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1.
New day, new school, new volleyball team. Not all of those things were that important - there'd already been two new schools before highschool, and practically millions of new days, but there had never been a volleyball team. It made Shoyo vibrate just thinking about it: a whole hall just for volleyball! Their own space, with dedicated members, and real rivalries just waiting to be made.
Of course, Shoyo had his own rivalry already. He was gonna beat that King of the Court even if it killed him (and he sincerely hoped it wouldn't), not that the other team members needed to know that. He only wished he knew which school Kageyama had made it to, just to be able to focus on defeating them in a glorious volleyball battle that everyone would still be talking about for eons to come. “Do you remember that kid from Karasuno?” the old folks meeting each other for tea would reminisce. “He was the pride of our town…wasn't it wonderful how he completely destroyed that high-handed King fellow? And his volleyball skills! Simply superb!”
With those words echoing in his mind, Shoyo bounced up to the door of the court, reaching to slide it open with great enthusiasm, already imagining the bounce of volleyballs against the hard floor.
Except - well - it sounded very real…
“Huh?” said a voice that sounded suspiciously familiar.
“IT'S YOU!” Shoyo screeched, staring at the figure, still frozen in a setting position.
The volleyball, previously floating in midair, flung itself with great gusto onto Kageyama's head. “Ow,” said Kageyama.
You have gotta be kidding me, said Shoyo's internal voice.
“You have gotta be kidding me,” said Shoyo's real voice. “Oh. Did I say that out loud?”
2.
It was a real miracle that they got along as well as they did, in the end. Perhaps it had been Daichi's intervention, insisting he was not going to host the next version of the Hunger Games in his club gym; perhaps it had been a natural mesh of personalities, although Shoyo doubted that very much. Nothing about Kageyama was at all complimentary to anything about Shoyo, except in volleyball.
Shoyo still liked Kageyama though, even if he was mean and grumpy and stupid with flat hair and a permanent scowl. They each had their own friends, naturally, but really all Shoyo wanted to talk about was volleyball, and all Kageyama wanted to do was play volleyball, so they worked together quite nicely, much to the shock of the rest of the team.
Still, there's no way Shoyo was ever telling Kageyama that. He’d probably get mad and refuse to set ever again, just on the principle of the thing.
The grocery store loomed large as Shoyo got closer to it, list in hand and armed bravely with his mother's shopping bag. He tended to get distracted when he went shopping, always getting excited by the athletes on the sports drink bottles or the new grip strength trainers that only came out last month and were still lining the store's shelves. This time, he'd been sent with clear instructions: walk in, walk out, do not get distracted.
Shoyo set his shoulders. He could do this.
The entrance was cold, of course, since it went right into the refrigerated section. Did he need anything from there?
He checked his list. His mom hadn't really told him where to find any of the stuff, so he could be here a while. Did they keep carrots in fridges? What about onions? And what on earth was a papaya?? They did not have those in here, of that he was certain.
Shoyo began to slowly scout the aisles, checking carefully for any signs of what he needed. He could always ask someone who worked here, he supposed, but he felt bad giving them more work to do just because he didn't know where they kept the carrots. Weren’t people born knowing these things? Was he? It seemed like pretty important information for him to just not know it.
After managing to locate the flour and eggs, he started back on his hunt for curry sauce - the kind his little sister could eat without burning her tongue off. Normally his mom would make it but “you always need something just in case the cooking goes wrong, Shoyo” so here he was, trying to understand how much spice was supposed to be represented by a single chilli pepper on the outside of the jar. What does three spices mean? In fact, what does spicy mean? Surely it's something everyone thinks of differently?
“Are you lost or something?” someone asked from behind him, making Shoyo jump practically a mile in the air.
“N-no,” he bluffed, turning around- “KAGEYAMA?!”
“Stop yelling,” Kageyama admonished. “And what are you doing here? You look like a toddler who got forgotten by its mom.”
“I do not!” said Shoyo indignantly. “I'm shopping.”
“Who'd let you shop?” Kageyama asked. “You probably don't even know where the carrots are.”
“Well, who'd let YOU shop?” Shoyo returned. “You definitely don't know where the carrots are.”
Kageyama smugly showed off the orange sticks in his basket. “Joke's on you, idiot, I found them already.”
