehow less than, following everyone else’s expectations for me, and never knowing that I could be stronger...”

Hinata let out a shaky breath, but her hazel eyes were unwavering when she met her father’s gaze. “A woman can face the world’s best male athletes because you’ve already seen me do it! I made it here—to the world stage—not because of anything to do with my gender, but because I worked hard, I got better, and the people beside me pushed me even further.”

It was then that Shizuo realized, albeit too late, that the fierce, tenacious woman that stood before him, just short of baring her teeth in anger, was a far-cry from that little girl with scraped hands that he once knew.

“The only thing you’ve taught me was how to be let down over and over again.”

Before Shizuo could open his mouth to speak, Kageyama was in front of him in a flash, grabbing onto his shoulder none too gently and pushing him towards the exit. 

“Let me escort you out, Hinata-san .”

And this time, watching her father leave was cathartic—like a weight lifting off of her shoulders.

Maybe because Hinata actually had some sort of say about it this time around, rather than spending her nights wondering if she had done something wrong—like maybe she had done something to make her father pack up and leave in the middle of the night without saying goodbye.

A large part of her still felt some of that residual bitterness remain, lurking just beneath the surface; though, watching an angry Kageyama awkwardly manhandle her father out the door was doing wonders to lighten her mood.

But Hinata couldn’t linger on her amusement for long, not when she still had to face the aftermath of her father’s misguided admission. Even now, she could feel the stares boring into her back, causing a trail of goosebumps to grow on her skin.

And when she finally spun around to face the rest of her team, she was instantly met with various expressions of shock and disbelief.

Bokuto was frozen with his mouth hanging open, resembling a gaping fish, while beside him, Hoshiumi looked torn between yelling extremities and not wanting to be the first one to break the tense silence.

On the floor, where they had been in the middle of doing stretches, Yaku, Gao, and Komori were trading stunned glances amongst each other before looking back at her in confusion. Towering over the three, Hyakuzawa stood silent and unsure as he regarded her.

And, when her eyes strayed over to where Ushijima, Sakusa and Aran were standing, their expressions solemn and indecipherable, Hinata felt her insides freeze up.

This was just like how she imagined it would play out, but somehow a thousand times worse. Because Hinata knew she was never going to forget the looks of complete shock and betrayal on their faces.

“So...is it true?” Yaku asked, voice wary as he drew everyone else’s attention, “Are you really a girl, Hinata?”

Hinata felt all the breath drain out of her as she nodded numbly. “It’s true…”

Bokuto scratched the back of his head, as his face twisted in confusion. “But...for how long? How could you have been a girl all of this time?”

Hinata bit her lip unsurely, thinking how best to answer when Atsumu appeared beside her, his presence a comforting weight at her side as he gave her a lopsided smile. 

“Guess the cat’s out of the bag now, huh?”

Caught off guard, Hinata blinked slowly at the expression, tilting her head to the side, and when Kageyama made his back over, his face looked pinched. “The...cat…?” 

There was a brief moment of silence, and then Aran was groaning in exasperation, “Is this really the time for another of your dumb jokes, Atsumu?” 

“Yeah, read the room, man,” Komori whispered to Gao, who shook his head in dismay.

“Only Miya would think that this is a joking matter,” Sakusa muttered under his breath, and even Ushijima was raising a brow at the blonde.

“What?” Atsumu squinted at all of the unimpressed looks the others were giving him and scowled. “It’s a perfectly appropriate saying given the situation! Since ya guys know the truth now!”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Bokuto exclaimed, waving his finger at Atsumu. “You knew?!”

The blonde froze and then immediately pointed at Kageyama beside him. “He knew, too!”

“Can someone just explain what is going on?!” Hoshiumi questioned loudly, looking from Hinata and back to the others. 

“It would seem that Hinata is a woman,” Ushijima responded flatly. “And Miya and Kageyama were both aware of it.”

They all turned to look back to three accusingly, and Hinata waved her hands in front of them in a defensive manner. “Look, it’s not their fault! They just found out on accident!” she insisted, looking at all of them. 

“Hinata, why don’t you just start from the beginning?” Coach Nakagaichi said softly, approaching the group along with Iwa and the rest of the coaches. 

The orange-haired woman sighed, running a hand through her sweaty bangs. From the beginning? Where did she start? Hinata had mentally practiced what she would say over and over again, but now that she was finally in front of the team with everyone staring at her expectantly, she found her mind inexplicably blanking.

But she wasn’t about to miss her opportunity to finally get the truth off her chest—not when, against all odds, her team was actually willing to hear her out.

Hinata took a deep breath, shoulders heaving. “Well...I’ve basically been pretending to be a boy since middle school?” 

As she spoke, her hazel eyes drifted from one person to the next, weighing their reactions as she did so. “...They didn’t have a girl’s volleyball team at my school, so...”

Hoshiumi’s eyes widened in realization. “...You pretended to be a boy to play?” 

When Hinata nodded, Bokuto shook his head in disbelief. “You are damn crazy, Shouyou.”

His answer startled a laugh out of her, and Hinata smiled at him gratefully for lightening the tension. 

“I just wanted to play volleyball.”

Hinata shrugged her shoulders as she said it, as if the answer was as simple as that. 

And...maybe it was. 

Maybe it was as simple as loving a sport so much that you would go to any lengths in order to play it. 

Even if it meant having to hide who you really were.

Surprisingly, the men surrounding her seemed to get it—given the way their confused expressions turned to ones of understanding and growing respect. And Hinata began to wonder why she had been so nervous to reveal her secret to her teammates when, out of everyone else in the entire world, they would be the ones to truly understand.

If it came down to it, she’d choose volleyball every time.

Hinata felt herself grow more and more resolved as she continued with her explanation. “When you compete as a woman, people automatically underestimate your abilities. You can be good—you can be great even—and still, people will never believe you’ll be as good as any man.”

When she saw the others trade uncomfortable, almost guilty looks between another, Hinata smiled reassuringly at them. “It’s not anything to feel bad about. It’s just the way the world is. It’s how we are raised to think.”

“And I guess…” Her smile turned sheepish, as she rubbed the back of her head. “I just wanted to know what it was like...to only be judged for what I can do and not for what I am. You know?” 

Everyone was silent for a moment, mulling over her words, but then Sakusa was stepping forward, regarding her warily.

“What are we going to do then?” The dark-haired man asked quietly, voice muffled through his mask. “With the Olympics starting soon…”

Expecting the answer, Hinata nodded solemnly in understanding. “Which was why I had been planning on telling you all the truth for a while now. I can’t risk the rest of you getting in trouble on my behalf.”

Absentmindedly biting her lip, she looked back at Sakusa, “I could never live with myself if I was the reason you guys were stripped of your medals…”

“But…” Hyakuazawa frowned, “Does that mean you’re going to leave the team?”

He looked at Hinata, who traded troubling glances between Atsumu and Kageyama. “Well, I—”

“We’ve already contacted the head chairman of the Japanese Volleyball Association,” Kageyama asserted, looking intently at the others.

“What? Kuroo knows?” Yaku exclaimed, instantly recognizing the revered title. “And he was okay with it?”

Atsumu nodded firmly, placing a hand on his hip as he gestured with his other hand, “He helped us not only come up with a plan, but he’s already got a press conference scheduled in a few weeks.”

“So you’re going to announce the truth on live television?” Iwa said incredulously, looking back at Coach Nakagaichi as the older man furrowed his brows in thought.

Hinata nodded resolutely, “But the thing is…”

She steadied her breath and looked at each one of her teammates straight on.

“...I can’t do it alone.” 

