Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Your eyes flickered across the school grounds, taking in the picturesque scene before you. It was one of many in the mountainous region of Miyagi. The breeze was aromatic with the sweet scent of cherry blossoms, the ground littered with fallen pink and white petals amongst the deep green of the lush grass. Karasuno High wasn’t exactly fancy, but they took great care of their appearances.

You leaned your head back slightly, your skull meeting the sun-warmed brick of the second gymnasium, and waited. Behind the doors to your right you could hear the squeaking of trainers on polished wood and the muffled shouts of the boy’s team as they got ready for practice.

You sniffed and checked your watch. Asano-sensei, your coach, had spoken to you after the morning practice, just before you went to change into your school uniform.

“Meet me at the second gym after school, before practice. I want to show you something.”

You had nodded and didn’t give it much thought as she went to chat with the team captain, but now, standing around by yourself outside one of the boy’s clubs in your school tracksuit, you felt unsure.

Surely this must seem creepy? Definitely. It will look like you're waiting to confess to one of the players. But is that even a real thing? Maybe being in high school makes people bolder. Or just more hormonal. Who knew? You didn’t.

“Ah, there you are! Thanks for meeting me!”

You were jolted out of your thoughts by the cheerful voice of your coach approaching, her short brunette bob bouncing as she waved and walked from the main school building. She wore a light blue track set, the metal whistle hanging over her jacket and jingling softly as she moved.

“It’s no problem, sensei,” you replied, shifting your backpack and straightening up from your slouch against the wall, “What did you need? Is practice cancelled?”

You really hoped not. Honestly, of all the stressful things you had to deal with when you entered high school, you were actually excited about joining a real club. Although to be quite frank, you were a bit let down by how lackluster the girl’s volleyball team had been.

Asano-sensei grinned, “Ah no, not quite. I actually just came from Gymnasium One, had to get the girls started on their warm-ups.”

You shifted on your feet. Why on Earth would Coach pull you out of club practice? Had you done something wrong?

“Follow me,” Asano-sensei chuckled upon taking in your expression.

You briefly wondered what your face looked like when in some mixture of miffed and anxious.

She didn’t even bother explaining further, just pressed her hands against the doors of the gymnasium and slid them open, the voices growing louder without the barrier.

Ah, they were practicing spikes by the sounds of it. Victorious cries and exasperated groans along with the slamming of pleather on the floor.

You peeked over Asano-senpai’s shoulder from your spot around the corner and nearly had an aneurysm.

“HAHHH how do you like me now Tsukishima?!”

Gracing your poor eyes was the sight of a dozen boys on the court watching as one guy with a buzzcut swung his jersey around above him, his other hand pointing violently at a tall blond on the opposite side of the net. Most of them looked exasperated at least.

Seemed like this was a common occurrence.

“Ahem.”

All dozen plus pairs of eyes zeroed in on Asano-sensei as she faked a cough into her fist, then you. Then to the shirtless dude as they followed your line of sight.

“TANAKA! Put your damn shirt back on!” Multiple boys cried out, some of their faces turning pink. You pyramided your hands over your brow and looked to the ever so interesting white lines of the court, eyes wide and your mind absolutely boggled.

Ah yes. Very distracting. What lovely wooden surfacing. Fascinating scuff marks. Uh-huh.

“Ah! Sorry about him!”

You glanced up to see that one of the older boys had drawn closer and was bowing in your direction, his short brown hair sticking slightly to the beads of sweat dotting his forehead.

“Asano-sensei! What brings you here?”

Another man trotted over, eyes bright and friendly behind his rectangular glasses, a lime jacket hanging loosely off his shoulders. You felt that you recognised him. Definitely another teacher, although his name escaped you.

“Takeda-sensei! Pardon the intrusion,” Asano-sensei greeted back casually, apparently far more accustomed to the antics of teenage boys than you, “Do you and your team have a moment?”

“Of course!” he answered. The boy before you straightened and clapped his hands.

“Gather up!” he hollered, deep and authoritative. His teammates all strode over, forming a wide semi-circle around him.

Captain, no doubt about it.

Asano-sensei moved deeper into the hall and stood before the team. She glanced at you over her shoulder, a grin upon her lips.

“Are you coming in or are you just going to hide at the door?”

You lowered your eyes as the laser focus of all those boys shot back to you and took a step into the room, toeing off your outside shoes and quickly slipping on your trainers. You slid the door shut behind you, effectively trapping you in the gym.

As you ambled closer you could see that every single one of them scanned you, eyes widening.

“Excuse the intrusion,” you added, giving the group a cordial nod.

All but one gaped at you. However, a very excited ginger pointed right at you, brown eyes massive. He would have probably touched your nose if not for your quick reflexive step backwards.

“Holy cow, you could be Kageyama’s twin!”

You just blinked as Tobio smacked the smaller boy’s head.

“That’s because she is my twin, dumbass.”

“EHHHH?!”

The chorus of voices caused you to flinch away slightly. Even Asano-sensei looked shocked as Tobio moved closer.

“Kageyama, you have a sister?!”

“Kageyama-san, you have a brother?”

You shared a long, exasperated look with your brother as he stood beside you.

“Yes,” you both answered in unison. You could feel your brother’s pinky finger wrap around yours, and you inclined your ear towards him.

“What’s this all about?” he muttered, a fine eyebrow arching up into his fringe.

You shrugged, “No clue.”

“Oh I see, so this is the girl you were talking about, Asano-sensei?” the male teacher asked with a gasp, his hands coming to rest on his hips, “You’re taller than I expected. I suppose that’s a given though, considering how tall Kageyama-kun is.”

And it was a fair assessment. You stood far taller than the average Japanese woman, and actually taller than a good portion of the boys. You blinked and scratched your cheek, peering at the group.

Asano-sensei just patted your shoulder and grinned, “Yep! This is her. Go ahead and introduce yourself now.”

You stiffened and wrinkled your nose at the other woman. You didn’t exactly appreciate being jerked about.

Tsukishima cocked his head, waiting for the girl to speak. Yamaguchi knocked his elbow softly and leaned over.

“This is so weird,” he whispered.

Kei grunted in affirmation, just as the girl opened her mouth. She had stuffed her hands into her tracksuit pockets and looked a little peeved.

He couldn’t believe there were two Kageyamas now. It was... unnerving.

“Kageyama Tomiyo, first year class two,” you stated, eyeing them all suspiciously.

Tsukishima frowned at you. You apparently had a similar disposition to your brother and you were indeed unusually tall, although still dwarfed by his own height. Slender, almost waifish, your hair tied into a pair of inky high pigtails, with a pair of dark eyes.

A near carbon-copy of the idiot King, Kageyama Tobio.

“Sensei,” you grumbled, “… what is this about exactly?”

You internally cringed as your coach sent you a devilish smirk.

“As of today, you’ll be joining the boy’s team.”

“HAH??????”

You would have winced at the collective yell of confusion, but your brain had effectively bluescreened.

“W-what?” you eventually managed to stutter out, “Why?”

Asano-sensei propped her hands on her hips and gave you a soft look.

“Kageyama-san,” she started, and you felt a sweat start on your palms, “I know that you’re not happy playing on the girl’s team.”

Oh.

You winced, “No really. I’m fine.”

Asano-sensei frowned, “Kageyama. Listen.”

Oh.

The brunette woman huffed, “You’re a damn good player. Probably the best I’ve ever had come through my team. Possibly even this school.”

Then she crossed her arms and scowled, going into full coach mode.

Oh fuck.

Even looking down at your sneakers, you could hear the boys team straighten up, Tobio sidling closer. Asano-sensei was a scary lady when she wanted to be.

“You have so much potential. And you can take it far. Here. In this team.”

You gaped at her, completely thrown for a loop. Tobio stiffened beside you, a sharp inhale registering in your ear.

“Now go put your bags down and get ready,” she turned slightly on her heel, effectively giving everyone in the room simultaneous whiplash, and addressed Takeda, “I believe you managed to organise a practice match already?”

She didn’t pay you much mind as you numbly turned to your twin. He met your stare, just as wide-eyed, but shrugged. You swore you saw the corners of his mouth twitch and a glint of anticipation in his navy blue eyes.

He gently curled his hand in yours and led you to the side of the court, placing your stuff down against the wall. You shook yourself slightly out of your stupor and started removing your outer layers, a thin thrill of electricity running through your veins.

Hinata Shōyō blinked, eyes following the girl as she pulled off her jacket, her mind obviously elsewhere. She kept sharing rapidfire glances and small gestures with Kageyama, who stood closeby.

The dark-haired setter was tense. Eager, if the tiny smile on his face was any indication.

“So Asano-sensei,” Daichi started, bringing the boy’s focus back to the teacher, “Why exactly isn’t she liking the girl’s team, if you don’t mind me asking?”

The short lady sighed and scratched her cheek, “It’s a few factors, I think.”

Her gaze drifted up to the ceiling, index finger tapping her chin.

“She’s a natural at volleyball, it’s actually a little freaky if I’m being honest,” she chortled, “Kageyama has this weird way of being able to completely change up her playstyle in a split second, and she’s got bottomless stamina to boot. None of my girls can keep up.”

She frowned, eyes downcast, “She comes to every practice and she’s been great, but she’s getting kind of bored without a challenge. And I think she’s been considering leaving because of that.”

Takeda hummed, “So the boy’s team was the next step.”

“Exactly,” Asano agreed, then grinned at the team, “Plus I heard you guys are shooting for Nationals this year.”

“Yes ma’am,” Daichi nodded.

“Good, I reckon she can help get you there. She’s a walking arsenal.”

The team shared dubious looks as Asano-sensei made small talk with Shimizu. Tsukishima’s ear pricked as Tanaka muttered beneath his breath.

“Holy shit.”

It was a whisper, probably not meant for the others to hear, but Kei followed the older boy’s line of sight and couldn’t help a small double take.

Kageyama Tomiyo was retying her hair up into a high ponytail, fine hands deftly moving through the practiced motions. But what really seemed to catch everyone’s attention was the fact that the girl was built .

She had defined arms, biceps curving as she moved her hands through her locks, and beneath the black racerback tank she wore, there was also shifting in the lean muscles of her spine and shoulders.

But the main reason Tanaka seemed to be having a heart attack was because she had removed her tracksuit pants to reveal a black pair of tight volleyball shorts, barely three inches down her very impressive legs.

Asano-sensei’s words were starting to make a bit more sense.

Sugawara gave Tanaka a subtle smack upside the head.

“Be respectful. I’m sure she’s overwhelmed enough as is,” he chided.

“Right. Sorry.”

“Kageyama! You good to go?” Asano-sensei hollered, making the boys jump out of their stupor.

Both of the twins looked up at the name, and the teacher chuckled.

“That’s going to be an issue,” she chortled.

The pair strolled back over, your eyes fluttering around the gym. Tsukishima arched a brow as you sidled beside the coach and met the boys’ gaze evenly, a steely sort of determination in your irises. Asano looked somewhat amused by the behaviour but didn’t comment. She clapped her hands together.

“Alright! I think Takeda-sensei has all the details down pat, so I’m going to love and leave you. I’ve got to check on the girls.”

The girl looked like she’d been slapped and gaped as the other woman strutted away to the doors.

“You’re just leaving me here?!” you griped, disbelief evident in your tone.

Asano just smiled as she slid the door open, “You’ll be fine Kageyama. I’m pretty sure they don’t bite. Plus, bonus, you’ve got your brother here!”

With that, she then disappeared with a final slam. You grimaced.

Takeda-sensei just laughed and gently patted your shoulder, “It’s alright, I promise. Now! Introductions perhaps?”

The captain approached first, extending a hand with a warm smile, “Sawamura Daichi, I’m Captain. Good to meet you.”

You gripped his hand and gave it a brisk shake. You knew a lot of them just listening to your brother grumble about practices in the evenings, but it was nice to put faces to names. Up close, the third year was probably the same height as you. He seemed pleasant enough.

From there you were presented with the rest of the club. It was surprisingly small, with two third years, four second years and four other first years.

Of them there was Tobio and three other guys, including the small ginger. The one with freckles gave a small wave of his hand.

“Yamaguchi Tadashi, class four. It’s nice to meet you.”

The tall blonde beside him nodded at you, “Tsukishima Kei. Class four.”

Oh but I already know all about you.

You frowned, giving the boy a scan. Tobio had been absolutely fuming about this particular team member over the past week, and was particularly smug on Saturday after relaying his victory over the guy to you.

He crossed his arms and gave you a returning look of appraisal.

“So His Majesty has a twin, huh?”

The disdain dripping from his voice made your skin crawl.

You grit your teeth and hissed, “Don’t call him that.”

He paused, self-satisfied smirk frozen on his face for a moment, apparently taken aback by your quick flip in mood. The room immediately grew tense.

Before he could respond, you moved onto the first boy you saw, with the flaming orange curls.

“You must be Hinata then?” you asked quietly, watching as his eyes widened and he nodded excitedly.

“It’s nice to meet you! I had no idea Kageyama had a sibling. He really doesn’t act like it!”

The boy was… a lot.

You blinked, “Uh, likewise. I heard about your three-on-three match on Saturday. Thanks for spiking for him.”

The returning smile was blinding.

“He’s like a little kid with too much sugar in his system.”

Tobio was right.

Sawamura interjected as Hinata opened his mouth again.

“Well let’s go through our warm up stretches again and we can talk. We jumped right into spiking drills but let’s get some more information so we can see where you’ll fit in then, Kageyama-...san?”

He stumbled a bit when getting to the honorific. Asano-sensei had a point about that being an issue.

“Sure,” you shrugged, then gave the team a collective glance, “And just call me Tomiyo, it’s a lot easier in the long run.”

You ignored how some of the boys flushed and just followed Tobio as they spread out into a circle, giving your brother an uncertain look.

“You’ll be fine,” he chuffed, pulling his arm across his body to his opposite shoulder. You copied the motion, feeling the light burn through your tricep and loosening in your shoulder.

From there it was a pretty standard stretching routine with the team, although you were far more limber. When you all sat down and started working on your hamstrings, you heard a low, impressed whistle.

“You’re really flexible, Tomiyo-chan,” Sugawara commented from his spot across from you.

“I suppose.”

You sat deeper into the stretch, placing your palms flat on the soles of your shoes.

“So Tomiyo-san, how long have you been playing volleyball?” Sawamura asked, offering a strained grin as he gripped the very edges of his shoes from his position beside Sugawara. You glanced at Tobio, and he just shrugged.

“As long as I can remember. We’ve always been playing together,” you answered.

The buzz-cut guy that had been swinging his shirt about earlier, Tanaka, chimed in.

“Where did your team place in the Inter-Middle tournament? I’ll admit, I’ve never heard all that much about how good Kitagawa Daiichi’s girl team was.”

You shook your head, and shifted even further forward until your hamstrings started to actually feel it, “I wasn’t part of the volleyball club in junior high. I just started again this year.”

“What did you do then?”

You sniffed, “Gymnastics.”

Hinata piped up, “Cool! So you can do all kinds of tricks and stuff?”

“Uh, sure.”

“And your skills aren’t rusty?” Sawamura asked, widening his legs and reaching for his toes again. Everyone mimicked the movement. You went into a full split, resting your forearms on the wooden flooring and ignoring the pointed stares turned your way.

Tobio answered for you, “She’s been helping me practice almost everyday, both at home and after school practices, so no, she’s still pretty sharp.”

You shot him a fleeting smile. Having your brother vouch for your abilities was always reassuring.

The Captain nodded and sat up, “Sounds good. Perhaps a couple of short practice sets can give us a better idea of what you can do then.”

The boys all watched expectantly. You mulled the proposition over, sucking on your teeth lightly.

“Yeah, okay.”

After you’d all loosened up a bit, it came to dividing into teams. You stood beside Tobio as the Captain and Vice chatted to each other.

“You’ll do great,” he murmured beside you, his knuckles brushing yours.

“Okay! We’ve decided on teams!” Sugawara said, beaming brightly.

Daichi stepped forward then, hands on his hips, “Narita will be the referee. We’ll do two sets.”

He turned to you and your brother.

“For the first set, Tomiyo-san will be on Suga’s team. Kageyama, you’re with me.”

You blanched and felt Tobio tense.

“We can’t play together?” he demanded, leaning forward.

Sawamura sighed, “We need to see what she can do as an individual player first. Then we’ll see what you can do as a team.”

You glanced at your twin and saw how he ground his teeth, his jaw clenched. You hooked your pinky around his.

“It’s okay,” you whispered, feeling him relax.

“Alright then!” Sugawara continued, “Ennoshita, Tsukishima, Kinoshita, you’re with me!”

“Hinata, Yamaguchi and Tanaka with me,” Sawamura finished, then led his team off to the other side of the net.

Sugawara walked over to you, all warm smiles. There was something about the grey-haired boy that made you feel a little more at ease.

His eyes widened as he stood before you though.

“Whoa, you’re a lot taller up close,” he chuckled, “What’s your height?”

You thought back to when you last checked.

“I think just a bit less than one seventy-five?” you answered. Tsukishima’s brows shot up.

Kinoshita’s eyes bugged out and he groaned, “She’s as tall as I am.”

“Wait until she’s in third year,” Ennoshita snorted, shaking his head at Kinoshita’s apparent crisis.

Sugawara waved them off, “Anyway, so exactly what position are you most comfortable playing in, Tomiyo-chan?”

“Wherever really,” you answered, “Since Tobio specialises as a setter, I most often spike for him, but when he’s serving I receive. When he’s polishing up his spikes I block or set, and when he wants to work on his receives, I serve. So I can play almost anywhere.”

Sugawara looked impressed, “You can spike those really quick tosses of his?”

You blinked, “Yes? I’ve never had issues with them.”

There was a moment of silence as the four boys looked at you like you’d grown a second set of eyes on your forehead.

“Christ…” Tsukishima muttered, and you shot him a sharp glare.

Ennoshita cut in, “Are you going to be okay with the net? It’s higher than the nets for the girls.”

You shrugged, “Used to practice with Tobio after school pretty often, so I’m accustomed to that.”

The second year guy, also with shortly clipped hair, Narita, walked over and handed Sugawara a ball. He passed it over to you, his fingers gentle and lithe as the sphere rolled into yours.

“Are you also a setter, Sugawara-san?”

He was surprised at that, “I am. How did you know?”

You spun the ball in your left palm, “Your control is pretty good.”

You stared down at the volleyball in your hands, squeezing, testing the give. It was green, red and white. A Molten ball, the exact same model that you and Tobio kept at home.

You bounced it a few times as your teammates began assigning positions, just enjoying the crisp thud against the wooden floor, unaware of the way your brother watched you from across the court.

“Kageyama, you good?” Tanaka asked.

Daichi’s team had huddled together somewhat to plan, and Tobio sauntered over. The captain looked at him expectantly.

“Okay so, tell us about how we can play against your sister.”

Tobio inhaled and frowned, “I’ve never played against her in a match. To be honest… I think it’s going to be an uphill battle.”

Hinata cocked his head to the side, “Why’s that?”

“Let’s put it this way. If I’m a ‘genius’ when it comes to setting, like people say, she’s a monster on offense.”

“What? How so?” Tanaka asked.

“Her ball control and hand-eye coordination skills are ridiculous, and her spatial awareness is better than mine.”

Daichi’s eyes widened.

If Kageyama was saying that, and he could accurately set balls without looking where they were going, the prospect of seeing what his sister could do was almost frightening.

The dark-haired boy continued, “She’s also really flexible, as you saw. She’s been doing gymnastics for almost as long as we’ve been playing volleyball, so she’s pretty strong and can jump really high too. But that’s not even the worst damn thing we have to deal with.”

Yamaguchi was looking rather apprehensive, glancing over to the girl rolling the ball along her arm, all the way from her fingertips to her shoulder and back. Daichi narrowed his eyes.

“We’re balanced enough to handle strong players. What’s the biggest issue we have to work against?” he asked.

Kageyama’s eyes glinted, keen and raring to go. Apparently the idea of playing against his twin was exciting now. A challenging opponent.

“She’s ambidextrous.”

Chapter Text

Daichi’s team learned rather early on that playing against Kageyama Tomiyo was an exercise in patience.

“She takes time to build up a rhythm,” her brother had murmured during their planning, “She’ll play safe for a while to get a feel for Sugawara-san and the others before she picks up the pace.”

They needed to take advantage of that window of opportunity.

Unfortunately for them, however, even when Tomiyo wasn’t on the offense, she was a formidable player. And with Tsukishima on the opposing team as well, they were having some issues getting through the defenses.

“Tanaka-san!” Kageyama called, sending the ball to the second year.

Daichi watched as the setter’s sister bounced into a slightly wider stance as soon as Tanaka’s hand made contact with the ball and leaned down to receive it, sending it up and over to Suga without so much as batting an eyelid.

“Tanaka! Don’t hold back just because she’s a girl!” Suga laughed, setting over to Ennoshita. They scored, Yamaguchi just being out of reach to save the ball, making it 5-3 to Suga’s team.

The wing spiker at least looked a bit ashamed as Tomiyo gazed at him.

“Right, sorry.”

You blinked at the buzz-cut boy. You weren’t exactly surprised. It generally took guys a little while to grow accustomed to the fact that you could play on par with their power levels.

You weren’t going to let that slide though.

The team huddled close, giving Ennoshita a few cheerful high-fives. Sugawara dusted his hands off and gave you a grin.

“Let me know as soon as you’re feeling good to start scoring Tomiyo-chan.”

You nodded, “I think I can now, before they start using more force.”

Tsukishima sneered, “About time.”

You opted to ignore him completely and moved back to position, waiting for Kinoshita’s serve.

He almost messed it up, the ball thankfully rolling over the top of the net, but Sawamura managed to clip it up and send it to Tobio, who set it to Tanaka again.

He hit a clean shot straight at the space between you and Ennoshita, but you could see that the second year wasn’t going to get there fast enough.

“I got it!” you hollered, bolting for it. The slap of the ball against your forearms was a dull thud now as you delivered it, although it was definitely more pronounced than the last spike. Tanaka wasn’t using his full power yet, but he was ramping it up.

“Tomiyo-chan!” Suga called, and you darted forward.

Your feet slammed down on the floor and you launched yourself up, both arms pulling you higher until you could see over the net.

And the ball smacked you right on the boob.

...

Your shoes squeaked quietly as you landed, the ball bouncing away sadly.

Everyone watched it roll out of the boundary lines, dead silent. Judging by his expression, you were pretty sure Sugawara was traumatised for life.

You snorted, “Well... that’s awkward.”

“To-Tomiya-chan! I’m so sorry! I didn’t realise you could j-”

You cut Sugawara off, “It’s okay. It happens.”

He seemed to deflate so you steered the subject away slightly.

“It takes a while for teams to sync up, so really it’s okay Sugawara-san,” you offered, “I just need the ball to get almost a metre above the net and centred to my middle.”

You drew an imaginary line up with your fingers from your sternum up to your nose and into the air, trying your best to frame where your reach extended for your arms.

The senior nodded, successfully distracted from his previous blunder, “Gotcha. I’ll correct it.”

You sniffed and he looked sheepish for a moment, rubbing the back of his head.

“Sorry again though, I really wasn’t expecting you to jump that high,” he explained.

You nodded, “That’s fair. I trained my vertical jumps specifically for tricks in gymnastics over the years, so it’s probably stronger than what you’d expect.”

He grinned, clapping his hands together, “Let’s give this another go then yeah?”

“Mm!”

The next few rallies didn’t open up any opportunities for attacking for you, but you did a damn good job of keeping the ball in play if you did say so yourself. However, Tobio’s team was starting to shift the momentum of the game to their side despite your efforts.

Ah but, it was your serve now. Your teammates gave you a bunch of little thumbs up, and you’d be a bit more patronised if it wasn’t kind of adorable.

The slam of the ball on the wooden flooring was so satisfying as you bounced it. Molten balls were a little softer than official competition balls, so you had to give it a little more ‘oomf’.

“Nice serve, Tomiyo-chan!”

You caught the ball and looked up, scanning the opposing team.

Tobio seemed to be the only one who was really on guard. Sawamura was focused on you, but his body language was relaxed. Yamaguchi, Tanaka and Hinata weren’t even trying, just standing and watching.

They don’t think it’ll be a strong serve.

You huffed, and tossed the ball high.

Your mistake, boys.

You dashed for the end line and leapt, your left hand meeting the rough surface of the ball.

They didn’t even react as it flew over Sawamura’s shoulder and smacked the court.

The silence was amazing.

“S-service ace!” Ennoshita yelped.

Sugawara cheered, his hands coming up to run through his hair, “That’s crazy Tomiyo-chan! A jump serve?! And you’re a lefty?”

You offered them a small smile, “Thanks, but I don’t think it will ever be as strong as Tobio’s. I’m pretty accurate though. I use both hands interchangeably.”

Kinoshita gaped, “That’s ridiculous.”

Sugawara looked far too excited, “No kidding! Think you can give us another?”

You grinned properly now, “I’ll give it my best shot.”

Tsukishima Kei wasn’t affected easily. In fact, he prided himself on the fact that he could keep his cool. Unlike a certain King of the Court.

But this girl, that King’s sister… She was a fucking weapon.

Four service aces in and Daichi’s team finally managed to stop her, with her twin being the only one who seemed to pick up her shot.

What the fuck?

Her face was generally blank, like her brother, but there were moments, flickers of joy as she played. Something a little smug too, which Kei understood.

She was punishing the opponents. Like every point she clawed away from them and each clean receive was screaming “This is what you get for underestimating me” .

It was kind of funny. Not that he would ever admit that out loud.

She finished the set with another two service aces.

“Whoo!” Sugawara laughed, approaching her with his hands up.

She blinked at him, a confused frown on her face as she spun the ball on her open palm.

Kei scoffed. He could see that the twins also had almost complete social ineptitude in common.

She eventually figured out the high-five motion and returned it, her hands softly tapping Suga’s, Ennoshita’s and Kinoshita’s.

The blur of orange entered the corner of Tsukishima’s vision and he was pretty sure he felt a headache starting to bloom immediately.

“That was awesome Kageyama!” Hinata shouted, eyes shining and taking the stoic girl aback.

“T-Tomiyo is fine,” she muttered, her hand curling over the hem of her shirt.

Daichi and her brother ambled over, the captain giving the girl a hearty laugh and a pat on her shoulder.

“That was great Tomiyo-chan!,” he grinned. Kei still found it a bit jarring to see the two side by side, Kageyama Tomiyo just barely a hair shorter than the broad-shouldered guy.

“Thanks…”

Kageyama looked pleased, if not a little miffed that he’d lost to his sister, and gently ruffled her hair, eliciting a pout.

“Well, let’s try switching it up!” Daichi said with a clap of his hands.

“Osu!”

Playing against Kageyama Tomiyo was a fucking nightmare.

Tsukishima grit his teeth as you slammed another shot past him, face almost bored.

He cursed under his breath. That was seven points now.

The twins had picked up really quickly that you were a great counter to single blockers. It wasn’t that you were particularly strong or forceful enough to get through his block, but your sheer range with both arms gave you far more options than Kei could cover in a split-second. Coupled with quick and accurate tosses from your brother that you were more than used to working with, and the pair were damn near unstoppable without a three person wall up.

The opponent team was the twins, Yamaguchi, Daichi and Ennoshita, with the score far in their lead at 21-13.

He was pretty sure everyone on the team was smitten with you already.

You stole the set from beneath them, giving your brother a crisp slap of your hands. Kei had been lowkey freaked out by how in sync the two were, playing in near silence aside from a few hushed whispers and weirdly intense staring coupled with minute facial expressions.

“Wow…” Sugawara murmured beneath his breath as everyone went to cool down, eyeing the twins.

“I know,” Daichi chuckled, “I supposed that’s to be expected though, considering she’s only really trained with Kageyama through junior high, and he’s so damn talented. She had to keep up somehow.”

Across the court, standing by your bags with Tobio, you felt warm. Happy.

“So how was it?” he asked, sipping from his bottle, navy eyes as piercing as usual.

You hummed, “It was good. Fun.”

He nodded, gaze softening.

“They’re nice. Amusing,” you added.

He huffed, scowling, “Not Tsukishima. Not too sure about Yamaguchi either.”

You snickered, “That’s fair.”

You both walked back to the team and Sawamura-san smiled, wiping the sweat from his brow.

“Well Tomiyo-chan? What do you think of the boy’s team?” he asked, brows quirked.

You took a swig from your water, and levelled all of the guys with an appraising look, “You want my honest opinion?”

“Yes?”

Tobio snorted, “No you don’t. She’s meaner than I am.”

You elbowed him, earning a grumble, then pointed at Hinata, Yamaguchi and Tsukishima.

