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Tooru soaks in the energetic atmosphere of the court, navigating his way to an empty seat as the crowd roars around him. He scowls when a girl elbows him in the ribs in her excitement but hurries forward before she can notice and apologise. She seems to be rooting for Nohebi anyway and Tooru doesn’t really want to make accidental small talk with someone like that.
As much as he is still a bit bitter about Karasuno beating Seijoh in his third year and going to Nationals, he’ll support a team representing Miyagi on the national stage over any other. And especially over those snobby, rich and spoiled Tokyo brats.
Tooru wrinkles his nose in distaste at the offensively ugly uniform of Nohebi and primly sits down on an empty seat, leaning forward to get a proper look at the court. The match is in full swing, and one glance at the scoreboard tells Tooru that the first set is currently underway. Nohebi is leading but Karasuno is not far behind. A score of 14-16 is promising, especially with their freckled captain wreaking havoc with his crazy floater. After two service aces, Nohebi’s libero finally digs the ball and they swiftly move to make a counter-attack. A dark-haired second year from Karasuno receives the spike from Nohebi’s ace with impressive grace and sends it to the setter—to Kageyama Tobio.
In an instant, Hinata is flying and hitting the ball with strength that belies his small body—a thrilling cross-court attack—and just like that, Karasuno is in the lead. The team shouts with joy, thumping each other on the back and yelling out encouragement. The referee blows the whistle and Karasuno’s serving streak continues to blaze.
The tips of his fingers tingling with anticipation, Tooru abandons his seat and chooses to stand near the edge of the stands, clutching the cold railing before him. Although Karasuno lost to Itachiyama and failed to punch their ticket to the finals, they are still giving it their all as they fight to secure a bronze. Nohebi’s players seem a bit spooked by the waves of intensity radiating from Karasuno’s side of the court.
Tooru involuntarily shudders. He knows the feeling all too well.
Nohebi's coach calls for a timeout and he watches as the Karasuno third years huddle together, drinking from their water bottles as they presumably discuss strategy. Their body language screams calm and composed, and they seem disgustingly confident.
The freckled captain instructs Tobio about something and Hinata can barely seem to contain his energy beside him as he teases the sarcastic bespectacled middle blocker of theirs. Tooru rests his elbows on the railing and leans forward even more, idly trying to gauge just how short Tobio's hair is now—
"Oikawa?"
Tooru startles, whipping his head around to the source of the voice. Standing a few feet away from him with a canned drink in his hands is a silver-haired guy with a mole below his left eye smiling pleasantly at him.
Tooru takes a second to place him but after a brief lapse of memory, it clicks. "Ah, Refreshing-kun—” His eyes widen and he rushes to correct himself, "I mean—"
Karasuno's old setter chuckles. "Suga's fine."
Tooru nods, feeling his cheeks heat up with embarrassment. “Right. Sorry.”
Suga waves off his apologies with another smile, immediately making Tooru feel at ease. “Mind if I stand here with you?” he asks. “It's good to see a familiar face.”
“Sure, sure,” Tooru replies, making space for him as he directs his gaze back to the court. “You're here all by yourself?”
“Oh, no,” Suga says, “I'm waiting for someone, but she seems to be running late.”
Tooru wonders idly who this ‘she’ could be. Maybe a girlfriend? None of Tooru’s girlfriends have ever been remotely interested in volleyball.
“What about you?” Suga asks conversationally, as Nohebi scores a point. “I have to say I'm more than a little surprised to see you here. I was under the impression that you left the country."
Tooru smirks. “Keeping tabs on me, huh, Suga-chan?”
Suga laughs, and replies mysteriously, “Let’s just say I have my sources.”
Tooru is tempted to pry more into that, but holds himself back. He has a feeling that he won’t get an answer. Instead, he hums and says, "Not yet, but I'm leaving in a couple of weeks. I’m in Tokyo to get some visa formalities done."
"Where to?"
"Argentina."
Suga whistles. "Whoa, that's quite far. I’m sure you must have a good reason, though.” He takes a swig of his—iced coffee, now that Tooru has had a proper look at the can. “What brings you here?”