“Everything I’ve accomplished so far was because people helped me along the way,” Hinata explained, thinking about all of her friends, her coaches, her family who could have shut her down immediately after finding out the truth, but didn’t.

Because despite everything— they believed in her. They accepted her crazy, ill-conceived plan for what it was and still believed she could do it. 

So, the least she could do was live up to their high expectations.

“If I’m going to keep going, I’m going to need all of your help,” Hinata said finally, narrowed her bright hazel eyes at the men standing before her.

“And...if that’s not something you can give me…,” she took another deep breath before continuing, “If you...don’t feel comfortable with me being on the team anymore, then I understand. I’ll leave today if that’s what you guys want.”

“Shouyou—”

“Fuck that,” Atsumu interjected loudly, “You’re not leaving.” He looked over his shoulder at the rest of the team for confirmation. “Right?”

“Hinata has every right to stand on the same court as us,” Kageyama affirmed, surprising even Hinata, who blinked up at him in wonder when she registered his words. “I think she’s proven that over and over again.”

Everyone was quiet again, considering their words and looking to one another thoughtfully. And then surprisingly, it was the soft-spoken Hyakuzawa who stepped up to address her first. “Hinata…”

“I was always told that being the tallest player automatically meant you were the strongest,” the tall man looked down at her as he spoke, “That height was the ultimate advantage to volleyball. I thought it was simple.”

“But you taught me that volleyball was so much more than that,” Hyakuzawa continued, voice soft and soothing. 

“Do you remember what you told me at training camp our first year?”

The orange-haired woman tilted her head to the side curiously. “You said that I should have been the one to be invited to the camp, and I told you…”

“That I was wrong. The correct answer was that we both should have been invited,” Hyakuzawa smiled at her, and Hinata instantly mirrored his expression, feeling the corners of her lips turn upwards. 

“And you were right. You taught me that there was more to me than just my height. That I could be strong in other ways, too.”

The dark-haired man stepped closer, bending his knees slightly so that they were eye-level. “Everything that I am right now...is because you believed in me. I wouldn’t be here on the Olympic team if not for you. Because…”

Hyakuzawa placed a firm hand on her shoulder, and she felt her face grow warm when her eyes inexplicably began to water.

“...You wanted to play me at my best. Remember?”

Hinata wiped at her eyes and beamed at him, nodding her head. “I remember.”

Hyakuzawa nodded back, quirking a small smile before pulling himself back up to his normal height and turning away.

Not shortly after he was finished, Hoshiumi was stomping forward, puffing out his chest proudly. “Being a man or a woman doesn’t matter, Shouyou. You’ve always been one of us. And Little Giants gotta stick together!” 

Komori grinned at her alongside him, giving her a thumbs up. “We’re with you all the way, Hinata!”

“You could kick our asses on the court on a bad day,” Gao said, elbowing Aran who also nodded his head in approval. “I think it would be pretty stupid of us to say you didn’t belong on this team.” 

And on the other side of her, Ushijima stepped forward, his face serious as he tilted his head in acknowledgement to her. “From the concrete...Right?”

Hinata felt her eyes watering even further to hear the familiar words spoken back to her, and she had to take a slow shallow breath to steady herself—not quite prepared for Sakusa to appear beside her, eyes uncharacteristically soft as he spoke.

“You’ve already proven your worth. Countless times.”

She was already sniffling to herself, and failing miserably in her attempt to hide it when lastly, Bokuto stepped up in front of her, smirking wildly as he slammed his fist into his palm. 

“Heh. Guess it’s about time a girl was a part of the monster generation. Huh, Shouyou?”

And that did it. 

Hinata went from modestly sniffling to herself to now full-blown crying in front of her teammates—all of the turbulent emotions from the past hour culminating into her rapidly hiccuping into the crook of her elbow as she wiped at the fat, heavy tears running down her cheeks.

The men surrounding her looked at the sobbing female in a mix of warmth and concern.

“S-sorry! I just wasn’t expecting this to go so well,” Hinata cried, hiccuping further and hoping she didn’t look as embarrassing as she sounded. “I thought for sure you guys would h-hate me.”

Kageyama jostled her gently in the shoulder, huffing in fond exasperation when she turned her teary-eyed gaze up at him. “Oi. Stop that.”

Hinata sniffed loudly at that, rubbing at the corners of her eyes again. And when Bokuto swung his arms to wrap around her shoulders, she welcomed his tight embrace gladly. 

“Aww, Shouyou. We didn’t mean to make you cry!” The silver-haired man said comfortingly, patting her head as though she were a household pet. To anyone else, the action might have felt demeaning somehow, but Hinata clearly didn’t appear to mind, leaning into the touch as though she were starved for attention.

And luckily, Bokuto appeared oblivious to all of the intense stares suddenly directed at him.

A few paces away, Iwa looked over at the head coach, who had stayed silent through the exchange. Though Coach Nakagaichi appeared conflicted, that fact that he didn’t outright denounce Hinata was telling enough. However, it would probably take time for the older man to fully accept having a woman on the team. It also really depended on a very important factor…

“So,” Iwa called out to her, drawing the attention of everyone else as they all turned around to look over at the athletic trainer, “You’ve got the support of your team, and the support of the JVA. How exactly do you plan to win over the rest of the world?” 

Hinata peeked over Bokuto's shoulder, eyes mischievous and sparkling.

“What are the chances that all of you guys have social media accounts?”

-

Miwa was just putting the finishing touches on Alisa’s hair, brushing out the loose tangles to reveal a glossy shine, when the bell signaling the arrival of a customer chimed. Both women turned just in time to see a small, grinning ginger with short, spiky hair and a wide grin coming through the front door, trailed by a solemn looking shadow.

“Tobio-kun!”

“Hinata-kun!”

“Miwa-san! Alisa-san! Hi!” Hinata beamed at them from the doorway, waving excitedly, and Miwa found herself smiling warmly at the younger woman in turn, involuntarily looking her over in a different light now that she knew the truth.

Though Alisa had initially received the call from Akane a few weeks ago, it was still hard for them both to wrap their heads around it.

It wasn’t that Hinata didn’t look like a girl. 

If she were being honest, Miwa had always personally viewed her brother’s teammate and friend as someone with ambiguous looks to begin with. Unlike Kageyama himself who was all hard lines and clear masculine brawniness, Hinata always had a softer look about her that Miwa had always been curious about, but never questioned aloud.

Looking at her now, Miwa had to admit that maybe the rest of them had been too easily duped.

While the smaller female was no doubt robust from years of physical training, Hinata was still fairly petite and slender. And when she stood beside Kageyama, her smaller stature was even more emphasized in the way her brother seemed to easily tower over her. 

“Come and sit here, Hinata-kun!” Alisa called out from beside her, patting down an empty seat. “We have to see what we’re working with here.”

Hinata looked over her shoulder at Kageyama, who sighed and took a seat in one of the chairs in the waiting area.

“You going to be okay, ‘Yama?”

The dark-haired man grunted and grabbed at one of the nearby magazines, pretending to flip through it to appease her. Hinata chuckled and shrugged her shoulders as she made her way over to the other two women.

“You know when Akane mentioned she knew someone who could help my image, I had no idea that she was talking about the Haiba Alisa and Kageyama Miwa!” Hinata admitted, plopping in the seat and looking up at them with admiration in her eyes. 

“I feel so lucky!”

Alisa laughed at her sparkling expression. “Hinata-kun, you’ve known us for years now.”

Hinata shook her head rapidly. “I will never get used to it.”

“You know, Hinata,” Miwa began, as she ran a hand through the wayward orange strands strewn about her head, “It’s a shame that we’ve only been able to see one another a handful of times over the years. It’s like my brother was purposely trying to hide you from me.”