“Your receives are absolute dogshit.”

The freckled boy and Sugawara choked on their water, and Hinata looked stunned. Tanaka and the other second years gaped openly.

“It’ll be an issue defense-wise in the future, although Tsukishima’s blocks are pretty on point.”

You didn’t like the tall, cocky blond, but even you had to admit that his read blocking was sharp. You, specifically, were just a mission against blockers in general, so you couldn’t blame him for having a hard time in the match.

“Otherwise, you guys aren’t bad,” you said with a shrug, “It just feels a bit… empty? Like you guys need a libero and designated ace. And some good old fashioned training.”

You hoped that didn’t sound too offensive. You and Tobio were notoriously shit at voicing your feelings to other people, no matter how blunt you were to each other.

Daichi nodded, “That’s true. But otherwise, Tomiyo-chan, do you want to join us?”

You felt your cheeks warm and you eyed your trainers.

Did you want to change teams? It was a hefty question. The girls may be peeved about it, but you felt better, more suited to the overall pace and energy of the boys. Hell, you weren’t even sure if you would be allowed to compete with them at all.

You felt Tobio’s hand encircle over yours and inhaled, scanning the faces of the boys around you. Aside from Tsukishima, they were smiling, varying degrees of keen excitement and understanding in their gazes.

Yeah... maybe…

“I-if you’ll have me,” you mumbled, your voice coming out quieter and less assertive than you had intended. Tobio squeezed your fingers.

The erupting cheers took you off guard and you flinched, eyes wide.

Your brother shrugged and murmured, “They’re always hyped for something.”

“I see…”

Daichi clapped, getting everyone’s attention, “Alright then, it’s getting late, so let’s cool down and clean up. Then we can go get some meat buns down at Sakanoshita, my treat.”

There was another collective whoop and a round of loud “Thanks Captain!”.

Seems like most of these boys were just always down to party.

Cool down stretches were nice now that you were warm and limber. You cracked your joints slowly as per your usual routine.

Constant abuse of your body in your years of gymnastics did that.

You worked through your feet, popping your ankles, then knees and hips. They were generally quieter, although your knees liked to crack first thing in the mornings.

Then came your back, shoulders and arms, which made their presence known. Noisily.

Tobio didn’t even seem to notice as you cracked through your spine, each successive pop releasing subtle tension. Not quite the same could be said for the others.

“You’re giving me goosebumps over here, Tomiyo-chan,” Sugawara teased as he sat in butterfly pose.

You returned the smile and rolled your wrists, chuckling as half the boys either winced or watched, boggled, as the joints groaned and cracked. Your fingers were always the loudest though.

Tobio nudged you as he moved between positions once you had finished.

“Can you do mine?” he inquired softly, “Feels a little stiff.”

You nodded and took his hand, massaging through the fine musculature and tendons.

You always helped him with this, since your brother was pretty terrible at self-care sometimes, and had a tendency to overexert himself. Between school and volleyball, Tobio’s hands were constantly working.

You popped each knuckle with a sharp whipping motion, eliciting a relieved exhale from your sibling.

“Whatcha doin’?” Hinata asked from across the circle.

“Just getting all the muscles and bones as mobile as possible,” you explained, “Can’t have Tobio developing carpal tunnel or something.”

“Ooh ooh can you try on me?” Sugawara cried out excitedly, shuffling over. It appeared as if everyone was pretty much done with their stretches and were starting to clean.

“Sure.”

Once you’d helped Sugawara with his hands, earning a very satisfied groan from the senior as you worked out the tenseness from between his digits, you assisted Narita with taking down the net and then joined the others mopping the floors. You hadn’t even noticed the sun setting during your matches, and it was well dark by the time you all stumbled out of the gym, sleepy and hungry.

“Meat buns! Meat buns! Meat buns!”

Okay, apparently Tanaka and Hinata were much more hungry than sleepy.

You gathered your things and changed back into the maroon school tracksuit. It was still rather chilly in the evenings after all.

You tailed the boys to their clubroom, checking your phone notifications outside while they changed and grabbed their belongings. No messages, just a reminder to take your medication when you got home.

“C’mon Tomiyo-chan! Time to go home.”

You glanced up from your phone’s glowing screen to see that the boys had emerged from the clubroom, clad in their full black tracksuits, and were waiting for you by the stairs,warm smiles on most of their faces.

“Oh, coming!”

You and Tobio kept to the back of the group as you all made your way off of the school grounds, just enjoying the cool spring breeze as the others chattered and laughed away.

“I’m glad you’re on the team,” your brother whispered, his hand rising to lovingly ruffle your hair.

You hummed, leaning into the touch and looked up to the clear night sky. The stars stared back.

“Me too, To-nii.”

Chapter Text

You were surprised to find yourself almost… buzzing. You barely paid attention to your classes, not that that was exactly new. Most days you tried to listen at least. You actually struggled to put your finger on what exactly had you all wound up for a second.

Ah.

When was the last time you had been genuinely excited about something? And for something as mundane as club activities?

In Kitagawa Daiichi you had dominated the gymnastics club. You had always been limber and athletic as a child, always having to keep up with Tobio, and it translated nicely to the discipline. The hundreds of hours poured into it had built you into a strong and well-rounded athlete, and had honed your spatial awareness and kinesthetic abilities far past what was considered normal.

You were well aware that you were just as much of a monster as your brother.

But gymnastics had never made you feel particularly exhilarated. It was simply something you did, a part of your daily routine.

Standing on the podium had always felt hollow. Lonely.

Giving it up for volleyball had been almost cathartic.

At least you never had to wear one of those godforsaken leotards ever again. Yikes.

You decided to leave that thought to the wind as you trotted through the halls towards the clubrooms.

“Tomiyo-san! Wait up!”

You slowed, turning to the call behind you, to see Yamaguchi and Tsukishima ambling over, no doubt heading to the same destination.

“Ah, Yamaguchi-kun, Tsukishima. Hello,” you greeted. Yamaguchi replied with a smile, Tsukishima with a surprisingly cordial nod, although he did narrow his eyes at you.

You had to admit, it had been a while since a boy besides Tobio had been physically larger than you, and you weren’t quite sure how you felt about it.

“There’s no need to rush,” the freckled boy chuckled, “Club only starts in fifteen minutes.”

“Yeah but I have to get there early so I can change.”

The blond cocked his head, peering down his nose at you, “Why don’t you use the girl’s clubroom?”

You scratched your cheek and looked sideways, “That would be awkward since I’m not really on their team anymore. Plus I don’t have the key.”

“Ah.”

You all walked at a comfortable pace, Yamaguchi making small talk until you reached the double-storey prefabs for the clubs, and bumped into Sugawara.

“Hey kids!” he greeted cheerily, ushering you all up the staircase, “Tomiyo-chan, Daichi has a surprise for you!”

You blinked at him, baffled and trying your damnedest not to trip, “Okay?”

Unsurprisingly, Tobio and Hinata-kun were already there, along with the captain. They grinned, with the short one waving at you dramatically, as if he wasn’t right in front of you.

“Hi Tomiyo-san!” he called out, earning him a sharp jab to the side courtesy of your twin.

“You’re too loud,” he grumbled, hand gently brushing yours in greeting as you ambled closer.

“Hello Hinata-san,” you replied, offering the redhead a tiny smile.

“So formal,” Sawamura laughed good-naturedly.

“You can call me by my given name, you know?” Hinata mused, “Since we’re using yours, it’s only fair.”

Oh boy, that was going to take a while to get used to. You hadn’t referred to anyone by their first names, aside from your siblings, since-

You cut that thought off sharply.

“I’ll try,” you murmured.

Yamaguchi scratched the back of his head, “Same here. If you want.”

“Okay.”

“Daichi! Show her already!” Sugawara insisted, patting the captain’s shoulder impatiently.

Sawamura chuckled and faced you again. You stiffened instinctively as he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out… a key?

“Uh… thank you?”

Tsukishima snorted behind you at the lackluster response. The third years laughed.

“Takeda-sensei found out that this clubroom isn’t being used anymore,” Sugawara explained, pointing to the room to the right of the boys’ one, “And he reckoned you could use it instead of having to wait for us to change or using one of the bathrooms everyday.”

Your eyes widened as Sawamura pressed the cool metal into your palm and you stared at it for a moment.

“Go check it out,” he encouraged with a tilt of his head to the door.

You nodded and made your way over, sensing your brother hovering close by, followed by the curious shuffles of the others.

You slid the key into the lock and, with a bit of protest from the old mechanism, turned it.

The door creaked open to reveal dingy darkness. Unlike the boy’s room, there appeared to be curtains blocking out the sunlight. You ran your hand along the wall, finding the light switch and flipped it.

It was dusty and smelled faintly of mildew, with boxes of old and forgotten sporting goods pushed into the corners.

“It’s not much right now, but sensei has organised for one of the janitors to come and clear it out soon,” Sugawara consoled at seeing your scrutinising gaze skirting along the walls.

You took a couple of steps in, your hand coming up to brush idly at a box of aged lacrosse sticks and squash rackets, and turned on your heel to meet the eyes of your new team.

“Ah well I hope you don’t mind it,” Daichi offered, “We can help you move out all this old stuff after practice and it’ll be good as new! And I didn’t think you’d be comfortable changing in the boy’s roo-”

“Thank you.”

You smiled at them, dropping your bag on the metal shelf.

Yeah sure, it wasn’t much. It was dusty and unkempt, but it was yours . They had only met you yesterday and they had organised this with you in mind.

You made a mental note to thank Takeda-sensei when you next saw him.

The captain returned your smile, “Welcome to the team.”

You grit your teeth and silently cursed your brother for being just as sneaky as you.

They had been holding out yesterday. You had been wondering what on earth was so special about Hinata, considering his technique left much to be desired from what you’d seen.

They could do lightning fast quick attacks. And the redhead wasn’t even looking.

You knew Tobio was good, but goddamn.

“What the fuck?” you whispered, watching the ball roll away after slamming against your team’s side of the court. Your little warm up set wasn’t going quite as you’d planned.

Tsukishima grunted beside you, “It’s annoying as hell.”

Sugawara gave you an apologetic grin.

“Daichi didn’t want to overwhelm you yesterday with their quick,” he offered, seeing your furrowed brow.

You sucked on a canine as your team huddled up to strategise. Today you had Tanaka and Yamaguchi. They seemed a bit stumped as well.

“I think maybe we could have someone commit block Hinata? Or we could just focus on trying to receive?” they murmured amongst themselves.

You glanced to the opposing team. Hinata had scored twice in a row with that quick, followed by Sawamura after you and Tsukishima had been distracted by the little fireball.

Stupid mistake.

You rubbed your jaw, replaying the last few rallies over in your mind.

“Tomiyo-chan? You okay?” Sugawara asked.

You nodded.

“Give me a few more rounds,” you said, “I’ll figure out the pattern.”

Because that’s all it was, really. Volleyball, gymnastics, mathematics, music, anything. It was all just patterns and angles and rhythms.

Hinata and Tobio were no exception.

But you could feel when it was going to happen. There was something just in the way Hinata’s demeanour changed. Like seeing the flip side of a coin.

Your team had to surrender another handful of points. Honestly, Sugawara wasn’t exactly expecting to win against the freak duo, but having both Tsukishima and Tomiyo on defense bolstered his hopes a little. But once Daichi’s team hit twenty points, he reckoned he was expecting too much. Tomiyo had made her shock at seeing that attack quite clear.

Kōshi had to give the girl props for sheer tenacity though, given the way her dark eyes flitted around the court, tracking each player’s movements with that intense calm like what he’d seen her brother do in the three versus three match.

His own focus was starting to wane somewhat when she finally seemed to grasp at the edges of what her brother’s thought pattern seemed to be.

It was in the middle of one of the longer rallies when you felt that shift in the air, the tiniest change in Tobio’s body language, that animalistic instinct that gripped you by the gut.

Sawamura had just jumped up, in position to spike, and you had Tsukishima beside you, bracing to put up the block.

You’d just have to trust him to stop it should you be wrong.

With that thought, you bolted to the other end of the net, dodging behind Tanaka, and leapt as high as you could, trainers slamming into the wood with a squeal.

And above the rope, between you and the floor of the other team’s court, you were met with a pair of wide brown eyes.

You were almost lost in that moment as you and Hinata stared at each other for that split second, his eyes so clear and focused, that you almost forgot to lift your own hands.

Bam!

The ball hit their court, swiping dangerously close to the line.

You scored.

“Oh fuck, finally,” you heaved a harsh exhale above you, placing you hands on your hips. You could feel a bead of hot sweat roll down your temple.

You jumped as you felt hands clap your back enthusiastically, and turned to see Sugawara’s gleeful grin and Tanaka’s slightly more menacing one. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima just watched you, eyes wide.

“Holy crap Tomiyo-chan!” the vice-captain cheered, ruffling your fringe gently, “I’ll be honest, I didn’t think you could actually pull that off!”

You scratched your cheek, “Uh yeah, it was a bit of a gamble there.”

You glanced to the other side of the net. Tobio’s eyes were aflame, narrowed at you, and you returned it with a sunshiny smile and a wink. Then Hinata…

There was a profound understanding there. You lowered your chin, remembering how your gazes had met in the air.

You see it too, then? The other side?

There, deep in those earthy irises, you could see the spark of a challenge ignite.

You grinned.

“One more,” you and Hinata demanded in unison.

You groaned as you stretched out your shoulders, sweat still warm on your skin. Your twin chuffed a sound of agreement beside you as he went about his own cool down routine.

Everyone had played a full three sets, then another bunch of drills thereafter, and were finally calling it a day as the sun set, pulling in the evening chill lingering in the spring air.

Your team hadn’t been able to take the warm up set from Tobio’s unfortunately. You’d had a difficult time getting accustomed to his and Hinata’s synergy, and once you had started to get the hang of it, they’d already swept the set from you.

Seeing that hadn’t really frustrated you, to be honest. No.

You were excited to see where you could take it, as a team. They all had energy and drive. It was so different to how you’d felt in the girl’s team just a couple days ago.

You had all just finished cleaning up when Sawamura’s voice boomed through the room.

“Gather up!”

You cracked your back as you sauntered over, ready for a hearty dinner and a good night’s rest.

“Good work everyone!”

You brightened at the softer voice of Takeda-sensei, standing beside the captain with a clipboard in his arms and jogged over. He smiled warmly at you.

“Hello Tomiyo-chan! You looked like you were having fun. How was your first official practice?” he asked, turning all his attention on you.

You immediately clammed up.

“Uh, it was good. Great. Um, thank you for the...uh…”

Thankfully he seemed to understand and laughed good-naturedly, “Oh the clubroom? I’m glad you’re okay with it. It needs a little love but I’m sure come Monday it will be one hundred percent ready for you.”

You just nodded and returned to Tobio’s side, hoping that you didn’t look too awkward. You accepted your maroon tracksuit top from where it dangled in his hands, already clad in his black club jacket to ward off the cold.

“Take a seat everyone. We have to start hashing out all the details for the practice match on Tuesday.”

You blinked, tugging at the zipper. Asano-sensei had mentioned something like that from what you could recall, although you’d been a bit distracted at the time. Tuesday was closer than what was comfortable, only a mere three days away.

You plopped down onto the wooden floor, letting your legs splay out in front of you as the captains and Takeda-sensei started arranging positions on a small whiteboard. You started to fiddle with your hair, letting it down from the tight ponytails and weaving it into a looser braid. Tobio bumped his shoulder into yours softly and you leaned your head on him, watching as Sawamura lifted the board for everyone to see.

“Alright, so regarding the team for the practice match,” he started, propping it up on his legs, “I think this is how we’ll do it.”

You straightened and rubbed at your eyes, eliciting a curious hum from your brother. You had to be seeing things. There was no way.

They were still there, two bright scarlet magnets on the rectangle that represented the court, both with the kanji for Kageyama on them. Tobio squeezed your hand.

Sawamura continued on, “I want to try using Kageyama and Hinata as a set, and Tsukishima is one of our tallest players, so I want to see how that will play out on the court against Seijoh.”

Your brain stuttered to a halt.

Seijoh?

Tobio stiffened and you frowned. No wonder he hadn’t mentioned anything. You eyed him silently whilst the others chattered, and decided to rather bring it up once you were in the privacy of your home.

Hinata was going to be set as a middle blocker, which was an odd idea but you supposed it was most suitable given you, Tanaka and Daichi were designated wing spikers. Although the small redhead wasn’t particularly keen on the idea of being a decoy at first, prompting Tobio to sort of encourage him, in his own oddly intense way.

“You’ll score a bunch of points with the quick attacks and divert the opponent blocker’s attention onto you. That’s when our other spikers can strike,” he explained, prompting Hinata to make a soft ‘ah’ of interest.

“Big guys like Tsukishima will be completely fooled by your movements,” he continued, “It’ll feel satisfying, won’t it?”

Hinata brightened, his whole face lit up and excited, although Tsukishima and Yamaguchi didn’t seem to take too nicely to the implications in your brother’s words. You snorted, earning yourself a glower from the blond.

“However, if you aren’t effective,” Tobio said, eyes narrowing, “Most of our other attacks will be useless.”

You nodded, although Sawamura intervened.

“Hey don’t pressure him!” he whisper-shouted, pointing at the redhead, now mumbling to himself, “Look at him.”

You cocked your head and blinked at the shortest, making a mental note to watch him over the next few days.

You and Tobio had gotten home in tense silence. Every time you glanced at him, he avoided your gaze, and as soon as you had entered your house, he had almost bolted for the kitchen, saying that he would handle dinner.

You narrowed your eyes at his retreating back. You’d let him go. For now.

It didn’t escape your attention that he fried up some tempura squid, one of your favourite foods, or how he softly rebuffed any of your efforts to help him.

He was buttering you up for the inevitable.

You thanked him regardless and let him have his solitude for most of the night, until you had both bathed and gotten ready for bed.

The knock on his door was brisk, echoing through the empty house. Otōsan was pulling a late night at work again.

“Come in.”

You entered your brother’s room, letting the door close behind you with a soft click.

He watched you from his bed, lying on his back with his volleyball in his hands. You approached and he lifted his arms, making space for you to flop down onto him. You curled against his side, humming as he put aside the ball, his hands coming to card through your damp hair.

“So…” you started.

He paused.

“Aoba Johsai, huh?”

You could hear him swallow, “Yeah…”

“I’m not mad,” you added. And you weren’t. You couldn’t blame Tobio for keeping the information from you.

The wounds were still healing.

“They went there, didn’t they?” you asked, hugging your twin closer. He was always warmer than you.

“Yeah, I think so,” he answered, but his nose and brow scrunched up, “But, to be honest, I’m more worried about…”

“Oikawa?”

“Mmm.”

You inhaled deeply, sighing out your nose, wiping away images of mocha brown curls and boyish giggles from your thoughts.

“We’ll be okay.”

Tobio grunted quietly, fingers twirling a strand of inky hair, his mind far away.

Chapter Text

Tuesday crept up on you far too quickly.

You spent the weekend polishing up some of your setting skills with Tobio and refreshing your memory on the official game rules so you didn’t do something really stupid midgame, and come Monday, everyone seemed at least a little wound up, although most of the team could play it off somewhat convincingly.

All except Hinata.

No, the tiny ginger was freaking out big time. He was walking into objects and people, getting distracted during practice and messing up the most basic of tasks.

Just yesterday he’d mistakenly put on the incorrect pair of pants before leaving the clubroom, prompting Tanaka to chase after him to reclaim his hijacked clothing, giving you and a passing tennis player a shock upon seeing his very, uh, interesting choice in pink boxers.

Honestly, the fact that you had seen the guy in different states of undress twice within your first week of knowing him was starting to become a bit alarming.

On the day of the match, it felt like time was working against you. Your classes flew by one by one in the blink of an eye and before you knew it, you were lined up by the bus outside school with the rest of the team.

You filed in, sitting beside your brother. His mind seemed to be a bit far away, so you let him sit by the window to enjoy the view, offering him one of your earphones and trying your best to relax to some soft lo-fi.

The drive to the other side of Sendai would take a while, so you settled down to take a nap, nestling yourself against Tobio’s shoulder. He hummed and you felt the weight of his head rest against yours.

However, as soon as you both were starting to nod off, Sugawara twisted up onto his knees in the seat in front of you, giving you and your brother a boyish grin.

“You two are adorable, you know?” he asked, resting his chin on his arms folded on the backrest.

You shared an incredulous look with your twin.

“How do you figure?” he asked, his brow furrowing.

The vice-captain shrugged, “I guess ‘cause you guys seem really close. Like, you don’t bicker the way other siblings do.”

You blinked up at him, “We don’t really ever have reason to fight. It’s pretty rare.”

Tobio nodded, opening his mouth to say something until Tsukishima cut him off from across the aisle.

“It’s because they’re basically clones,” he chimed in, earning him a chuckle from Yamaguchi in front of him.

“Tsukishima,” Sugawara warned.

Tobio huffed, “She’s my best friend.”

You felt your chest warm at the words, although you’d known it for as long as you can remember. It never failed to touch your heart when Tobio was so open about his feelings.

“Aw!” Sugawara cooed.

“Also, she’s terrifying when she’s properly mad. And I’d like to live past twenty,” Tobio added sagely.

You choked out a bark of laughter, his hand smoothing over your hair.

“Seriously?” Yamaguchi asked. Both he and Tsukishima were turned slightly in their seats, having included themselves in the conversation apparently.

Tobio nodded, then whispered, “It’s worse than Daichi-san.”

You snorted, about to rebuke him, but a loud ruckus erupted at the back of the bus, garnering everyone’s attention. Hinata was slouched over his seat and Tanaka was shrieking, some questionable substance on his pants.

The reek of vomit breached your nose, acidic and burning. Your stomach flipped and you raised a hand to cover your mouth.

Tobio took in your expression and hurriedly yanked open the window. You leaned over him and shoved your face outside, the wind whipping around your baby hairs. He slid over to your seat and gently patted your back.

Under the swishing of the fresh air blasting your face, you could pick up a strained mutter from Sugawara.

“Well, this is going much worse than we anticipated.”

You were out of that bus as soon as Takeda-sensei had pulled it to a stop, gulping in deep breaths of cool, soothing oxygen as if you could cleanse the very memory from your brain and nostrils.

“Where’s the fire, Princess?” came the sneering drawl from behind you. You scrunched up your nose.

“Princess?” you grumbled, throwing a glare over your shoulder at Tsukishima as he trailed out of the bus, hands stuffed in his jacket pockets.

He smirked in a way that made you want to knock his teeth in, tilting his head towards Tobio, who was sifting through his bag.

“King,” then moving his smug gaze onto you, “Princess. Fitting, no?”

“You’re an asshole.”

“You okay, Tomiyo-chan?” Yamaguchi asked, close behind the blond.

You nodded and tapped the side of your nose, “Yeah, just kinda sensitive to smells and stuff.”

“Ahhh.”

As the rest of the team shuffled out and Hinata started profusely apologizing, you took a minute to look around.

Aoba Johsai was big. Surprisingly quiet, although it was fairly secluded from the hustle and bustle of the city. The school buildings were all modern architecture and windows, the courtyards scattered with flower beds and various kinds of other foliage. Birds cawed through the campus as some grey clouds rolled into the sky, making your skin break out into goosebumps beneath your jacket.

A few students milled about, no doubt doing club activities or going home, and you scoffed.

That uniform was horrendous. Thank goodness you and Tobio decided to skip out in favour of Karasuno.

You felt a soft bumping of your shoulder and glanced up.

“You coming?” Tobio asked, and you swore that for a moment his voice wavered just a fraction.

“I’m going to stick back and help Shimizu-san and Takeda-sensei,” you murmured.

Give me a moment.

He nodded and brushed past you with a couple of the boys. From afar you could properly admire how sleek they looked in their black tracksuits, even though Tanaka was sporting shorts after the puke fiasco.

“Are you alright?”

You almost jumped out of your skin at the hushed voice over your shoulder and whipped around. It was just Shimizu, and thankfully you didn’t slap her in the face with your ponytails. She blinked at you from behind her glasses.

She reminded you of your sister. How she had such a striking presence just simply being there.

You gave her an awkward, humorless laugh, “Yeah… Just delaying the inevitable.”

Aoba Johsai was fucking huge.

You stood in the entrance to the gymnasium(one of the gymnasiums, actually), gawking up at the massive hall along with your teammates after the captains had herded them in.

Because apparently Tanaka and Tsukishima had managed to trash talk some of the Seijoh volleyball club members already.

Poor Sawamura-san.

You offered your greetings to those already practicing, receiving a chorus of masculine voices back. Tobio’s hand squeezed yours as you flinched. You threaded your fingers through his.

I’m okay. I’m okay.

At least you were for now. No one had spotted you yet, half hidden behind your brother.

Tobio at least seemed to have relaxed somewhat, looking about with his usual frown on his face, shoulders back and untensed.

It was almost funny, in a sad way. In another life, you both would have called Aoba Johsai your home, clad in blue and white instead of black and red.

You distantly registered Hinata running off to the bathroom and followed the captains off to the side of the courts, numbly starting your warm up stretching.

It felt like you were underwater, voices muddled and head hazy, your eyes blankly set on the wooden floor.

“Oi.”

You blinked and felt a light thump on your skull. You twisted in your stretch, confused, to see Tsukishima towering behind you and pulled off the red practice bib he’d plopped onto your head.

He narrowed his eyes at you, “If you zone out during the game, you’ll get put on the bench.”

It was an obvious statement of fact, but it brought your focus back, waving away the fog in your mind.

“Right. Yeah.”

He nodded and walked away to stand by Yamaguchi, leaving you to your thoughts again. You couldn’t help but find the blond exceptionally vexing in the short time you’d known him.

Sugawara ushered you to get ready with a sweet smile on his face, and you chatted lightly about schoolwork whilst stripping yourself of your outer layers. The talking helped, both in soothing your nerves and in instilling some sense of normalcy to the fact that you were definitely being watched at this point, considering the curious murmurs you could faintly pick up. Even Tanaka and Ennoshita had sauntered a little closer to join in on the conversation, adding an extra layer to the small shield until you were in your shorts and white shirt.

You tugged the bib on and glanced down at it, the number three emblazoned across the torso. Sugawara gave you a thumbs up and you found your mouth twitching upwards.

“Tomiyo-chan?”

Takeda-sensei beckoned you over and you pottered towards him, brows furrowed.

“Yes?” you asked.

“Come with me please,” he asked kindly, and for a moment you had the feeling that he and Sugawara gave off similar vibes. You followed him, even if leaving your team sent a cold spike of anxiety down to your fingertips.

“Just a bit of a formality, but since you’re a special case, it’s a good idea to get into the habit of introducing yourself to the other coaches before the match and letting them know that you’ll be partaking in the games,” he explained, tucking a dark curl behind his ear and adjusting his glasses. Walking beside him was odd, seeing as he was a good few inches shorter than you.

“No need to fret,” he murmured as you neared the other side of the courts, where two adult men were standing and overseeing their team’s warm up from afar, “I’ll always be with you when this happens.”

You were grateful that Asano-sensei had spoken to him about your... issues. You nodded and he patted your back, waving at the coaches.

“Irihata-sensei! Thank you so much for inviting us for the match,” he greeted, bowing deeply to the older of the two men.

He was probably in his mid to late forties, with a head of dark grey hair and pronounced wrinkles along his eyes and mouth. Beside him stood a younger man with short, dirty blond hair, watching his students stretching like a hawk. Both wore two-toned blue tracksuit uniforms.

Irihata approached and gave a polite bow back, then shook Takeda’s hand firmly, a surprisingly friendly smile gracing his face.

“Thank you for accepting on such short notice,” he answered, his voice gruff but affable.

With the pleasantries now out of the way, Irihata’s gaze shifted to you.

“And who might this be?” he asked, offering you a bob of his head. You shifted on your feet and lowered your eyes.

Thankfully, Takeda spoke on your behalf, hand clasping your shoulder.

“This is Kageyama Tomiyo. She was moved from the girl’s team to ours and she’ll be playing in the match today.”

The words were mellow and calm, but almost… steely underneath. The phrasing left no room for argument.

It made you want to squirm, and you prayed you never got in trouble with Takeda-sensei.

Irihata’s brows rose, “I see. Interesting.”

Takeda’s fingers twitched, “Will that be a problem?”

Irihata laughed, hand waving in front of his face, “No no, not at all.”

He then turned to you again with a thoughtful grin, arms folded and tapping his knuckle to his chin, “On the boy’s team and the starting line-up? You must be very skilled hm?”

It was definitely far more positive than you were expecting.