Tooru shrugs nonchalantly. "Heard that Karasuno was playing for bronze today and I had nothing much to do, so I thought I'd come and see how my precious kouhai is doing these days."
That's a lie. Tooru knows exactly how Tobio’s doing, and he wasn’t exactly free today. Not that Sugawara needs to know any of that.
"Ah,” Suga says, bobbing his head in understanding. “Of course. It's great to see how far Kageyama has come, isn't it?
Tooru purses his lips. “Mhmmm.”
“There are scouts in every corner of this arena,” Suga continues, glancing at him from the corner of his eyes. “I'm sure he's going to get picked up by a big team after the tournament ends.”
Irritation courses through Tooru, despite his best attempts not to let Tobio’s success and talent bother him anymore. But it’s interesting how Tooru has to go all the way across to the other side of the Earth for something Tobio gets right here in Japan. Great. Just fantastic.
“Good for him,” he grits out, keeping his eyes on the game. Tobio scores with an annoyingly perfect setter dump and the crowd goes wild. Tooru can’t even be mad at him for all the pro offers he’s going to get because he’s just that good.
Right. A swift change of topic is in order. “So,” Tooru starts breezily, “what have you been up to since we last saw each other?”
“Oh, I’m a student at Miyagi University, studying to be an educator,” Suga answers happily. “I had a free weekend and it was an important match for Karasuno, so I thought why not cheer them on? Asahi wanted to join but he has an important project submission on Monday.”
“You go to watch Tobio’s—I mean Karasuno’s games often?”
“Of course!” Suga exclaims. “Call me sentimental but I’m still quite close with the team, and would like to remain so. Kageyama, especially. We’ve maintained a good friendship over the past two years.”
Tooru’s eyebrows lift in surprise. “With Tobio-chan? Really?”
Suga frowns slightly. “Not sure what you mean by that,” he says. “He’s a wonderful boy. Do you know he’s been coaching his underclassmen in his free time? From serves to receives to spikes—everything.”
Tooru tries to push away the pressing memory of a little Tobio asking him to teach him how to do a jump serve. It’s not a fair comparison. Tooru was a child then, too.
He keeps his expression neutral. “Is that so?
“Yeah. He told me that he was a bit nervous about his approach, though,” Suga tells him, fondness dripping from his tone, “so I gave him some tips on how to handle a rowdy bunch of first years.” He chuckles. “Though he’ll never understand what it was like to control him and Hinata when they were freshmen.”
Tooru gives him a strained smile, remembering against his will the solitary instance of Tobio coming to him for advice. Admittedly, he understands why it was the last time he did so. “Cute,” he responds. “I guess being the Vice Captain suits him. I would’ve never imagined Tobio-chan doing well in a position of leadership.”
“He’s a lot different from when you knew him, Oikawa-kun.” Suga’s gaze bores into him meaningfully. “There’s nothing wrong with changing your opinion of someone.”
That feels a little too pointed for Tooru's taste, so he scowls and keeps his eyes on the game. By now, Karasuno's victory seems to be just a matter of time.
Tobio’s beautiful jump serve now rivals Tooru's own. He has perfected it, made it his own, with grace and confidence in every movement as he executes it with ease. Tooru can't keep his eyes off him.
Despite all of Tooru’s contempt and disdain towards him, Tobio still turned out amazing. It seems like Tobio was always going to go and master that damn serve whether or not Tooru helped him in middle school. Nothing was going to stop him and all Tooru ended up doing was creating hostility where it wasn’t required. The thought is a little dreadful, because if the result was going to be the same in the end, maybe it would've been better to have just taken Tobio under his wing back then. Maybe they would have better relations now. Maybe Tobio would still be coming to him for advice, for confiding his secrets.
His heart gives a pang and Tooru shakes his head. He's being ridiculous.
The reality is that Sugawara is the senpai who was able to connect with Tobio and guide him in a way that Tooru just couldn't. Tooru has always been too selfish, too insecure. Tobio would've devoured him with his brilliance.