“Eh?” Hinata looked up at the mirror before her to see Kageyama looking more than a bit disgruntled in the reflection from his seat by the window. “Bakayama, were you keeping me away from your sister?”

“Why would I do that?” He scoffed, opening yet another magazine and doing his best to at least look invested.

Miwa smirked, grabbing a flat brush and running it through her bright hair, getting a feel of the soft texture with her fingers. “He used to complain about you all the time. I’d come all the way to visit him in Miyagi, and it’d be Hinata this and Hinata that.”

From beside her, Alisa giggled at her girlfriend’s teasing tone. “Be nice to Tobio-kun.”

The dark-haired woman rolled her eyes fondly at that. “I used to tell him, ‘Well, why don’t you bring this Hinata kid over, if you’re so obsessed with him!’ ”

“Obsessed?! ” Hinata repeated loudly in a yelp, snickering in amusement when she saw Kageyama in the mirror’s reflection, looking close to horrified as he crumpled up the pages of the magazine he was holding.

“Say…” Miwa leaned down to whisper conspiratorially in Hinata’s ear. “Have you ever read his volleyball journals…?”

“Onee-san!” Kageyama finally gritted out, voice whining in a way that only a younger sibling could manage. Grinning wildly, Hinata realized that she had never actually heard him sound like that before.

“Okay, okay. I’ll stop.” Miwa said, smirking in a pleased, over-indulged manner. “Besides, Alisa and I have a job to do.”

Hinata blinked, a thought occurring to her. “You know...you guys don’t seem at all surprised by the news…?”

“About you being a woman?” Alisa asked, tilting her head to the side, perfect, silver locks falling effortlessly over her shoulder.

Hinata nodded, looking between the two of them curiously. “I’ve dealt with an entire spectrum of reactions as of late—shock, horror, betrayal—the whole nine yards. But you guys are taking it...so well? Like, I don’t even have to explain myself?”

“Oh, we were plenty shocked,” Miwa admitted, gesturing over at her girlfriend with her chin as she began to spray water into her hair. “Alisa over here almost called up her brother and blurted out your secret.”

Alisa shot Hinata an apologetic look. “I’m sorry! Lev just had the sweetest crush on you in high school! I was dying to tell him. But don’t worry, I kept my mouth shut!”

“Barely!” Miwa shot back.

“Although, I can’t say the same for Yaku-kun,” Alisa muttered under her breath in amusement, thinking of her brother’s chatty boyfriend.

“So you guys...are okay with it?” Hinata clarified, eyebrows furrowing. 

“Okay with it?” Alisa asked, voice disbelieving as she leaned forward to address Hinata. “I can’t wait to see the look on everyone’s faces after the press conference! They are going to lose their minds!”

Miwa paused her ministrations and bent low so that her head was barely resting atop Hinata’s as she met her eyes in the mirror. “You are out there—kicking ass and giving a big ‘ole eff you to the patriarchy. Trust me. We are more than pleased,” Miwa said, smirking. 

Hinata couldn’t help but giggle at their responses. “Like I said...I feel really lucky.”

Miwa and Alisa traded pleased looks above the orange-haired woman’s head, and the taller woman tugged lightly at the now damp strands before her.

“But first we have to get your look right. When was the last time you were really able to take the time to think about how you wanted to look? Rather than just out of necessity?”

Hinata blinked at her reflection, mind temporarily blanking as she tried to think of the right answer. It felt like the last time she was able to really put the effort and embrace the way she looked was back in Brazil. After she had come back home, she had just gone through the motions of pretending to be the man that everyone else thought she was that she had forgotten what it had been like to really care.

In fact, the last time Hinata had cut her hair, it was a few months ago, just before her twenty-fourth birthday. Yachi had lended her skills to crop her hair as short as she would let her, and she hadn’t bothered to tame it since. Now, without her headband that she had grown accustomed to wearing during practice, her overgrown bangs were starting to hang low and cover her eyes, landing just past her lashes.

The messy sprawl of curls and spikes were, as Yachi stated recently, a hot mess. And now that she was seated before a literal model and expert hair stylist, Hinata felt her face flush hot with embarrassment as she relayed this to them.

Miwa pursed her lips as she surveyed the damage. “Honestly, it’s not so bad. But, here’s the thing...we need to find the right image to play you off to the media.”

Alisa nodded. “The perfect balance of cute and athletic.”

“Oh?” Hinata scrunched up her face in confusion at the apt description.

“You see, if we play you up as too masculine, people won’t like that. But at the same time, if you look too feminine, they won’t take you seriously as an athlete,” Miwa explained, a growing annoyance lilting her tone. “Normally, I would say fuck them, but given the situation, it’s best if you find a happy balance in between. That’s what the general public will respond the best to, anyway.”

“So...what you’re saying is, I have to play up my femininity and masculinity so that I can win over both sides?”

“Basically.”

“That sounds...impossible?”

Alisa laughed, waving her hand airily in front of her. “People in the limelight have to play the balancing act all of the time. You’ll get used to it.”

“The limelight?” Hinata repeated slowly, and the two women traded disbelieving glances before looking back down at her.

“Come on, Hinata-kun. You are about to make one of the most important announcements in the history of Japanese sports. This has the potential to make world-wide news. You can’t be naive about this. Have you thought about what this would mean for your personal life?” Alisa asked, hands on her hips as she regarded Hinata seriously.

“I mean...I don’t really have a personal life to be concerned with,” Hinata responded honestly, voice lilting on sheepish as she looked down at her hands. “So, I don’t think I have to worry about that.”

At that, Miwa raised a dark brow, lifting her chin to meet her brother’s eyes in the mirror’s reflection for the first time over Hinata’s shoulder. 

The two siblings shared a long, measured look. Kageyama was frowning, and though to anyone else, his expression might have appeared no different than his usual, Miwa knew better than to miss the way his eyes focused intently on the woman seated before her.

Miwa was very aware that her little brother had never been the best at expressing himself. Since they were young, he had learned to bottle up his emotions and let them out in small outbursts at a time. Though Kazuyo had learned to take his grandson’s odd moods with stride, Miwa always found herself incessantly worried.

And when their grandfather passed, well…

The last middle school game of his she attended had left her shaken and unable to look her younger sibling in the eye for a long time. Miwa had seen the tension building all throughout the match, biting her lip as she watched Kageyama berate his team excessively and the way that the players regarded him with such distaste.

Honestly, it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise when Kageyama set the ball and...there was no one there to receive it, but still Miwa felt her insides freeze up when she saw that broken expression on her brother’s face.

And then the whispers began to erupt around her in the stands.

“Wow. No one even tried to hit that toss.”

“That guy has no concept of teamwork.”

“Guess he really is the King of the Court, huh?’

Miwa had wondered if Kageyama would ever be okay again. He would always have volleyball, yes. But what was a team sport without a team that trusted and supported you? She didn’t know if her little brother would ever truly find that...

But ever since Kageyama joined Karasuno...there had been a noticeable change.

He was still the same sullen, short-tempered boy she knew, but somewhere along the way, the cracks that had formed since Kazuyo’s death suddenly didn’t seem so palpable and fragmented any longer. 

It was like...someone had finally let the light in.

And looking down at the grinning female seated before her, cracking jokes and laughing with her girlfriend, Miwa knew exactly who was responsible for the change.

She just hoped that her brother wouldn’t be a total idiot about it.

“Maybe it’s just too soon to tell,” Miwa said softly, earning her another curious glance from Hinata. But before the orange-haired woman could ask, Alisa was waving her phone screen in front of them, excitedly trying to get their attention.

“Miwa-chan! I have the perfect look for Hinata-kun.”