“I’d like to think so, sir,” you answered, your hands balling at the hem of your shorts.

Takeda relaxed almost imperceptibly, his smile not budging, “So if you could just let your team know, that would be great.”

“Of course,” he nodded, then shouted over his shoulder, “Iwaizumi!”

Oh...

Oh shit.

How the fuck could you have forgotten about Iwaizumi?!

You had been so focused on having to see Kunimi and Kindaichi again and how you and Tobio were going to handle dealing with Oikawa that he completely sli-

“Tomiyo?”

You stiffened, ever so slowly lifting your eyes.

Iwaizumi Hajime had always held a warm and cozy place in your heart, even if he had been tucked away along with most of those melancholic and stained visions of Kitagawa Daiichi. Memories of raspy chuckles and a strong arm swung over your shoulders, of him covering you with his club jacket when you forgot your umbrella and spending afternoons at the park with the team after tiring practices.

You swallowed.

“Iwaizumi-san.”

He was a vision in teal. He wore his black coffee hair the same as he always had, spikey and untamed. He had gone through another growth spurt too, considering the broad spread of his shoulders and how he was slightly taller than you remember. His eyes were still that piercing juniper green, sharp and pointed directly at you.

“Wow… it’s been too long,” he murmured, giving you an appraising scan, hands on hips, “Hell, you’ve grown.”

Irihata glanced between you, “You two know each other?”

Iwaizumi nodded, “She and her brother were my kōhai in junior high.”

He grinned at you, and you had to rip your eyes from the slope of his jaw. Takeda squeezed your shoulder.

“Although last I remember she was barely one-forty centimetres.”

That was true, you had only started to truly spring up in height near the end of your second year at Kitaiichi, and you hadn’t really stopped since. Now you were just a few centimetres shy of the older boy’s height and were pretty much eye level, which was honestly really jarring, considering you had always had to look up at him.

“I see,” Irihata murmured, “Such a pity you twins didn’t come here.”

You stiffened at that, and Iwaizumi pursed his lips, eyes searching your averted gaze, but the coach moved on.

“Anyways, just let the boys know that she’ll be playing as well.”

It takes Iwaizumi a second to compute the sentence.

“She… what?” he asks, eyes wide, looking between you and the other man in utter bewilderment.

The coach chuckled, “She’s playing in the match.”

Iwaizumi’s expression cleared and you had to look at the floor with how intensely he stared at you.

“I see. Okay, I’ll tell them,” he answers a beat later, but then his eyes glint, “Do you… want to come with and meet them?”

You froze at the suggestion, especially considering you could vaguely spot two heads of familiar dark hair in Seijoh’s team along your periphery, and thankfully Takeda seemed to pick up that you were one wrong move away from melting into an anxious puddle, and intercepted.

“We should actually return to the team now, I think they’ll want to discuss some last few things with her,” he redirected, patting your shoulder.

Iwaizumi nodded, his eyes still sharply trained on you as you and Takeda walked away, back to the comforting pack of your team.

Your brother gently bumped his elbow to yours, “You okay?”

You snorted, “I forgot about Iwaizumi-san.”

He huffed a small laugh.

Sawamura-san hollered from the edge of the court for you to gather up into a huddle, and you were squished in between Tobio and Hinata, who was almost literally quaking in his boots and looking a little ill. You were about to ask if he was okay but the captain started off before you could.

“Alright guys, I know we’re all pretty new to this team formation, but let’s just go out there, do our best and have some fun, yeah?” he said, giving each of you a smile.

Everyone nodded and moved to line up at the edge of the court, but as soon as you turned, you could feel the immense heat of well over a dozen pairs of eyes on you from across the net.

You took a deep inhale and resolutely stared at the lines of the wooden paneling, standing between Tanaka and Tobio as the referee announced the beginning of the match and called for the greeting. Your pinky finger curled around your twin’s and he squeezed gently.

Straightening, you rolled your shoulders and moved to your spot to the back right of the court, Tsukishima to your left and the captain in front of you.

Why Sawamura thought it was a good idea for you to serve first on your team, you had no cooking clue, and the nerves were starting to broil in the pit of your stomach.

It was intense, but you could do this.

With that you lifted your eyes to scan the opponents.

To see Kindaichi and Kunimi, as well as their teammates watching you intently.

Well… shit. You hadn’t really been expecting to see them in the starting lineup.

But the simmering tension in your gut quickly morphed into a burning anger at the sight of the two boys that had hurt your brother; had hurt you.

And-

And Oikawa wasn’t there.

That was a relief, even if it was highly confusing.

You cracked your knuckles as the referee blew the starting whistle.

It was time to play.

Chapter Text

The first set was an absolute disaster.

And as much as you didn’t want to point fingers, it was pretty much all because of the fumbling, nervous wreck that was currently Hinata Shōyō.

It was a total mess. He was diving for balls that weren’t his, missing all spike attempts, and running into people, both teammates and the goddamn referee.

You could forgive some of the errors; game jitters were normal, but after he knocked you on your ass for the second time, your patience was running very, very thin.

Your brother looked close to murder too, considering how Tanaka had to hold him back at some points.

“You alright down there, hm?”

You scowled and looked up at your tall, blond teammate, who was smirking down at you. Despite his mocking, he still offered you a hand. You clasped it and hoisted yourself up, although Tsukishima huffed sharply.

“You’re surprisingly heavy,” he sneered as you dusted off your shorts. You glowered at him.

“Sorry, not everybody is built like a stale noodle,” you replied, a saccharine smile painting itself onto your lips. You could’ve sworn his jaw twitched as you passed him.

Eventually your team managed to score, even if it was by a technical fault on the opposition’s side, but it had been set point to Seijoh for the last few rallies, and it was starting to gnaw on your anxiety.

“You bastard! That’s enough nervousness!”

Ah, he finally snapped.

You supposed watching your brother cuss out Hinata was a good distraction from the fact that Kunimi and Kindaichi were doing their damnedest to quietly get your attention from across the net, despite the fact that you were obviously and vehemently ignoring their presence.

As far as you were concerned, they deserved your spite. Especially considering you’d seen firsthand how they had devastated your brother.

Had devastated you.

Thankfully, Sawamura cut off Tobio’s tirade before it got too out of hand.

“Alright, anyways, let’s score some points steadily guys!” he said, “The next serve goes to…”

Oh no.

It was Hinata’s serve.

From what you’d gathered so far, very few of your teammates could perform a successful jump serve, with most just opting for a basic overhand. But Hinata’s serves were average at best, sometimes barely getting over the net.

This set looked like it would have to be forfeited, unless you could pull off some sort of miracle and score a dozen points in a row.

Hell, Hinata looked even more nervous now, obviously realising that if he messed this moment up, you’d be at a massive disadvantage. The set would be Seijoh’s.

At this point you weren’t sure what to expect.

But when the whistle blew, it was definitely not Tobio getting whacked in the head by a botched serve.

The entire court was silent as the ball rolled away.

Well, rest in peace, Hinata-kun.

Despite yourself, you did have to giggle along with Tanaka and Tsukishima’s laughter at your brother’s dead-eyed expression when he turned to face the source of his ire, the whistle announcing the end of the set.

A deep, throaty chuckle cut in as Sugawara scolded the other two, and you were pretty sure your brother was berating Hinata in full force.

“I wasn’t expecting you to find that funny.”

You stiffened for a second, thinking that either Kindaichi or Kunimi had finally approached you, but seeing the deep brown spikes just on the other side of the net eased the tension quickly.

You gave an amused huff through your nose and shrugged at Iwaizumi. You were definitely not looking at the bead of sweat that slowly trickled down from his temple.

“Well, I learned how to play with Tobio, I’ve hit him in the face with a volleyball more times than I possibly could count,” you murmured, the corners of your lips twitching upwards as you glanced at your twin, “It’s always a little funny.”

Iwaizumi hummed thoughtfully. You met his gaze from the corner of your eye before moving away to the sidelines of the court for the set closing bows.

You watched and sipped your water as Tanaka approached Hinata, the small redhead sliding to his knees in penitence. Although, surprisingly, Tanaka delved into a spiel about teamwork or something along those lines.

And when the shorter boy came over to bow and apologise profusely for bumping into you, you could see that whatever Tanaka had done had put that wild spark back into Hinata’s big brown eyes.

Perhaps you guys were back in business.

You patted his shoulder in what you hoped was a comforting gesture.

“It’s okay Shōyō-kun,” you said, giving him a small smile, “It’s my first real game too.”

You turned back to put your bottle down as everyone got ready for the next set, and didn’t notice Tobio snort at Hinata’s flaming face.

You popped your shoulders and resumed your spot on court. You’d be serving first.

Not yet.

You weren’t feeling quite ready to start revealing all your weapons.

Throughout the first set, you’d been only using normal standing serves and playing with your right hand as the dominant.

From what you could see, even though Seijoh’s team was strong defensively, all of those in the starting lineup were right-handed.

Your lip curled.

They wouldn’t have had much practice against lefties then.

“The hell you grinning about, Princess?”

You rolled your eyes at the blond as he adjusted his glasses.

“Just thinking about some tricks I want to pull,” you murmured, rolling your neck.

Tsukishima’s brow furrowed, “You’re taking a long time to warm up.”

You shrugged, “I have off days too. Plus I’m not familiar with the opponent.”

He barked a mean laugh, expression smug, “Oh? So you’re not perfect?”

You narrowed your eyes at him, “Uh huh. Like you can talk with those god awful receives. I thought you said you’d been playing for years now hmmm? Tsukishima-kun?”

That wiped his smile off his face, and the referee blew the whistle for the start of the new set before he could clap back.

You spun the ball in your palm, eyeing the open spots of the court. By now the Aoba Johsai team had seemed to have gotten accustomed to you playing and had their guards up.

In terms of sheer power, you’d never be on par with players like Iwaizumi, but you had agility and pinpoint accuracy, just like Tobio had in his setting. You had versatility.

You bumped the ball up lightly, sending it over the net with a smack against your right palm, towards a gap between the setter and a tall brunette who seemed to be their main middle blocker.

Let Tobio and Hinata set up their quick, then you could start chipping away as well.

They were the swords, fighting up front, and you’d be the gun, the dart, the dagger.

Seijoh returned the ball, with Kunimi spiking, and Tsukishima managed a messy receive, getting it close enough for Tobio to get under the ball.

Then Hinata burst forward and sideways with that near inhuman swiftness and jumped.

You frowned as the ball was set though. The trajectory was off, and if Hinata was still not opening his eyes mid-spike…

It missed his hand.

Well, that didn’t go quite as expected, but at least Shōyō wasn’t freezing up.

Kindaichi said something to him that you couldn’t quite pick up, and the shorter boy looked a little freaked out. You glanced at Tobio and he met your gaze, giving you a nod and moved towards your teammate.

“Hinata!”

The boy in question stiffened, and pivoted slowly to face your brother.

Tobio lifted his hand to his face, “That toss was too high. My bad.”

Honestly, the look of utter bewilderment on Kunimi and Kindaichi’s faces was priceless.

Yes, Tobio was harsh and demanding sometimes. Hell, you were too. But when he made a mistake he admitted fault, apologised, and did his best to fix the error.

Maybe he did have high expectations for a middle school team last year. But he held himself to those same standards too.

Tobio always pushed further. Even if some people didn’t share his mindset.

Your heart swelled as you watched Hinata quip back and invoke a bit of your twin’s wrath, but the mistake was smoothed over, and you could all move on.

Seijoh’s number three, a guy a head of pink-hued hair, served next, sending the ball straight towards you. No doubt testing to see if you would be a weak link as the game progressed.

You scooted forward and bumped it up towards Tobio, “Got it!”

“Thanks!”

Shōyō shot forward again, and with Tanaka calling for the ball from the left, the opposing blockers had their attention divided for a moment.

And a split second was all Hinata needed, soaring through the air and slamming the ball down before any of them could even blink.

Whoo, that boy can jump.

A resounding “Yeah!” erupted from your team mates, both on the court and off.

“There it is. The freak toss-and-spike,” Tsukishima dead-panned, about as enthusiastic as a funeral-goer. You couldn’t stop the chuckle that bubbled through your lips.

The uproar from the handfuls of students watching the match from the balcony was loud, with exclamations of shock ringing across the court as you and the blond were herded into a little huddle by Daichi. Everyone’s excitement was almost palpable.

“Okay,” Tobio started, “Hinata’s back in action.”

You didn’t miss his glance at you.

“Let’s begin our counterattack.”

The next rally went as expected, with all of the Seijoh’s team focused on Shōyō, which left a massive hole in their defenses when he jumped. One that Tanaka took advantage of, launching the ball straight onto their side of the court with a shout, the opponents too late to save it.

“Ah I thought it was coming to me!” Hinata complained, eliciting a wry smile from you.

Tanaka grasped Tobio’s shoulder and pointed straight at Kindaichi.

“See, Turnip-kun?” he taunted, “I told you we’d get you in the match!”

It took you a second to actually process what had just been said, but when you had, you started laughing uncontrollably, slapping your hands over your mouth and turning away to stifle yourself.

“The hell’s gotten into you?” Tsukishima asked, looking almost concerned by your sudden glee.

You coughed out a few more snickers before you could answer.

“Turnip-kun,” you wheezed at him, earning a facepalm and shake of his head.

You gathered your bearings, wiping a tear from your eye and gave Shōyō a firm pat on the shoulder.

“Nice stuff,” you offered encouragingly, and he beamed like the little ray of sunshine that he was.

The next rally was good, now that you have rotated to the front row. With Hinata as decoy to the left, you bolted to the other end of the court, effectively dividing up Seijoh’s defense, and whacked the ball with a sharp cross shot into the section they’d just moved from to mark him.

That small high you got from that score was short-lived, with Hinata taking the next ball right to the face after it rebounded wrong off his forearms.

But even if unrefined, your team was resourceful, and within the next few rounds, you had wrested a good lead from Aoba Johsai. The change prompted Coach Irihata to call a timeout. You gently tugged on Tobio’s pinky finger, and he arched a brow at you, still sipping his water.

“I want you to give me our usual tosses next set,” you murmured. He nodded.

Tsukishima scoffed, “The King’s Toss, huh? You sure about that, Tomiyo-chan?”

Oh there was the snarky response to your earlier jab. You gave him your sugary sweet smile again, cocking your head at him.

“It’s not that hard, Tsukishima-kun,” you cooed at him, as if he was a toddler throwing a tantrum, “But maybe one day you’ll be able to do it.”

Tobio chuckled lowly beside you at the dark glare the blond leveled your way and you turned on your heels. The timeout was up.

As you were nearing the twenty point mark, the friction between Tobio and Tsukishima got amped up significantly.

Truly, Daichi-san had made a bad decision putting them right beside each other, even if they were great when they formed a block together.

And with you on Tsukishima’s left, it was honestly pretty charged on the front line.

The blond scored with a crisp strike, his height helping him stay above the opposing block.

“Your tosses are way too accurate,” he said, eyeing Tobio, “It’s freaky.”

Your brother obviously took the bait and the pair started to bicker until your captain grasped each of them firmly by the shoulder and halted the squabbling.

You felt yourself grinning again.

The boy’s team was way more fun than you had anticipated after that first day. You were pretty sure you had laughed more in the past week than you had in the last few months.

It felt good.

Even if a particular couple of troublemakers were starting to get on your nerves.

“Ohhh, you’re good at blocking too, huh?” Tsukishima sneered, “Don’t get carried away now.”

“Looks who’s talking,” your twin grumbled back, apparently with no qualms now that Daichi had returned to the back line, “Don’t get blown away, all gangly-looking like that.”

“Oi,” you growled, although they didn’t seem to pay you much mind, with Tanaka now yelling at them from behind.

“Here it comes!”

The two next to you snapped back to attention just as Iwaizumi jumped, and you all managed to block the rival ace, scoring when the ball ricocheted off of the boys’ palms.

True to form, they then started arguing over which of them had actually blocked the ball.

You moved between them and grabbed an earlobe of theirs in each of your hands, pulling them down slightly to your level, squeezing hard and watching them squirm.

“Now now children,” you said, deathly quiet, giving each of them a hard stare, “How about we get along, hmmm?”

With that you let them go, only for them to get shouted at by Daichi, who’d apparently lost his patience. That made Hinata chortle from the back, and Tobio went after him next, grabbing him by the front of his shirt.

Iwaizumi’s raspy voice took you by surprise again, closer than before.

“Your team is interesting, Tomiyo,” he stated. One of his big hands clasped the netting between you.

You snorted and grinned, your hands coming to rest on your hips, “Well, there’s never a dull moment, that’s for sure.”

There was a moment of quiet as you both watched Daichi scold your brother again.

“You gonna keep ignoring Kunimi and Kindaichi?”

You scowled and crossed your arms, “I have nothing to say to them.”

He exhaled through his nose and removed his hand, returning to his place for the next rally, and you did too, trying to quell the small bubble of disappointment that arose in your chest.

Shortly thereafter, with a very fitting point from Hinata and Tobio’s quick, your team took the set.

You sighed, the anxiety from losing the first now ebbing away, and followed your teammates off court to take a short break.

“Onto winning the last set!” Tanaka hollered, definitely in good spirits with the roll he was on.

Ennoshita approached, handing you, Tobio and Daichi each a bottle of fresh water. It was cool to the touch and you had to fight the urge to just down the whole thing in one go.

“I’m relieved Seijoh doesn’t have a serve-hitter like Kageyama,” the second year said, smiling as he watched Tanaka and Shōyō perform some sort of victory dance.

The captain hummed in agreement, wiping the sweat from his brow.

“Definitely, we’re still pretty weak in terms of receiving for now,” he said, “We would’ve had a much harder time.”

Tobio frowned beside you.

“Still,” he replied, “We need to be careful.”

All three of you turned to look at him.

“I don’t think this setter is their main one,” he explained.

Your eyes widened as you started to understand what your brother was saying.

You both knew for a fact, that Oikawa had come to Aoba Johsai. For him to not be on the team, being as talented as he was as well as a third year, would be very, very strange.

So… where was he?

Maybe he was ill? Or injured?

Unpleasant images of big, teary eyes clouded your mind. The memory of holding his leg still as you waited for an ambulance. The tangible panic as you smoothed sweaty curls from his pale face.

Fuck, that had been so, so long ago. Maybe you should have asked Iwaizumi.

A loud cacophony of squeals and shrieks ripped you from your musings and you flinched, scowling up at the groups of girls watching from the balcony responsible for the raucous noise.

Although it didn’t take you long to see what had been the cause of their apparent extreme enthusiasm, and it certainly wasn’t the rousing game of high school volleyball.

Nope.

Tobio’s hand moved quickly to grip yours, and you squeezed.

I’m here.

And so was Oikawa.

Chapter Text

The first thing that came to your mind when you spotted that distinct head of chocolate curls was that Oikawa Tōru had grown far taller than you had expected. Even more so than Iwaizumi.

You hadn’t gotten a good look at him just yet, as he spoke to his coaches and team with his back to you, but honestly it was a little difficult to reconcile this Oikawa with the one that lived in your memories.

“Oikawa-saaaaaaannnn! Please take care!”

You grimaced at the girls yelling from the balcony, even more so as the brunette waved to them and they squealed, clutching each other close. Tanaka pointed at him accusingly, a vein bulging along his temple.

“Kageyama-kun,” he asked Tobio, eyes looking a little on the crazed side, “Who’s that guy? I don’t like him.”

“That’s Seijoh’s captain,” Daichi answered.

Your brother pursed his lips.

“Oikawa-san is a very aggressive setter, and probably one of the best players on his team,” he murmured. You nodded along quietly, shuffling closer to him.

“He’s also got a shit personality,” he added, giving everyone a deadpan look.

Hinata looked bewildered, “You’re saying that?!”

Tobio ignored him and continued, “He might be even worse than Tsukishima.”

You peeked the blond lower the water bottle from his mouth and scowl from the corner of your eye, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

Tanaka hummed, “So you know him from Kitagawa Daiichi?”

“Yes, he was my senpai there.”

Daichi looked at you, “Are you familiar with him as well, Tomiyo-chan?”

“I am, unfortunately,” you sighed, “He’s a dick.”

Tanaka and Daichi chortled at that. Tobio relaxed slightly with a soft chuckle, squeezing your hand gently. You bumped your head against his shoulder lightly, and Oikawa turned to face your team.

He had the audacity to smile and wave coyly at your twin, and something ugly stirred in your chest.

“Yoo-hoo! It’s been a while, Tobio-chan. Nice to see you again,” he sang, eyes pinched into a fake Duchenne smile, “You still doing the whole ‘King’ thing?”

Tobio ignored him, turning back to your captain.

“I learned to serve and block by watching him play. He’s highly skilled,” he admitted, then turned to Hinata, “But we need to focus on this match. To win this set.”

He then turned to Tanaka, trying to convince him to stop pulling faces at the opponents.

You snorted and moved away slightly, stretching your arms above your head. Your brother seemed to be handling the situation far better than you expected at least, being only mildly ruffled by the appearance of the brunette.

“Eh? Tomiyo-chan?!”

You flinched and lowered your arms, turning your head slowly to where Oikawa, Iwaizumi and the rest of Seijoh’s team stood, all of their gazes trained on you. Oikawa’s brown eyes were wide and disbelieving, hands slack at his sides. You narrowed your eyes at him.

He exhaled softly, face melting into a smile. You felt your fingers twitching against the fabric of your shorts.

"Goodness, it's been so long," he murmured, scanning you over, "You’ve grown so tall! And you’re playing with us?"

You sucked on a tooth as he addressed you, reigning in the ire rumbling beneath your sternum. He took a step forward, a hand reaching out slightly from where it had fallen to his side, and you felt Tobio stiffen.

Your brother moved a half step in front of you, warm fingers coming to grasp your wrist gently, where you had clenched your own hand into a tight fist. You hadn't even noticed how your breathing had quickened.

Apparently he wasn't the only one that picked up on your shift in demeanor, with Daichi placing a hand on your shoulder and Shōyō gently clasping the side of your shirt.

Oikawa stopped short at that, his smile turning thin and his eyes cool.

“Well I have to go warm up, but we’ll catch up later Tomiyo-chan,” he chirped, turning on his heel.

You released a breath you’d been unconsciously holding and Tobio rubbed soothing circles into your arm with his thumb. You shook your fingers loose.

Relax.

“You okay?” Shōyō asked, his voice small and concerned, his hand still holding onto the fabric of your shirt. You gave him a soft smile.

“Yeah, I’m just,” you gestured around vaguely, “A little overwhelmed.”

He hummed, but your captain didn’t let you dwell on it too long, giving you both a firm clap on the back.

“Well then, let’s go win this set,” he said, his bassy voice warm and grounding.

You met your brother’s eyes and smiled at the competitive flare you found flickering there.

“Osu!”

The referee blew the whistle for the start of the final set and you assumed your spot on the back line. Seijoh were to serve first.

You had to finish this as quickly as possible to avoid dealing with Oikawa.

It was time to step into high gear.

The third year with heavy dark brows sent the ball over, with Daichi picking it up and over to Tobio. You inhaled sharply.

“To-nii!” you called out. You could feel the intensity of your brother’s eyes upon you immediately.

The soles of your shoes squealed loudly against the floor as you took two strong steps forward into a deep lunge, and burst up from the attack line.

Your brother delivered the ball perfectly before you and you wasted no time locking onto the gap between Kindaichi and their libero.

You’d never tire of the satisfying smack of the ball against the opponent’s court.

The entire gymnasium was silent for a moment until your teammates started cheering, the Aoba Johsai players still staring at the point of impact, dumbstruck. They hadn’t even moved, having anticipated another quick from Shōyō.

“Finally,” Tsukishima sneered, and you flipped him off, earning a laugh from Hinata and Tanaka and even a few hushed snickers from the other side of the net.

Daichi pressed your hand down to stop the gesture but grinned regardless.

“Well, Tomiyo-chan,” he chuckled, “I’m guessing you’re all warmed up then?”

You scratched the back of your head and gave Tobio a soft hand tap in thanks for the set.

“I thought we’d start it off with a bang,” you affirmed, “Sorry for the slow warm up.”

He laughed it off, “Well it was definitely a bit intimidating. Score a bunch more to make up for it, yeah?”

“Gotcha.”

You felt your lips curl up. It was your serve.

You bounced the ball a couple times as you waited for the whistle, your eyes lazily drifting along the other side of the net, mapping out the open spots.

By now, every single boy on Seijoh’s team was accustomed to you only doing right-handed standing serves. Perhaps, it was time to mess with them, just a little bit.

The ref signalled and you threw the ball straight up, sprinting for the end line. Your right palm collided against the faux leather with a sharp crack and it launched to the other team.

Most of them froze at the flip in play style, but the one with pink-brown hair managed to dive for it. Not that it mattered, because the ball hit their side of the net and fell to the floor. You gave a little sigh as everyone cheered again, returning the fist bumps from Shōyō and Tanaka.

You went for another ace again, but this time Kunimi managed to get under it and Hinata fumbled the receive when it got spiked back.

“AH!” he cried, mussing up his hair, “Sorry Tomiyo-chan!”

You smiled, “No worries Shōyō.”

You paused beside him and placed your hand on his shoulder. He looked at you, totally befuddled.

“Pay me back by scoring three more, yeah?”

His mood brightened instantly, “Osu!”

You hummed to yourself as you rotated positions. The Seijoh boys had been startled by the jump serve, but there was no doubt that they were accustomed to receiving them in games, hence why it got shut down the second time around.

But the crazy spin you got when using your left would be damn difficult to counter. Plus you could properly use your entire range and not have to battle mid-air with those tenacious middle blockers in such a small margin of striking space anymore.

The set progressed with the momentum on Karasuno’s side, although Seijoh wasn’t backing down without a fight. Which made it so much more gratifying when your turn to serve came back around and you spied Iwaizumi’s eyes flash, his whole team bracing for a jump serve.

Oh, but you’d give them one. They didn’t even notice when you used your right hand to toss.

Not until the ball hit their libero’s shoulder and spun out of bounds, his grey eyes widening at you as he realised what had changed.

Oh yes, this would be fun.

Tobio’s lips curved up as he watched you serve ace after ace.

Everything his sister did was methodical. Efficient. Clean.

Even when they were first learning the very basics of volleyball with their Ojī-san all those years ago, Tomiyo had been far more concerned with form and technique than anything else, and this mindset carried her through every sport she did, so that even the aspects she had initially struggled with became second nature. She hated making even the most trivial errors, whether it was dropping a receive or not being able to land a perfect back handspring.

No matter what pursuit Tomiyo was invested in, she practiced religiously.

Not until she got it right, but until she couldn’t get it wrong.

Or at least she tried to, unless someone came and forcefully dragged her away from it. Of course, many times that had been Tobio himself.

So watching his little sister fly through the air, where she belonged, a faint smile on her face and eyes locking onto even the tiniest spaces of exposed court, brought a sense of lightness to Tobio’s heart that he hadn’t felt in a long time, all thoughts of junior high and Oikawa pushed away.

She had never looked so free in gymnastics. Had never been coaxed out of her shell so easily.

Even the entire Aoba Johsai team looked awed as she leapt into the air, ponytails unfurling behind her like a pair of sable wings, and clawed from them her fourth point.

Almost.

You were almost there. Just one more point.

You wiped the sweat from your brow and leaned your hands onto your thighs, watching the ball move between players on the other side.

Karasuno had managed to pull themselves into a hefty lead, giving Aoba Johsai a serious run for their money when they reached match point first. But you could tell everyone was getting a little tense and antsy since Oikawa had still not made an appearance on court.

“Don’t get too cocky!” Kindaichi fired back, spiking the ball back over the net.

You sucked a harsh breath in through your teeth as it rebounded off of Tsukishima’s arms and out, giving them the point.

Damn it, these guys needed to work on their receives.

“Don’t mind, Tsukishima!” Daichi hollered.

The whistle blew one long note and you blinked in surprise as Kunimi straightened, moving off to the side of the court.

To be subbed out so late in the game really wouldn’t make a difference.

Well, at least that’s what you thought that until you saw that he was being replaced by the curly-haired demon setter himself. As a pinch server.

“Wonderful,” you groused, drawing out an equally irked hum from the blond behind you.

From what you could remember, Oikawa’s serves were far better than most back in Kitagawa Daiichi, leading Tobio to seek him out for advice. And that ultimately resulted in the awful evening that had made you loathe the brunette so intensely.

Where you stood, you could see how Oikawa’s eyes narrowed at the corner of the court as he pointed at your blond teammate. Then without a moment of hesitation, tossed the ball up.

Oh shit.

“Tsuki-”

Too late.

