Chapter Text
"Good to see you again, Hinata."
Tobio shifted Asuka onto his hip, watching as Hinata and Atsumu stared at him with wide eyes, Kiyoomi off to the side with a neutral expression on his face, Asuka’s poster in his hands. It took a couple of seconds before Atsumu came out of his daze, pointing at Asuka.
"Hold on, ya disappear for four years and now ya pop back up with a kid?!"
Tobio sighed. He figured a reaction like that would come from Atsumu of all people. Hinata had broken out of his daze as well but was keeping his mouth firmly shut. He couldn't hide the pissed expression on his face though.
"Yes. Asuka is my son."
Hinata looked ready to combust, but he was saved by Meian calling out for the three athletes to start warm-ups. Hinata frowned, looking at Tobio seriously.
"We're talking after the game. Meet me by the gym doors."
Kiyoomi returns Asuka’s poster to him, and Asuka looks up at Tobio as the three walk away, hands clutching his poster.
"Did I get you in trouble dad?"
Tobio sighed, kissing Asuka's forehead.
"You didn't, birdie. I had that coming. Just please promise me you won't run off again, okay?"
With a firm nod from Asuka, Tobio carried him into the stadium to take their seats. Well, he took a seat, Asuka chose to stand at the railings, peering over and carefully watching the team’s warm-up. Tobio glanced over to the opposing team, the Sendai Frogs. He could see Kei promptly ignoring Kyotani as he scolded Koganegawa for probably doing something stupid. Maybe if he was still alive after Hinata got done with him, he'd say hi.
"Kageyama-kun?"
Tobio looked up from the court, following the soft voice to meet the eyes of Hitoka and Tadashi. It wasn't shocking for them to be here, Tadashi had been dating Kei for the longest time now, and as far as he knew, Hinata and Hitoka could be dating. That was who Hinata had a crush on during their third year after all.
Tobio smiled, waving to the two.
"Long time no see. I see you two got decked out for the game."
The two frankly looked a little ridiculous, Tadashi was wearing what Tobio assumed was every piece of Sendai Frogs merch he could find, along with a t-shirt version of Kei's jersey. Hitoka was dressed similarly, doning all the MSBY merch she could with carefully painted black and gold hearts on her cheeks.
"That's not the point here! Where have you been all this time? Shouyo was worried sick about you."
Tadashi crossed his arms, and the look he gave made Tobio shiver. He got the captain glare. Oh boy.
"I've been...busy."
Tobio gestured to Asuka, who was happily cheering and waving his poster around as Bokuto started to entertain the stands.
Hitoka blinked, looking from Asuka to Tobio, then back again. And again.
"You...have a kid?"
Tobio nodded, glancing back at Asuka.
"Mhm. That's Asuka, he's four. He'll be five in a few weeks."
Hitoka looked like she was having a breakdown, staring at Asuka, while Tadashi sat down beside Tobio and grabbed his hands, examining them.
"Uh, Yamaguchi? What are you–"
"You're not married, right? Because I would kill you if you got married and didn't tell us."
Tobio slowly pulled his hands away, but shook his head.
"No, I'm not married. Asuka's mother and I were just friends with benefits when we had him. I've never been romantically attracted to her, even though Mei was a sweet girl."
Tadashi sighed in relief, slumping in his chair. "Thank gods. I'm pretty sure if you got married, Shou would kill you."
Tobio grimaced. "I already had a run-in with him since Asuka decided to take off without me earlier."
Tadashi winced, patting Tobio on the shoulder. "Yikes. Well, you do kind of deserve it, just disappearing after graduation."
Tobio shrugged, Hitoka and Tadashi sitting in the seats next to him. "I do. Don't regret it though. How are the two of you?"
Tadashi grins, holding up his hand to show a thin silver band on his finger. "Kei proposed!"
Hitoka giggled, patting Tadashi on the shoulder. "You should've seen him a couple of days after Kei asked, he couldn't look at his hand without crying."
Tadashi took offense to this, but Hitoka just smiled and continued. "It's probably a shock, but do you remember Kanoka Amanai? We've been dating since a little after graduation."
Tobio took a moment to process the information. So Hitoka and Hinata never got together? That's a little surprising, but so long as both parties were fine.
"I’m happy for both of you."
The three continued to talk throughout the game, catching up on each other's lives. They both offered to help Tobio study for exams, and when Asuka came to get water and a snack from Tobio mid-game, Hitoka and Tadashi gushed over him.
Asuka was then spoiled, receiving a piece of merch from Hitoka and Tadashi to wear through the rest of the match. The Frogs pin Tadashi gave him was given to Tobio, as Asuka still had to show his team allegiance.