They all bent over to look at the screen, and Miwa slowly smiled, an idea already forming in her head. “I can work with that. What do you think, Hinata?”

The orange-haired woman glanced at the screen and then back at the others with wide eyes. “Oh. Wow. That looks amazing. You guys think I can actually pull that off?”

Instead of answering outright, Miwa bent down to pull out a sharp-looking razor from her table of styling tools and plugged it into the adjacent wall. When she flipped on the switch, a low, rumbling buzz filled the salon, and Hinata gulped nervously, before nodding her head in assent.

“Let’s do it!”

-

Kageyama took another surreptitious glance down at Hinata as they walked to the bus stop.

In just an hour’s time, his sister had somehow managed to transform the other female’s entire look. Miwa had styled her hair so that it now parted more to the side, her messy waves cropped short and tapered off, fading at the sides where she had buzzed the back of her head in a slight undercut.

And with Alisa’s help, she had acquired a selection of top-brand athletic wear and casual clothing for Hinata. The orange-haired female and changed into a pair of modern-styled joggers and a loose-fitting top, and while the outfit itself was still modest at best, it was the first time Kageyama had really seen her in clothes that were actually meant for females.

It was quite jarring. He was extremely glad that the other women had decided to forgo the make-up they had been planning to use, saving it for a later time. Hinata already looked different enough as it was.

“Hey, Kageyama! You’re going to Daichi and Suga’s wedding this weekend, right?” Hinata looked up at him expectantly as they walked side by side down the cemented path.

“Yeah.”

“I think I’m going to tell the rest of the team then.”

“Oh.” 

“I owe them that, at least,” Hinata continued, nodding to herself as she spoke. “It feels weird that so many other people know now, but not the team, you know?”

To be honest, Kageyama had been wondering for a while whether or not she was planning to divulge the truth to their former team or if she thought it best to wait until they all found out at the press conference next week.

Given how close the female was with their teammates, it made complete sense. Though, part of him was already imagining how the others would react once they knew the truth about Hinata’s identity. It was definitely going to be quite the spectacle.

Kageyama tilted his head forward in acknowledgement. “How do you think they’re going to react?”

Hinata scratched the side of her face as she let out a small laugh. “I have a few people in mind that will probably lose their collective minds when they find out.”

Kageyama snorted in amusement. “Ah. You are referring to Noya-san and Tanaka-san, I’m sure.”

“Not to mention Yamaguchi is going to be so pissed when he finds out that everyone in our year knew but him,” She said, shaking her head in dismay.

When they got to the bus stop, Hinata looked like she was lost in thought yet again, staring down at her feet, before her head snapped up to look at him suddenly. 

“Oh, hey. I never asked. Are you bringing a plus one to the wedding?”

Kageyama blinked. “A plus one?”

“A date, Bakayama!” Hinata clarified, tone teasing as she prodded him in the arm. “It asked you on the invite.”

He furrowed his brows in confusion. He remembered receiving the fancy invitation in the mail and had simply ignored it for a time, leaving it on his kitchen counter to collect dust. It wasn’t until Sugawara jovially called the younger man himself to confirm his attendance that Kageyama had grunted out a verbal RSVP.

Was that a requirement? Were they supposed to bring dates to the wedding? 

Studying his troubled expression, Hinata laughed goodnaturedly as she waved her hand at him. “Ah, never mind. Don’t know why I even asked.”

Kageyama looked down at her, frowning. “Why? Are you bringing one?”

Hinata leaned over to look down the street in search of their bus, while her arms swung lightly at her side. “Well, I had checked ‘ yes’ on the invite for fun, so I was thinking of asking Kenma or even Atsumu to come with me—”

Something in Kageyama’s chest froze at hearing the other men’s names, but Hinata continued on, straightening herself back up and looking at him brightly.

“—But if you’re not bringing a date, then maybe we can just go together,” She finished cheerfully, clapping her hands together, before looking up and beaming back at him. 

It took him a moment to process her words. But then Kageyama found himself internally freezing up. 

Was...Hinata asking him to be her plus one? Her date? Or was she merely implying that they go together as friends?

It was too difficult to tell.

With the pleased expression on her face as she texted someone on her phone, it could have gone either way. And Hinata was clearly not going to provide any further clues on what her words really meant, not unless Kageyama bit the bullet and just straight-out asked. The dark-haired man opened his mouth to do just that, but the loud screech of brakes alerted them to the sound of the bus's arrival at their stop.

“Bus is here!”

The chipper orange-haired female was already hopping up to the edge of the curb when the bus doors slid open, while Kageyama followed closely behind, mulling over her words.

-

“Ah, here we go.”

Yachi nudged Kageyama next to her, and Tsukishima brought his glass to his lips, coolly drinking his creamy beverage as he watched the spectacle begin to unfold in front of them.

The eventful evening was already coming to a close, many of the guests had already taken off, while the DJ was still playing some well-worn hits off of a contrived playlist that had Tsukishima rolling his eyes whenever a particularly upbeat bop began to play.

Near the back of the dance floor, several tables had been pulled together and a huddle of familiar members of their old volleyball club appeared to be gathered around a particularly nervous-looking Hinata, who kept pulling at the collar of her navy blue suit, as she stared at all the men around her.

When she began speaking animatedly, Tsukishima started a mental countdown.

3

2

1

There was a loud, pained cry of disbelief.

They all watched Tanaka fall to his knees, as Shimizu patted him on the back sympathetically. 

“Kiyoko! What do you mean you knew all this time?!”

Noya could be heard screaming, “SHOUYOU. What the fuck! You're a woman?!”

The two men of the hour themselves were struck speechless as Daichi and Suga took turns gaping at one another and back at the orange-haired female who was doing her best to do some damage control.

“Guys. It’s okay!! Everything is okay, ” Hinata attempted to assure the men around her, but the words were lost in the increasing drama that began to further unfold.

“I’m a failure,” the dark-haired groom finally said to his partner, a glum, shadowed expression etched on his face. “How could I have called myself captain and not have known that one of my players was a female in disguise the whole entire time?”

“Well, if it helps,” Hinata piped up, “None of the other captains figured it out either so…” She trailed off suddenly as Daichi, Ennoshita, and Yamaguchi shared solemn glances between one another, causing her to shake her head with a small laugh.

Noya suddenly gasped dramatically as he placed his hands on her shoulders. “Wait...do you mean...all the times we flashed you in the locker room…”

Tanaka shot him a horrified glance, as Hinata turned beet red as she averted her eyes. “Err...well.”

“Or that time we tried to dunk you in the bath house?” 

“Which time?” Hinata asked, looking thoughtful, causing the two men to groan loudly in disbelief.

“A failure...” Daichi repeated to himself, dropping his head on Suga’s shoulder. The light-haired man looked contemplative as he tilted his head to the side to consider the female in a new light.

“All the times you stayed late in the locker room? Do you even have bladder problems, Hinata…?”

Her expression instantly turned to sheepish, while Asahi blinked in realization. “Wow...this is all starting to make sense now…”

"I can't believe this!!"

Tsukishima scoffed at the dramatic reactions he overheard as he watched from afar, but he couldn’t say that he was necessarily surprised. When Yamaguchi finally approached their table looking pale and shell-shocked, Yachi gave him a sympathetic look as he dropped bonelessly into an empty seat beside her.

“So...you three knew.”

The former third year captain narrowed his eyes as Yachi coughed nervously into her hand and Kageyama seemed to be staring fixedly at a spot just over his shoulder. Tsukishima met his glare straight on with a raised brow.  “That’s right.”

“And none of you guys thought to tell me?” Yamaguchi’s expression turned incredulous as his voice raised an octave in his growing hysterics. “Like it didn’t occur to you that maybe I should know.”