The serve, far more powerful than any you’d seen Oikawa produce before, had already shot over your head, slammed hard into Tsukishima’s arm and ricocheted at one of the balcony banisters, spooking a couple of students away.

He hissed and you eyed him.

“You good?” you asked, although you were pretty sure that was going to bruise.

“Yeah,” he grit through his teeth, and you both looked at Oikawa.

The brunette watched your team coolly, a hand coming to rest on his hip.

“I thought so,” he mused, just loud enough for you to hear, “I watched you play a bit. Numbers six and five, you guys aren’t good at receiving huh?”

He smiled at Tsukishima and Hinata with that faux warmth that belied his smugness.

“You guys must be first years.”

You took a deep breath. Hinata’s nerves seem to jump and Tsukishima was a bit off-kilter now. Oikawa was going to slowly pick at the weaknesses in your team.

“Well then, how about another?”

Oikawa left you no time to recover, launching another rocketing serve at Tsukishima, and although the blond managed to actually get his arms beneath the ball, it spun right off and out of bounds.

Faintly you registered Yamaguchi yelping from the sidelines.

Tsukishima cursed beneath his breath and you chewed the inside of your cheek, thinking.

Daichi offered his words of encouragement and then out of nowhere, Hinata started to… taunt Oikawa? To be fair, you were never quite sure what went on in Shōyō’s head most of the time, so this didn’t feel too off brand.

The little redhead scrambled around, waving his fists in the air and raising a fuss, apparently demanding for a serve to come at him, and you just mentally drowned him out as he and Tsukishima began to bicker.

“Anyways,” Daichi cut in, “All of you scoot back a bit. Tsukishima, move closer to the sideline. Tomiyo-chan, I need you to be ready to pull back if it gets dicey.”

You nodded. The captain was widening the area of defense, reducing Tsukishima’s receiving zone, and even some of Hinata's. You weren’t sure how accurate Oikawa was, but it would definitely be quite the feat to get the ball out of Daichi’s reach. And you could step back pretty quickly to snag any unwieldy stray shots if the need arose.

The other captain mulled to himself for a moment, weighing his options, and you thanked whatever being gifted you with excellent vision. Because, for just a split second, you clocked him glancing behind you. Your eyes narrowed.

“Tsukishima.”

The boy in question grunted and you turned, approaching him and gripping his forearms gently. You had a mere few seconds to help.

“Watch out for him again,” you murmured, adjusting his hands and elbows to the correct positions, “Remember to just focus on making a flat platform with your wrists and forearms.”

“Yeah, okay,” he replied quietly, and you slid back to your spot after giving his arm a firm pat. You had to believe he had this under control.

Deep breath in, deep breath out. Roll the shoulders and the neck. You bent your knees slightly, and the referee whistled for the next serve. And not to your surprise, Oikawa locked onto Tsukishima again.

He had always been good at finding the weak links in opposing teams.

The ball rocketed over your head, little more than a streaking blur of green, red and white, and made contact, your blond teammate receiving and sending it up high into the air.

“Nice!”

Unfortunately, however, it sailed over the net and into Seijoh territory.

You sucked in a quick breath, mind running fast as you processed their movements, with Oikawa sending the ball to the team’s other setter. The other boy was not quite as skilled as Tobio or Oikawa but he didn’t hesitate to cleanly set the ball to Kindaichi for a swift quick attack.

You were fast to make two long strides to the side, helping your captain cover the area he would be aiming for.

But much to your surprise, Hinata had managed to catch up to the guy and leap, his hand blocking off Kindaichi’s strike, the ball sharply ricocheting up towards the ceiling and onto your side.

“I got it!” you called, your feet already moving and with one eye keeping track of your brother and the orange head of hair that was Hinata, also sprinting across the court.

You slid into a deep side lunge receive, delivering it to your twin with a bit of added momentum, watching it bounce perfectly onto his fingertips.

Tobio’s set was as fast and accurate as it always was, going straight for Hinata’s open palm, and your eyes drifted across the net, just to see the Seijoh captain’s brown eyes widen as the ball was blown right past him to smack loudly against the wooden floor.

The corners of your lips twitched up as the whistle sounded through the gym once more.

Karasuno had won.

The sun was setting by the time your team had cooled down and had started heading for the bus for the ride home, casting a deep orange glow onto the buildings and dyeing the clouds in shades of yellow and pink, and you stifled a yawn behind your hand, blinking blearily up at nothing in particular.

“Takeda-sensei had complimented us, but honestly speaking, if we were to play in a real match against Seijoh, we’d be seriously lacking,” Daichi said.

You hummed in agreement as he spoke.

You guys were definitely in need of some proper defense. And maybe some more powerful spikers. You and Hinata could pull off your tricks and score points, sure, but you could still be blocked if the opponents were prepared for them. You needed another player like Tanaka to bring some extra muscle to the team.

“Spoken like a true Captain.”

Everyone stopped walking at the casual voice in front of you, and you cringed.

Oikawa smiled at your team, “You know your stuff.”

You grumbled and sidled up a bit behind Shimizu as the boys did all of their weird male posturing. She sent you a questioning glance but seemed to take your action in stride, moving a step closer to help shield you from view. You sent her a small smile of gratitude and she nodded, turning back to the conversation.

“The Inter-High prelim rounds are coming up soon,” Oikawa drawled, striding over slowly, “So don’t get eliminated, okay?”

Then he sharply pointed at Tobio, and you felt the fine hairs on your arms and nape bristle.

“Because I want to beat my cute kōhai, setter versus setter, in an official match.”

You narrowed your eyes as Hinata butted in, eyeing how Tobio’s shoulders tensed up. Oikawa stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets and started walking back to the gym.

“Anyway, there isn’t much time left until the tournament,” he said over his shoulder, “I look forward to seeing you there.”

With that he left you and the team behind.

“Ah, please don’t let him get to you,” Tobio said, looking a bit unsure, “He likes to rile people up like that.”

You nodded, but Daichi didn’t seem too fazed. Instead, he chuckled.

“That’s true,” he said, his deep baritone settling your teammates, “We really don’t have much time before the Inter-High preliminaries start. But, he will be coming back soon.”

“What’s that?” Hinata asked, a large grin spreading across Tanaka’s face beside him.

Daichi smiled, coffee-brown eyes alight with a smug sort of glint.

“Karasuno’s Guardian Deity.”

“Everyone please make sure you’ve got all of your stuff!” Takeda-sensei shouted over the busy team as they packed their bags and themselves onto the bus.

You sneezed and blinked, unzipping your tog bag and rummaging through with your fingers, taking a quick mental inventory. You frowned.

“Shimizu-san?”

The Karasuno manager turned to you, placing down one of her own bags next to her seat, and arched a brow.

“Um, did you see my water bottle?” you asked.

She blinked and pulled up the water carrier, a bunch of mismatched bottles lining the racks, some labelled and some not.

And next to Tobio’s gray and navy bottle was an empty slot.

“Oh, I must have forgotten it by the bench,” Shimizu murmured, setting the carrier back down, “I’ll go get it.”

You stilled at that as she stood from her seat and waved your hands at her frantically.

“Oh no don’t worry about it, I’ll go!” you said.

You were damn certain you’d spotted the pretty upperclassman being harassed by some of the Aoba Johsai boys after the match, Oikawa included. No doubt asking for her number or something to that effect. And you really didn’t want her to have to deal with that again.

“Are you sure?” she asked, cocking her head slightly, “It’s my fault it got left there.”

“No, it’s okay,” you replied, “I’ll be quick.”

You placed your bag down on your seat and turned to go, but a warm hand on your elbow halted you. You followed it to see Tobio staring at you with something unreadable in his big blue eyes.

His fingers trembled as they dug into the burgundy fabric of your Karasuno gym jacket, and a quiet spark of fear flickered across his features.

Don’t leave me.

You squeezed his hand gently, loosely interlocking your fingers, and returned his gaze with something fierce. Your brother pursed his lips and let go of you, folding his hands into his lap, and you left him with a miniscule, comforting smile, stepping off the bus full of rowdy, celebrating boys and jogging back through the Aoba Johsai campus.

It was deserted for the most part, with most of the teachers and students having finished up with their respective club activities for the day and headed to their homes by then. It left you with just your thoughts, the muted scuffs of your sneakers on the brick paths, and the soft cooing of the birds nesting down for the night.

It struck you with a strange sense of melancholy. If the Kitagawa Daiichi incident hadn’t happened, you and Tobio would have walked through these school buildings every day.

You exhaled a sigh through your nose and shook your head.

You slowed your stride to a walk as you neared the gymnasium, the lights on and casting a yellowish glow around the buildings, the muffled echo of voices and equipment telling you that there were definitely some people still inside.

You wanted to be fast and silent. Get in, get your bottle, and get out.

You peered around the corner of one of the gym’s open doorways for a better idea of what you were dealing with.

Just in time to see the glorious sight of Oikawa Tōru getting absolutely clapped by a volleyball to the back of his head.

“Oi, stop messing around,” another boy yelled, and with a quick glance you saw it was the pink-haired third year, “Coach’ll get pissed at you.”

It seemed that they were all packing up for the night, with the other third years and the libero taking down the net, and groups of the second and first years cleaning up the floors and equipment.

You scanned the hall quickly, and spotted the benches where Takeda and Shimizu had been sitting during the match. Now how to get there though…

Nobody appeared to be particularly interested in the other happenings around the gym, all absorbed in their own tasks and conversations, so chances were that you could slip in, grab your bottle, and get out.

You sucked in a breath, and made a quiet dash for it, being extra careful to step lightly on the wooden floor.

“Iwa-chan stop bullying me!”

The blurry forms of the captains in your peripheral vision grew further away and you inwardly sighed with relief that they were too busy chasing each other around to take any notice of you.

You crouched down behind the bench, and felt a groan bubble up in your throat as you ducked your head down to look beneath the seats.

Your bottle was nowhere to be found.

“Looking for something?”

You stiffened at the low baritone voice, and a frown drew itself across your lips as you stood up straight.

Caught red-handed. Like a child with their little fingers in the cookie jar.

You turned to see exactly who had seen you and found it was one of the third years; the middle blocker with dark hair, thick brows and a heavy-lidded gaze. He watched you curiously, although something akin to amusement seemed to flicker in his eyes.

All things considered, definitely not the worst person to see you.

You nodded sheepishly at him.

“My, uh, my water bottle,” you murmured, hands gesturing slightly as if you were holding the object itself. The awkward movements brought a crooked smile to his face and you grimaced.

“Yeah, I think Yahaba found one earlier,” he said, pointing over his shoulder, “I’ll ask him where he-”

“Tomiyo-chan?!”

You sighed heavily and ran your hands over your face, massaging your temples as Oikawa shrieked your name, striding over from across the court. The third year blocker beside you snorted at your expression.

At the sudden commotion, all eyes around the gym fell on you. Most of the boys were just watching you curiously, but much to your horror, a handful actually started approaching.

Including the two you had been avoiding quite adamantly.

Oikawa was quick to step into your space, his boyish grin in place.

“Had to come back, huh Tomiyo-chan?” he chuckled, reaching a hand out to ruffle your hair until he was yanked backwards by his jacket collar by a miffed Iwaizumi.

“Iwa-chan!”

The ace rolled his eyes and turned to you.

“What’s wrong, Tomiyo-chan?”, he asked, those steely green eyes appraising you.

You felt a big and surprisingly heavy hand settle on your shoulder and glanced to your left to see the third year blocker next to you. Honestly, he gave off a similar vibe as your father, and you found the tension in your back easing.

“She’s looking for her bottle.”

He cocked his head to one of the other players that had approached, and you recognised him as the one that had been the substitute setter for the game, a second year with light caramel hair.

“Yahaba, I think it was the one you found earlier. Can you get it?”

The setter nodded, “Of course. I put it in the supply closet.”

With that, you were left with an extremely awkward silence as you were essentially surrounded by the Seijoh seniors, Kindaichi, Kunimi, and their libero, who was staring at you intensely.

“You’re ambidextrous, aren’t you?” the guy asked, his eyes bright.

You blinked at the enthusiasm.

“Uh, yes I-”

“I knew it! Your left-handed spikes were so hard to receive!”

The libero was in your face immediately, basically spouting on about the match with the same sort of fervour and intensity as Shōyō.

“Hm, yes,” the third year beside you murmured, giving you a teasing smirk, “Blocking you by myself was impossible. Quite troublesome, aren't you?”

You shrugged and eyed your shoes, eliciting a chuckle from most of the third years.

“I must admit, I’ve heard about your brother before,” the pink-haired outside hitter mused, “But I had no clue he had a twin sister.”

You nodded, “I wasn’t in the volleyball club in middle school. I only started this year.”

He gaped at you, “Really? But you play like you’ve been doing it for years?”

Oikawa, having finally freed himself from Iwaizumi’s grip, interjected.

“It’s cause she’s always practiced with Tobio-chan,” he chirped, “But she would visit us at the club a bunch too and play a bit.”

He lifted a hand slightly above your head, comparing your heights. You reached just beneath his eyeline.

“But you were waaayyyy smaller back then.”

You scowled at him and Iwaizumi hummed.

“I was really surprised,” he stated.

“That’s just cause you’re the shortest Iwa-ch- OW!”

The pair of captains started bickering again, despite the audience, and you watched for a moment, giving the libero a curt nod as he excused himself.

There was a chuff of a laugh beside you and you glanced at the brunette as he let his hand fall from your shoulder. He offered you a soft smile.

“Well, I don’t think we’ve formally introduced ourselves,” he said, “But I’m Matsukawa Issei.”

He jabbed a thumb in the direction of the pinkette who had sidled next to him.

“And this is Hanamaki Takahiro.”

He loosely gestured to the other two that were hovering just on the edge of the conversation.

“And I believe you already know Kunimi and Kindaichi from middle school.”

You sucked on your cheek and nodded stiffly in their general direction, choosing to rather watch as Iwaizumi and Oikawa came back, the latter rubbing the back of his head and quietly whining about his hair.

“Out of curiosity.”

You turned to Hanamaki as he scratched at his chin.

“How did you even end up on the boy’s team? Doesn’t Karasuno have a girl’s club?” he asked.

“They do, I was just kind of… moved?... onto the boy’s team,” you explained, “The girl’s coach thought I’d do better there.”

Matsukawa chuckled, “Well they weren’t wrong, huh? You were one of the best on the court.”

You felt your cheeks heat slightly, “I… thanks?”

Oikawa harrumphed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I personally think you’d be even better on our team Tomiyo-chan,” he said.

You rolled your eyes again. Across from you, Iwaizumi eyed you questioningly.

“Speaking of,” he started, “Why didn’t you guys come to Seijoh?”

It was as if someone had dumped a bucket of icy water over you.

“Why didn’t we?” you asked, the tone of your voice raising brows around you, “Why on earth would we?”

Iwaizumi looked a bit uncomfortable with that, and you would have felt a bit bad about it if you weren’t absolutely incensed.

“After what he did,” you growled, pointing a finger at Oikawa, his brown eyes growing wide.

“And after what they did,” you snapped, rounding on Kunimi and Kindaichi, “What possible reason would we have to come here?”

The vice-captain cringed and sent you an apologetic look, but Kindaichi was quick to interrupt.

“C’mon Tomiyo! Your brother basically deserved that!” he bit back, “He treated us terribly! Always yelling at us and pretending he was better! Obviously we had to give him a wake up call!”

Hanamaki started to look a tad alarmed.

“Now now Kindaichi, I don’t think-”

“What the hell would you know?!” you shouted right back at the spiky-haired boy, the boy who used to basically be one of your best friends.

“Nothing,” Kunimi interrupted with that flat tone of voice he always had, “You guys started acting weird before the tournament, the next moment your brother’s chewing us out for the smallest mistakes on the court. Then you guys completely disappeared.”

You glared at the boy, your vision starting to get blurry.

“Okay I think that’s enou-” Oikawa intervened before being cut off by a huff from Kindaichi.

He snorted, “We thought your brother finally got it through his head that he can’t be the King of the Court if he wanted to be in the club. Didn’t want to show his face around school anymore.”

King of the Court.

An image flashed before your eyes. One of those few moments in a lifetime where the memory brands itself onto your mind.

Of Tobio barely managing to kick off his shoes and make it past the genkan before falling to the floor, his eyes foggy and distant. You clearly remembered holding him gently, both of you kneeling on the cool flooring of the hallway, as he shook in your arms and dampened the shoulder of your school shirt with salty tears. Trying his best to explain what had happened through hiccups and heaved breaths.

You had cried with him. Not for some stupid tournament, but for the loss of some of the few friends you had ever made. For the sheer, earth shattering grief that had been piled upon your shoulders.

You straightened, looking Kindaichi straight in the eye, and you felt the group of boys focus on you.

“Okaa-san died.”

Chapter Text

“Remember to be gentle, baby.”

You blinked down at the flower you were about to pick, your tiny hands pulling away from the petals as another pair enveloped yours, the fingers long and slender, the nails manicured neatly.

“Gen-tle?”

Your mother smiled down on you, pressing her warm mouth to your forehead as you looked up at her.

“Mmhmm,” she murmured, guiding your fingers to stroke along the edges of the cornflower bloom, “You don’t want to hurt anyone, right?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“So be gentle.”

The boys around you were quiet, dumbstruck, and you pulled in a sharp breath as you realized what you’d said.

Oh fuck.

You watched as Matsukawa and Hanamaki’s eyes widened, how Iwaizumi’s jaw slackened somewhat, how the others recoiled as if you had slapped them.

Oh fuck.

Well, you didn’t think that all the way through.

“I..” you started, but you felt the words stick in your throat, hot and scathing. The familiar feeling of your eyes growing watery started creeping up and you gritted your teeth.

Oikawa swallowed thickly, raising a hand out into the air to your face. And a small part of you actually wanted to accept the gesture, to curl under his arm and just let the older boy cradle you.

The wound was still raw in some places.

“Tomi-”

“Uh, am I interrupting something?”

You jerked at the new voice, but immediately relaxed, thankful for the interruption, once you realised who it was.

You turned around slightly to see Sugawara standing a few meters away, and you cringed inwardly. Although judging by his facial expression, it showed on your face anyway.

“No! Uh,” you started, taking a firm step away from the Seijoh players, “I’m all done. Let’s go!”

You were pretty certain you had to be blushing dramatically after the whole scene you made, and you just wanted to get out of the stifling tension that had swallowed you whole. So you just grabbed Sugawara by his hand and started marching for the doors. Despite the shock of being essentially yanked away, Sugawara found himself chortling quietly.

Apparently, however, it seemed the Seijoh boys had snapped out of it, because as soon as you had a foot halfway through the door, Oikawa called out to the vice-captain.

“Good luck with the little king!” he said, and you felt the sting of venom rise to your tongue again.

But as you reeled around to spit fire back at the brunette, Sugawara’s hand gently pulled you closer, sheltering you in his shadow as he faced the captain, a sugar-sweet smile on his kind face.

“Oh,” he replied, “Don’t worry.”

You felt him squeeze your shoulder comfortingly, as his gaze turned steely upon the rival team.

“I have no intention to make the same mistakes you did.”

And with that, you were ushered from the Aoba Johsai gym and back out into the cool evening air. You hadn't even realized how suffocated you had felt until you drank in a deep breath and sighed through your mouth.

“It’s okay, you're okay,” Sugawara murmured, guiding you back to the bus, his hand gently resting in the middle of your back.

You focused on breathing in deeply, waiting for your heart to settle down to a healthier speed, and it took you a minute for you to notice the concerned looks Sugawara was shooting your way every now and then. You raised a brow at him when you caught his eye and he gave you a soft smile.

“Listen, uh,” he started, a hand coming up to comb through his hair, “I overheard the last bit of that-”

You froze and stared at the cobblestone, your hands clasping together so tightly your knuckles started to whiten. A hand gently came to rest on your slightly mussed ponytails.

“I won’t press for details, but you and your brother are always welcome to talk about it with us,” he murmured, cocking his head slightly to the side, “I know it’s still... fresh… but all of us on the team would understand.”

Your nose crinkled and you had to duck your head to hide the sudden watering of your eyes, but you nodded and he patted your hair.

“Come on now,” he continued, a touch more cheerful, “We’ve got so-”

“Hey wait up!”

You both paused and turned towards the voice to see the one Seijoh blocker, Matsukawa, jogging over to you. Sugawara frowned and sidled a step closer to you.

The brunette slowed to a stop and offered you a gentle smile, lifting his arm to you with your forgotten water bottle in his grasp.

“Here,” he murmured, handing it to you. His hand was massive compared to yours, each finger calloused.

Your eyes widened slightly as you gripped the bottle and he winked.

“Also, sorry about that back there,” he said with a nod.

You grimaced, “Yeah, my bad.”

“No biggie,” he chuckled, considering you and Sugawara for a moment, “But I’ll see you guys on the court, yeah?”

Sugawara grinned, “You bet.”

You watched as Matsukawa left with a wave, and hoped your vice-captain hadn’t noticed the scrap of paper that had been slipped into your palm.

You scowled, pinching your bottom lip between your fingers, and considered your options.

“It’s not like you have a choice about which one you get,” Tobio murmured beside you.

He’d been watching you eye the gachapon machines for the better part of five minutes, your gaze having been glued to them since you’d both stepped foot into the Sakanoshita shop.

“I knowwwww.”

You sniffed and inserted your coins into the machine. It was a new collection of small Pokemon keychains, and you wanted the full set.

Correction, you needed the full set.

However, you got a bit carried away, and your twin managed to drag you from the offending machine once you had bought your eleventh gacha. You grumbled.

“I’m missing Riolu!”

“We’ll come get it another day.”

“But-”

“What the heck Tomiyo-chan?” Sawamura laughed, watching you try to contain all the little capsules in your arms.

You pouted and got a few chuckles from your teammates that still lingered behind to chat on their way home, stuffing gachapon into your tracksuit pockets. Tobio handed you a cool bottle of aloe juice and a candy bar. The bleach blonde shop clerk had yelled at them to go eat something more nourishing for dinner after Hinata and Tanaka had complained about the lack of meat buns, but had been kind enough to chuck the boys a handful of the snacks.

You took a few refreshing sips of the juice before dropping it into your bag, then nibbled idly at the corner of your candy bar, letting the banana and milk chocolate flavour coat your tongue as you began popping open the gacha capsules.

“How many did you buy?” Tsukishima asked, looking more than a little disturbed by the sheer amount of plastic balls that were stowed in your jacket and pants pockets.

“Uh… eleven?”

Yamaguchi choked on his water, and the blond’s eyes grew wide beneath the frames of his glasses.

“That’s so expensive. The hell?”

You shrugged, frowning as you opened a duplicate figure of Piplup.

“It’s my allowance. I can do whatever the hell I please with it.”

Tsukishima scoffed, “So what, you guys are also prissy rich kids?”

You considered the question for a moment, hooking the keychain’s cord on your pinkie along with the others.

“I guess?” you answered, “It’s kind of a new thing.”

The pair of boys just ‘huh’ed and watched you crack open another capsule.

“Actually Kageyama, why are you guys at Karasuno?” Tanaka asked, turning to you and your brother, who strolled a few steps ahead of you.

“The best school in the prefecture is Shiratorizawa,” Tanaka continued, pausing to elaborate to Hinata while Tobio munched on the rest of his candy bar.

Your brother shrugged.

“I didn’t make it into Shiratorizawa,” he answered plainly.

“What? Really?!”

Tobio nodded.

“I didn’t get a recommendation like Tomiyo, so I tried the entrance exam. None of it made sense to me.”

Daichi hummed, “Yeah, it’s extremely difficult to get in on academics alone.”

Tsukishima brushed past you with Yamaguchi in tow, and sneered.

“Sounds like the King isn’t that smart, huhhh.”

You rolled your eyes and waved as Yamaguchi bid you all farewell, both of the boys heading in the same general direction.

“You got recommended, Tomiyo-chan?” Sugawara asked, his brows raised.

“For gymnastics,” you replied, swallowing your bite of food, “But I was planning to stop competing anyways. And I wasn’t going to go there if Tobio wasn’t coming with.”

Suga nodded and you both turned back to the others’ conversation as they discussed the day’s match and the team, although you were more interested in fiddling with your new prizes.

“What happened to the person that’s gone from the club right now?” Tobio asked as you poked Hinata in the shoulder and slapped a keychain into his hand.

His look of befuddlement dissolved into an excited grin quickly once he’d realized what you’d gifted him with.

Tanaka cringed.

“Ah, he was suspended for a while and banned from club activities for a month.”

“Is he a delinquent or something?!” Shōyō cried.

“Nah, he just gets a bit too fired up and carried away. He’s a good guy I swear.”

Your brows rose to your hairline at the information, and Tobio also looked rather concerned.

Thankfully, your seniors didn’t comment when you presented them with their own little keychains before parting ways with them, instead just looking baffled and amused.

You finished off your bar and followed Tobio along quietly towards your homestead, pondering about the people you’d yet to meet.

“You did great today,” he murmured, bumping your shoulder lightly as you walked side by side.

“You did too, you know,” you replied, linking his pinkie finger with yours.

He exhaled through his nose.

“It was… hard,” he whispered, “Seeing them all again, I mean.”

You hummed, thinking back to the post-game fiasco you’d started in the gym. Thinking back to the past memories you shared with those boys.

“I think… I think we’re in a good place though,” Tobio continued, “With good people.”

You blinked at that and considered his words.

Now you both had a team. One that seemed to understand and accept both of your slight eccentricities and awkwardness with open arms.

People that were steadfast, and kind, and warm.

“Mmm, it makes me feel a little excited, y’know?” you said.

You both rounded the corner onto your street and Tobio’s eyes sparked deep sapphire in the moonlight as he smiled, small and hopeful.

“Yeah,” he answered, squeezing your finger in his, “I can’t wait.”

Chapter Text

Tobio woke from his slumber with a strange sense of unease in the pit of his gut, stirring him up into consciousness. He frowned and reached a hand out from beneath his duvet to scrabble for his phone, squinting slightly at the bright light as he checked the time.

Six-twenty a.m. Just a few minutes before his normal alarm for morning practice.

He exhaled deeply and sat up, taking a moment to stretch out his arms and shoulders, easing the echoing stiffness in his muscles from the practice match.

He begrudgingly removed himself from the warmth of his bed and started going about his morning routine. And when he eventually made his way downstairs and into the kitchen, he was surprised to not see his sister there already.

They always made their breakfast and bentos together before leaving for school. It was faster and more efficient when they divided the work.

He frowned.

Tomiyo was also pretty good at getting up on time, although every once in a while she slept through her alarm.

She’s probably still upstairs.

Tobio sighed and set his bag down, gently stretching out his hands as he trekked back up the stairs. They hadn’t been in this house for long, and the fact that they now had a second floor was still a little jarring at times, as well as the much larger size of their rooms. Tomiyo’s was directly adjacent to his, and he gently rapped a knuckle against the door.

No answer.

He frowned again, cocking his head to the side. He had definitely knocked loud enough for her to hear, even if she had just dozed off again. He gripped the handle and pushed the door open.

Tomiyo’s room was almost fully unpacked and finished at that point, with a pile of empty boxes folded next to the door for recycling. The walls were a subtle cream shade, with one fully covered in fairy lights that crawled up and across the ceiling like wild ivy, and the lavender curtains were drawn on the other. The bed was pressed into the far corner, leaving the rest of the floor space to be dominated by a massive pink carpet and the kotatsu upon it, facing a wall mounted television. Against another wall was a large corner desk with a few scattered sketchbooks and stationery on one half, and Tomiyo’s laptop sitting open on the other, a couple floating shelves filled with collectable figurines and lava lamps above. One of her larger ones was always switched on overnight, casting a faint purple light over the room.

“Hey,” Tobio murmured, spotting the lump still beneath the blankets on his sister’s bed, “C’mon, we’ve got practice.”

There was no reply again, and Tobio felt a strange panic come over him, shuffling over to the bed and crouching next to it.

His eyes widened.

Tomiyo was breathing heavily in her sleep, her face unusually flushed and her eyes screwed shut. He pressed a hand to her forehead, and his suspicions were confirmed.

Tomiyo was sick. Very sick, by the looks of it.

“Shit,” Tobio whispered, his palm lightly brushing away some hair from her face.

Tomiyo’s fever was high, and a few strands stuck to the sweat beading along her temples.

Tobio stood and bolted out of her room, heading straight down the hall towards the master bedroom and entering without any preamble. He approached the bed and grabbed his father’s shoulder, shaking gently to rouse him.

Kageyama Katsuya’s eyes cracked open, and he rolled over to see his son, eyeing him groggily in the dark.

“Tobio?” he croaked, still half asleep, “What’s wrong? Aren’t you supposed to be at practice by now?”