Shoyo bristled. “So what? They're the only thing you have!”
Kageyama opened his mouth, then closed it again. “I couldn't find the potatoes,” he muttered.
“What was that?” Shoyo teased.
“I said, I COULDN'T-”
“Alright, alright, stop screaming at me! Just show me where the carrots are and then we'll look for potatoes.”
“....Do you need help with the sauce?”
“Huh? O-oh, no, I know exactly what I'm-”
“That one's gonna burn Natsu's face off,” Kageyama observed, watching Shoyo put a random jar in his basket. “Just sayin’.”
“I wasn't shopping for her,” Shoyo lied.
Kageyama rolled his eyes. “Put it back and try the green one. It's literally right next to it, you dumbass, how did you not see it?”
And, as it turned out, the potatoes were right next to the carrots.
3.
It was crazy to be graduated, to be cheered by the rest of the school as you walk the stage and to see all of your kouhai lined up to congratulate you. It was weirder to realise you didn't have any senpai left - and weirder still to remember you had now completed your school life, just like they had already done.
The weirdest thing was knowing you wouldn't be playing volleyball in Karasuno anymore.
“I'll play against you next time,” Shoyo had confidently told Kageyama, plane tickets to Brazil already booked and Kageyama's sister already waving his Adlers acceptance letter in the face of anyone who stood still long enough.
“And you'll lose,” Kageyama had grinned, looking viciously determined like always. Then Shoyo had teased Kageyama for the button he hadn't given away because he would never have a girlfriend, and Kageyama had aggressively scrubbed Shoyo's grown-out hair, and Yamaguchi had yelled for them to come take a picture before they left with their families, and then Shoyo was being driven away with his mom and sister, waving goodbye to Karasuno High School one last time.
Not that he felt particularly sad; he was only going to gain more volleyball teams and more volleyball skills, and he was certain all his friends would be there to cheer him to the top. Except maybe Tsukki who was too sour, and Kageyama who would be the final boss. It was an exciting prospect.
“Let's celebrate this, Shoyo. You deserve it,” his mom said, so Shoyo got changed and prepared himself to eat the biggest meal of his life (or so he hoped), stopping only to hold Natsu still while her hair was brushed, and then off they went again, back to town - to the only restaurant that still welcome big eaters like the Karasuno volleyball team members.
“You're joking,” said Shoyo when he walked through the doors.
“I will never be free,” said Kageyama from his seat at the nearest booth. Well, it sounded more like “Ah wiw ne'a be fee” because his mouth was full of rice, but Shoyo knew what he meant & agreed. It really seemed like there was no getting away from his setter no matter what, and it was getting to be very frustrating.
“Oh, isn’t that your teammate, honey?” Shoyo’s mom said from behind him.
“Yup,” said Shoyo, hoping to walk away as fast as possible and save himself the embarrassment.
“Oh, are you the wonderful spiker we’ve all been so excited about?” asked Kageyama’s sister from the booth - Shoyo had never been told her name.
“This is Miwa,” Kageyama said, like he could read Shoyo’s mind. “And no, he’s not wonderful, he’s just average.”
Miwa laughed. “I wouldn’t call that average! Why don’t you three join us? It seems like the boys still have lots to talk about.”
Kageyama grumbled faintly, but shuffled over on his side of the booth to allow Shoyo and Natsu to squeeze in. Their mom joined Miwa, tactfully not mentioning the absence of both the Kageyama parents, and smiled gently.
“Well,” she said. “Isn’t this nice?”
4.
Brazil had been amazing, of course, and each experience had taught Shoyo so much, and he was more grateful than he could ever express - but nothing was quite the same as being able to walk into a Japanese volleyball court, hearing Japanese over the announcements, see familiar Japanese faces milling around, and (most importantly of all) not have sand, Japanese or otherwise, constantly stuck to his feet. Shoyo’s shoes squeaked just like he remembered them.
Not that this was his first time back in a court, but it was his first time in a game since highschool. Nervous? Yes, of course he was, but mostly he was excited. He had new teammates who were awesome, and new enemies who were also awesome, and a very old rival who just couldn’t (or wouldn’t) get out of Shoyo’s head.