“Sorry, Tadashi,” Yachi managed to say, though it was easy to tell that she was beginning to get flustered with guilt as the confrontation continued. "You know...Hinata didn’t actually mean to tell any of us...We...kind of all found out on our own…”

The blonde female laughed awkwardly as she remembered the exact moment when she found out Hinata’s secret. “I mean...I caught her changing…”

Kageyama cleared his throat. “I overheard her talking to her childhood friends about it…”

The other three turned to Tsukishima, who shrugged nonchalantly. “I just knew.”

Yamaguchi did not seem remotely appeased by their admissions and only grew more and more skeptical. “And what about third year...when I went through...you know, Tsukki, stop snickering!”

“Oh. You mean your existential gay crisis?”

Kageyama coughed into his drink, while Yachi scratched the back of her head awkwardly. “We all thought it was really sweet.”

“I came out to my mom.”

Tsukishima lost it at that, shoulders full-on shaking in mirth as Yamaguchi glared at him, before blinking rapidly in realization.

“Wait, you know what? Everything does make sense now. Especially your animosity towards Shouyou.”

“What?” The blonde responded shortly.

Yamaguchi nodded to himself in thought as he continued. “You know how you’d always antagonize her? Like every time she did something cool on the court, you would take it as a personal offense, and be such an ass about it…”

“...And I always wondered to myself, ‘Wow, Tsukki must really consider Shouyou to be quite a rival’, but that wasn’t it at all, was it?”

Tsukishimi glared menacingly as Yamaguchi began to laugh to himself in growing amusement.

“It’s because you’re a misogynistic bastard!” Yamaguchi’s expression looked smug as he raised his eyebrows at his taller companion. “You hated being beat by a girl more than anything else.”

“Tch. Shut up, Tadashi.”

Hinata chose that exact moment to approach their table, wiping the sweat off her brow. “That went just about as well as I expected."

She surveyed the various expressions on her friends’ faces.

“Did I miss something?”

Kageyama had a small smirk on his face, while Tsukishima was still glaring daggers at Yamaguchi. Yachi rolled her eyes at their behavior and shook her head in response, perking up when she heard a familiar upbeat song start to play. 

“Nope! Not at all. But Tadashi and I were just about to hit the dance floor. Shouyou, you coming?”

“Nah, I’m not going to third-wheel.”

Hinata plopped tiredly into the chair next to Kageyama, and Tsukishima looked between the two of them for a brief moment before scooting his chair back and standing up.

“Where are you going, Tsukishima?” Hinata asked, watching as the taller man adjusted his dark suit before turning his back to them.

The blonde gave them both a flat look from over his shoulder. “I also am not a fan of third-wheeling.”

Hinata blinked at the blonde’s retreating back as he approached the nearby bar and turned back to Kageyama.

“Still as snarky as ever, huh?”

The dark-haired man rolled his eyes. “That’s an understatement.”

The orange-haired female twirled the contents of her champagne glass in thought. “What do you think he meant by that?”

Kageyama shrugged lightly. “Maybe it’s because we showed up here together?”

Hinata grinned playfully back at him. “Well, I did say I needed a date!”

He froze at her words, but she must have not noticed his discomfort because Hinata continued to smile even when she looked away from him to survey the remaining guests on the dance floor. Tanaka was cradling Kiyoko’s belly as he held her from behind, laughing at Noya’s attempt to dance on Asahi’s feet.

Yachi and Tadashi were holding hands as they spun in time to the swelling of the song, and nearby Takeda-sensei and Coach Ukai looked content as they leaned back against the bar counter watching their former students enjoy themselves.

In the middle of the dance floor, Daichi and Suga could be seen swaying softly to the beat of the song playing overhead, faces pressed close together as they spoke about something, sweet smiles evident even from where they were sitting.

It made Hinata’s heart flutter and clench all at the same time.

“I really love weddings, you know?” Hinata said casually, lifting a hand to brush a few loose strands that had fallen from their hold, as she turned to look back at Kageyama. 

“I love the idea that...there is someone out there waiting just for you. Who will take you on your best days and worst days.”

Kageyama could feel his pulse start to race as he nodded his head stiffly in response. “Hm. Yeah. Daichi-san and Suga-san are pretty lucky.”

“You think we’ll ever have that one day?”

Looking up at her then, the string lights strung up around the venue casting a dim glow in her hazel eyes, Kageyama knew what Hinata wanted. He could read it in the way she seemed to draw closer to him, gaze searching and almost hesitant as she watched his reaction.

And he knew just how easy it could be. 

It could be as easy as Kageyama putting his racing thoughts into words—the way she had taught him to do—finally giving a name to the restless, heavy feeling in his chest. He could say all of the things that he had thought about the past few years, but had pushed to the back of his mind, willing them to disappear. I like you. I think you're amazing. I want to be by your side always.

Or it could even be so simple as to lean forward and press his lips against hers, knowing that despite all of his self-conscious fears that Hinata would actually let him do it— would probably even pull him closer and—

His cobalt eyes were immediately drawn to her mouth as his throat suddenly felt dry.

But he couldn’t allow himself to do any of those things—not yet. So Kageyama willed himself to stay silent and still, clenching his hands into fists underneath the clothed table, until Hinata forced a smile on her face and looked away.

“Sorry, Kageyama. I shouldn’t force my feelings—” Hinata stopped short, shaking her head with a small disbelieving laugh, and getting up from her seat. "Never mind!"

“I’ll see you around! Don’t leave without me, okay?”

With a flash of a smile, Hinata was gone, and Kageyama was left staring sullenly at her empty seat for a long moment, second-guessing his actions, when suddenly an angry Tsukishima soon occupied it.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Kageyama’s eye twitched in annoyance at the other man’s confrontational tone.

“What?”

“I mean I knew you were an idiot,” Tsukishima leaned forward, resting his elbows against his knees as he raised an eyebrow at him. “But you’ve gotta be kidding me right now.”

Kageyama could feel his face grow into a snarl as he stared back incredulously. “Excuse me?”

The blonde lifted a finger to point at him. “You like Hinata.”

Kageyama opened his mouth to protest, but Tsukshima barreled on with careful disregard as he then pointed to the orange-hair female now dancing alongside Yachi and Shimizu on the dance floor. “Hinata more than clearly just expressed that she likes you back, so I repeat, what the hell are you doing?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kageyama snapped back heatedly.

“Tch. Then explain it to me, your highness.”

At his derisive remark, Kageyama had to will himself not to bark out harshly like he would have in the past. Yes, while there were years of animosity between the two men—they were much older now, and goading each other on just to get a rise out of the other was a thing of the past. Well, mostly anyway.

Kageyama was silent for a long moment, watching from a distance as Hinata and the other women formed a dance circle around Suga and Daichi, the light-haired man laughing as his husband looked rightfully amused, before turning to look back at Tsukishima’s disapproving face. 

“If I reciprocate her feelings now, it would only be a distraction."

“For you or for her?” Tsukishima questioned, eyes narrowing.

The dark-haired man frowned, breathing deeply. “What Hinata’s trying to do—it’s bigger, way bigger—than just her and I anymore. And she can’t afford to lose sight of that.”

Kageyama sighed, pushing the empty glass in front of him. “I’d only get in the way.”

Tsukishima frowned, studying the other man before him. And then it clicked. “...So, you’re trying to protect her.”

Kageyama looked up, and his blue eyes looked turbulent and sharp when they locked on his. “Do you have any idea how much negative press she’ll get if the media even remotely suspects that she is dating one of her teammates?”