Tobio tried to control the slight shake in his fingers as he replied.

“Tomiyo’s sick.”

His father snapped to focus at that, swinging himself upright and standing, all lingering drowsiness wiped from his face. Tobio followed behind him as they both headed to his sister’s room, Katsuya scanning his youngest as she slept restlessly, curled in on herself.

He knelt down and felt her temperature, cursing quietly under his breath at the heat. Tobio clenched his hands repeatedly, unsure of what to do as his father started to wake up his sister, coaxing her gently from her sleep.

Her eyelids fluttered and she seemed dazed, looking at them in confusion.

“Tobio? ‘Tou-san? Wha?” she rasped, trying to sit up, although Katsuya stopped her.

“Nah uh, lie down,” he instructed.

“But we’ll be late for practice,” she protested at seeing her brother ready to go.

“You’re sick, Miyo,” Tobio sighed. Katsuya nodded.

“You’re in no position to be doing sports right now,” he added.

“I’ll be fine,” she coughed, but looked away when their father frowned, his brow furrowing.

“Absolutely not,” he said firmly, without room for further argument, “You’re staying home, and I’m calling the doctor.”

Tomiyo’s eyes grew watery, and Tobio squeezed her knee over the blanket, giving her an encouraging nod.

“I’ll let the team know you’re feeling unwell,” he murmured and she sighed, staring at her lap dejectedly.

Katsuya exhaled through his nose and stood to his full height, setting a hand on his daughter’s head.

“I’ll call the school, but for now, you need rest,” he said, “And food. We’ll handle breakfast.”

You frowned but accepted your fate. Your Otou-san had put his foot down, and to be honest, you did feel like shit. Your nose felt stuffy, your throat sore, and a headache throbbed behind your eyes. You wanted to go back to sleep.

You couldn’t help but feel bad though. You had just joined the club, and you were already having to miss practices for something as silly as a cold. You should have seen it coming. You had been sniffling the entire day before, but had shrugged it off.

Tobio gave your hand a squeeze.

“I got to go,” he murmured, “Get some sleep.”

You nodded and watched him go, the door clicking shut behind him, and shimmied yourself back beneath your blankets.

The sooner you got better, the sooner you could get back onto the court, with your team.

You couldn’t help but smile at the thought as you dozed off.

Kageyama Katsuya stood in the kitchen, sipping his coffee as he watched the miso soup simmer on the stovetop. The house was quiet, with his daughter resting upstairs and his son probably finishing up his morning practice by then.

A month ago, they had moved away from the city, settling into a smaller town in the mountains, within walking distance of the kids’ high school, and so far it had been a cathartic experience for the entire household.

The old house in Sendai held plenty of good memories, but after the passing of Tsuru, being there was hard. Being without her was hard. The void she left was a deep wound, and it had left them all trying to live in a house that wasn’t a home without her.

That aching emptiness in their hearts was slowly healing.

Katsuya would still roll over in the night, searching for that familiar warm body, that face he adored so much; would still wake up to a silent house, devoid of the lilting songs of his wife and children as they busied themselves in the kitchen.

But the pain was more bearable now. Less suffocating.

His children weren’t crying in their sleep anymore.

Well, at least they were sleeping at all. The first week after their mother’s death, Tobio stayed up every night, absorbing himself completely in volleyball videos, and Tomiyo kept waking from nightmares, eventually digging herself into video games and movies. The only times they could sleep dreamlessly seemed to be when they stayed together, and Katsuya had found them both passed out on their living room couches multiple times, their hands clasped together as if to ward off whatever terrors Katsuya couldn’t see.

His children had grown very good at dissociating themselves from their pain, even if only for a few hours at a time.

The relocation had been sudden, with the twins actually skipping their last few weeks of junior high and taking their assessments online. But after that disastrous tournament that left them both heartbroken, Katsuya had had enough.

The decision to leave the city behind was difficult, but he was glad he made it. He was perfectly fine with taking a slightly longer drive to work if it spared his children the last shreds of sanity they had been clinging so desperately to.

It wasn’t as if they had left much behind. The twins had severed ties with their last remaining friends, if he could have even called them that, and he didn’t have to worry about his wife’s job anymore. Although Miwa would have to travel a little further than normal to visit from then on, but with her salon in the city growing as rapidly as it had been, it was an infrequent occurrence.

Katsuya scratched at the scruff on his chin, the coffee blend bitter on his tongue, and set his mug down. He dished up a portion of soup for both himself and his daughter, storing the remainder, then headed upstairs with the food, as well as a bottle of cold water and medication to help alleviate some of her symptoms, so she could at least rest comfortably.

The twins rarely got sick, but when they did, it usually hit them hard. And now with Tomiyo’s insomnia, perhaps it was a good thing that she took a few days to crash and recuperate.

When he entered his youngest’s bedroom again, she was somewhat awake, although seemingly still very lethargic.

“Hey”, Katsuya murmured, pressing a hand to Tomiyo’s forehead. She returned the gesture with a woozy smile that made his heart clench.

“I got you some food. Try to eat at least some of it and take the painkillers if you need, okay?”

She nodded, setting the bowl of warm soup in her blanketed lap and taking a few tentative spoonfuls.

“You want me to put on a movie for you?” Katsuya asked, running his fingers through the inky black locks she had inherited from him, albeit his own hair had grown a bit silvery in the past few months.

She hummed and he went to turn on her television, using the mount to angle it towards her bed and turning it to a random channel.

“If you need anything else, I’m just in the study, okay?” he said, setting the remote on her nightstand.

Tomiyo’s eyes widened.

“But- but what about work?” she asked.

“Hey hey,” Katsuya hushed her gently, seeing the imminent guilt starting to boil up in her face, “It’s okay. The company can run perfectly fine without me for a day or two.”

She still looked like she felt bad, but it seemed that her worries were at least somewhat quelled for the moment.

“Okay ‘Tou-san,” she replied, her fingers digging into the duvet.

Katsuya smiled at his youngest, and gently pressed a kiss to her mussed hair before leaving.

For most of the first day that you were ill, you slept. You vaguely remember answering a few well wishing messages from Sugawara and Shōyō and having a doctor make a housecall to check in on you, but otherwise your memory was pretty foggy.

Thankfully whatever you had caught wasn’t serious, and would go away with a bit of rest and a round of antibiotics, but it still was quite the bummer that you’d be out of the game for a while.

Tobio kept you up to date with schoolwork as best he could, and told you all about the libero and stray ace that had come back to the club, and your father stayed with you during the day, despite your protests, caring for you and making sure you were taking your medications when you forgot.

But you were quickly running out of ways to keep yourself entertained.

You were in the middle of rewatching Poltergeist and blindly rummaging through your school bag for your sketchbook when a familiar slip of paper fluttered onto your carpet.

Your eyes widened.

You’d completely forgotten about the small message that had been covertly handed to you after the practice match by Seijoh’s middle blocker. You unfolded it to find a cell phone number and nothing more.

You frowned and cocked your head at it, your movie and bag forgotten as you peered at it, turning it over to see if anything else had been written.

Nothing. Just the number.

You thought back to the conversation you had with the guy back in the gymnasium.

He had seemed normal enough, well as normal as any teenage boy acted. But who were you to talk? You knew very well that you and Tobio were considered stiflingly awkward yourselves at times.

Then again, you pretty much only had each other growing up, so it was expected that there was some quirkiness from not spending a lot of time with other children.

Your curiosity was getting the best of you though, as you’d already gotten your phone out, flipping it open and going into your contacts.

Your eyes flicked between your phone screen and the movie as you chewed the inside of your cheek, contemplating.

Evidently the guy wanted something from you, right? What exactly, though, you had no idea.

You glanced at the clock. Almost noon.

Well, there was only one way to find out.

You opened your messaging app and a new chat window, biting the bullet.

11:49

It’s Kageyama. Did you need something?

You immediately regretted pressing send as you reread your message, and tossed your phone onto your kotatsu tabletop, your hands clutching your face as you groaned at your own social clumsiness.

At least the guy would be in school, so you had a bit of time to brood about your dogshit communication skills, type up something new, and replace the text.

Your phone dinged.

Or not.

You had to squash the urge to hide beneath your blanket and slowly dragged the phone towards you, as if it weighed half a ton, your other hand coming up to massage the bridge of your nose.

Thankfully your headache had eased over the past few days after plenty of rest and meds to ease your symptoms, because you were sure it would have flared up with a vengeance at this poor lapse in judgement.

You gripped your phone and opened the message.

11:52

Matsukawa

Hey there yourself. Right to the point huh?

You cringed, but a second ding didn’t let you dwell on it for too long.

11:53

Matsukawa

Aren’t you supposed to be in class?

You snorted and typed away.

11:54

I’m at home. Been sick. Aren’t you supposed to be in class?

The next message took a bit longer to arrive, and you were surprised to see that an image had been sent. You frowned and opened it.

It was a selfie of what appeared to be a library, with Matsukawa’s face in the corner. He was seated at a large table, a neat array of books and stationery spread across it that he seemed to be working with. Seated beside him was the other third year, Hanamaki, who was reading and throwing a lazy peace sign at the camera, looking thoroughly bored.

Across from them were the slightly blurred forms of Iwaizumi and Oikawa, who seemed to be bickering as usual, with the ace brandishing a green ruler as a weapon and Oikawa holding a textbook up to his face as some sort of makeshift shield.

11:58

Matsukawa

We’ve got a study period actually, smart mouth.

11:58

Matsukawa

You okay though?

11:59

Yeah, I’m fine.

11:59

What are they arguing about this time? Also please say hi to Hanamaki-san for me.

12:00

Matsukawa

Oikawa said that he wasn’t cute and that’s why he didn’t have a girlfriend. Makki says hey.

You shook your head and smiled, just imagining exactly how terribly that must have gone.

12:01

You’d think he’d have learned by now.

12:01

Matsukawa

Very true. It’s quite the miracle he has survived as long as he has. Also I think “Iwa-chan” is plenty cute (︶︹︺)

You actually giggled out loud at that.

Matsukawa was funny, and seemed to be pretty relaxed about your stiff manner of speech over text. You found yourself chatting with him over the course of the rest of the day, with messages growing slightly more sparse as he resumed normal classes and his own volleyball practice.

Eventually the sun started to set and Tobio returned home shortly after it slipped beneath the horizon, looking sleepy as he trudged into your room in his socks and club tracksuit.

“Hey,” you murmured as he plopped down beside you and engulfed you in a hug.

He mumbled something into your hair and pulled you closer, both of you taking a minute to just decompress from the day and breathe each other in.

It was your little moments like these where you realised just how much your brother had changed over the years. How he was slowly getting bigger; his shoulders broader and his jaw sharper, trading baby fat for muscles.

And you had changed as well. You sometimes wondered what that must have been like from Tobio’s perspective, especially when you started to shoot up in height right after him.

“Oh,” he said, perking up slightly, “Gotchu something.”

You lowered the volume of your movie as he rifled through his bag, eventually removing a wrapped package and dumping it on your lap. You gave him a quizzical look and he shrugged, seating himself next to you and stealing a rice cracker from the plate on your table.

“Don’t eat too much,” you said, pulling a mass of fabric from the plastic bag, “Dad’s going to order takeout soon.”

He hummed, half of the snack hanging from his mouth as he settled his chin on your shoulder. You picked up the fabric and froze.

Sleek black polyester hung from your fingers, with white kanji emblazoned across the back.

Karasuno High School Volleyball Club

You couldn’t stifle the excited squeak that erupted from your mouth and Tobio chuckled good-naturedly.

“Shimizu-san said it might be a little big, but if it’s an issue just let her know,” he said, straightening in his seat.

You gently refolded the jacket, standing up and setting it on your bed as your father called you both from downstairs.

“It’s nice that he’s been around so much,” Tobio commented offhandedly, popping the last of the rice cracker into his mouth.

You hummed in agreement. Your father had been spending the last few days working from home, even spending the evenings watching movies and playing board games with you and your brother.

It was… nice.

Shortly after your mother had passed, your father threw himself into his company, spending all his free time working. And it showed, with the company growing exponentially within months.

The influx of finance was welcome, sure, but you and Tobio just wanted your father to rest sometimes. But you supposed that perhaps drowning himself in his work was good for him in some aspects.

Better to be proud of what he had created than to despair over what he had lost.

And how could you possibly blame him for that?

“What do you guys want for dinner?” he hollered from the lounge as you descended the stairs.

You shared a look with Tobio before engaging in a short and intense battle of rock, paper, scissors. You lost, unfortunately, and you already knew what your brother wanted.

You sighed.

“Pork curry!”

You cursed under your breath as you jogged through the school halls, dodging past a couple of third years emerging from one of the art classes, and made your way outside.

You’d already texted Tobio to tell the team that you’d be a little late to practice, what with all of your teachers wanting to catch you up on everything you missed, and there hadn’t been a morning practice, so you’d yet to see your team at all. Even your lunch breaks had been taken up by your teachers guiding you through the material you had to catch up on.

Thankfully you had already changed into your training clothes, so you could go straight to the court instead of having to stop by the club rooms.

You followed the sound of squeaking shoes and male voices to the gym and stopped at the door, peering in as you changed your own trainers.

The team was already working through their warmups, standing in a large circle and stretching as Daichi counted out loud. In the corner of your eye, you could see Shimizu wave from where she stood next to Takeda-sensei. You returned the gesture shyly, and the movement must have caught someone’s attention, because you were immediately swarmed by an orange blur that could only be Hinata Shōyō.

“TOMIYOOO-CHAAANNN!”

You snorted as he scuttled up to you, positively vibrating with excitement as Tobio trailed behind him.

“Hey,” you murmured as the rest of the team made their way towards you, “I missed you guys.”

Sugawara swung an arm over your shoulders and gently patted your hair, giving you one of his cute grins.

“Aww, we missed you too!” he said, herding you to where the boys had gathered.

There were two new faces.

The closer of the pair was a surprisingly short brunette with a bleached forelock and almost cat-like eyes, peering at you curiously from behind Tanaka, and the other was a tall, goateed guy with his long hair tied back into a bun, possessing that sort of broadness to his stature that indicated that he was most likely another third year student. He offered you a small smile and wave of his hand that you returned with a nod.

“Oi! What are you guys doing?!”

The gruff voice made you jump slightly, bumping back into Sugawara, who gave your shoulder a reassuring squeeze. You turned to see where it had come from and did a small double take.

It was the guy that ran Sakanoshita Market.

You recognised the golden blonde head of hair almost immediately, since you and Tobio stopped by the store pretty much everyday to get snacks (and in your case, sometimes obscene amounts of gachapon), and you’d engaged in small talk with the guy almost every time, him not seeming to mind that you struggled with people and speaking gently to you.

Tobio hadn’t said anything about this.

You shot your twin a confused look and he replied with a sheepish grimace, a hand reaching up to rub at his neck.

Thankfully Takeda-sensei came forward to clarify, his presence as sunny as always.

“Ah, welcome back Tomiyo-chan,” he chirped, straightening his glasses as he sidled up to stand beside you and gesturing around to the team and all the new faces therein, “Lots of exciting things have been happening while you were gone, so let’s catch you up!”

You nodded, once again grateful that the teacher was quick to come to your aid.

“So, firstly we’re going to be having a training camp over Golden Week,” he explained, “Followed by a practice match with a rival school of ours from Tokyo, Nekoma High.”

You nodded again, making mental notes as he spoke. You had no idea Karasuno had a rival school though, nevermind one all the way over in another prefecture, so that was interesting.

He beamed and tapped the blonde guy on the shoulder.

“So Ukai-kun was kind enough to come and coach the team in his grandfather’s stead.”

You blinked. Tobio had mentioned that his main line of reasoning for coming to Karasuno was to receive training from a “Coach Ukai”, so you assumed that was the aforementioned grandfather.

“Just until the practice match,” the blonde added, shooting a sour glance at the grinning Takeda.

The teacher just ignored him and clapped his hands together.

“We’ve got a whole lot of things happening, and we’re going to be really busy!” he said, his enthusiasm almost palpable, “So take a little break to get Tomiyo-chan back into the swing of things and let’s get to it!”

“C’mon Tomiyo-chan,” Sugawara-san said, tapping your shoulder and guiding you into the centre of the team as Takeda and Ukai moved away to chat, “Let’s get you guys acquainted.”

You smiled and accepted all the cheery ‘welcome back’s and greetings from the boys under the watchful eyes of your captains and brother, and had just barely disengaged from a light hug with a pink-faced Shōyō when a blur of brunette excitement almost barrelled into you.

“Oh my god I thought they were pranking me I’m so pumped to pla-”

You blinked rapidly as the tiny stranger jabbered away, seemingly unaware of how far into your space he was leaning. You felt Tobio brush your elbow bracingly.

“Nishinoya,” Sawamura warned, although definitely more amused than stern.

“Sorry sorry!”

The boy in question, Nishinoya, stood ramrod straight and stiffly offered you his hand.

“Hi! I’m Nishinoya Yuu! Second year class three!” he yelped, “It’s nice to meet you! I play libero!”

You snorted but accepted his handshake despite the snickering from the other second years, which the shorter boy totally ignored, his sharp brown eyes staring at you with an unnerving intensity.

“Uhh, hello?” you murmured, noticing how Daichi-san dragged over the bearded third year, clapping him on the back so hard he stumbled forward and almost into Nishinoya.

“And this here is Azumane Asahi, our runaway ace!” he said.

The guy floundered for a moment, but eventually faced you. His eyes widened after a second.

“Oh wow you’re a lot taller up close.”

You shrugged.

“I reckon I’m probably the tallest girl in my year at least,” you answered.

And you most likely were. Even standing before Azumane, who was the largest of the third years, you were perhaps not even ten centimetres shorter than him.

He seemed to catch himself though and smiled at you.

“It’s nice to meet you, Kageyama,” he said, and you found yourself liking his more mellow demeanour, “We’ve heard a lot about you.”

You felt yourself flush and just offered him a small bow.

“I’ll be in your care.”

Sugawara chuckled, “Alrighty then, I think we can get back to it.”

You felt Tobio gently brush a hand across your back.

“You going to be okay?” he asked, brows furrowed.

“I’m fine Nii-chan,” you grumbled, bumping your shoulder to his, “I’ve been lazing around the house for almost a whole week. Let me play.”

He frowned and you exhaled a laugh through your nose, giving his hand a squeeze.

“Alright!” Ukai called, hands on his hips, “Back to warmups! We’ve got a lot of work to do!”

You followed the team as they arranged themselves into a circle and started stretching, bouncing lightly on the balls of your feet between Yamaguchi and your brother.

The familiar pleasant burn in your muscles was very welcome after such a long time of inactivity, and your body started to hum with energy as you moved through your routine and then started drills.

Every now and again you caught Coach Ukai watching you, but he seemed to move on quickly enough that you supposed it wasn’t particularly important at the moment.

It was a nice change to have a real structure to the practice, with Ukai setting specific goals for each player and working on the team’s general defense, and come the practice matches, you definitely felt him observing you play.

It made you vaguely nervous to be under his scrutiny, reminding you somewhat of how intense your gymnastics club was back at Kitagawa Daiichi. How each of those coaches would pick at any weakness in technique with a brutality that made you frown thinking back on.

But when you shot a glance his way, Ukai gave you an approving nod and a thumbs up.

You sent Tobio a look and he shrugged.

“Relax dumbass,” Tsukishima muttered after the last match, “He’s just been interested to see how good you are after seeing your brother play.”

You jabbed him in the ribs and took a sip from your water bottle as he hissed a curse at you.

“Missed you too, asshole,” you replied, ignoring Shōyō and Nishinoya snickering in favour of returning to the court to help Ennoshita take down the net.

The practice wrapped up with a quick team meeting. Another thing that had changed because now Ukai took charge instead of Sawamura.

“Okay, we’ve got a few days before the training camp!” he hollered, “Remember to take your forms to your parents and get the lists of what you should pack. Then get your asses home and eat some dinner!”

You and Tobio accepted some paperwork from Takeda and Shimizu before being gently ushered out into the evening air along with the rest of the boys, laughing noisily into the night and down into Sakanoshita.

Ukai-san treated you all to a bunch of meat buns and sent you all on your way with chidings to keep the volume low and get some rest.

The Golden Week break was soon. Really soon.

There was a faint undercurrent of anxious, eager energy thrumming through the team. Things were picking up fast.

Tobio’s hand gently soothed over yours, where your fingers had been drumming into your thigh over your new black club uniform, and he gently bumped your shoulder as he drank from his milk carton. You hummed and gave his hand a squeeze.

The team finally felt like it had filled out all the holes, with Azumane and Nishinoya now added to the mix.

The ace was a powerful hitter despite his rather gentle personality, and had been rife with worry after almost every spike he hit your way, despite you managing to get most of them up. He eventually got over it, as all of the other boys had within their first few days playing with you, and stopped holding back.

The skin of your forearms and palms still tingled, and you frowned slightly.

Although your receives were clean and strong, your blocking wasn’t holding up as well as you needed it to, especially against the stronger spikers.

You jolted out of your thoughts as a hand lightly tapped your elbow, bringing your attention back to the boys, where Daichi-san was giving you a curious look.

“Are you going to be coming to the camp, Tomiyo-chan?” he asked, wiping some crumbs from the corner of his mouth.

You cocked your head at him.

“Yeah, of course,” you answered, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

He shrugged.

“Well, will your parents be okay with you living with a bunch of boys for a few days?”

You blinked and shared a look with Tobio.

“Uh, yeah,” you answered, “I don’t think it will be a problem.”

He nodded and grinned at the team, his hands resting on his hips.

“Good, then remember to get your forms signed and get some rest,” he said, scanning everyone’s faces, “We’ve got a whole lot of work to do.”

“Osu!”

You squinted up at the night sky, at a full moon suspended amongst the stars glowing bright and illuminating the streets and houses with a milky gleam. A calico cat sat in a loaf upon a nearby wall, bathing in the evening ambiance.

You took a deep breath and sighed through your nose, the corner of your mouth ticking upwards as your brother started to squabble with Hinata over the best flavour of drinking yoghurt while the seniors watched in amused exasperation.

Nekoma. Soon.

Chapter Text

You spread your arms up into the air, bending backwards and eliciting three cracks from your spine, the tension easing almost instantly in the deep stretch. Beside you, Azumane-san shuddered.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” he muttered, reaching for his toes in his own stretch.

You rolled your shoulders as you shot him an apologetic look.

“She’s got dem crunchy bones,” Nishinoya laughed, plopping down beside the third year, who paled slightly at the statement.

A sharp snicker burst from between your lips at that and you heard Tobio snort from somewhere behind you as he and the rest of the team mingled around the gym.

“Mmm, gymnastics did a number on my joints,” you hummed.

Nishinoya’s eyes lit up in a way that was vaguely concerning, and he was in your space in a flash, prompting you to lean back slightly.

“Hey, do you think you can teach me how to do a backflip?” he asked, gold eyes bright with excitement, “I always wanted to learn but no one’s ever-”

“Alright team,” Coach Ukai cut in, addressing everyone with his hands resting on his hips, “That was a good practice! Finish off your cool downs and go grab your stuff from the club rooms so we can get going to the lodge.”

Takeda stepped up beside the blond, pushing his glasses up his nose as he spoke.

“The bus is at the front gates,” he said, “Don’t forget anything, because we’re only coming back tomorrow.”

He was answered by a chorus of affirmatives, and you followed behind Tobio as he made his way to the club room, sipping quietly on your water and listening to the boys chatter excitedly.

Hinata, Nishinoya and Tanaka seemed to be the most hyped about the whole thing, unsurprisingly, and their glee was almost infectious, given how the corners of your mouth twitched up at the sight of their grinning faces.

Your club back in Kitagawa Daiichi had never held any sort of training camp or team bonding activities, what with not being a group-oriented sport for the most part.

You changed into your tracksuit hurriedly and grabbed your bags from the shelves, giving the club room a quick glance to check that nothing had been left behind.

Takeda had been true to his word, and within a few days of giving you the key to the old club room, it had been dusted and cleared of all the unused sporting equipment, leaving it bright and clear, with just you and Shimizu having access.

It still made you a little misty-eyed if you dwelled on it for too long.

You locked up behind you and trailed after the boys as they finished getting their things and loaded onto the bus, settling down next to Tobio and watching Nishinoya and Hinata practically vibrate with excitement.

You leaned against your twin and just listened quietly as the bus set off towards your lodgings, the boys around you chatting animatedly with each other.

About the camp, homework, family, school.

It felt so strangely normal.

Tobio held your hand gently as he argued with Hinata about the pros and cons of each brand of athletic shoes, the ginger turning backwards in his seat to squabble with Tobio over the headrests, and you smiled to yourself.

It had been a long time since you and your brother had felt anything akin to normalcy.

You checked your phone’s notifications, chuckling at a meme from Matsukawa and finding another message from your sister wishing you a fun Golden Week and assuring you that she’d drop by the house to visit your father.

You’d been worried about leaving him alone at home. Neither you or Tobio had been out of the house overnight since perhaps your second year of middle school, and the idea of your dad wandering around a silent house alone during the nights left you feeling unsettled and apprehensive about going on the camp at all.

Although when you’d whispered that you could stay, he had laughed and ruffled your hair, signing your and Tobio’s forms and eagerly helping you both pack, saying something about you two ‘going out there and doing stupid teenager stuff’ that had left your brother pouting indignantly.

Your father had ushered you both off to school that morning with promises to message you if anything happened and insistent chiding to have fun and not worry about him.

When the bus arrived, you shuffled along with the boys, some of whom had taken to carrying your bags for you despite your protests, to find yourself inside a small building, watching as Shōyō zoomed through each room, his eyes practically glowing with excitement.

“Calm down,” Tobio grumbled, watching the redhead marvel at the bathroom with you, his hands shoved into his tracksuit pockets.

“But I’ve never been to a training camp before!”

Tsukishima skulked up next to you, wrinkling his nose at the other boys.

“What’s so great about being around a bunch of stinking idiots all day long?” he sneered.

You rolled your eyes as Tanaka and Nishinoya cussed the blond out, following Tobio to the rooms to drop off his bags with the others, then to the dining area, where Shimizu and Takeda had graciously prepared a delectable spread of food that had your stomach growling ravenously.

You spent most of your dinner watching Tobio and Shōyō inhale an obscene amount of food and listening to the chatter of the third years next to you, and even though you had insisted on helping Shimizu out, she gently steered you out of the kitchen with a soft smile and hushed ‘goodnight’.

You were pouting until you found the boys squabbling about sleeping arrangements, with the main instigators being your brother and Hinata, not to much surprise on your part. Takeda had been kind enough to offer you a spare room on the other side of the building, but you had turned it down in favour of staying with the boys.

You’d grown up attached to Tobio’s side, and you trusted these guys around you, as silly as they could be. A couple of nights of their shenanigans was perfectly fine.

Surely the potential snoring couldn’t be too bad.

You ended up on one of the middle futons, with Tobio to your right and Tsukishima to your left, with Shōyō and Yamaguchi beside them respectively. The blond had sneered at you as you settled down to unpack and you lobbed a rolled up pair of socks at him, smacking him square in the glasses and earning a bout of snorting giggles from Nishinoya and Shōyō.

Sugawara, exasperated but with an amused glint in his eye, chased you out to have the baths first before Tsukishima could retaliate.

You kept your soak short, not wanting to keep the boys delayed for long, scrubbing away the sweat of practice and throwing on your comfiest pyjamas, which ended up being a simple pair of black leggings and an oversized shirt.

You had to dodge a couple of flying pillows as you reentered the room, accepting a few head pats from Sugawara and a small smile from Azumane as they left for their own baths.

With most of the second years, Hinata and your brother locked in an “epic pillow battle to the death”, you sunk down to your futon, vaguely listening as Tsukishima and Yamaguchi gave snarky running commentary.

You started your nightly stretch routine, idly keeping an eye on the boys as Ennoshita got them to stop squabbling. Tobio eventually found his way over to you, flopping down on his futon as you sat in a forward fold to loosen up your legs, and shoving his arm into his things.

“‘Tou-san snuck us snacks,” he grumbled, pulling out a plastic bag seemingly filled to the top with foodstuffs, and doing a poor job of hiding his eye roll when you straightened up and immediately dove into the goodies.

The rustling apparently caught the other boys’ attention and soon you had a curious Shōyō and Nishinoya peering over your shoulder as you decided to simply upend the bag, spilling packets and boxes over your futon.

You picked out a pack of milky gummies and yoghurt pocky and tossed them into Tobio’s lap before grabbing yourself some senbei, your hands going to see what your father had cached in your own overnight bag.