The game was close. The Jackals managed to pull in the win, thanks to an amazing set and spike from Atsumu and Hinata. Tobio felt envious of Atsumu. Getting to set to such a powerful spiker was amazing, and Tobio felt himself longing to feel the ball against his fingertips again. As Hinata scored the winning point, Asuka begged Tobio to sit on his shoulders so that he could cheer better. Being the absolute amazing dad he is, he placed Asuka on his shoulders as he cheered on the Jackals, Hitoka, and Tadashi joining in with a laugh.
Tadashi offered to look after Asuka while Hinata and Tobio talked since he and Kei were sticking around. After making Asuka promise not to run off and kissing him on the head, Tobio headed to the gym, taking a deep breath and bracing himself.
It was a few minutes of waiting before Hinata appeared, dressed in some track pants and his team’s jacket, hands stuffed in his pockets. They faced one another, seeming to debate how they wanted to go about this. The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife.
“You’re taking really good care of Asuka, it seems.”
Hinata seemed to be picking his words carefully, refusing to meet Tobio’s eyes. He was avoiding what he really wanted to ask.
“I try my best. But Hinata, please just ask what you really want to. I know it’s bugging you.”
Hinata flinched when Tobio spoke, biting his lip. He seemed to be trying to decide what to ask Tobio first.
“I have a lot of questions. But first, who is Asuka’s mother?”
“Do you remember Mei Kashiwagi? I met her at the Tokyo Training Camp.”
“Her...I remember her. You’re with her now, then?”
“No...we had Asuka from a friends with benefits situation. She came to tell me she was pregnant after our final hookup, and I said I would do whatever was needed for our kid. So when she asked me to move to Tokyo with her, I didn’t hesitate.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me? We were best friends, weren’t we?”
Tobio could hear the pain in Hinata’s voice, and he frowned. He knew it hurt not just Hinata, but a lot of their friends when he left without a word. He regrets it now, this whole situation could’ve been avoided if he had just told everyone what was going on. But he didn’t, he went to brave this journey alone.
“I’m sorry Hinata. I just...I don’t really have an excuse, other than I was scared. I never expected to be a dad at nineteen, and I knew that everyone had their own futures to deal with. Mei asked me to go to Tokyo with her, not to let the news get out so no sports outlets would find out, and I agreed. The only people who knew up until today were Miwa and my parents, as well as Mei’s family.”
Hinata nodded, but it was clear he was still upset. “I get it, kind of. But I can’t forgive you for something like this easily. I needed your support and you were gone. And I’m sure you were in need of my support too.”
Tobio didn’t argue that. He probably needed Hinata as much as Hinata needed him, Tobio was certainly a mess when Asuka was born.
“Are you guys together now? You and Mei?”
Tobio felt a pain in his chest. Even though he had never loved Mei, it still pained him to talk about her. The world cruelly took away Asuka’s mother.
“...No. Mei...she died after giving birth to Asuka. She got to see him before she died, though.”
Hinata’s eyes went wide, and he stepped closer to Tobio, concern written all over his face.
“So you’ve been parenting Asuka all by yourself? For four years?”
Tobio nodded. “Yeah. Miwa helped me at the start, but not a lot. I didn’t feel like I needed anyone to help me, I had things under control. I worked, took care of my son, and now I’m in college to better support him.”
“I know we haven’t talked in awhile, but I’m still here for you. I’m here for Asuka too. I can’t fully let you back in yet, but if you need me for anything, all you have to do is call. My number is still the same.”
Hinata’s words made Tobio’s shoulders feel a bit lighter, and he cracked a smile with a nod. “I won’t hesitate to call on you then. We should probably get back to the group now, I need to get Asuka home, it’s a school night.”
With a nod from Hinata, the two returned to the lobby, Asuka running up to his dad and displaying his poster with all the Black Jackals’ signatures on it, Hinata adding his to the board before he departed with Bokuto, the two deciding to get a head start at the izakaya. Kei scolded Tobio for taking off like that and shockingly gave Tobio a hug. Of course, that was followed by a threat of Tobio never speaking a word of it to anyone, and he and Tadashi left with Hitoka to catch up to Hinata and Bokuto.
Atsumu and Kiyoomi both offered their services for babysitting since Asuka met Kiyoomi’s hygiene standards and was pretty calm from what they had seen. Tobio gladly accepted it and bid them goodnight, leaving the stadium with a very sleepy Asuka in his arms, a little smile on his face.
After he tucked Asuka into bed and was in bed himself, he opened his phone to send one message before he drifted off to sleep.
To: Shouyo
[10:47 PM]
Let’s go out to eat on your next day off, okay?