Tsukishima tapped his fingers on the edge of the table, considering his words with a slight tilt of his head. “The press would probably eat her alive. They would find a way to spin the story somehow to make it look like that was her intention all along.”

The dark-haired man nodded solemnly. “And then everything that she worked so hard for...it would all be for nothing.”

“Then why don’t you just tell her that?” Tsukishima demanded, eyes narrowing further. “What’s the point of stringing her along if you know how she feels about you?”

“Because,” Kageyama scoffed, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb to gesture back at the female in question who was now jumping up excitedly and tugging Narita and Kinoshita from their table to join them in a whatever group shuffle dance the DJ had decided to put on next. “Knowing that dumbass, she wouldn’t even care. If I told her that I felt the same, then she would still want to try, regardless of the media or the press, because that’s the kind of dummy she is.”

Tsukishima gave the other man an appraising look at that. “So you’re not as much of a simpleton as I thought you were.”

“Fuck off.”

“It’s just surprising is all.”

“I didn’t ask you for your opinion.”

The blonde smirked slightly at the other man’s half-hearted rebukes, taking a sip of his drink. “So, you’re just going to let her go?”

Kageyama rested his chin on his palm as he watched her spin and dance on the dance floor.

“I’ve gotten pretty good at waiting for that idiot.”

Tsukishima followed his gaze, watching as their former teammates made complete fools of themselves dancing to some westeren line dance. He wondered if he should warn him.

That if Kageyama wasn’t careful, then Hinata would be stolen right under his nose.

-

“Are you ready?”

Atsumu watched as Hinata paced nervously around the empty meeting room. The press conference had already started in the main auditorium, with Kuroo heading it off by saying a few words to help ease the excitement of the press. The rest of their team was already seated, ready to be called on when questioned, but Atsumu opted to stay behind to help calm the orange-haired female's nerves. Though, he felt pretty useless right now, given how Hinata appeared to be growing more and more pale by the second.

Hinata was quite close to having a full-blown panic attack. Any moment now, Fumi or Akane would come in to retrieve her. And just imagining herself sitting in front of that large auditorium with everyone's eyes on her made her feel jumpy and queasy...and maybe she couldn't do this, maybe this was a bad idea after all—

"Quick, Atsumu-san. Distract me! I'm so nervous, I think I'm going to throw up," Hinata whined, running a hand through her hair, forgetting that it had just been expertly styled by Miwa just hours before.

Atsumu immediately opened his mouth to crack a joke that he had heard from Bokuto the other day, something that was sure to make the female laugh, when a thought slowly dawned on him. 

-

“...what happens if you miss your window?”

“Then you might never get another chance.”

-

And it was like the moment just before a serve.

When the music stopped, and everything narrowed down to a single moment.

“I like you,” Atsumu found himself saying, and Hinata froze mid-pace to whirl around and stare at him with a dumbfounded look on her face. 

“W-what?”

“I think I’ve always liked you,” Atsumu continued, blinking at himself for how easy it was for him to finally say out loud. After all of this time beating himself up for his own feelings, he never thought that actually saying them out loud would feel so freeing. And to be honest, it felt pretty satisfying to see Hinata focus in on him with that cute, shocked look on her face.

“I know I’m being selfish..." Atsumu took a deep breath and looked up at her, the courage in his facade a front for his heart beating fast against his ribcage. "...I know you have a lot going on, and this is probably isn't the best time to be telling you this..."

“...But I can’t help but think we’d be pretty damn good together.”

The blonde shot her a lopsided smile, and Hinata felt her chest clench at the sight of it, repeating his words over and over in her head.

I like you.

I like you.

But...

“I—”

The door opened to a cacophony of noises, camera flashes and shouting, slamming into Hinata’s ears like a wall of sound. She and Atsumu spun around to see Fumi standing in the doorway, a serious expression on her face as she nodded her head at them.

“It’s time,” the journalist informed them, pushing open the door further as she waited for them.

Hinata looked back at Atsumu helplessly. "You know, you literally have the worst possible timing, Atsumu-san."

"You said you wanted a distraction, right?" Atsumu shrugged casually, seeming completely at ease despite the bombshell declaration he just made.

"But I didn't even get to respond to you," Hinata said guiltily, hazel eyes flicking over to Fumi who watched them curiously at the doorway.

The blonde walked over to her, brown eyes bright and content as he winked. "Guess the ball's in your court now, Shouyou-kun."

"Are you guys ready?" Fumi called out to them, voice growing almost impatient as she checked the hallway to make sure no one was coming.

Hinata squared her shoulders and curled her hands into fists at her sides. Looking up at Atsumu, she swallowed her nerves and nodded.

“Ready.”

They walked through the threshold, and there was a split second of confused silence when she came into view—and then the shouting began.

-

“If you’re joining us just now on NHK Sports, we are here with 24-year-old Hinata Shouyou, professional V.League player and member of the All Japan Olympic team, who has just revealed that HE has actually been a SHE this whole time.”

“...if we could just go back to your previous statement, Hinata-san…”

“We can’t,” Fumi cut in sharply. “She’s already answered your question clearly, so we’re moving on to the next.”

Hinata blinked rapidly, not knowing where to look. The experience was over-amplified to her senses, and she tried to focus on every question, but the sounds of reporters talking over one another and the cameras going off every other second was almost enough to have her tripping over her words. 

To top it all off, a side effect of the live press conference Hinata hadn’t thought to anticipate was the off-the-hook vibrating her phone had been doing in her jacket pocket since the moment she walked into frame and sat at the dais between Kageyama and Hoshiumi. Apparently everyone she knew was attempting to call or text her at the same time. 

Luckily, it seemed as though her natural charisma and genuine sincerity seemed to be working wonders on the crowd of reporters. Even Kuroo seemed surprised at how the usual sharp-spoken, seasoned journalists seemed to be warming up to her and moved by her story.

“Hinata-san!” A petite, dark-haired reporter called out from the front row. “Can you tell us more about how exactly you came to the decision to disguise yourself as a male all of these years?”

The orange-haired girl smiled easily at the reporter and watched as the cameras began flashing yet again. “Since middle school, I was always looked down upon for being so small and being a girl and wanting to play volleyball. In a sport where your height is your greatest advantage and being a female meant unnecessary restrictions were placed on you, I thought to myself, ‘Well, what if I just took one of those disadvantages out of the equation? What could anyone say?’" She grinned, almost sheepishly, and the crowd seemed enamored by it, if the increased flashing of cameras was any indication.

“Now, they can still say I’m small, and that I’m a girl, but they can’t deny that I can fly, right?”

More shouting ensued.

“Next question!” Akane pointed at a man to his left. “You.”

“Hinata-san! I think what the world really wants to know now is whether you are going to be allowed to play in the men’s league or will you move to the women’s league?”

A hush fell over the crowd as they all waited for the young woman to respond.

“I don't think that's really up to me. It's for the FIVB to ultimately decide, of course. And we will respect their decision either way," Hinata said in measured tones, face tilting upwards in thought, "But men’s league or women’s league. Does it even actually matter? As long as I’m playing on the court with the best of the best then that’s the most important.” 

"I just want to play volleyball."

Hinata looked back at her team for assurance and felt her heart skip a beat when Kageyama gave her one of his rare, proud smiles. Bokuto grinned excitedly and slapped his hand on her shoulder in support. Atsumu had been looking down at her with awe during the entire press conference, and Aran had to elbow him in the side so he would snap out of it. Hoshiumi had clear stars in his eyes as he smiled along with the rest of them, and even Ushijima himself looked unwavering and steadfast as he offered her a supportive nod.

On the other side of her, Hyakuzawa sent her the softest of smiles, while the others cheered in support behind her. She could hear Yaku, Komori, and Gao loudly chanting her name, while Sakusa stood slightly apart from the rest, the proud look in his dark eyes saying more than enough.

