Rating:

General

Category:

Gen

Fandom:

Haikyuu!!

Relationship:

Kageyama/Hinata

Tags:

fix-it fic, hqhols, hqhols 2014, post-canon, side kagehina

Stats:

Posted on:

2014-12-25

Words:

3,249

Tobio hangs back to help Ennoshita-san pack up. Most of the other third years are loud as they leave, the first years trying to follow suit. He hears Tsukishima mutter how annoying they are, kind of wants to retort about how Tsukishima’s still on the team regardless of this.

Hinata chirps up, “What are you saying, Tsukishima? Don’t tell me you haven’t gotten used to it.” Tobio smiles to himself.

Ennoshita thanks him as they manage to get the net in; Hinata and Yamaguchi are cleaning up the floors, and Tsukishima is putting away the balls. Hinata is cheerful as Tobio comes back outside. He almost drops the handle of his mop to jump on him.

Yamaguchi catches it; and Tobio quickly moves away from him, says, “Finish your cleaning, first.”

Hinata pouts but Tobio’s equally hard-headed. “Aw,” he says, but once he’s turned around, Tobio smiles at his back.

His phone buzzes then, a common occurrence only if his parents aren’t guaranteed to be home today and his mother tells him to be safe with Hinata, if Tobio chooses to bring him home. (He usually does.) Tobio takes out his phone, eyebrows slightly furrowed, to see a new text message.

From: ???
Hey, do you have any practice matches scheduled soon?

Tobio furrows his eyebrows; not many people have his number, and not many people would ask for it much less give it out.

To: ???
Sorry, who is this?

From: ???
Oh, it’s Kunimi Akira.

To have an old middle school friend texting him is weird—then again, someone from Aoba Jousai has his number for a reason. He can’t remember if he’d given it to Kunimi before, or perhaps Kindaichi, or Oikawa or Iwaizumi-san.

To: Kunimi Akira
We don’t have any practice matches soon.

From: Kunimi Akira
Do you want to ask your captain to schedule one with us? First one of the season.

“Hey, Ennoshita-san,” Tobio calls, as Ennoshita’s grabbing his own things. “Seijou wants to schedule a practice match with us.”

Ennoshita positively brightens. “Really?” he says. “We should tell Takeda-senpai and Ukai-san as soon as possible!”

Tobio nods.

To: Kunimi Akira
Works for us.

“Who are you texting, Kageyama?” Hinata comes up and jumps on him. This time he doesn’t have a mop in his hands, so it’s okay. Kageyama leans down from the pressure, and then Hinata peeks over his shoulder.

“Kunimi,” he replies. At Hinata’s confused expression, “From Aoba Jousai. He’s the one who asked if we wanted to have a practice match.”

“Weird.” Hinata’s eyes are wide. “Do you think he asked his coach?”

Tobio shrugs.

They walk out of the gym together, holding hands. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima and Ennoshita follow them, but it’s alright. Hinata’s bike is at the back of the school. He and Tobio let go and join together again as they leave.

Hinata’s the only other person who would’ve texted him, but only because he does so regularly. Tobio faintly wonders if anyone else on the Aoba Jousai team has his number, too.

*

The practice match against Seijou feels much different, without Oikawa and Iwaizumi around anymore. Yahaba’s sets aren’t as strong but they’re doable, and they work well with Kindaichi’s strikes. Tobio watches Kunimi as he decoys for Kyoutani, jumping and falling with convincing effort.

Between the sets, Tobio crosses the net. Kunimi looks up from tying his sneakers, and pauses at the sight of Tobio.

Tobio’s not quite sure what to say. “Thanks for,” he starts. Pauses. Resumes. “Inviting us out here today.”

“It’s nothing.”

Kunimi stands up, glances at where their referee is resetting the score for the next round. Karasuno had won the first; Kunimi says, “You’re getting stronger, aren’t you?”

Tobio shrugs. It’s not a compliment—he and Hinata have a ninety-five percent success rate these days.

Kunimi says, “Looking forward to the next set, I guess,” and walks off. Tobio thinks of telling him he’s getting stronger, too.

When he gets back to his team, he sees that Hinata has his brows furrowed in confusion, but clears up as Tobio approaches. He grins, and Tobio stands by his side, as wordless as they need to be.

*

They win the game. It doesn’t mean much but it’s a practice match, and most of Aoba Jousai shakes their hands good-naturedly. Tobio is sure that Kunimi goes up to Hinata on purpose, but Hinata doesn’t seem to mind and practically jumps into Tobio’s back when that’s over.