But…as Tooru stares at the number 2 jersey on Tobio's broad back and feels his stomach clench, he wonders if being devoured is that terrible of a fate after all.
“So, how's Iwaizumi been doing?” Suga asks him conversationally when the referee signals another timeout. Tooru is impressed that Suga remembers him.
He hums distractedly. “Iwa-chan is doing great. He went to university in America.”
Suga makes a noise of interest. “Oh, wow! What is he studying there?”
“Sports therapy.”
“Interesting! I was wondering if he was planning to pursue volleyball professionally—”
“So, what kind of advice does Tobio come to you for?” Tooru blurts out, unable to swallow the thought down. Fuck.
Suga turns to blink at him, clearly startled by Tooru’s unexpected interruption. “I'm sorry?”
Tooru flushes and averts his gaze. “Nothing.”
“No, I heard you.”
Tooru groans. “Suga-chan—”
“What do you mean by that?” Suga asks him, keeping his voice free from judgement.
Tooru sighs in defeat. Might as well finish what he started. “I just mean—Tobio comes to you for advice often, right?”
“Well, um, yeah,” Suga admits. “I like to think that I'm the first person he goes to for advice—after Hinata proves ineffective of course.”
“What kind of things does he ask you?”
“Why are you asking?”
“No reason,” Tooru says casually, not sounding suspicious at all. “Just curious.”
Suga seems contemplative, stroking his chin thoughtfully. Then he replies, “Don't you think that's kind of personal?”
“It'll be between us,” Tooru coaxes, impatience prodding at him. “Tobio doesn’t have to know.”
“Oikawa-kun!” Suga exclaims.
“Oh, come on, you wanted me to ask!” Tooru shoots back. “You’ve been hinting at it for the past thirty minutes, Suga-chan.”
“I have been doing no such thing,” Suga insists. His eyes twinkle mischievously. “In fact, I’d say you are the one who’s been trying to get information about Kageyama out of me this whole time. Why is that?”
Tooru gapes at him, offended. It also doesn’t escape his notice that Sugawara is skillfully avoiding answering his question, making a strange sort of dread well up in him. Why is he evading so much? What could it be about Tobio that he's so intent on hiding? What's so personal? Is Tobio failing in school? Is he fighting with his parents?
Could he be dating someone? Does he have a girlfriend? Is he in love?
Tooru’s eyes widen and his breath comes short. His heart picks up pace, and he feels like he might just throw up thinking about the possibility. What a truly horrific thought.
Suga’s staring at him, looking quite alarmed. He places a hand on his arm and says, “Oikawa, are you—”
“Koushi-kun!” They both whip their heads in the direction of the new voice. A woman is making her way to them, waving at Suga as she squeezes through the crowd.
“Sorry for the delay, traffic in Shibuya is a nightmare at this hour,” she says breathlessly as she stops by Suga’s side and hitches her tote bag higher on her shoulder.
Tooru takes in her appearance as subtly as possible. Tall, inky black hair, dark blue eyes. She’s well-dressed and seems to be older than them. She wears a slight pout as she complains about the traffic, and it is so shockingly familiar that Tooru has to take a step back.
Right. This can only be—
“Kageyama-san,” he cuts in smoothly with his most charming smile. “Hello, I’m—”
"Oikawa Tooru,” she finishes for him. Her open expression slips into a guarded, apprehensive one. “I know. I've heard a lot about you."
Tooru’s smile falters. "Ah. All good things, I hope."
Tobio’s sister crosses her arms. "Hmm."
Well, that doesn't seem promising.
Tooru tries not to flinch as she gives him a slow once-over, clearly not sharing his views on subtlety. She appraises him like she’s trying to decide whether he can be deemed fit to breathe within 50 feet of her. She’s a little terrifying. Finally, she thrusts her hand forward and grunts, “Kageyama Miwa. You can call me Miwa.”
Gulping, Tooru shakes her hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Miwa-san.”
She nods briefly and turns to the game, no doubt trying to find her brother amongst the players.