It became a world-wide trending meme the next day.

Get someone who looks at you the way Team Japan looks at Hinata Shouyou.

Someone had captured the exact moment after she had made her statement, and it immediately spread like wildfire. Almost all the members of Team Japan were looking at Hinata with variations of fondness, pride, and respect, while she grinned ecstatically straight at the camera. People on Twitter started tagging her teammates as a group of people and tagging Hinata as the object of affection.

She gets sent several iterations throughout the day. One had her teammates tagged as ‘me’ and Hinata as ‘ramen’, or her as ‘cute dog videos.’ Another had her teammates tagged as ‘the gays’ and her as ‘Lady Gaga’. 

Yachi and Yamaguchi found them all especially hilarious, while Hinata felt a mix of flattered, if not mostly mortified.

Everyone around the globe seemed to be reeling from the news, and Kuroo said to give it a few weeks before the FIVB and the Olympic committee gave their official decision. But he assured her that the fact that the organizations didn’t refuse her outright was already a win on their part. That meant they were willing to listen at least. Or possibly that they didn't want to deal with negative press if they turned her down right away.

It also helped that the video they made to promote her had been one of the number one trending topics for the past week. When Hinata was finally able to watch it at the end of the press conference, she had been rendered speechless.

The video began with a shot of her in her high school uniform, jumping up to spike a ball and looking back at her team excitedly when she scored a point, then it transitioned to a short clip of her diving into the sand to receive a fast spike and Heitor appearing next to her to give her a double high-five. Whoever made the promo had masterfully edited several videos of her throughout the years, and with the upbeat tempo of the background music going in time with the transitions and the inspirational captions throughout, even Hinata had to admit that they made her look good.

Nearing the end of the video, the upbeat instrumental music began to slow as clips of several of her friends and teammates appeared on the screen. Hinata found herself slack-jawed, staring in awe at all of the familiar faces that showed up in the video. There were the members of the Black Jackals grinning back at her, then it was Nice and Heitor, Pedro, Koji and Izumi, Natsu, Kenma, the neighborhood volleyball association, the Little Giant himself, the coaches and members from the Karasuno team, and even more.

Absentmindedly, she realized that someone must have taken the time to actually go to all of these people and inform them of her identity in order to capture these testimonials. And she blinked dumbly when Yachi and Shimizu suddenly appeared on the screen, holding microphones as they interviewed a shy-looking Aone-san as he stated his support for her.

Hinata sniffed loudly, wiping at her eyes at the sight of her friends. Girls really were the freaking best.

“Hinata Shouyou is one of the greatest volleyball players of our generation,” Coach Washijou was saying to the camera. Then there was Rumi and Kanoka from Niiyama High, in their National uniforms. “She’s showing women everywhere that they can strive for more.” Lucio adjusted his cap as he smiled at the camera. “You won’t find another player more disciplined.”

Then finally there was Oikawa, smirking at the camera, with the rest of the male players of the Argentina league behind him. “Hinata Shouyou is a worthy opponent, and Team Argentina wants to play the best. Let her play.”

By the time the video ended with the hashtag #LetHerPlay in large white caps against the black screen, Hinata had been full-blown sobbing. 

"I told you that your reaction would be good," Kuroo had said, smirking in a satisfied fashion as he patted her on the back, cameras rapidly flashing around them to capture the emotional moment.

“Don’t check your social media for the next few days,” Fumi recommended the next day when the two journalist showed up at her place to give her a rundown on their next moves. 

Akane nodded, typing something rapidly on her phone. “It will be way too overwhelming. And you don’t want to go down that spiral. Trust us.”

Hinata looked nervous at the advice, but proceeded to delete the apps off her phone so that she wouldn’t see the notifications pop up. 

But she could feel herself growing more and more restless as time passed.

Coach recommended that she take the week off practice to get her mind settled. On one hand she appreciated the thoughtful gesture, because truthfully, there was no way she was going to play well with this monumentous decision weighing on her. But on the other hand, Hinata desperately needed something to take her mind off of everything. And with her teammates continuing with their own training, she knew she had to go elsewhere to take care of her restless energies.

She found herself hanging around the Tanaka household more and more to give Shimizu company, which Tanaka greatly appreciated as the due date for their baby's arrival was fast-approaching. Now that he knew that she was a girl, Tanaka couldn't help but start to act even sweeter towards her.

“Tanaka, I’m still the same Shouyou. You don’t have to treat me any differently!” Hinata had laughed when he had opened the door for her when he dropped her off at home.

The taller man looked bashful as he shrugged back. “I have to make up for all of the years I was so rowdy towards you..."

"Plus, I'm going to be a dad to a little girl soon, you know?” Tanaka added after a moment, rubbing the back of his head as Hinata smiled radiantly back at him. 

"You're going to be a great 'girl dad', Tanaka!" The orange-haired female assured him soundly. "You're going to name her Shouyou, right? Kiyoko-chan already said she would consider it!"

Back at home, Kenma tried to distract her with some games, as he tended to do when she was upset, and it definitely helped. Especially since Pedro was done with his exams and was able to join in again. He had been ecstatic about the whole campaign idea and had assured her that so far everyone online was being extremely supportive.

“There are some trolls here and there, but I’ve done my best to keep them at bay. I’ve never gotten in so many twitter feuds in the span of one week," Pedro informed them proudly on the computer screen, throwing two thumbs up.

Hinata and Kenma shared amused looks at his response. “You didn’t have to do that, Pedro.”

“No way was I going to let them talk bad about you, Shouyou," the university student proclaimed, eyes wide and earnest, "Not on my watch! Plus, I got like hundreds of retweets and likes. I’ve never had so many followers on an account before. So, it’s a win-win in my book!”

Hinata chuckled at his enthusiasm, but she was still uneasy. Chatting with Nice and Heitor on the phone also helped. Their little ones were growing up so fast, and Hinata was delighted to see them on her phone screen when they video-chatted.

"Sho Sho!"

Nice looked tired, but as beautiful and radiant as always, despite her little terrors jumping around behind her in the background. "Quando você vem nos visitar?" When are you going to come visit us?

Hinata looked at the blonde hopelessly. "Eu gostaria de estar lá agora! Eu não aguento mais ficar esperando!" I wish I was there right now! I cannot stand waiting around anymore!

Heitor came up behind his wife and kissed her on top of her head, before waving at Hinata in greeting. "Tenho certeza que eles vão tomar uma decisão em breve." I'm sure they will make their decision soon.

Nice shot her a proud smile, winking at her supportively. "Você é bastante falado por aqui. Todos estão tão animados que Ninja Shouyou virou notícia mundial!" You're quite the talk around here. Everyone is so excited that Ninja Shouyou has made world-wide news!

That alone made Hinata grow even more nervous. People all around the world suddenly knew who she was, and it was killing her to not be able to go online and just Google herself to see what popped up.

Reminding herself to heed Fumi and Akane's warnings, she turned on the TV. It had been a whole week now. Watching something on the television wouldn't hurt, right?

The TV automatically turned to a news station that coincidentally was broadcasting a picture of her smiling face from the press conference, and Hinata instantly froze at the sight of herself on the screen.

“Why are we even entertaining this?!” An American coach was exclaiming to an interviewer, taking off his hat angrily as he glared at the camera. “She broke the rules, didn’t she? She and her team should be disqualified. Done and Done.”

Hinata immediately raised the remote to rapidly change the channel again with a swift click of a button.