It’s still pretty early in the day and nobody’s in a big rush to leave, even for lunch; Karasuno spreads across the gym floors as Aoba Jousai goes to their locker rooms. Hinata lies down next to Yamaguchi and Yachi (whose cheeks are flushed from the excitement). Tobio sits up and glances at him.

“I’m gonna get a drink,” he tells him. “Need anything?”

Hinata has his eyes closed, and he shakes his head against the floor. Tobio crouches back up and trudges out of the gym.

He hasn’t seen most of the school outside of the gym and hallways; it’s bigger than Karasuno, light teal decorations hanging from the walls. They have to have a vending machine somewhere. Tobio hunts around the corners.

He finds one near a staircase; and they have his favorite milk brand. Tobio digs through his pockets for change—he has the exact amount it costs. He shoves his money in and waits for the box to come out.

A door opens. Tobio glances behind him out of habit—then he sees that someone’s walking out of the boys’ restroom, and that someone is Kindaichi. Kindaichi doesn’t seem to notice Tobio at first until mere seconds after Tobio has, and his gaze turns wary. He’s alone.

Tobio turns back to the vending machine, and watches it uncomfortably. He doesn’t hear any footsteps follow, feels a gaze burning into his back.

The milk box won’t come out. Tobio shakes the machine, but it’s locked in place like Tobio hadn’t put in the money. He tries to reach his hand in from the bottom, but it’s too far away for him to reach.

He stands back up. Maybe if he stares at it hard enough, he can intimidate the milk box into coming out. Hinata keeps telling him that his face is scary. If it is, he should put it to good use.

Tobio notices a button near where he’d put in his money, green and round. He presses it to see what it does.

Instantly the milk he’d chosen gets brought to the bottom, then the crane returns to the top like nothing had happened.

“Stupid,” Tobio mutters, taking his milk. He pops the straw in and resists the urge to turn around.

When he gets back to the gym, drinking his milk (with Hinata not so slyly sneaking sips now and then), footsteps are close behind him. He turns around quick enough to see Kindaichi, with a drink in his own hands, come in and then leave toward the locker room. Tobio stares.

Yachi nudges him. “Hinata’s gonna drink all your milk.”

“Wh—hey, Hinata!”

*

Tobio pauses from on his way down the staircase when he hears a scuffling by his front door, and arguing voices. Hinata’s waiting in the kitchen, but this sounds a little more urgent.

He opens the door. Kunimi’s on his front porch, clinging onto the back of Kindaichi’s collar while Kindaichi is, presumably, trying to run away.

“I didn’t plan on spending my weekend groveling at Kageyama Tobio’s front door,” he’s shouting, wriggling in Kunimi’s grasp.

Tobio says, “Er.”

Kunimi turns to him, innocently like he’s not clutching his best friend in a death grip. “Hi, Kageyama-kun,” he says. “Do you have a few minutes to spare?”

“This is embarrassing! Why do you want me to do this?”

“I’m here too, you know.” Kunimi glares. “It’s been almost two years, don’t get cocky.”

“I’m not! You’re the one who said we were going out to get breakfast—”

“Anyway,” says Kunimi.

Tobio steps outside and closes the door. “What’s going on?”

“Well,” says Kunimi, “considering how we left things in middle school—”

“And we could leave them that way!” Kindaichi is very pointedly not looking at either of them.

Kunimi ignores him. “At least,” he says to Tobio, “we’re quite apologetic on the note we left on.”

“I’m not apologetic for anything!”

Tobio stares at the both of them. Kindaichi has given up on trying to run away and is now sitting on the ground like a child. Kunimi’s grip has strained his shirt and remains around Kindaichi’s collar.

Tobio struggles not to laugh, because even though they’re right and it’s been almost two years, they don’t look like they’ve changed too much. He recalls faintly what it was like, playing with them, though; Kunimi showing up only a few times a week and Kindaichi’s persistence when his first attempts at spiking constantly missed. There’s something about that here, still.

“We did leave on a bad note,” he agrees. “But we’ve been okay at matches, I think.”

Kunimi nods. “We never had the time to talk to you much last year,” he says.

“Well last year was,” his and Hinata’s year, having Oikawa-san on the other side of the net, “last year.”

Kunimi doesn’t smile a lot, but he does to Tobio, right now.

*

When he gets back inside, Hinata’s swinging his legs as he slowly eats breakfast at the dining table. Tobio’s parents aren’t home, and Tobio sits on his lap. Hinata laughs and tries to shove him off.

“Hey,” Tobio says as he moves to his own chair. “You know how I—” No, that’s not how he wants to start. “How much do you think I changed last year?” he asks.