Yamaguchi chuckled as you yanked out an absolute unit of a My Sweet Piano plushie before diving into your stuff again.

“How the hell did you even get that in there?” Tsukishima asked, eyes wide as he stared at the massive pink lamb.

You shrugged and continued with your digging, eventually unearthing a packet filled with your favourite snacks to tide you over the few days away from home.

You tossed it in the general direction of the boys before propping yourself up against Tobio’s shoulder, dragging your laptop bag along with you.

“You guys can help yourselves,” you murmured, nodding at the treats. Your brother grunted in agreement around a mouthful of pocky as you booted up your laptop.

The cheers of joy from some of them could have had someone thinking they’d won the damn lottery, and you snorted as Tobio shook his head.

Eventually the boys went to bath grade by grade, and the energy of the evening settled down into a content simmer as everyone lounged around and chatted, only briefly interrupted when some of the boys mistook Azumane for some kind of ghost and screamed their lungs out, prompting Sawamura to berate them about the noise, ironically rather loudly himself.

Although the mention of the paranormal sparked an idea in your head, and you were pretty sure Tobio shuddered at the glint you got in your eye when you turned to your team, your plushie clutched tightly in your grasp.

“So, do you guys want to watch a movie?”

Say what you will about Matsukawa Issei, no one could deny that he was exceptionally observant.

It was a skill honed over the years, and one of the biggest reasons he was possibly one of the best middle blockers in Miyagi, Dateko notwithstanding of course.

It started small, as most of those subtler abilities do.

Picking up when someone was growing ansty, when they’d be feeling pressure, when they’d be more likely to make risky decisions in hopes for any kind of payoff.

In volleyball, it manifested as an ill-timed jump, a sloppy receive, a predictable setter dump.

Issei learned quickly to predict if his opponents would go for those sorts of moves when the heat was on.

Although even he could recognise that there was someone even better at that than him.

And said person was currently heckling Makki about who was the cutest girl in their year, despite the undeniable fact that Oikawa had dated (and broken up with) almost a third of them already.

No, even Matsukawa had to admit that Oikawa’s eyes missed nothing , both on and off the court.

It was almost uncanny at times, how his captain could tell when and where to push to get an opposing team to break. How he could sniff out any weak links, any tiny aberration, and use them to crack open rival players with disturbing ease.

Thankfully, he only used that perceptiveness off the court to be petty sometimes, seemingly not really caring enough to actually want to wield it to emotionally hurt anyone.

With the exception of one Kageyama Tobio apparently.

No, there was something about being in the vicinity of his old kōhai that made Oikawa bristle and tense, spitting out venomous words under a frosty smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

The irony that Kageyama was, for the most part, oblivious to the vitriol was something Issei found immensely tickling.

Although over the past couple of weeks chatting casually with Tomiyo, he was drawing to the conclusion that perhaps the twins just never considered even bothering with those kinds of mental games in the first place, leading all attempts at it to pretty much completely go over their heads.

The girl didn’t engage in conversation normally for the most part, not often reciprocating questions as expected nor sharing much until prodded, but would gush about her favourite topics without stopping for hours.

And although Issei found the girl very endearing, he still couldn’t help but feel that she was still a bit of an enigma.

Aside from a basic idea of the mess that had happened in her last year, he had almost no context for why she acted the way she had towards Kunimi and Kindaichi. Not to mention how strangely hostile and withdrawn she had been towards Oikawa and Iwaizumi respectively, which looked like opening its own can of worms that would take time and gentle coaxing.

He glanced at the two boys in question, who were idly working on their school assignments as they listened to the bland drama happening on his television.

All four of them were spending the day at his house to work together on some of their shared homework, huddled around the kotatsu in his living room. Although they were having a slow afternoon, considering Hanamaki had started to nap, his biology textbook lying open on his face.

Makki was the only other person that knew he was talking to Tomiyo, aside from her own brother he supposed, considering he had received a selfie from her just the previous day with him pouting at the camera in the background, along with the rest of her oblivious team as they took a water break from their training camp she had excitedly told him about.

He hadn’t exactly informed Iwaizumi and Oikawa because honestly it hadn’t crossed his mind at first. Then it was just a case of concern over how they would react to it really.

The entire practice match against Karasuno had been Oikawa’s idea in the first place, which had something to do with the fact that Kageyama hadn’t come to Aoba Johsai for some reason.

Matsukawa had seen the final Kitagawa Daiichi match that had gone so awry, and had accepted pretty readily that Tobio needed, at the very least, some gentle guidance when he entered high school. Even a blind man could see that the boy had passion and talent, he just struggled with people. And that he would eventually make a phenomenal setter for the team after Oikawa graduated.

However Oikawa had gotten a familiar nasty glint in his eye at the mention of him, and red flags had immediately been raised in Issei's mind.

He glanced at the captain, who was now frowning down at his calculus and twirling his pen in a dizzying pattern deftly between his fingers, and Iwaizumi, working through the segments of a tangerine and surfing the channels playing quietly on the television.

Makki snored quietly beside him, and Issei reckoned this was as good a time as any to dive into the deep end.

“So,” he started, waiting for the other two brunettes to look up at him.

Iwaizumi quirked a brow at him, muting the baseball game he had settled on, and Oikawa eyed him quietly, stopping his pen between his index and middle fingers.

Issei cleared his throat.

“Care to tell me what the deal is with Tomiyo-chan?”

You blinked, taking a split second to judge the distance before taking off to the other end of the court, your hands reaching up and over the net as Azumane jumped, arm poised to slam the ball down towards the back corner of the court.

The spike was sharp, and powerful. It reminded you vaguely of the few you’d faced against Iwaizumi during the practice match. Although back then you’d had either Tobio or Tsukishima to handle them in your stead for the most part.

The ball smacked against your palm harder than you anticipated and shot up, flying far over your head and out of bounds.

You hissed as the burn set in, shaking your hand to dissipate the sensation.

“Ah! Did I hurt you?” Azumane asked, ducking under the net.

You’d learned rather quickly that despite his size and appearance, Azumane was quite the soft-hearted individual, and grew anxious easily. It made him a bit of a target for teasing from his fellow third years and Nishinoya at times.

“I’m okay,” you said quickly, hopefully waving his worry away, “Just wasn’t expecting you to spike so hard.”

He gave you a sheepish smile and you moved off to the side so that the team could continue their blocking drills, chuckling under your breath as Tsukishima blocked one of Tobio and Shōyō’s quicks, to which your brother stuck his tongue out at you.

“Alright!” Ukai called out, wheeling one of the ball carts out to the middle of the court, “Receiving drills next!”

You waited your turn, leaning against Tobio, and frowned down at your palm, the stinging of Azumane’s spike now just a phantom pain.

It was now day three of the camp, and of the dozens of spikes you’d faced, you hadn’t been able to effectively shut down many at all, at least from the older boys.

You knew your technique was clean, and your placement and timing of your blocks was good, but the sheer power some of your teammates packed in their spikes wasn’t something you were coping well against. You just kept getting blown back.

Worst of all, you knew that Coach Ukai had noticed too.

Yamaguchi fumbled a receive and you chewed on the inside of your cheek.

Although Nishinoya’s reappearance added a much needed buff to the team’s defensive game, the group as a whole needed to be on another level to stand against the top schools in the upcoming Interhigh rounds.

You went up for your turn after him, and were glad to see that despite the ramp up in power behind the spikes, if you widened your stance ever so slightly, your receives were still as solid and strong as ever. Ukai gave you an approving nod as you sent the fifth ball straight back to him and you moved out of the way for Shōyō.

Nishinoya gave you a thumbs up and a grin, no doubt watching how each of you fared, and an idea started to form in your mind.

“Okay that’s everyone!” Ukai hollered, “Next, take a run!”

You followed behind Tobio as everyone changed into their running shoes and trickled out the gym into the mid-afternoon sun, although pulled back to keep up with Sugawara and Daichi instead as it became apparent that your brother was going to turn this simple cardio workout into another race against Shōyō.

Suga shot you a knowing grin and you just shrugged, watching as the idiot duo started to pull ahead of the group as you made your way off of the school property.

Daichi led the group through the nearby residential area, having already planned out the route for the run, and you entertained yourself listening to the boys chat and the birds sing, trying to ignore the heat of the sun bearing down on you.

Running wasn’t exactly something you enjoyed, and at most Tobio could drag you out of the house for one of his morning jogs on the rare occasion. But there was something about being surrounded by the group of boys and having their energy and conversation wash over you that made it maybe just a little bit nice , dare you say.

You gave an exasperated sigh through your nose as Tobio and Shōyō actually started going faster on a particularly harsh uphill, with the redhead half-yelling as he pumped his arms harder to get ahead of your brother.

“Hinata!” Daichi called out, “Stop shouting! You need to save your energy!”

You chortled under your breath as the captain was totally ignored, but stopped laughing when you realised that Shōyō was starting to get a bit too far away.

“Ah damn,” Sugawara cursed breathlessly, “He’s going the wrong way.”

You shot ahead of the third years and grabbed onto the hem of Tobio’s shirt as he started to speed up, prompting him to frown at you. No doubt his competitive side making him forget that it most definitely wasn’t a race to begin with.

“Slow your ass down,” you grumbled, waiting for the rest of the team to catch up, and he sent you and Daichi an apologetic look.

Thankfully Sawamura just chuckled good-naturedly.

“Suga,” he said, glancing around the area as the boys took a moment to breathe, “Think you can find him?”

“Yes boss!”

“Tomiyo-chan, can you give him a hand please?”

You nodded and Sugawara gave him a cheeky salute before you both started jogging again, heading in the general direction the short one had bolted to.

“Ahhh those two, I swear,” Sugawara laughed as you reached the top of the hill.

You nodded, although frowned when you saw no sign of Shōyō anywhere, with the streets branching off in multiple directions.

“Okay, can you check that side and I’ll check this way?”

“Sounds good,” you agreed, “I’ll text you if I find him.”

He nodded and you both set off in search of your stray teammate.

Thankfully, what with it being midday on a national holiday, the roads were silent, with most people hiding away from the heat, the tap of your shoes on the sidewalk and the caws of some far off birds the only sounds reaching your ears.

Unfortunately however, Shōyō was nowhere to be seen.

You paused to catch your breath beneath the shaded canopy of a konbini’s entrance, resting your hands on your hips, and took a second to think.

Every small thought flooded your head immediately. About how your father was managing, even though Miwa was probably there with him by now, what Matsukawa was up to, since he had told you that Seijoh didn’t have training over the holiday.

Where you sat in the balance of the team…

You scowled at that, and promptly realised that you had forgotten to take your meds this morning, no doubt exacerbating your more anxious thoughts.

Groaning, you massaged the bridge of your nose and decided to just continue looking for Shōyō, since your mind seemed set on running in circles for now.

You rounded the corner to head back when your face came into contact with something hard.

An involuntary squeak slipped from your mouth as you started falling backwards fast.

“Whoa there!” a smooth voice said, surprisingly close, and you felt a slight warmth on your elbow and lower back as your momentum was stopped, “I gotcha, I gotcha.”

Your field of view filled with black as you were lifted lightly back onto your feet, and you squinted up at the stranger that caught you.

The first thing that caught your attention was the mess of onyx hair that adorned the stranger’s head, then the pair of sharp hazel eyes beneath a furrowed brow that peered down at you with concern despite the roguish grin.

“You alright?” he asked, stepping back once he was sure you were steady on your feet again.

He was almost a full head taller than you, wearing a simple black tee and carmine tracksuit pants, a white line emblazoned down the leg, with the matching jacket slung over his shoulder. His skin seemed to have a natural tan and his arms bulged with lean muscle as he crossed his arms and gave you a quick once over.

“Uh yeah, I’m good,” you answered, having to lean your head back somewhat to look at him, “Sorry about that, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

His eyes crinkled pleasantly as his smile widened.

“I should hope that’s the case, unless you wanted to get my attention on purpose?” he jibed.

You felt your face heat up slightly as he shot you a wink, and your nose tickled with the musky, woody smell wafting from his shirt.

And not wanting to stroke the stranger’s obviously huge ego, you scowled, even though your blush must have completely given you away regardless.

He chuckled and waved a hand lightly in front of his face.

“Sorry, couldn’t resist,” he explained with a shrug.

“Hmph.”

“Oh actually,” he drawled, “Have you seen someone wandering around here?”

You cocked your head at him curiously as he gestured with his hand slightly below your height.

“About this tall, kinda gangly, half-blonde, chronically attached to a phone or device of some sorts?”

You pursed your lips at the description and shook your head.

“Afraid I haven’t,” you said, offering him a sympathetic smile. Apparently people were getting lost all over the place.

He sighed and scratched the back of his head, drawing your attention back to the absolute mess that was his nest of hair, sticking up in every other angle despite gravity generally not letting hair do that.

“Damn,” he cursed.

“Sorry.”

He waved his hand.

“Nah, no sweat,” he said, “But I should go find him, before he falls into a well or something.”

You felt your eyebrows fly up at the suggestion, but the handsome boy just chuckled.

“Thanks anyway,” he said, “And sorry for bumping into you.”

You watched him start to walk away.

“Yeah, sure.”

He sent you a crooked grin and a quick two finger salute before he rounded the corner.

“See you around cutie.”

Your cooling cheeks flared back up at that, but he was gone before you could even retort, and you huffed.

Weirdo.

You pulled your phone out from your shorts’ pocket and flipped it open, to find no messages from Sugawara, and you sighed, taking off in a light jog.

Shōyō was a speedy little bugger; who knew how far away he’d scurried in the time you’d been distracted.

You scoured the last few roads on the block before retracing your steps all the way back to the street where the stranger had disappeared, and then further back to where you and Sugawara had split up.

You sighed through your nose as you wiped a bead of sweat from your brow, and went to stand beneath the shade of a big tree on the sidewalk while you gathered your thoughts.

“Mrow.”

You blinked and looked up to find a cat eyeing you from amongst the branches, its calico fur splotchy and bright amongst the greenery, its tail hanging down like a fuzzy, mismatched branch.

“Hi,” you answered, watching it stare you down with its golden eyes.

It dropped down and approached you, pausing to cautiously sniff at you. You crouched down and held your hand out for it to smell, letting it know you were approachable.

It wasted no time ambling forward and pressing itself against your shins, and you felt the hint of a grin tugging at the corners of your mouth.

Your mother had always loved animals, but unfortunately suffered from severe allergic reactions to most, meaning that you grew up without any pets of your own, much to your and your sibling’s dismay.

The cat started purring as you scratched beneath its chin and you cooed at it under your breath, letting the tension of the day seep out of your muscles as the pad of your thumb skated across its eyelids and cheekbones.

You had considered asking your father if you could get a pet at some point, but it had felt inherently… taboo. As if in asking, you had accepted that your mother's place within your home had simply dissolved into nothing more than a ghost or memory.

She had been buried for just over half a year.

You blinked away the wateriness in your eyes as a buzz emanated from your pocket, and straightened, the cat winding itself around your calf as you checked your phone.

Sugawara

I got him! (  b￣▽￣)b

You chuckled at the emoji and gave the cat one last stroke along its spine, replying that you’d meet up with them back at the school.

“I gotta go now baby,” you murmured, eliciting a soft ‘mrrrp’ from the feline as it bumped its head against your knee.

It seemed to understand that you were done and strutted away from you leisurely, rounding a corner and disappearing down some adjacent road, hopefully to a home of sorts and you sighed, cracking your knuckles as you yourself set down the street to return to Karasuno.

You had work to do.

You flopped onto your futon that evening, and immediately had to fight the heaviness that had your eyelids drooping.

You felt Tobio settle down next to you and start rummaging through his stuff for his nail file. Even on vacation he held true to his routine.

“Remember to start on your homework,” you mumbled, face smooshed into the pillow as you blindly searched for your laptop with your right hand, eventually smacking it with your knuckles and dragging it closer.

Your brother grunted and you shot him a look.

For the most part you were both kind of iffy with school, but you had put in an effort to at least power through most of your holiday work during the spare time you had in the evenings, which turned out to be a great idea since you had multiple senpais who were more than happy to help when they realised you got stuck every now and again. Eventually Yamaguchi and Tsukishima started to work with you, albeit begrudgingly from the latter.

Tobio and Shōyō however…

Well, let’s just say that their attentions were one hundred present focused on the training. And only the training.

Truth be told, you were already prepared to help Tobio out when he inevitably had to cram all his work in on the last day, but if you could coax him to get started then at least he’d have a rough base to work with.

Ennoshita sent you a sympathetic grimace and you hauled yourself upright, getting your pyjamas out so that you could shower straight after dinner, since the boys pretty much insisted that you took the bathroom first every night.

You felt your phone vibrate and picked it up to see that your sister had sent you a photo, as well as some messages from Matsukawa, lamenting about how his holiday was being spent babysitting the other Seijoh boys.

You opened the photo to see a grinning Miwa holding up a peace sign to the camera, a pair of chopsticks clutched between her manicured fingers, seemingly seated at what appeared to be a korean barbeque place. Behind her, manning the grill and smiling amusedly at her antics, was your father.

He seemed to at least be having a good time. To be fair, Miwa was able to pry even the shyest person out of their shell with her sunny personality.

You showed your brother and he chuckled, which seemed to spook half of the boys in the room, and drawing the attention of some of the others.

“Whoa, are those your parents?” Nishinoya asked, appearing behind Tobio’s shoulder to peer at your screen.

“Uh, no,” you answered, awkwardness creeping up your skin as more of the boys came to look, “That’s our sister and dad.”

“Ohhhhhhhh.”

“She’s really pretty,” Sugawara murmured, resting a hand on your hair.

“And your mom?” Yamaguchi asked, and you felt Tobio stiffen beside you.

You hesitated for a moment too long and felt everyone’s focus on you as you balked at answering what would appear to be a simple question.

Thankfully Tobio came to your rescue, sort of.

“She died.”

You weren’t sure if your brother’s usual bluntness was appropriate in that moment, because as soon as his sentence registered, half of the team violently recoiled as if slapped and you immediately wanted to bury yourself in a hole.

Yamaguchi paled and started stammering out an apology, as if he had made some great offence instead of simply being curious and you shook his shoulder lightly.

“Oh my god, it's okay,” you insisted, giving each of the boys a pointed glance.

Sugawara cringed and offered you a sheepish smile, to which you sighed and reached over to pinch your brother. He pouted at you but seemed to get your correction.

“It happened last year,” you explained, addressing the others in the room who were now gazing at you with a mixed bag of expressions.

“Why didn’t you guys say anything?” Tanaka asked, not really in a scolding way, but definitely a little… disappointed maybe?

You pursed your lips and felt Tobio knock his shoulder to yours.

“We didn’t really want it to seem like an excuse for anything,” you said, the words seeming thick on your tongue.

You chewed on the inside of your cheek as it sunk in, and jolted slightly when Tobio addressed them.

“It happened a few weeks before my last tournament,” he muttered, picking at his cuticles, his eyes downcast, “It’s still… hard.”

Glancing around, you could pinpoint the exact moment the timing clicked in each boy’s head. How Tsukishima’s calculating gaze grew sharp and Hinata’s expression turned cloudy.

Thankfully your captain seemed to pick up that you and Tobio were growing supremely uncomfortable and clapped his hands in that almost comically authoritative way of his that got everyone to ease up.

“Alright alright, give them room,” he commanded, but turned to you and Tobio with a chiding look that reminded you far too much of your own father.

He crossed his arms and leaned down to speak more softly to you and your brother as the others stepped away.

“Listen,” he said, levelling you with those grounded eyes of his, “I understand where you’re coming from, but it’s okay if it gets too much sometimes.”

You swallowed and looked down at your hands, which had been clenched in the creases of your shorts.

“If you need us to back off, or you guys are having a hard time, let us know, alright?”

You shot your brother a quick look and he nodded for both of you, which Sawamura seemed at least somewhat satisfied with.

He gestured to the door with his head.

“Okay, Tomiyo-chan has the showers first,” he said, essentially ending the conversation and ushering you out of the stifling atmosphere.

Tobio sent you a reassuring nod that he’d handle whatever repetitive questions the team had and you heaved a silent sigh of relief.

The idea of informing your team about your mother had been weighing heavily on you since the night of the practice match at Aoba Johsai, so for it to finally be over and done with was at least one thing off your mental checklist that had been plaguing you.

You stood and gathered your toiletries, humming quietly as you went about your nightly routine, feeling like part of the world itself had been lifted off your shoulders.

You washed your hair, scrubbed away the grime of a long day and shot off answering messages to both your sister and Matsukawa.

You settled down for the evening with some american cartoons playing on your laptop, the characters chattering quietly as you idly dozed and let your hair air dry, the boys flitting around you as they took turns using the baths and getting ready for bed. Tobio stuck next to you for the most part, despite not really understanding what was going on in the show, but apparently not really wanting to leave you alone after your sort-of secret got forcefully spilled, and just quietly talking to Shōyō, who also seemed to be clueless but just enjoying the company.

Surprisingly, Yamaguchi and Tsukishima were watching though, even if the blond was pretending to read instead. Tadashi had eventually calmed down about your mother and had apologised again quietly, even despite your insistence that he did nothing wrong, and was sharing a bag of caramel corn with you.

It was nice.

You and Tobio had a pretty terrible track record of being able to make friends, so being in the company of not only the other three in your year, but amongst a group of upperclassmen that didn’t seem threatened by Tobio and actually cared about you both, was bittersweet.

Would something like this have been possible at Seijoh?

Instead of Shōyō, Tadashi and Tsukishima, you and Tobio would have still been with Kunimi and Kindaichi. If Oikawa had eventually managed to pull his own head from his ass, you knew he would have been a phenomenal mentor.

Hell, you knew he already was with his team there. Just that something about your brother set him off.

And although you knew nothing about their second years, you knew that Iwaizumi, Matsukawa and Hanamaki would have been welcoming, and would have wasted no time in getting Tobio out of his head after junior high, smoothing out those rough edges that you couldn’t reach.

Your brother nabbed a handful of popcorn, leaving you a few fruit gummies as a trade and you smiled to yourself, letting the sweetness roll over your taste buds as everyone got ready for lights out, with Suga and Daichi checking that everyone had what they needed for a good night’s rest.

Unfortunately, Aoba Johsai was just a fantasy, and wandering through daydreams of what maybe could have been was just something that would make you sad.

And at the end of the day you reckoned, watching Nishinoya jump out of one of the closets and scare the absolute shit out of Azumane, you wouldn’t trade it for the reality you had.

Chapter Text

“You gotta be careful with your wrists,” you explained, rolling your shoulders as you readied yourself, “You don’t want to overextend and sprain them. And be aware of where your hips are so you don’t fall forward.”

Nishinoya nodded, his intense gaze flitting between your own eyes and your hands as you spoke.

You were currently standing on the strip of grass that sat between the two school courts, taking a short break after your lunch before Coach Ukai called everyone back in.

Most of your teammates had the common sense to use the time to rest up under the trees and allow their meals to settle and chat or strategise. But not Nishinoya, who saw his imposed exile from the gym as an opportunity to pester you into teaching him some of the more technical gymnastic tricks.

You had shot down some of his ideas of doing the crazier stuff, instead trying to get him to do something simple, like the backflip he had wanted originally.

Unfortunately that was easier said than done, because although you were pretty sure he had the physical ability to do it, he struggled with actually getting down to it.

The aerial skills needed you to trust yourself to pull it off, and to not be scared to try. Hesitation wasn’t exactly an option when you had to get yourself upside down in the air in a split second. The fear held most people back.

Instead of letting him beat himself up about it, you decided to just take it down a level and get him to do a solid handstand.

You pushed yourself onto your hands, trying not to think of how unusual it felt after months, and tried to show him what you meant.

“Think of it like your ankles are being pulled up by a string,” you huffed, walking yourself forward slightly to fix your balance, your heels clicking together as you tightened your spine into a straight line.

You descended back down one leg at a time and fixed your shirt, which had drooped to expose some of your stomach.

“Okay, give it a shot,” you said, “I’ll catch your legs.”

“Yes ma’am!”

You rolled your eyes at his jest and watched him tilt forward, much more confident in this than the flip. As soon as he was almost completely vertical, you grasped his ankles and stepped up to get him in the right position.

He exhaled hard as he tried to get a better stance with his hands but eventually you had him in a passable, if slightly wobbly, free-standing handstand.

“Nice,” you said, feeling yourself nod even as his attention was elsewhere.

A few whoops and cheers came from the team as he finally succeeded and you smiled as a grin appeared on his face at the encouragement.

“This is a lot harder than you make it look,” he grunted, and you guided his left foot down gently, followed by his right until he was back upright, his face slightly red from the exertion.

You hummed in agreement.

“Yeah, it can be pretty hard on your shoulders if you’re new to it. But with a few weeks of practice, you should be good enough to start moving while you’re in it.”

His eyes brightened in that way that you’d learned meant that he was going to get loud and you immediately backed up a step as he did exactly that, almost vibrating with energy despite having exercised for hours already.

“Oh can you show me? Please please please-”

“Alright enough fooling around!”

You looked away from Nishinoya to see Coach Ukai leaning out from the gym doorway, eyeing you all amusedly.

“Let’s get back to it!”

He received a round of affirmative shouts as everyone gathered their things and started to trickle back to the gym, laughing and chatting contentedly.

Nishinoya thankfully went off to zoom back into the building, apparently more than pumped to get back to work despite having some of the most polished technique in the team, and you chuckled, joining up with Tobio as he settled down with everyone for a quick meeting.

Coach Ukai took his spot before you all, pulling out the whiteboard and flipping it to show everyone his team composition for the match.

“Okay,” he began, eyeing you all, “Here’s the starting lineup against Nekoma.”

You stared at it silently, envisioning each of the boys on the court, and frowned silently as you saw your own name placed on the corner of the court.

You weren’t exactly on the starting lineup, but were… maybe a pinch server?

Tobio’s fingers threaded through yours and gave your hand a light squeeze as Ukai began explaining.

“Our team’s strength lies in its offensive capabilities,” he said, tapping the board, “And while we work on defence, I want to utilise it to its fullest. ”

He jerked his head to the court, and everyone moved into their respective spots. You stood beside Sugawara on the sidelines, listening as Coach explained that he didn’t really expect them to work seamlessly as a team just yet, but that everyone would practise in those formations until the match in two days.

As the boys began setting up the balls for a quick practice match, you could feel Sugawara glance at you multiple times, his brows furrowed.

You sent him a quizzical look and he smiled, which just confused you further.

Sighing through your nose, you shook away any negative thoughts, deciding instead to focus back on fixing your blocks.

You had just finished your bath and were walking back into the room to call the next group of boys to go, when you felt a light touch on your shoulder.

“Hm?”

You turned to see Ukai staring at you, a lit cigarette hanging from his lips, his other hand tucked away into his hoodie pocket.

“A word please, Kageyama,” he said, motioning towards a quieter hallway where echoes of the boys’ laughter couldn’t be heard.

You followed behind him, but couldn’t stop the nervous frown from growing on your face as he leaned against one of the walls and blew smoke out a nearby window.

“I want you to know,” he started, extinguishing the cigarette on the sill, “That my not including you on the starting lineup isn’t personal.”

You nodded, your hands unconsciously going to fiddle with the hem of your shirt.

“It’s also not because you’re a girl!”, he clarified, suddenly looking panicked that you may have made that assumption.

You couldn’t stop the soft laugh from tumbling from your mouth at his expression and he sighed, chuckling as well and reaching up to scratch at a stubbly cheek.

“It’s my blocking, isn’t it?” you asked, slightly exasperated.

It had been more than three days and you still hadn’t found a way to strengthen them, finding yourself getting blown back by the power Azumane and the other older boys had in their spikes most of the time.

Ukai considered you for a moment before answering.

“That’s only a minor problem,” he said, brushing away your concern, “But really, I want you on the bench just for the first bit of the match.”

You started at that. You had expected to just be used to reinforce defence or pinch serve with your left hand.

“I need your eyes on the opponent,” he clarified, crossing his arms, “You and your brother have amazing game sense, and you’re the only person who’s been able to figure out his pattern for the freak quick. And you do it consistently. Nekoma is sneaky and adaptable, so I need your brain and eyes on them.”

He paused to let the words sink in, watching your reaction. You cocked your head at him.

“And I want to keep the team’s second secret weapon in the shadows for as long as possible,” he said, sending you a conspiratorial grin that had your face warming.

“I, uh, okay,” you answered lamely, floundering for words.

“So try not to get discouraged that you’re not starting with your brother, alright?”

With that he started to walk off, bidding you a good night, and you made your way to the boys’ room, thinking on his words.