Tooru does the same, licking his lips unconsciously when Tobio arches his back for a set. He’s grateful that Suga stands as a buffer between them or he would’ve been scared of possibly having his scandalously inappropriate thoughts read by Tobio’s scary elder sister.
As the end of the match draws closer, Suga and Miwa chat amicably, discussing the high cost of rent in the city, the best mochi place in Sendai, and Tobio’s abysmal grades in English. Suga enquires about their parents’ work and health, going into detail and asking if their father is recovering well from the appendectomy he underwent a couple of weeks ago. Miwa assures him that he’s doing just fine.
Tooru learns that Tobio made the grave mistake of impulsively giving himself a haircut a month back and that his poorly cut bangs still aren’t growing right, which drives Miwa mad on a regular basis. Suga laughs and says it looks cute, while Miwa staunchly disagrees with him.
Jealousy simmers under Tooru’s skin.
He gets that Suga is close with Tobio, they were on the same team for a year—but even his family? What the fuck. Why is he so familiar with Tobio’s sister—the sister who already seems to hate Tooru—and how did he make good enough friends with her that they go to watch Tobio’s volleyball games together? Tooru has already had to make his peace with that redheaded shrimp glued to Tobio’s side 24/7, and now this too?
Something a lot like dejection blooms in his chest. The more he stands there listening to their conversation, the more Tooru feels uncomfortable and out of place. What is he doing here? He’s clearly not a part of Tobio’s inner circle, he has no right to be here acting like he is. It was a mistake to come here, he should have just watched the livestream of Karasuno’s match on his tiny phone screen in the privacy of his room like he always does. It was stupid to think that he might go to see Tobio after the match, possibly the last time for a very long time. Tooru can’t deny that Tobio has been on his mind a lot lately, that he’s been having the urge to make things right with him, or at least try to. The reason he came to this match wasn’t an impulse. Not at all.
But, obviously, it turns out that it’s just something that lives inside his head and doesn’t translate well into reality. Tobio already has people in his life who love him and support him unconditionally. There’s no space for someone like Tooru, just as always.
He swallows through the lump in his throat and clutches the railing with a tight-knuckled grip. He should leave, he decides. He should leave and keep his distance and let Tobio blossom into the man he’s supposed to be without Tooru’s interference. There’s no need for Tooru when someone like Suga, who is so much better than him, has already carved a place for himself in Tobio’s life.
The knowledge hurts, it aches and throbs—but Tooru simply welcomes it like an old friend.
As soon as the whistle blows to signal Karasuno’s victory, Tooru quietly excuses himself and tries to slip past the pair. Unfortunately, Sugawara is too perceptive for his own good, and almost like he expected it, he stops Tooru with a hand wrapped around his arm.
Tooru gawks at him in surprise. Behind Suga, Miwa watches on curiously.
Suga smiles and pats Tooru’s shoulder reassuringly. “Why don’t you stay for a bit? I’m sure Kageyama-kun would love to see you.”
What comes as even more of a shock is when Miwa nods and says, “Hm, yeah. If you’ve come all the way here, you shouldn’t leave before saying hi to him. It’ll make him happy.”
Tooru almost can’t believe his ears, and he’s in such a daze about it that he’s not even sure when he agrees to it. The next thing he knows, he’s being led down to where the players are celebrating. His pulse thunders in his ears—he’s wholly unprepared for this.
Soon, they are away from the crowds and in an area of the gym where the players are milling about. Nohebi has already disappeared, but Karasuno is still around revelling in their victory. The first and second years are chattering excitedly amongst themselves, making bold promises to follow in their seniors’ footsteps and take Karasuno even further next year. The seniors themselves are a bit calmer, but their skin is flushed from the glow of happiness. The captain is talking to Glasses-kun and the cute, blonde manager who has tears streaming down her face. Hinata and Tobio are, of course, arguing about something, but their smiling faces and teasing tone of voice give away the true emotion behind their words.
Seeing Tobio so close, Tooru’s stomach flutters. Strange.