They’d texted a little, when he was in Brazil. Neither had made any effort to visit the other, content to know they’d meet again on the national stage when the time came, and Shoyo had understood that; welcomed it, even, welcomed the trust that Kageyama showed in his abilities. You will get to professional volleyball, every text seemed to scream at him. You will become my equal. We will meet again.
So yes, Shoyo knew he was being cheered for, even by his age-old rival and friend, the man who now would stand on the other side of the net and grin maniacally through it the way he used to grin at their shared opponents. But that didn’t mean he didn’t miss him. He missed the after-practice pork bun tradition they’d carried through all three years, he missed the accidental meetups in the grocery store, he missed the stupid conversations about whether a pineapple was a citrus fruit and whether a tomato was a fruit at all. He’d really, really missed Kageyama. He’d missed his best friend, and he was never ever going to say that out loud.
One thing would never change, though: Shoyo really needed the bathroom.
He started to wander off, following the (slightly vague) signs to the bathroom. The toilets in these places weren’t exactly top quality, but who was he to doubt the good luck routine that had brought him to nationals, even if it had only been for necessity at the time? If he needed to pee, he needed to pee, and no terrible bathroom was going to stop him from-
Shoyo’s train of thought was cut off by him walking into a wall. A warm wall - in fact, quite a squishy wall. He was beginning to doubt whether it was a wall at all when the wall started to speak in Kageyama’s voice.
“I should’ve known I’d find you here,” the wall laughed.
“Huh. You sound like-” Shoyo looked up. “KAGEYAMA?!”
“Who else, dumbass,” Kageyama snorted. He looked at the door Shoyo had been about to go through. “Still got IBS after all these years?”
“It’s for good luck ,” Shoyo sniffed, knowing full well it wasn’t.
“Yeah, right, and your little entourage is just here to cheer you on.”
Confused, Shoyo turned to look behind him: sure enough, there were several old rivals coming towards him, looking determined - if a little overenthusiastic to intimidate him.
“Did you come over to intimidate me too?” he joked.
Kageyama shrugged. “No. You already know I’m gonna win.”
“There’s no way you’re gonna win,” Shoyo huffed. “I’m way better now than I ever was.”
“Prove it, then,” said Kageyama, turning away as Ushijima strode closer. “Out on the court. Show me what you can do.”
5.
It turned out that Shoyo didn't just prove it to Kageyama, he proved it to the talent scouts as well. Not long after he and Kageyama had finally settled their differences on the court (and a little off the court, too, but that wasn't public knowledge yet), he'd gotten the call to join Team Japan.
Kageyama, meanwhile, was naturally a shoe-in for his second go-round, something he was very smug about even right up to choosing their jersey numbers.
"Last time I just took whatever they gave me," he said, allowing Shoyo to fill out his form for him. "Emphasis on last time."
"Yes, yes, you're going to the Olympics again, hurrah," Shoyo sighed, pushing the paper back to his boyfriend to sign. "I'm going too, you know."
"Yeah, but you aren't as good as me." Kageyama looked down at the form to check the numbers. "You sappy idiot."
Shoyo just grinned.
The Japanese Men's Volleyball Team got quarters in one of the better parts of the Olympic Village, cardboard beds not withstanding. With two men to a (fairly spacious) room and the promise of random teammates to ensure zero arguments, Shoyo was looking forward to seeing who he'd be sharing with. He got along with most of the team, and anyone he didn't explicitly get along with was only because he'd hardly had a chance to talk to them. It could be nice to share with someone he barely knew; more friends was good, especially among teammates, and especially if you were used to teammates to liked to argue and kiss about it (*cough* Sakusa & Atsumu *cough*).
Shoyo rolled his suitcase down the hallway, trying not to hit his extra bag against his legs - it was full of shoes, and extremely uncomfortable.
"21B....21B...." he muttered, alternating between checking doors and hauling his suitcase over the lumps in the carpet. "That's 20.....that's 22....it must be on the other side..."
Sure enough, 21B stood proudly on the other side of the hallway, door slightly ajar to prove the first roommate had already entered. Shoyo yanked his suitcase over yet another airbubble in the hallway carpet, turned himself sideways so he could open the door with his shoulder, and gently pushed his way in with a joyful "Excuse me!"