The third years went off for their turn in the baths, Sugawara giving you a friendly head pat as he passed, and you helped Tobio set up the futons, idly listening to him grunt along to Shōyō’s inane chatter.

“Oh, actually,” the redhead said, looking up to the second years lounging around, particularly zeroing in on the brunette, “Ennoshita-san?”

Your ears pricked as he asked Ennoshita a question about something that had been said during practice, and as the second year explained that he, Narita and Kinoshita had decided to leave the club at some point the previous year, when the old Coach Ukai pushed them well past their limits, and you felt a frown tugging at the corners of your mouth.

They held a lot of guilt on their shoulders for it.

“For what it’s worth, Ennoshita-san,” you said later, watching Tobio and Shōyō race out the room to the baths, “I don’t think it was fair of Ukai to push you so hard.”

The second year paused patting his hair dry, and let you think on your words for a moment.

“I think… it’s okay to love something but not want to be competitive over it,” you said, pursing your mouth and hoping he understood what you were trying to convey.

He chuckled, “Yeah I can’t say I have that same obsession your brother and Hinata have.”

“But you like it, and to be pushed so hard that you stop liking it isn’t kind. I think that stepping away from it for a bit was probably good for you at the time. So don’t… ”

He seemed to understand, and gave your shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“Thanks Tomiyo-chan.”

With that said, you were both gently ushered into a few games of cards with the team by an insistent, and surprisingly competitive, Sugawara. Then you all wound the night down with a movie, courtesy of your laptop, and listened to the boys give silly commentary about their thoughts on the Toy Story franchise, which somehow led to an impassioned and incredibly loud ‘debate’ between Tanaka and Nishinoya on if Cars film franchise was the pinnacle of human engineering, which then led to Daichi sending each of them into a timeout in opposite corners of the room, much to their chagrin.

You only really started to doze well after the rest of the team had passed out in their respective futons for the night, all the quiet snickering and chatter thoroughly shushed by a chiding Sugawara, with Tobio’s fingers loosely twined around your own between your blankets after he had drifted off sometime earlier.

In the dark, you could occasionally see his brow and mouth twitch as he slipped deeper into some dream, and you smiled slightly to yourself, smoothing a finger along his knuckles until the movement calmed and he mumbled something incoherent, relaxing into his pillow.

It was good to see Tobio’s dreams not be so fraught anymore. To see him healing.

That thought comforted you as you too fell under the waves of slumber.

The day before the game was filled with more drills and teamwork exercises, with Coach Ukai focusing on trying to get a proper defence cobbled together. The receives were slowly getting better all around, but making sure everyone could consistently get the ball up was going to take a lot more work and time than you had currently before the Interhighs.

“You okay Tomiyo-chan?” Yamaguchi asked quietly as you watched the boys going through spiking runs.

You nodded, chewing absentmindedly on the edge of your thumbnail as you watched Nishinoya perform a rolling receive.

“Just thinking…” you murmured, tapping a knuckle to your chin, “About what to focus on.”

He cocked his head in confusion.

“Like should I be honing my different spikes or should I rather try to help Nishinoya and Sawamura-san to hold our defence?” you explained.

He nodded and seemed to ponder it for a while as you sipped some water.

“Why not both?” he eventually asked.

You paused mid sip and he floundered for a moment.

“I-I mean! You did both during the Seijoh match!” he said, “And when the opponent sees you playing defensively, they don’t really expect it when you do go for a spike.”

You hummed thoughtfully, then shrugged.

“Suppose it won’t hurt to try. Blocking isn’t exactly working out,” you grumbled, to which the greenette chuckled.

You were in the middle of helping Hinata with his serves when Takeda-sensei called you all to gather around and started handing out plastic-wrapped packs, reading out names for each of the team members as he did so.

A light poke to your shoulder brought your attention to Shimizu, who gently placed some folded clothes in your arms.

A team uniform.

Thankfully Shimizu didn’t comment at the small squeak that escaped from your mouth, and just ushered you into the storeroom to quickly try it on.

It was all a breathable and sleek polyester blend, whisper-light against your skin, the number 13 emblazoned across the stretch of fabric. The shirt was identical to the boys’ one but the shorts were adjusted to sit a little tighter to avoid your thighs chafing and you internally thanked Shimizu for her foresightedness.

You emerged from the little storeroom and at the manager’s hand gesture, offered her a quick twirl.

“Good,” she said, nodding and writing something down in her notebook, “I based it on the boy’s uniform, but had it fit you a bit more like the girl’s one would.”

You blinked, a bit surprised that she would say so much, and stood still as she hummed and hawed over some of the hems for a minute before sending you on your way back to the boys.

Shōyō was practically vibrating with anticipation, and explained that his shirt number was the same as his volleyball inspiration, some guy called the ‘Little Giant’, and you nodded along.

Beside you Tobio’s uniform bore the number nine, and you grinned at his bright expression, to which he just lightly shoulder bumped you.

The team seemed to simmer with excitement, grinning and laughing as Ukai and Takeda walked them through the plan for the game.

You could tell that Ukai was trying to keep a realistic expectation for the game in everyone’s minds whilst doing his best to not put a damper on their spirits, and a small part of you felt a bit sad that he wouldn’t be a permanent fixture. He had a good head for coaching, and was still young enough for everyone to relate to and get along well with.

The buzz lasted through the afternoon practice, dinner, and well into the night. After everyone had had a chance to bathe, the captains rounded up everyone to play a few games of Uno, which became very loud, very fast to absolutely nobody's surprise. Then “winding down” the night watching another one of your horror movies, which just had Azumane and Yamaguchi looking nauseous and the rowdier boys yelling at every cheap jumpscare.

You’d already seen it, and just lay down between Sugawara and Tobio, lazily texting Matsukawa about how the camp was going.

At some point thereafter you dozed off, only stirring when Tobio gently coaxed you into your futon, the lights dark and the room filled with soft whispers and a few muffled snores.

Your fingers tangled themselves with your brother’s shirt as he murmured quietly over your head to someone, and you slipped away as he tucked your plushie under your arm, warm and content.

There wasn’t much time for any anxiety about the game to kick in when you woke; the team scurrying around making sure they had all of their equipment, packing their things and changing into their uniforms and tracksuits before being herded back onto the bus by Takeda and Ukai.

You were mostly drowsily stumbling about as you waited for your brain to start, just doing what you had been since you were three and following Tobio around as he went about his morning routine.

The public arena the bus pulled up to was simple and clean outside, the upper portion of the building filled with large windows to allow for as much natural light to filter through as possible, and neatly-trimmed bushes and trees lined the walls.

You filed out along with the boys, your headphones thrumming with the lyrics of a song Matsukawa had sent you, just as another bus pulled in.

“Is it always this dramatic?” you whispered to Shimizu as you watched both teams line up in a wordless staredown; Karasuno black against the deep burgundy of the Nekoma uniform.

The manager chuckled, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

“Boys,” she answered sagely, to which you snorted, watching the teams start to trickle towards the building.

You returned to your brother’s side, where he was talking to Shōyō, and it turned out that when Shōyō had gotten lost, he’d met the Nekoma setter. And, being the ball of sunshine he was, had managed to befriend the guy.

Tobio’s eyes glinted in the mid-morning sun as he watched the other setter retreat.

You ushered the two boys inside, smiling as they took in the sight of the court as the captains and coaches met.

Your eyes landed on a head of strangely familiar and distinctive hair.

Apparently, he had noticed you at the same time, as his hand dropped from shaking Sawamura’s, his brows raised and eyes widened in recognition, before a shit-eating grin spread across his face.

“Well, fancy seeing you here,” he laughed, striding over to you.

Your eyes darted to your side to find that Tobio and Shōyō had managed to wander off towards the net, meaning you had absolutely no recourse in the impending interaction, and you found yourself just staring at him blankly.

He didn’t seem particularly fazed though, just gesturing towards a teammate of his who possessed a short sort of mohawk.

“Guess that idiot was right about you guys having a female manager, huh?” he said with a shrug.

Over his shoulder, Sawamura made a pointing motion between himself and the guy, eyebrow arching, and you shook your head subtly.

You’d manage without any help… hopefully.

“Uh well, yes and no?” you said, jerking your thumb over your shoulder to where Shimizu was setting up, “She’s the manager.”

His head cocked slightly in befuddlement, and again you were struck by his keen gaze.

However, your attention was caught by a waving Takeda, and you excused yourself quietly.

“Sensei?” you asked as you approached him and Ukai.

They were flanked by two more men, one with short-cropped hair around your coach’s age, and one significantly older than the others, both in the Nekoma tracksuits.

He spoke to you directly, folding his hands behind his back.

“Takeda-san tells us that you may be playing in the match today?” he asked, the wrinkles around his eyes deepening as he smiled.

It seemed genuine, so you nodded, your fingers curling around the cuffs of your jacket.

“Good!” he said, startling you with a good-natured pat to the shoulder, “Some of these boys could do with a basic social interaction with a girl.”

You snorted as the other men laughed and Takeda let you return to your team, their nervous energy near a boiling point as you all started warming up.

You were very aware that some of the opponents were watching you curiously as you stretched with the boys, especially after the coaches split and went to chat with their respective captains.

Ironically, that seemed to be the guy you’d run into, whose spikey head of hair stood taller than the rest of his team.

“You know him, Tomiyo-chan?” Sugawara-san asked from beside you.

You shrugged.

“I ran into him when we were looking for Shōyō-kun,” you explained, “Literally.”

He hummed thoughtfully.

“Seems you both have a habit of finding trouble,” he said with a chuckle, straightening from his stretch and gently leading you into the team huddle.

You listened to Sawamura’s pep talk with half an ear, whilst subtly studying the Nekoma team; making note of their appearances and the numbers on their vermillion shirts.

With that, you all lined up for the greeting, and found yourself with a small amount of stage fright broiling in your gut, as over half a dozen pairs of eyes gazing at you with a mix of curiosity and confusion.

Tobio’s hand found yours afterwards, giving yours a light squeeze which you returned just before you went to sit with the other boys and Takeda.

“Worried?” Ennoshita-san asked as you settled on the bench between him and your vice-captain, tilting his head in the direction of your twin.

You thought about it for a moment, your trainers tapping together as you watched the boys move to their positions on the court.

“I don’t think so,” you answered as the whistle blew, signalling the start of the match.

The Battle of the Garbage Dump .

You found yourself grinning as your brother and Shōyō immediately went for a broad quick attack, landing your team the first point within a few seconds.

“Nah,” you said, watching how the Nekoma boys gawked in total shock, half of them still standing in anticipation of a receive.

“Tobio-niichan is stronger than he thinks.”

Chapter Text

Nekoma adapted so quickly it made your head spin, and you could see why Coach Ukai was so adamant about hitting them hard and fast from the get-go.

They were quick to start locking down Tobio and Shōyō’s quick by having a tall brunette blocker focus on them and try to at least get a touch on the ball, plus their general defense was so polished that getting the other normal spikes through was growing increasingly difficult.

They were exactly as Ukai had said, being almost your team’s complete opposite.

 A massive arsenal of weaponry versus a nigh-impenetrable shield.

Their own libero was sharp and speedy, able to predict where spikes would land almost every time, and you could feel that, combined with their setter, your boys were starting to feel harried and cornered as they slowly bled points.

However, it was that setter that caught your attention.

The guy wasn’t exactly as strong or necessarily as skilled as Tobio, but it was his shrewd observations that seemed to be guiding the blockers and spikers movements, seemingly murmuring to his teammates at times.

He locked onto Shōyō’s inability to change the trajectory of spikes within minutes and shut him down almost completely.

It was almost as if your team's attack pattern was being telegraphed.

You leaned forward, elbow resting on your thighs, as you watched.

Everyone on the Nekoma team worked with a synergy that was almost freaky, including the first year blocker that shadowed Shōyō, almost as if they had been playing together for ages.

It was a chemistry Karasuno was still slowly building.

“What you thinkin’, Tomiyo-chan?” Sugawara asked, his shoulder brushing against yours.

You hummed.

“They’re really solid,” you said, “But a lot of their counterplays depend on their setter.”

You watched the ombre-haired guy shuffle around a bit between plays and snapped your fingers as his eyes seemed to brush over the team rotation.

“Look,” you beckoned quietly to the boys next to you, “He’s watching Tsukishima now.”

Just a few moments after, when their team got the ball, the shorter guy faked out his set, and the blond blocker was stuck lurching in the wrong direction for a split second.

“That’s crazy,” Kinoshita murmured from somewhere behind you, and you nodded.

“He’s good at predicting what everyone’s playstyle is,” you continued, “And his team has the skill to use all of that info to the fullest.”

You pursed your lips as the Nekoma coaches called their second timeout, but stayed on their bench, letting the players speak amongst themselves.

“They’re pooling all their observations together to customize a defense against our spikers,” you explained to Sugawara, although Takeda also seemed to be listening idly, his gentle smile urging you to go on,  “And since our defense isn’t as organized, they can take their time chipping away at us.”

The ball slammed down, with Nekoma taking the set.

Ukai stood as the boys started walking over for a quick water break.

“Guess we’ll have to switch things up a little then,” he said, clapping his hands to get the team’s attention.

They looked a little frustrated, but the keen glint in their eyes hadn’t died; listening raptly as Ukai gave them pointers about small openings and flaws in their teamplays, and taking his and Takeda’s encouragement with eager grins.

“Okay Tomiyo-chan, get in there.”

You blinked.

“Huh?”

Your coach barked a laugh and pushed you towards the court line. Tanaka offered you a high-five as he went to sit down for a breather and you felt yourself tense up.

Unconsciously, you found yourself finding Tobio’s eyes and he offered you a small nod, and a ghost of a smile, which had you taking a step onto the playing field.

The weight of almost a dozen pairs of eyes snapped onto you, and you swallowed a tight lump of nerves down your throat.

“You okay?”

You flinched, finding Azumane sidling up to you, but nodded.

“Uh, just a bit nervous I guess?” you offered back lamely as Hinata scuttled over, your brother following closely.

“I think I’m going to try to help with defense for a bit first,” you mused, your thumbs circling each other lightly as you rounded up your thoughts, “If that’s okay Nishinoya-san, Sawamura-san?”

Last thing you needed was to get tunnel vision and start stepping on their toes.

The little libero jolted at being addressed but recovered quickly enough to dart into your space, his eyes alight.

“Yepyepyepyepyep-!”

Sawamura scruffed him slightly, pulling the guy back by the collar of his shirt, and giving you one of those warm smiles of his.

“That would be great, Tomiyo-chan,” he said, the ref’s whistle blowing for the players to get back into position, “You do what you need to.”

You caught Tobio’s eye, and he seemed to get your vibe, giving you a sharp nod and walking to his place. You wanted a slow and steady build up.

Besides, he had to focus on getting Shōyō to hit the quick with his eyes open, so you reckoned he could chew on that problem first before you came in and demanded fast and random setups.

You moved to where Tanaka had been positioned, on the front row, and took a deep, full breath, allowing your mind to clear and filter out most of your more errant thoughts.

When you glanced up and across the net, you found yourself meeting the deep, striking gold of the Nekoma setter’s eyes for just a split second, before it flickered elsewhere.

“Oh? I was wondering when you’d join us,” a familiar voice purred.

It was the black-haired stranger, sending you a grin from behind the net where he stood opposite you.

Kuroo. You’d seen his name emblazoned across his shoulders in the previous set.

He was a blocker from what you’d observed; being the tallest player on their team and having a pretty fast reaction time.

You briefly wondered if you were quicker.

You nodded at him in greeting as the ref whistled, putting the second set into motion.

It was slow going at first, where you just spent the first few minutes just staying out of the boys’ way and bumping up the ball whenever it ended up in your zone.

They had already set up a system that had worked well for them in the first set, and you had to find your little spot within it. From there you could start making yourself some wiggle room.

Hinata eventually managed to hit a spike while actually looking, managing to completely redirect the ball in a split second away from an awaiting blocker’s hand, and although it actually landed out of bounds, you found yourself smiling.

The little dude evolved so rapidly it made your head spin if you thought about it. You were glad someone was able to keep your brother on his toes.

You gently tugged at the hem of Tobio’s shirt as you rotated between volleys and he gave you a miniscule nod.

Nekoma was looking firmly at Shōyō now, their setter still seemingly a bit in shock at his quick changeup.

A perfect time to throw a curveball at them.

You found yourself across the net from their player with the mohawk, who stared blankly at the floor whenever you glanced at him, and cracked a knuckle, catching Tobio’s eye.

They didn’t even notice you jump, all locked onto a half-flying Hinata, and you gently bopped the ball into an open space far from their little brunette libero.

There was a moment of silence, from both the players and the ref, as if they were in shock that you would even consider going on the offensive against them, or at least surprised that you could jump high enough to get over the net.

You accepted a round of high fives from your boys and returned to your spot, not missing the Nekoma setter speaking hushedly to Kuroo. You sent Tobio a thumbs up for the set, and he nodded, wiping some sweat from his brow.

“That was a sneaky shot,” the black-haired captain chuckled across from you, his hands coming to rest on his hips.

“Thanks,” you purred back, barking a laugh when he jolted slightly.

The Nekoma boys were definitely much more defensive and cautious in the following rounds, trying to keep tabs on both you and Hinata at the same time since you were the fastest of the spikers, and having their libero focus on Azumane.

You tried to stay nearby when Hinata went for a spike so that at least if he missed the shots now that he was opening his eyes, you could possibly save them without having Nishinoya move all the way forward.

Mohawk guy managed to get a spike past you that had you hissing between your teeth. Your blocks were flimsy compared to the power output some of these dudes were putting out.

“Sawamura-san,” you called softly, getting your captain’s attention, “I’m going to rather go for a receive instead of a block for now.”

His brows rose and you scrambled to explain.

“It’s just that my blocks aren’t working, so at least there’s a better chance for me to get it up or if it gets past Tobio or Tsukishima I can try guard for it or-”

“Whoa! Hey it’s okay,” Sawamura interjected, his hands gently grabbing your shoulders, "We trust you."

Your rambling cut off, and if you gawked at him for a second too long, thankfully no one mentioned it.

Your change in tactics actually worked well, throwing off Nekoma's flow slightly, even if you and Nishinoya almost ran into each other twice in the first few volleys.

"Sorry 'bout that!" he said, scratching his cheek, "Guess I'm not used to having anyone other than Daichi-san go for it."

You nodded. You had noticed that the guy dove for pretty much every ball, and generally everyone else just stayed out of his way.

"It's okay, I'm here to support you, at least a little bit," you answered with a shrug.

The libero's eyes turned strangely glassy and he grabbed at his heart, yelling something unintelligible until Sugawara dragged him off the court for Tsukishima to serve.

You coordinated with Tobio to spike normally once more, then allowed a few more points to go by before switching it up.

It was a split second decision as you noticed Kuroo and their setter jump to block you in your periphery, and your gaze slid over to meet the golden eyes of the shorter boy.

It was a pretty solid block, all things considered, but you knew as soon as his eyes widened, that he was not prepared for you to swap spiking arms midswing.

The ball sailed through the gap between them and was pretty solidly received by their libero, but spun off course and out of bounds to nab you another point.

The heat of the opponents eyes on you was damn near palpable now. You heard a soft voice mutter from somewhere behind you, followed by Kuroo’s husky chuckle. You answered a thumbs up from Sugawara from the sidelines with a sharp nod.

“Tsukishima,” you called quietly, getting the blond’s attention from where he stood beside you.

He grunted.

“I think that might’ve annoyed their setter a little,” you murmured, sidling slightly closer so he could hear you.

His eyes narrowed at you somewhat but he nodded, reading between the lines. You shot Sawamura and Nishinoya significant looks, and they also subtly adjusted their positions.

You predicted correctly, as within moments of getting the ball up Nekoma went for a retaliatory shot, and was blocked cleanly.

The set went on for a bit longer with both teams trading points before you started to fall behind.

Nekoma worked together like a well-oiled machine; every player on the court was as reliable a defender as your captain, and all comfortable with spontaneous changes that routinely threw your team out of sync.

You watched Tobio grow anxious and unsure of himself, sending more sets to you and Shōyō than you’d expected, until any step you took towards the net had two blockers and the libero locking onto you, cramping your playstyle until you had to resort to a feint to get any kind of point. Even then, it only worked once.

Despite encouragement from Ukai, it took just over thirty minutes for Nekoma to steal the set from under you, and thus the game.

You stood there for a moment, your nails digging into the skin of your palms, a bead of cooling sweat slowly trailing down your temple.

You weren’t exactly accustomed to losing.

Before you could really digest the bitter taste that thought left in your mouth, Shōyō called for another game, which seemed to shock everyone else.

The boy was a volleyball nut though, so you had expected he’d want to play until past nightfall if he got his way. It kind of reminded you of Tobio when you were both in elementary school.

Playing in a few more games offset that bad feeling you had though, as everyone on the team got a chance to practice against your rivals, rotating players and team setups as Ukai instructed to suss out who worked well together and find any new or unusual combos to try.

By the time the sun was dipping towards the horizon, it felt like a casual match between friends, with the boys from both teams fully bantering and cheering for good and bad plays all over the court.

Karasuno didn’t take a single game, but it still felt like a productive day.

Everyone did cooldown stretches as a group, with you standing between Tobio and Shōyō, the ginger boy having dragged over the Nekoma setter, Kozume, to his other side to blather in the guy’s ear.

Kuroo lazily smiled at you from beside the setter as you rolled your shoulders and leaned down to touch your toes; a few strands of his once slicked up hair falling across his face.

You still noticed some glances your way from the boys on his team, but otherwise they seemed to have grown accustomed to your presence on the court.

Although you grew a bit more vexed when none of them let you do any of the heavy lifting during cleanup, and you were stuck listening to Tobio and Shōyō’s bickering as they messily rolled up the net and helping Shimizu carry out her supplies to the bus.

Back inside, you and your brother watched Shōyō be his usual charismatic self and chat animatedly with Inuoka and Kozume, although the latter mostly watched the pair jumping around trying to visually describe their movements during the match.

“Does he ever stop?” you mumbled to yourself, drawing a snort from Tobio as he took a sip of his water.

You also caught Azumane accidentally frightening the Nekoma backup libero, and Nishinoya aggressively complimenting their main one, Yaku, which had you shaking your head and grinning into your own bottle.

Your brother jolted beside you so suddenly you almost inhaled some of your water.

“Is that ‘Tou-san?” he whispered, grabbing your elbow like you weren’t already paying attention to him.

Your brows rose as you did indeed see your father standing at the arena entrance, eyeing the space with a relaxed curiosity, despite the dozen or so highschoolers staring at him.

He scanned the space until his eyes found you and your brother and he waved, but stuck to the sidelines.

You and Tobio shared a confused glance before approaching. Neither of you had been told that your father would be coming.

He greeted you both with a warm hand ruffling your hair and that smile of his that had your heart feeling just a tad lighter.

“Hey kiddos,” he greeted, the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly, “Did you have a good training camp?”

You nodded as your arms encircled his waist and you buried your face into the cotton of his shirt, his hand gently resting between your shoulders as he had a quiet exchange with your brother.

Takeda and Ukai wandered over and offered introductions once they noticed, and started talking amongst themselves, during which you detached yourself and went back to where the boys were all grouped up to give the adults some space.

“That’s your dad right?” Nishinoya asked your brother, yanking on his jacket, “From the photo?”

Tobio grunted the affirmative.

“He wanted to check on us before he headed to the office apparently.”

“Huh,” Sugawara mused, “Guess we can see where your height comes from.”

You snorted. Your dad was indeed oddly tall for a Japanese guy.

There was a light tug on your sleeve and you turned your head to see Kozume standing beside you, his eyes flicking between you and your father, shoulders hunched up.

“Your dad is Kageyama Katsuya?” he asked quietly, his fingers now fiddling with the cuffs of his sleeves as Kuroo sauntered up behind him.

You blinked, surprised someone actually recognised him.

“That tech company guy you were talking about a while back?” Kuroo asked, an elbow coming to rest on Kozume’s shoulder.

The setter nodded and Kuroo hummed, brows rising as he appraised your dad, who was now discussing some papers with Takeda.

You’d never actually seen your father interact with a fan, considering he himself didn’t really go out for anything but work much anymore, so you found yourself a little unsure what to do.

“Do you want to meet him?”

Kozume’s golden eyes widened, flicking up at you in a panic that felt vaguely familiar.

“No!” he said sharply, then more quietly, “Uh, it’s fine.”

You nodded and broke the intense eye contact, your cheeks warming slightly.

He also averted his gaze, looking down to stare at the apparently super interesting zipper on your gym bag, except his eyes widened again as he caught sight of the charms hanging from the metal pull.

“Are you playing the new game?” he asked, pointing to the bunch of Pokemon gachapon toys that you’d slapped onto your bag a few weeks back.

You smiled, your fingers threading through the tiny figures, and nodded. His eyes squinted slightly as he peered at where you held the charms.

“You’re missing one.”

You pouted.

“The machines didn’t have any of the Riolu left,” you explained with a shrug, even though the incomplete collection did itch at you when you dwelt on it.

He huffed a soft laugh at your failed attempt at nonchalance and started rifling through his bag, so you waddled over to your father and let him pull you in again.

His hand rubbed your shoulder gently as he accepted some forms from Takeda, skimming them with his eyes as the teacher went to speak with Nekomata.

“Whassat?” you mumbled, squished into his ribcage.

He gently bopped the top of your hair with the pages.

“Apparently we need to fill in special indemnity forms for you,” he answered, “Since you’ll be kicking boys’ butts in the Interhigh, and be the first girl to be doing so.”

You at least picked up on the note of pride in his voice and squeezed one of his fingers with your hand. He returned the gesture gently, the warmth of his forearm pressing against your back reassuringly.

“Nii-chan said you’re going to the office?”

Your dad nodded.

“Just need to check some stuff before the next release. I’ll be home later,” he said, “You can get some takeout, or there’s some food for you guys in the fridge, and your sister left you some stuff.”

You gave a curious hum but he didn’t elaborate, just tousling your hair until you whined for him to stop and had to neaten it back up. Tobio came over to say goodbye, and you both watched your father give your team a genial wave before disappearing back outside.

You felt a tap on your shoulder and turned to see Kozume before you again, Kuroo standing behind the shorter guy with a grin plastered on his face that made you feel like you needed to check your pockets.

You warily raised a brow as the setter’s fist lifted towards you, but found yourself at a bit of a loss as to what to make of it.

It had been a while, but you were no stranger to false camaraderie offered to you from other kids, just to have them snatch it from you as some form of sick joke, like they were punishing you for being trusting.

You were always the weird girl.

You decided to bite the bullet, and gently brushed your knuckles against his, trusting the slightly shorter boy to not be a dick.

And you were dumbstruck as his fingers uncurled to reveal a blue capsule, and you felt your heart rate bump up in sheer delight.

“There were a few machines at the train station,” Kozume explained, tapping the tips of his index fingers together after you had gingerly picked up the little ball, “I wanted the whole set so I got a couple of duplicates.”

You carefully twisted the capsule apart to expose the Riolu figure, still wrapped in a protective plastic layer.

“Thank you,” you whispered, cradling the tiny Pokemon between your hands, and missing how the setter’s cheeks pinked.

He changed the subject back to the new game, and you both delved into a debate about the pros and cons of each of the new starter pokemon, with Kozume leaning towards fire types and you more likely to pick the grass ones. You vaguely noticed Kuroo and Sugawara herding you both outside, where the sun had sunk low in the sky, bathing the buildings and trees in a warm glow.

Kozume seemed to catch himself mid-sentence and he withdrew slightly, to which Kuroo frowned and nudged him.

“Just ask her,” the captain said as he moved to talk to Sawamura.

You arched a brow as the setter fiddled with his fingers, eyes gazing at your shoes.

“Well, uh, if you want to maybe… trade or battle I guess? You don't... I mean-”

He paused to scowl at the dirt and you pulled out your phone, unlocking it.

“Sure,” you said, opening up your contacts and handing it over to him, “They always lock out a few pokemon from each game so it would be nice to fill in the dex fully.”

It would also be nice to have someone to geek out with. Matsukawa was happy to listen to you rant about gameplay and story, but he himself was more of a film buff than a gamer.

He kept glancing up at you as he typed in his information, as if expecting you to change your mind, but you just hummed quietly to yourself, watching Tanaka give the mohawked player, Yamamoto, a surprisingly tearful farewell despite them glaring daggers at each other for the entire day.

You idly started rummaging through one of your bags pockets for what was left of your snack stash when your nails clicked against something, and an idea struck you.

Kozume flinched slightly as you whipped out your hand to him, but accepted the gesture with a similar wariness that you had just moments prior.

You gave him what you hoped was a warm smile and dropped the keychain in his palm.