Hinata is the first to notice them. His eyes widen and he yells, “Suga-san!” before barreling towards the man. Miwa follows him with a fond chuckle, and goes straight to wrap Tobio in a hug. Tooru hesitates, choosing to stay back and watch from a distance.
Bitterness flares up in him again as both Hinata and Tobio gravitate towards Suga, listening intently to his words of congratulations with stars in their eyes. Tooru can practically feel the slow sludge of jealousy in his veins when Suga ruffles Tobio’s hair and Tobio’s cheeks pinken as he leans down for better access.
Tooru wonders what Tobio’s hair feels like. It looks really soft. It probably is, fuck.
Suga says something to them, and then suddenly the two of them lift their eyes to look straight at Tooru. Caught off guard, Tooru stays rooted to the spot. Hinata’s mouth shapes into something that Tooru can only assume is “The Grand King”, and Tobio—he is frozen. Speechless.
Hinata nudges Tobio teasingly, goading him about something while wearing a shit-eating smirk. Snapping out of his reverie, Tobio scoffs and pushes his face away. He glances at Tooru and then at Suga, hesitating. Suga nods at him, smiling, and gives him a gentle shove in Tooru’s direction.
Tooru’s palms are clammy from how nervous he is. For all that he fantasi—thought about seeing Tobio after this match, he didn’t actually prepare anything for what he would say to him.
Sooner than he’s ready, Tobio stands before him. Tooru’s heart lurches in his chest.
Tobio looks…he looks good. Really good. He's gotten taller, almost the same height as Tooru now, and his jersey fits him in places where it used to be baggy in his first year. Tooru avoids looking at his legs for the sake of his sanity and instead focuses his attention on Tobio’s face. He can see why Miwa is so frustrated—those choppy bangs are really something. A wave of overwhelming affection for Tobio rolls through him.
Tobio’s eyes are trained on his face, big and blue and surprised. “Oikawa-san.”
“Well, well,” Tooru replies, some of his anxiety fading away as soon as he’s talking to Tobio. “Is that how you greet your favourite senpai?”
Tobio blinks. “Oh—uh—hello.” He bows awkwardly, making Tooru bite back a small laugh, before straightening up. “What are you doing here?”
Straight to the point, as always. Tooru huffs. “What do you think, Tobio-chan? I'm certainly not here to play, I'm not a high-schooler anymore.”
Tobio’s eyes grow bigger with understanding, as if there could be any other explanation. “You came to watch our match?”
Tooru sniffs, crossing his arms. “Hm. Yes, I sure did.”
“Oh. What did you think?”
“Of what?”
Tobio flushes, stuttering, “Of—of the match.”
Tooru has a feeling that he wanted to say something else. His lips lift at the corners. “Well. You won. Congratulations.”
Tobio bites his bottom lip, looking impatient. “And?”
Tooru shrugs. “It was a good match,” he adds benevolently. “Karasuno did well. You crows have become quite a nuisance on the court, huh?”
Tobio nods, which is quite rude and arrogant in Tooru’s opinion, but he's also fiddling with his hands, clearly expecting something more. Tooru wants to squeeze him, almost ready to give him the praise he knows Tobio is fishing for.
That old insecure and envious part of him tries to drag him down and be derisive to this beautiful boy in front of him, but Tooru fights it off and forces himself to be in the moment.
He sighs long-sufferingly. “Since you’re clearly dying to hear it, Tobio-chan, I must also say that you played exceptionally well. Your sets were still disgustingly good and you seem to have perfected that stupid jump serve. The number of service aces you got today—my god, they should ban you from the court, it’s obviously not fair to the others.”
It’s hard to get the words out, still peppered with little barbs and insults, but Tooru finds that they are infused with sincerity. Tooru really, really means them. Whether he likes it or not, he is proud of Tobio, and for once, that feeling is not tainted by resentment.
Tobio’s face heats up, his mouth wobbling into an adorably shy smile. Tooru can’t believe that that’s all it takes to make him happy.
“Thank you,” he says, ducking his head. “That means a lot, Oikawa-san.”
“Hmm, but don’t let it get to your head, okay?” Tooru warns. “We are still at one win and one loss each. I am going away for now, but I will meet you on the court one day soon.”