“In the Olympic Charter,” a female reporter was stating boldly into the microphone, voice razor sharp, “It states that the International Olympic Committee was committed to encourage and support the promotion of women in sport at all levels and in all structures with a view to implementing the principle of equality of men and women. Let Hinata Shouyou play!”

CLICK!

“—there technically is no rule that states that women can’t compete in a men’s division sport. What's the harm in letting her play on the men's team?”

CLICK!

“The Olympics are meant to bridge the gap between countries—a celebration of the world's greatest athletes. Why can't it finally be a way to bridge the gap between genders as well?"

CLICK!

“This just in!! In a stunning decision by the FIVB—Hinata Shouyou will be allowed to participate in the Olympic Games! This sets a brand new precedent on gendering sports and whether or not it is needed anymore—”

Hinata dropped the remote in shock just as Kenma came barreling into the room, an uncharacteristically excited expression on his face. "Are you watching?!"

"Oh my god!"

Her phone began to vibrate loudly.

-

One year later...

“Do you need to go to the bathroom?”

Hinata took a momentary break from staring wide-eyed at the stadium filled with thousands of spectators to glare up at her dark-haired teammate. “No, I’m not in middle school, Bakayama.”

“Just saying. You look even more nervous than usual.” Kageyama glanced knowingly down at his teammate, smirking when she stuck out her tongue at him.

Overhearing the conversation beside him, Atsumu threw an arm over Hinata’s shoulders, successfully pushing the dark-haired setter back a few paces with an intentional pointed glance at his general direction.

“Shouyou-kun isn’t nervous, right?!” The blonde assured, cooing over Hinata as she smiled up at him.

Hinata chuckled and swatted his arm away. “I’m not nervous.”

“Shouyouuuuu! It’s okay!!” Bokuto came bouncing up on the other side of her. “I am super nervous, too!”

“Hinata-kun,” Sakusa cut in from a few paces up ahead, “I have a wide selection of anxiety medicine, should you need some. I always have them on hand, especially when dealing with such migraine-inducing teammates.”

Atsumu stuck his tongue out at the dark-haired spiker, knowing when he was being called out. “Rude, Omi-kun!!”

“Isn’t it interesting that you just assumed I was referring to you?” 

Hinata shook her head at their antics and caught the eye of Hoshiumi who tossed her an encouraging grin. “You’re going to be great.”

“We’re going to be great,” Hinata corrected, lifting up her fist to her white-haired teammate and grinning when he engaged in their signature handshake, ending with a jumping high-five.

Bokuto pouted. “No fair. Why can’t we have our own secret handshake, Shouyou!?”

“Tiny giants only!” Hoshiumi laughed, waving him off dismissively.

“Kiyoomi, give me your hand! We can have our own secret handshake!” Komori called out to him, snickering when the dark-haired spiker glowered at him.

“Don’t touch me.”

Once they reached their side of the court, Hinata felt the familiar presence of Kageyama lingering at her side, and she looked up at him with a small smile. She opened her mouth to say something, when a loud, familiar voice came calling from the other side of the court.

“SHOU-CHAN!!” 

"Oikawa-senpai!"

Hinata found herself lifted up into a spinning hug as the Argentinian player pressed her tightly against his chest. Oikawa pointedly ignored the indignant squawks coming from her team as he looked down at the comforting sight of orange hair.

"I'm so proud of you, you know," Oikawa said when he finally pulled away from her. He took a moment to appreciate the way the bright red Team Japan uniform looked on the lean female, taking careful note of how differently she looked in an actual women's uniform...particularly without her binder to help hide certain feminine features from view.

He smirked when Hinata blushed, beaming up at him. "You said you wanted Team Argentina to play the best, right?"

Oikawa nodded, patting her on the head soundly. "That's right."

Hinata suddenly threw him a razor-sharp smile, hazel eyes glinting. "You remember that when we wipe the floor with you guys on the court."

Oikawa threw his head back laughing. "I'm holding you to that, Chibi-chan."

-

“Fast! They’re just too fast! This legendary combination from Karasuno High is flying around the court!”

-

Hinata stepped up to the server line, spinning the ball lightly in her hands. As shouts of her name began to increase in volume, she couldn't help but smile to herself as she reflected on just how far she had come.

Back in middle school, playing on her ragtag team through sheer force of will and little to no technique had been fun, if not tragically misguided. But it had ultimately been the stepping stone for her in realizing just how much she wanted to play volleyball above anything else.

With the earnest drive of her Karasuno team, Hinata became more grounded and focused. Their steady hands led her to become more clear-thinking and driven, and the reckless and impressionable first year who was all awkward athleticism and raw talent grew to finally become someone worthy of others’ attention.

On the sandy beaches of Brazil, Hinata learned discipline and an unwavering commitment to her health and body. It was there that she built her skills humbly again from the ground up with an unmatched, single-minded focus that allowed her to grow in skill and finesse as time passed.

And as a player for the MSBY Black Jackals, Hinata finally, finally felt all of the past years coming into fruition with every successful spike, receive and serve she managed to get across the court. She knew just how formidable of an opponent she had become, and she revelled in the feeling of being sized up by the other team, knowing just how dangerous they considered her to be.

But being on the Olympic team with all of the strongest rivals and allies she’d ever had was like…all of those experiences combined and compounded into an exhilarating feeling of joy and gratefulness. It was like she was constantly overflowing with pure, unadulterated delight. The fact that all of the previous events in her life had led her up to this moment, with this team—she grinned wildly at Kageyama as he fist-bumped her after she managed her first service ace of the match—it was a spiritual, out-of-body experience.

“Shou-chan!! You won’t get away with that next time!” Oikawa called from the other side of the net, and Hinata smiled dangerously at the challenge. "We'll see about that!"

“I will never get over that you two are suddenly friends,” Kageyama muttered from beside her as Atsumu glared at the brunette, scoffing, “Who does he think he is, acting so familiar with our teammate.”

Sakusa casted him a disbelieving look, as they got back into position for the next point to continue.

-

Ariake Arena Spectator Stands

"Remember when we told her that she was insane?" Koji muttered under his breath to Izumi, who was standing beside him as they both watched Hinata do a devastating jump serve that left the other team dumbfounded in their attempt to receive it.

"We weren't wrong," Izumi responded lightly, chuckling when his dark-haired companion shot him an incredulous look. "Her plan was 100% insane."

Koji shook his head, smiling to himself as he watched the familiar head of orange hair dash across the court in a blink of an eye to spike the ball. "She did say to watch her fly, huh?"

And watch her fly they did.

-

Sakanoshita Store

“Oi!! How long are you going to keep crying?” Ukai pushed at his colleague who seemed to have fallen into a sobbing heap by the television flashing yet another image of their old student grinning at the cameras after receiving her bronze medal.

“I’m just...so....proud,” Takeda heaved, wiping at his eyes with his sleeve.

From beside Ukai, his phone chimed, and Takeda reached out a shaking arm to check it.

Hinata Shouyou (10:31) Couldn’t have gotten this far without you both! Thank you for believing in me.

Ukai could only pat Takeda’s back comfortingly as the bespectacled man let out another desperate wail.

-

Japan National Stadium

Natsu was waiting in line at one of the food vendor stands, when she caught sight of a group of small children clustered around a flat-screen that was displaying some of the recent highlights of the games.

“Look it's the Team Japan volleyball game!”

“Did you guys watch Hinata Shouyou play! She’s amazing!”

“She literally flies across the court. So cool!”

“I want to be just like her!”

Natsu was already leaving the line and approaching the group of children before she even realized it, bending down to their height to point at the screen where Hinata was shown cheering triumphantly with the rest of her team.

"That's my Onee-chan, you know!" The orange-haired female declared, smile stretching wide on her face as the children turned around to look at her in awe and amazement.