It took him less than a second to snort at it.

“Pompompurin?”

You pursed your lips slightly. He didn’t seem to dislike it at least.

“We can match,” you said, showing him the corresponding My Melody charm you’d won alongside it, “Like a trade.”

Kuroo chuckled from over your shoulder, nudging you with his elbow as he reinserted himself into the conversation.

“There’s just a running joke that his hair looks like pudding,” he explained, gesturing to the coloring of the character, then to his friend's hair.

“Oh,” you muttered, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. You don’t have to take it… if you don’t-”

Kozume’s lips twitched upwards for a moment.

“I like it,” he said with an air of finality, as his fingers curved around the edges of the toy.

You were saved from any more unintentional insults and self-imposed social floundering by Shōyō running over to exchange contact information as well, although apparently without any shame whatsoever and driven only by the slight possibility of making more friends.

You could respect that.

Until the little ginger made one of his signature declarations that he’d one day make Kozume admit he found a volleyball game actually fun despite his usual apparent indifference to the sport, and then you reckoned you’d had enough socializing for a day.

Both teams exchanged friendly farewells that were a far cry from the cordial but standoffish meetings of the morning, and filed onto their respective buses, with Nekoma needing to head out to catch the evening train home to Tokyo.

And if you waved to Kuroo and Kozume one last time from your seat, that was your business.

The drive back to the town was quiet, with most of the boys dozing off for a well-deserved nap before getting herded back into the school gym to do some post-game analysis while it was still fresh in your minds. You spent the walk home getting Matsukawa caught up with how the day went and seeing what he had been up to.

Neither of you mentioned the Interhigh that was slowly creeping closer in the encroaching new month.

It was just past dusk when you and Tobio dragged yourselves through your home’s front door, yawning and trying to keep your eyes open.

You’d both agreed to just reheat the food your father and sister had left, not interested in making an extra stop for takeout or going through the process of cooking from scratch, and that left you with plates piled high with broiled fish and curried vegetables.

After you’d cleaned up after yourselves, you went to shower and change, but found your twin nestled beneath your kotatsu when you emerged from your ensuite bathroom, filing his nails with still damp hair as highlights from international games played on your television.

“Nee-san left you stuff from her salon too?” you asked, to which he nodded.

Miwa had a habit of randomly sending you small trinkets she thought you’d enjoy or tubs of products for your hair that she insisted you used.

Why exactly someone needed a ‘hair care routine’ was beyond you, but you humored her anyway since she seemed to love styling with yours and Tobio’s whenever she had the chance.

You sent her an appreciative message and checked that the Nekoma boys had gotten back to the city safely before settling in to wind down with some video games.

Tobio mostly kept quiet as you both decompressed, aside from sometimes pausing to show you an interesting play or strategy, and didn’t comment on your hands fluttering or head twitching as you muttered to yourself or cursed out your game.

And when his alarm pinged for bed, he surprisingly crawled into yours, grumbling when you kicked him out to go brush his teeth.

It had been a while since you’d last needed to sleep together to get through a night, but he seemed to be feeling down from the losses, and you could see the slight but persistent hitch of his shoulders when Takeda mentioned the Interhigh earlier, so you just shrugged and wriggled up against the wall.

“You act like I’m going to crush you,” your twin muttered in the dark, his forearm brushing against yours.

“You are all gangly and stuff.”

He made an offended noise and pinched your side gently in admonition, resulting in a short play fight that had you eventually slapping your hands over his face.

“Is beb time!” you mumbled, and your brother snickered, holding his hands up in surrender as you wished him a firm goodnight and shoved him to the other side of the mattress.

Thankfully, he didn’t tease you when you woke up with your head on his shoulder and fingers tangled in his the following morning.

Chapter Text

The month following the Nekoma game was filled with practice and paperwork.

Like, a LOT of paperwork.

Apparently the people that organised the Interhigh were very confused that a girl was interested in competing in the boy’s league, so you and your father had to sign off on multiple letters and indemnity forms confirming that yes, you were well aware that it was a little strange, and yes, it would probably be a bit more dangerous than the girl’s games.

For the most part, the correspondence just seemed incredulous, but after a lengthy email train between the organisers, Takeda-sensei, and your dad, you managed to get a tentative thumbs-up to participate.

Surprisingly, you had walked into the gym after your first day back in class to see Ukai already there, despite his previous vehement insistence that he would not be sticking around after the training camp, so it seemed that now you officially had a coach.

With his direction, team practices felt more structured and focused, and allowed the third years a bit more space to improve now that they themselves weren’t needed as much to run everything.

One evening you saw a handful of the guys huddled around as Nishinoya showed them a sports magazine; a volleyball one, to be specific. At your curious glance, Tobio pointed to an article with an image of a man mid-spike, his face set in a relaxed frown.

“He’s the top ace in Miyagi right now, at Shiratorizawa,” he muttered, his bottom lip jutting out sulkily.

You frowned as the guys discussed, sipping at your water.

“A highschooler?” you asked, leaning down to peer at the picture, “He looks like he has a mortgage.”

Sugawara choked out a laugh and Tanaka grinned, although Shōyō’s eyes had taken on that glazed look that seemed to happen when he was thinking a little too hard about volleyball.

“We need to win against them to play Nekoma again,” he surmised, eyeing the pages with awe.

Ukai took that moment to swoop in and remind everyone that although Shiratorizawa was indeed currently the top dog in Miyagi, we had to also deal with a handful of other prominent schools from around the prefecture, Aoba Johsai included.

You had to get through at least one of them if you had any hope of going to the national stage.

Ukai reiterated that you all had to take this one game at a time, and that focusing too intently on the top would have you end up with your feet swept out from under you.

It was a sobering but needed reminder that Karasuno was still learning, and that having a bunch of good and dedicated players meant nothing if you couldn't work together just as well, if not better, than the other teams at the competition.

No one was entering with the intention to lose.

Takeda burst into the gym at that moment, holding a printout of the first drafts of matches to take place, just a week away, and you peeked over Yamaguchi’s shoulder to see that you were in the A bracket, against a ‘Tokonami High’ to start.

Unfortunately, Date Tech was also in the bracket, who had knocked out Karasuno at the last tournament, and Seijoh in the same block, seeded in as previous semi-finalists.

It was going to be one hell of an uphill battle before even thinking of going against Shiratorizawa.

The loss against Nekoma seemed to kick everyone into overdrive, with practices pushing on until well past sunset each afternoon, and you could feel Tobio growing tense, despite his best attempts to conceal it under his usual veneer of calm focus.

You decided it was probably best to let him ruminate for a little while instead of interfering, and give him space to sort it out by himself first. It would be his first official match since everything went to shit at Kitagawa Daiichi, so naturally he’d be experiencing some doubts. But your mom had always said that self-reflection was good for the soul, so you’d leave him be until he hit a wall.

At practice, Sugawara gave you and the other first years a handout on what signals he used in matches to communicate with the spikers, each diagram drawn with care, and his neat script flowing across the paper in clear, succinct explanations.

You were still studying it on the walk home that evening, trailing behind the boys and keeping your brother’s silhouette in your periphery, catching glimpses of text from the passing streetlamps until the page was plucked out from your hands and a meat bun placed in your palm, your hair gently ruffled by one of the upperclassmen.

“Tsukishima! You come get one too!” Tanaka called out to the lagging blond, waving the paper bag.

You noticed a distinct lack of a particular freckled face, and when Tanaka asked, Tsukishima just shrugged, saying that Yamaguchi had an errand to run.

The greenette had seemed a little distracted in the days following Golden Week, and while you didn’t know him well enough to necessarily call him your friend at this point, you’d still felt concern at his building preoccupation with whatever was on his mind.

“Is everything okay?” you asked quietly once the other boys had moved onto another topic of conversation.

Tsukishima eyed you for a moment before grunting, steam rising up into the night sky from the bitten bun in his grasp.

“Doesn’t seem serious.”

You nodded, looking on as Tobio and Shōyō squabbled about something trivial for the umpteenth time of the day, then almost nosedived into the pavement as the guy bumped your shoulder, snorting when you glared at him and righted yourself.

“He’ll be fine, Kageyama. Stop fretting.”

You huffed and rolled your eyes, tugging on the hem of your jacket and stomping forward to walk beside Tobio as the group neared your street turnoff.

A few days later, you were surprised to be dragged away from your classmates on the way to the assembly hall by your brother, and then onto the stage alongside all the boys as the captains for a bunch of the sports clubs went up to say some sort of speech to drum up support for their upcoming tournaments. You honestly paid very little attention to what Sawamura was actually saying throughout, your eyes fixed firmly on the school crest on the opposite wall.

You weren’t deaf though, and could hear the hushed murmurs as you stood next to your twin. He herded your spaced-out self off into the wings of the stage where you were then met with the horrifying situation of the girl’s team and Asano-sensei staring at you. You hadn’t really seen or spoken to any of them in the past month, and you had to clamp down on the urge to just make a break for the doors.

However, Michimiya just walked over and gently clapped you on the shoulder.

“You go out there and do your best, okay Kageyama-san?” she said, her big brown eyes sparkling, “We’ll come cheer for you if we can!”

It was a far nicer sentiment than you were actually expecting from your old captain, especially since you had essentially dropped them like a sack of potatoes to join the boys, and you offered her a firm nod in response, exchanging well wishes with some of the other girls.

Asano-sensei ruffled your hair as she passed.

“I hope you’re behaving,” she teased, ushering the girls from the stage as the basketball teams finished up and the student body began filtering out for lunch, “You show those boys what you’re made of!”

Your throat felt tight, and you nodded resolutely instead of choking on any of your words. As far as you knew, the girls teams would all be playing in the same building but on another set of courts, so you’d probably not be able to watch their matches unless you lost.

The days leading up to the Interhigh were intense, in a bunch of ways. Some of the older guys who had already played in a real game were doing a good job of keeping a cool head, while others were growing more excited by the day, each practice growing louder and more spirited as everyone worked on their techniques and combos.

Some however, were starting to worry you.

Tobio, naturally, was not exactly in the best of headspaces considering his last experience, and Azumane was seemingly in the same boat, after seeing Date Tech in your bracket.

Thankfully, Azumane had Nishinoya to keep him motivated, and was open about his struggles with his feelings of inadequacy.

Tobio… not so much.

On the outside he seemed fine, but you had known him more than long enough to see the storm brewing in his ocean eyes, the deep furrow of his brow and the clawed twitch in his fingers.

The night before the start of the Interhigh saw you shuffling to his room after your dinner, frowning as you picked up the rhythmic thumping noise of him still practising despite Sawamura and Ukai’s insistence that everyone on the team rest well tonight.

He grunted after you knocked and you swung the door open to see him laying on the floor, volleyball clutched in his hands as he set it repeatedly up into the air.

That grunt turned swiftly into a wheeze as you plopped your whole head down on his diaphragm.

“You stop that,” you mumbled into his sweatshirt, gently palming the ball from him and letting it roll from your fingers into the corner of the room.

After a few moments of struggling and cursing you out though, Tobio relaxed, breath shuddering into his ribs as you rolled off onto the carpet, your right hand finding his left.

You both laid there for a few minutes as you let your twin sort out his thoughts, his fingers squeezing and easing erratically, your thumb lightly tracing circles over the skin.

You sucked on a tooth, words coming to you sluggishly.

“They aren’t Kitagawa,” you murmured, continuing on despite the miniscule stiffening of Tobio’s shoulders, “They’re different.”

He exhaled deeply, and this close you could hear his eyelashes brushing against his cheeks as his eyes fluttered closed.

“It’ll be better, this time,” you muttered into the air.

You weren’t exactly sure which of you those words were trying to convince most.

The morning of the Interhigh was surprisingly normal.

You had a nice breakfast with your father for the first time in a while, him wishing you both the best of luck for your games and reminding you to contact him if anything went awry, before setting on your way, the cool dawn air grounding and pleasant as you walked through the quiet residential streets.

You watched Tobio pick up speed as you passed through the school gates and caught sight of your little redheaded friend, and did your customary head shake as he and Hinata raced for the club room, enjoying the subdued birdsong from the trees once their yelling had subsided from the empty courtyard.

Your twin seemed a little more relaxed after your talk. You just hoped he’d let the team take care of him.

Once all the boys had assembled, and a disheveled Ukai dragged his corpse onto the premises, Takeda and Shimizu herded everyone onto one of the school buses, doing a quick headcount and rundown of the schedule for the day before getting on the road and heading for Sendai.

Like the drive to Aoba Johsai, it was loud and had you putting in your earphones within a few minutes, but everyone seemed to be in good spirits. And as a bonus, Hinata actually kept his food in his stomach this time around.

The Sendai City Gymnasium was huge, and the sheer number of people lingering  around outside and filtering through its doorways had you shrinking back behind Tobio.

In theory, you were well aware you were the only girl in the boys’ tournament, but seeing it in real life really hammered the fact home.

Sawamura led you all inside after Tanaka almost got into it with a pair of boys who were discussing the roster of teams by the doors, completely dismissing Karasuno as little more than a bump in the road, and walked you through the main hall, the shroud of black uniforms attracting the attention of some of the loitering teams.

Apparently Azumane had a weird reputation outside of Karasuno for being someone way more intimidating and shady than he actually was, and Shimizu had one for being just as pretty as she really was in real life, gaining more than a few appreciative looks her way despite her second year guard dogs.

At least with all the attention on her, almost none was directed at you, so you could put your head down and fade into the mass of taller boys as the group filtered through the halls, the captains pointing out where the courts and bathrooms were, as well as where you could find some food.

Hinata practically vibrated with excitement beside you, eyes aglow as they roved over everything and everyone in the vicinity.

“Ooh, you can smell the Air Salonpas!” he squawked as you neared the doorway to the main courts.

“What are you on about?” Tobio asked, his hands in his pockets.

“The…the spray?” you confirmed, incredulous.

“Mmhmm! This smell makes the tournament feel real!”

You sent Yamaguchi a bewildered glance, to which he just snickered into his hands, Tsukishima rolling his eyes behind him as Nishinoya loudly voiced his agreement.

To be fair, the only ‘real’ competitions you’d ever been a part of had been the Junior High and Elementary school gymnastics meets, and those had been on weekends, where the kids would pitch with their parents as individual competitors, not necessarily as a team sport.

Here, you weren’t competing against your own schoolmates, and the underlying cutthroat atmosphere was significantly less intense.

A hush came over the boys as you were absorbed in thought, and when you blinked back to reality and peeked around Azumane to see what everyone was staring at, you found yourself confronted by a bunch of absolutely massive guys, the tallest of whom was currently pointing directly at your ace, his gaze fierce despite a distinct lack of eyebrows.

Nishinoya’s lip curled as he stepped forward, hackles raised and defensive.

“What the hell do you want, you bastard?” he seethed, unflinching despite the insane size difference.

Azumane was quick to block the libero with an arm, his own stare resolute and calm.

You sniffed, drawing a flicker from the browless man’s eyes.

“You owe him money or something?” you whispered to Azumane.

“What?! No!” he yelped, breaking the stare-off as you waved to the giant.

Thankfully, one of the other team’s players, likely their captain, butted in swiftly, doing his best to apologise and get the guy’s arm to just stop pointing despite it being a bit of a struggle.

You eyed their uniform and spied some kanji embroidered over the left breast.

Ah.

It was Date Tech, which would explain the more caustic undertones.

Nevermind what you were thinking, apparently high school volleyball was cutthroat.

Well, in some aspects. Turned out that Sawamura actually went to junior high with one of the people from Tokonami High, your first opponents, and went to have a nice chat with the guy as everyone set up outside the courts and stretched, the boys shucking off their outer layers and waiting for the signal that you could go in and warm up.

Your captain returned as Tobio and the guys were all ribbing Hinata and Azumane for their nerves, his eyes alight with a challenge, and with a few authoritative words, had everyone lined up and ready to step onto the main stage.

The central arena was actually ridiculous, with four whole courts for multiple matches to run simultaneously, all surrounded by elevated bleachers that were already starting to fill up with families, fans and cheer squads from the more dedicated schools.

Dozens of colourful banners were strung up along the balustrades, each boasting school mottos and symbols, although one stood out from the array in a stark and proud obsidian.

Shimizu had apparently found the old Karasuno banner that had been rotting away in a supply closet for years, and had gone through the effort of restoring it to its former glory with a proper cleaning, it’s two white kanji contrasting sharply against the lines of text and bright hues on many of the others overlooking the courts.

Fly.

So understated, yet it felt like it said everything it needed to.

Ukai got everyone rounded up and focused on warmups and stretching, which is where you started to feel watched, as a few boys from the other teams noticed that you were most definitely not another manager, because Shimizu sure as hell wasn’t out here popping a squat like you were, trying to wake up your calves and thighs after the bus ride.

You weren’t even on the main lineup for this game. Ukai had insisted that you sit the first one out since it was expected to be a pretty manageable win for the boys, and that you would be subbed in only if things went completely sideways.

He reasoned that you would require a lot of energy for the Dateko game, that they’d need you and Shōyō to pry your way through their ‘Iron Wall’ when the going got tough, because it was probably going to be an uphill battle for the power spikers.

The Tokonami team filtered in a few minutes later, looking almost as unfamiliar with their surroundings as you did, sporting uniforms in white and powder blue. Takeda-sensei waved you over to talk to the referees and opposing coaches, the latter of whom stared at you blankly as the ref explained to them that you would possibly be playing against them today.

Their initial scepticism made your skin itch a little, but you offered them a shallow bow regardless before following Takeda back to your side of the court, where the team was getting one last run through of drills before the game was set to start.

You had just spiked a ball at Nishinoya’s head, letting the libero get into his groove, when you felt your phone buzz in your pocket. You let Yamaguchi take over and frowned at the message notification, since your father was definitely at work by now.

9:56

Matsukawa

Turn around.

That had your eyebrows rising into your fringe, but you did so anyway, just to see a line of ivory and turquoise uniforms in the front row of stands above the court, a bunch of the Aoba Johsai starters eyeing you from where their team had settled down to watch the games, your main culprit offering a sardonic wave from where he leaned over the railing beside the other third years.

“You’re one ominous motherfucker.”

Matsukawa snorts at your greeting and you return Hanamaki’s peace sign. Tobio and Shōyō paused their receiving practice to peer back at the attention you were drawing.

“That’s the weird guy you text, right?” your brother asked, his voice flat and barely a whisper.

You rolled your eyes and elbowed him gently, Hinata jolting as he spied an unmistakable head of dark hair.

“Oh, it’s Turnip Head!”

Your mouth tightened, and you kept your gaze firmly on Matsukawa, especially as a certain pair of brunettes also made their presences known a bit further down the stands.

“Yoo-hoo!” Oikawa quipped, raising a peace sign of his own like an idiot, “Tobio-chan, Chibi-chan, having fun with your weirdo combo?”

Hinata actually cowered a little behind you as Iwaizumi swiftly smacked Oikawa’s hand down, and Tobio scowled, stomping away without a word. Shōyō was quick to follow him, as always, and you breathed a sigh of relief that at least Tobio wouldn't be goaded much further for now.

“You’re not playing?” Matsukawa interrupted your thoughts, gesturing to your tracksuit.

“Not this match, unless someone dies or something,” you answered with a shrug.

“Who’s the ominous one now?”

You peeked behind you to make sure Takeda wasn’t looking before flipping him off, ignoring the choked off noise that came out of Oikawa’s mouth.

“Wanna come sit with us?” Hanamaki asked, and you felt yourself freeze up, eyes darting between them and your team.

God, you didn’t really have the bandwidth for this kind of social interaction today.

Matsukawa leaned closer, his voice lowering slightly, “You don’t have to if you’re not comfortable.”

You dipped your chin in his direction as a whistle sounded loudly through the arena, indicating the end of the warm-ups, and that the matches were due to start in five minutes.

The volume ramped up considerably, boys from every team running around and catching stray volleyballs before returning to their respective courts, coaches yelling instructions over the clamour. Sugawara beckoned you into the team huddle, and you listened in as Sawamura and Ukai ran through the general game plan for Tokonami. You were mostly surprised to see Nishinoya and Tanaka so focused on anything that wasn’t Shimizu.

You snaked your arms around Tobio’s waist as the meeting wrapped up, giving him a quick but firm squeeze, then ruffled Shōyō’s hair, hoping to settle some of their nerves about being on a real court again. Tobio had told you about how they’d met, and how both of them had left their last games feeling crushed in some way or another.

But together they seemed to glow with new energy, and a simple confidence that had people stop and look .

Tobio smoothed a hand over your hair as you wished him good luck, before scampering away to the sidelines as the players lined up and Ukai, Takeda and Shimizu got settled with all their bags on their designated bench.

“What’s up Kageyama?” Ukai asked, his brows furrowing and hand coming to rest on your shoulder.

You’d noticed that he tended to hover when it came to taking care of you and making sure you were comfortable, probably noticing how standoffish and awkward you often felt, content to let Tobio navigate the team dynamics and observing quietly.

“Am I allowed to sit up there with them?” you asked, pointing in the general direction of the Seijoh boys.

He nodded, gesturing to the nearby doorway that would take you up to the stands.

“It shouldn’t be a problem. Just so long as you’re ready to jump into the game if we need you.”

You offered him a quick bow as thanks, snickering as he startled, and went to explain to Sugawara where you were going, since he and Ennoshita were in charge of wrangling the rest of the team while Sawamura was on the court. He just gave you a suspicious wink and ushered you off with a wave as the starting players began lining up.

The trip between the sidelines and the bleachers was quick, and in that small amount of time, the Seijoh boys had settled in to watch the game, their things messily flung across the dozen or so empty seats they had deemed suitable, with Matsukawa acting as a buffer between you and the others.

You glanced at Iwaizumi, Oikawa and Kindaichi to see them still leaning up against the railing, mostly interested in the game, no doubt curious about the faces that had joined since the practice match, and Kunimi trying to catch a catnap in the second row of chairs.

You plopped down beside Matsukawa just as a loud chorus of greetings rang through the arena, signaling the official start of the Interhigh, and your friend slung an arm over your shoulders, eliciting a low grumble from you.

“How’re you holding up, kiddo?” Mastukawa asked, “You’ve been a little quiet.”

You shrugged, watching as one of the Tokonami boys served straight into Azumane

“Been busy with training, I guess,” you offered lamely, scratching at your cheek.

He hummed, and Hanamaki noisily opened up a bag of chips, unfortunately drawing Oikawa’s attention to the fact that you’d come up.

“Tomiyo-chan!” he simpered, trying to plop himself onto Matsukawa’s lap and immediately being kicked off. You exhaled sharply as the other two also drew near at his squawking, Iwaizumi sending you a sympathetic smile as you and Kindaichi did everything to avoid looking at each other.

Thankfully, Karasuno scored their first few points, providing a suitable distraction as the crowd cheered for you to breathe for a second before Oikawa got nosey again, especially when you caught him eyeing the arm Matsukawa still had loosely around your shoulders.

“Hmm, your defense has gotten stronger with that little libero of yours,” Iwaizumi murmured, nodding towards where Nishinoya stood on the court.

“He’s really good,” you agreed, watching as Azumane shot towards the net, winding up a strong hit that sent the ball rocketing to the floor.

“That’s some serious power,” Hanamaki muttered around a mouthful of chips.

You didn’t volunteer much more information aside from their names and confirming that Ukai was in fact your new coach, which they had surmised well before the match, instead just keeping your attention on the game unfolding before you.

Your boys had it in the bag as far as you could tell; Tokonami seemed to be made up of very casual players, all with solid foundations but no standout talent or ambitious players that would lead them very far.

Watching them lose ground to the driven focus of Karasuno made you think back on how ill-fitted you had felt on the girl’s team.

Unfortunately, sometimes just loving something wouldn’t be enough to get very far. You had to work for it.

Shōyō drove that point home with a sharp spike that had the spectators astonished, and that fervent glint returned to Tobio’s eye.

Tokonami lost the set within twenty minutes.

You watched Tobio as the boys took their short break, sipping water or taking a moment to sit. He seemed to be doing well enough, chatting with the others, his gaze cool and calm.

You exhaled deeply, your shoulder easing from where they had tensed up.

“How’s he been doing?” Iwaizumi murmured from where he had settled into the empty seat to your left.

You bristled at his words, although Matsukawa gave you a gentle squeeze that had your temper cooling.

“Fine,” you stated, wincing at your brusque tone, “He’s… better.”

The older boy nodded, and you decided it would probably be best if you kept your mouth shut for the rest of the game.

Tokonami came back to the second set with a renewed ardour that had you leaning forward to watch, eyes tracking the ball as you made mental notes of your team’s plays.

Tobio started it all off with an ace serve that had Iwaizumi chuckling under his breath, and Azumane’s power just seemed to keep ramping up, the sprung wood of the court bending beneath every spike.

And despite the fact that Tokonami was losing ground, both teams appeared to be having fun.

But unfortunately for them, your boys swept the match.

“That was a bit of a waste of their energy,” Kindaichi muttered, “Why go all out, if winning was pretty much guaranteed?”

Oikawa hummed, “It’s good that we got to see them play for real. Even if they didn't use the freaky spike.”

You stood, brushing your hands down the front of your pants, as they discussed, although looked up as someone sidled up to you.

“You off too?” Matsukawa asked, to which you nodded.

“Good luck,” you whispered, just loud enough for only him to hear. His dark brows rose.

“Thank you,” he replied, “We’ll chat later, if you’re up for it.”

You grunted, your hands going to your pockets as you followed the boys back down into the buildings’ corridors. They had their own game, and you had to find your team.

“Can’t wait to see you on the court, Tomiyo-chan,” Oikawa simpered, despite the subtle, hard edge underneath his words, “Try not to lose, huh? Dateko is always so boring to play against.”

The urge to punch him roiled under your skin, making your fingers clench into the fabric of your jacket, although Iwaizumi was quick to intercept with a sharp whack to the other boy’s head that had him whining for mercy.

You rolled your eyes, but accepted Iwaizumi’s apologetic grimace and Hanamaki’s crisp low five before sauntering off in the general direction of the court exit.

You found the boys having one of their touchy-feely moments with one of the players from the Tokonami team, and you waited until it seemed they were done before scooching in, your hip bumping against your twin’s.

“Good game,” you chirped amongst the chorus of greetings.

It appeared that you were to all move to another side of the main court for the second match, and the boys took the break to sit, have some food, and recoup.

You were stretching with Sugawara when Ukai and Sawamura announced that the match wouldn’t be a while, so you had a bit of time to burn. Tobio and Shōyō went outside to do some setting and receiving drills, because apparently they were incapable of not playing volleyball.

Sugawara excused himself to follow them for whatever reason, and you took the moment to peek into the court to see how it was going out there.

Seijoh were thrashing their opponent, which you supposed was to be expected.

Your stomach churned as the crowd roared. You had to be out there in a scant half hour or so.

You popped your earphones in and set your music loud enough to drown out everything else, moving through the motions of your stretching routine and gradually getting yourself limber and warm. Getting your brain to shut up was just a nice side benefit.

Everyone filed back in a few minutes before you were allowed to start the real warmups, some looking more serious than others.

Evidently Dateko was going to be a daunting opponent.

You all filed onto the court, before Sawamura called for team warmups, where you were again facing the team that had so shaken Azumane’s confidence earlier.

They were mostly rather tall on average, with the pale-haired, eyebrowless guy from earlier being the largest, and intense in their own exercise, chanting louding to themselves as they ran, bolstered by a simple cheer from their schoolmates in the stands.

The show of vigour seemed to unnerve your boys as you all watched from the side, Sawamura and Takeda going over to do  the coin toss and all of the other associated formalities.

Which meant you got waved over again towards the opponent’s coaches, your nose wrinkling at the prospect until Tobio gently nudged you forward.

Dateko’s captain seemed nice enough, offering you a bow after their coach, a rather strict-looking man, had explained that you’d be playing in the game. You were not oblivious to the curious stares his teammates shot your way as you walked back to your own side of the court, shedding your jacket to reveal your uniform beneath and kicking off your pants by the pile of bags, guarded from any lingering gazes by a stern Shimizu.

Warmups were efficient and got everyone’s engine’s metaphorically revving again after the break, Ukai spiking the balls with a practised strength that would be a good precursor to what Dateko would throw at you.

Nishinoya threw out one of his ‘Rolling Thunder’ receives, breaking through the tension in the team with a couple of laughs at the theatrics of it all, followed by a surprisingly rousing speech about looking forward because he had your backs that had an unbidden smile growing on your face.

And when the whistle blew for the teams to line-up, your boys held their heads up higher, at ease and ready for the task ahead, and a burgeoning pride bloomed bright in your heart.