That familiar spark of challenge blazes in Tobio’s eyes and he nods fervently. “Of course. I look forward to it.” He clears his throat. “You—um, how long are you going to Argentina for?”
Tooru raises his eyebrows in surprise. “You know I’m going to Argentina?”
Tobio’s eyes widen, and he flounders, “Uhh—um.”
“How so?” Tooru asked, delighted by Tobio’s reaction.
“Kunimi mentioned it once.”
“Ah. Right.”
“I didn’t ask,” Tobio adds needlessly. “He just told me.”
He’s truly a terrible liar. “Okay, Tobio, I believe you,” Tooru says with a teasing lilt. “And I wouldn’t blame you if you did ask Kunimi about me. I daresay you’ll miss me when I’m gone.”
Tobio looks like the entire world just shifted at his feet. “M—miss you?”
“Yeah.” He takes a step closer, lowering his voice. “Won’t you miss me, Tobio? I’ll be hurt if you say no.”
The tips of his ears are red and Tobio is blushing so hard that it’s a little bit funny. He stammers incoherently, clearly out of his depth. “I—it’s—you—”
Tooru chuckles and pats his shoulder, deciding to have some mercy on him. “Ah, don’t worry your pretty little head over it. I won’t make you say something like that. I’m just teasing.”
Tobio heaves out a relieved breath and glares at him. With that little pout forming on his face, it’s not very effective. “You’re so mean, Oikawa-san.”
Tooru gasps dramatically. “Mean? Me? Never!”
Tobio rolls his eyes in response, that cheeky little brat.
“Kageyama!” Hinata yells from behind them. “Hurry up, Ukai-san is calling us. We have to go get changed!”
“I’ll be right there!” Tobio says, and Hinata flashes him a thumbs-up before sprinting after his team.
Tobio turns to Tooru again, his playfulness dissolving into hesitation. “Um—I have to go. Our coach—”
“—is calling you. Yes, I heard,” Tooru finishes for him. He claps his hands. “Well, congrats once again, Tobio-chan. Being third in the nation—it’s not easy. I’m proud of you.” Tobio’s breath hitches and it’s now Tooru’s turn to feel flustered. Before Tobio can respond to that, he rushes to say, “I’ll leave you to celebrate with your friends and family. See you, Tobio.”
Cursing himself for being so embarrassing, Tooru turns on his heel and prepares to make a beeline for the exit when he is stopped by Tobio’s voice.
"Oikawa-san.”
Tooru halts. He twists around to look at Tobio.
Tobio swallows. “I’m—uh, I'm going to be in Tokyo for two more days."
"Oh?” Tooru breathes, turning fully to face him once again. “And why are you telling me that?"
Tobio looks down at his feet, his cheeks a splotchy pink. "Just because," he mumbles.
Cute, cute, cute, cute, CUTE, Tooru’s brain screams.
"You're not cute at all, Tobio-chan,” he comments. He thrusts his hand forward. “Give me your phone.”
Tobio looks up and stares at him in wonderment. “Huh?”
“Give me your phone,” Tooru repeats, and something about his tone spurs Tobio into action. He roots around in his pockets and hands the device to him without question.
When Tooru tries to add his number to Tobio’s contacts, he finds that Tobio already has it. Isn't that interesting.
Smiling, he taps on the Edit option and adds a nice little heart to the contact name so it reads: Oikawa-san ♡. Before Tobio can look at what he’s doing, he quickly sends a message to himself and gives the phone back to Tobio.
“Here. Don’t be late. And wear something nice.”
Tobio tilts his head, looking for all the world like a confused kitten. “What?”
Before Tooru can do something irrevocably embarrassing like fall to his knees and wail at his cuteness, he waves Tobio goodbye and makes his way to the exit, whistling to himself. When he’s outside, he pulls his phone out and finds a message waiting for him. A strange giddiness filling his chest, he opens it and adds the number to his contacts.
Tobio-chan 💢 : Kayaba Coffee. 22 January, 11 AM. ❤️