“The whole year? Because the beginning of last year is a different story.”

Tobio shrugs. “Whatever.”

Hinata swings his legs again. “Well you were a stuck up ass,” he states.

Tobio punches him in the shoulder.

“Don’t be so blunt!”

“You want me to be honest, don’t you?” Hinata puts his spoon down and rests his chin against his hand. “But that changed quickly. I mean, you’re still a stuck up ass,” and he grins cheekily when Tobio glowers, “but I think you—we made that into something different.”

Tobio asks drily, “Are you talking about our quick combos, or about us?”

“Both,” Hinata says. “Mostly the quick combos. But we’re pretty good, too.”

He nudges his foot against Tobio’s. Tobio has his elbows on the table, thinking.

Hinata adds, “I mean, I think it’s good that you found someone to match your sets!” and he puffs out his chest, “but also that you learned to match spikes.”

And he smiles, and Tobio knows that this wouldn’t be something he would hear if he’d gone to Aoba Jousai or otherwise.

“Thanks,” he says, and Hinata hums as he finishes his breakfast like it’s no problem.

*

They don’t have volleyball practice a few days later due to an apparent emergency at Ukai-san’s family restaurant (“Mom, spraying medicine everywhere isn’t going to help!” is the last thing they hear him yell on the phone as he runs off.) Everyone makes plans to go home early, but Aoba Jousai is far enough away for Tobio to get a good workout without overexerting himself. He says goodbye to Hinata as they walk back.

Hinata knows, but he asks, “You okay?”

Tobio nods, and they let go of each other’s hands.

He sprints to Aoba Jousai like he’s racing against someone, catches his breath once he’s there. He’s stopped outside of the gym, can hear distinct sounds of volleyballs being set, spiked, and received. Panting, he walks in from the side and climbs up onto the bleachers.

When he was younger he would spend all his time watching Oikawa-san practice; but it’s been a while and Tobio’s almost forgotten what it’s like. Yahaba sets and Kindaichi spikes; on the other end, Watari sets and Kunimi spikes. There are the distinct first years, who are working more on their receiving. Tobio watches, unblinkingly.

Then he sees Kindaichi do a double take toward him, say something to Kunimi. Kunimi glances over to him as well. A little bit later and they’re taking a break, and Kunimi comes into the bleachers to join him.

Tobio instinctively inches away; but if Kunimi’s noticed, he doesn’t comment on it. “What are you doing here?” he asks, without any malice.

Tobio shrugs. “Wanted to see how you guys played.”

Kunimi nods. He turns to look at the court.

“We’re a lot different without our third years,” he comments.

“So are we,” Tobio agrees. Several of the first years are doing what they can to help Kyoutani, who growls at them. They laugh. “But I think we both can manage.”

“Kageyama-kun,” Kunimi says.

Tobio turns to him again. Kunimi’s gaze is weirdly focused, which Tobio has never seen before.

He looks away quickly. “Sorry for the other morning. Kindaichi’s…”

Kindaichi is on the court, laughing with somebody. Maybe he tenses when Kunimi says his name.

“We are sorry,” he says. “No matter how much Kindaichi doesn’t want to admit it.”

Tobio pauses.

“Me too,” he says, finally. “For. You know.”

He can’t tell if Kunimi hip checks him on purpose, but it’s kind of nice. It’s weird knowing who they are and sitting in the Seijou gym bleachers like this. Tobio wonders what’ll happen. He supposes he doesn’t mind not knowing.

*

He doesn’t go out grocery shopping with his mother too much; but sometimes she’ll talk about how Tobio spends so much time with clubs and how it’s hard for a woman her age to carry everything back. So Tobio doesn’t mind offering to go these times, either.

He’s helping her pick out the milk—she always gets extra cartons, at the rate they go—when someone shouts out her name. Both Tobio and his mother turn to see a vaguely familiar woman come up and embrace her, exclaiming, “It’s been so long!”

By her side is Kindaichi, looking very, very uncomfortable.

They’ve run into each other in public before; usually during breaks, and when Tobio likes to make long treks to get him into better shape. Kindaichi’s usually with Kunimi or other classmates from Aoba Jousai or alone. When he sees that Tobio is watching him, he glances away.

Their mothers refuse to let up, talking now and walking through the grocery store. Tobio slides up next to Kindaichi.

“You don’t have to pretend that you like me,” Kindaichi grumbles.

Tobio shrugs. The numbed pain has dulled over the past year—he has a measure of self-awareness to know why it had.

“I’m not,” he says.

Kindaichi doesn’t look very convinced. After a moment, he asks,

“Why did you come to our practice that other day?”

“Ours was canceled,” and Kindaichi eyes him in a way like he knows that’s not all.

“I wanted to say sorry, too,” says Tobio.

Kindaichi doesn’t glare at him, doesn’t say anything like, because you think you’re better than me?, just stares at his feet in silence.

Eventually their mothers say goodbye and Tobio does as well, so Kindaichi raises his hand, awkwardly. As he and his mother leave the grocery store, she comments that Tobio looks happy.

His cheeks are brimming, like when he’s pulled off then on the court again, like when he and Hinata manage a particularly difficult combo for the first time. He says, “Yeah.”

*

From: ???
I guess I finally have your number…

Tobio rolls over to check his phone. Beside him, on his bed, Hinata is contemplating loudly about their homework. He doesn’t seem to notice that Tobio’s off-course.

To: ???
Who is this?

From: ???
You’d think that after that contact sheet from middle school went around you’d know. It’s Kindaichi Yuutarou.

Tobio nearly falls off his bed. Again, Hinata pays him no mind. He exclaims, “That must be the answer!” and scribbles something down. His academic success rate is 60/40, so Tobio’s not too concerned with copying down his answer.

To: Kindaichi Yuutarou
Oh. Well you didn’t have my number either.
How did you get it?

“Ahh, Kageyama.” Hinata rolls around, lightly smacks Tobio’s backside with the back of his hand. Tobio turns from his phone to glare at him. “Why do we have so much homework?”

“Take a break if you don’t want to do it,” Tobio tells him.

“Help meeeeee.”

Tobio doesn’t respond. Hinata doesn’t bug him for it, because they know that when it comes to them, two heads are worse than one.

From: Kindaichi Yuutarou
Kunimi gave it to me. I hope you don’t mind.

To: Kindaichi Yuutarou
I don’t.

“Hey,” Hinata says, peering over Tobio’s shoulder. “When are we going to have a practice match with Aoba Jousai again? I wanna play against them!” He punches the air.

Tobio touches Hinata with his foot and Hinata slips from the bed, softly, with an, “Oof.” He glares at Tobio from the ground. Tobio rolls his eyes.

“We can find out,” he says.

*

They schedule one two weekends later, this time at Karasuno. The crows thrive in the morning. Tobio walks towards the gym as they fly overhead; they’re silent, like they’re waiting for something to happen.

Inside, Hinata and Yachi are already tugging out the scoreboard. Ennoshita’s dragging Tanaka and Nishinoya to help, while Kinoshita and Narita are taking advantage of this to sneak away. A handful of first years are attempting to take out the net themselves. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima aren’t here yet.

Tobio goes over to help the first years. As he ties the net up, Hinata approaches him.

“You’re such a good person,” he teases.

The volleyball bin is nearby, and Tobio takes one and chucks it at him. It hits Hinata in the stomach, not too hard. Still he says, “I take that back.”

Tobio nods toward the other side of the court. “Help those first years,” he says.

Everything’s all set and ready by the time the Aoba Jousai van arrives. The coaches greet each other outside, and Ennoshita shakes hands with the captain. Tanaka immediately goes over to playfully antagonize Kyoutani.

Tobio nods when he sees Kunimi. Kunimi nods back.

“How’re,” Hinata glances between the two teams. He looks up at Tobio, eyes muddled with concern. Maybe something else.

Tobio says, “I think we’re okay,” and he doesn’t need to go further for Hinata to understand. Hinata says, “Good,” something about his face making Tobio want to bend down. Hinata kisses him, gently.

Nishinoya bursts between them. “Ooh!” he says. “Getting it on the court, eh, Shouyou?”

Hinata exclaims, “Nishinoya-san!” and tackles him. Nishinoya laughs as Hinata tries to figure out if he’s ticklish or not.

Tobio says, “I’m going to go get a drink,” and without turning around, Hinata nods.

At least here he knows where the vending machines are. He walks around to the courtyard, humming to himself. When he gets there, he spots Kindaichi and a few other Aoba Jousai members getting drinks. Tobio freezes.

Kindaichi seems to have noticed, turns. He doesn’t glare when he sees Tobio, so Tobio allows his shoulders to relax.

“Hey Kageyama,” Kindaichi calls, stretching out his hand.

In it is an unopened milk box. The one Tobio usually likes.

Kindaichi says, “Catch.”

He tosses it, and Tobio does. Kindaichi doesn’t look surprised.

Tobio tightens his fingers around his milk box and grins.