"You're excused," Kageyama said from his perch on one of the beds. He rolled his eyes. "And of course it's you."
"Of course it's you," Shoyo corrected. "You're always following me around like a lost puppy."
Kageyama huffed. "I do not. And anyway, I was here first, so it must be you following me."
"I wouldn't follow you in a million years," Shoyo lied, and dumped his stuff on the other bed before approaching his boyfriend. "Budge up, then."
"Huh? I'm comfortable here, I'm not moving."
"Come on, shuffle over," Shoyo insisted, physically rolling Kageyama over to the wall. "Let me on."
Kageyama sighed and turned so he was facing Shoyo, watching him clamber onto the bed and stretch out. "The wall is cold."
"You'll get over it."
"Is this permanent? Why aren't you on your bed?"
"This is permanent," Shoyo assured him. "This is our bed now."
+ 1
All in all, life had really worked out, Shoyo thought. He was one of the country's top volleyball players. Nearly all his old rivals had turned out to face him in various games. He had probably the richest sponsor in Japan, and Kageyama had admitted Shoyo had improved - to his face, no less. Sure, they were dating. Sure, Shoyo was planning to propose right after he'd finished up his business filming his promos & backstory docs in Miyagi. No, that didn't mean Kageyama was any nicer to him. Each volleyball compliment was still as precious as the last.
The camera crew finished setting up, turning to face Shoyo with slightly intimidating determination on their faces. "You ready?" the boom operator asked.
It's just a promo video, Shoyo reminded himself. He beamed at the red light blinking at him atop the camera. "Yup!"
Not one to be camera shy, he soon got warmed up, talking about his small beginnings in a tiny middle school over the mountains from Karasuno. "They didn't even have a volleyball team," he confided, reminiscing over the ragtag group of athletes he'd dragged together to finally attend a competition in his third year. "Considering that, we were really good!"
The camerawoman chuckled at that; Shoyo showed her a picture of his team once they stopped rolling and started to move towards Karasuno High itself. "You were so small!" she cooed; Shoyo wasn't really sure what to make of that, so he took it as a compliment and started to lead them behind Karasuno to the gym block.
"This was like wonderland when I first came here," he laughed, running his hands over the nostalgic railing as they followed him along the paths. "It was so huge to me! Of course, MSBY has much bigger facilities, but I'll never shake that first impression."
He stopped at a door, hand resting on the sliding handle. "When I first opened this door, I was so excited! And then there was Tobio, standing there like he was supposed to be here. He wasn't."
"Let's hope there's no surprises this time!" someone from the crew joked.
Shoyo crossed his fingers. "Alright, let's see what we- YOU AGAIN?!"
He was frozen in the doorway; no sound came from inside, though the lights were clearly on.
"Open the door fully!" the camerawoman encouraged, lifting her camera to her shoulder.
Shoyo obediently slid the door open the full way, but didn't move from his spot in the centre of the doorframe.
"You're not supposed to be here yet," a familiar voice said from inside; there was a chorus of agreement from whoever else was in the gym.
"Well, I'm here," said Shoyo, and stepped inside. The camera crew followed, slightly confused but extremely curious.
The inside was still very much the highschool volleyball court it always was, complete with volleyballs stuck in the ceiling and huge equipment cupboards either side. The court marks were painted on the floor, but the nets were all absent; instead of the FLY banner that used to hang from the balcony railing, a huge piece of fabric read ARRY E SHOYO. Kageyama stood by the door looking sheepish.
"We haven't finished the banner," another voice called apologetically; Sugawara's head appeared for a moment over the sheet and waved down to Shoyo. "Just don't look until it's done, okay?!" He ducked back down to whisper frantically to whoever else was helping him.
"What are you doing here?!" Shoyo demanded, spinning a little to inspect the rest of the hall. There were streamers, balloons, and a long string of his old teammates trying to pin up a falling balloon arch.
"Why can't I be here?!" Kageyama demanded, trying to block Shoyo's line of sight when he spotted the food table at the back of the gym.
Now, Shoyo was many things, and stupid was very much one of them. But blind he was not, and illiterate he wasn't either, no matter what anyone else said. Really, 'ARRY E SHOYO'? What else could that be except-
"ARE YOU TRYING TO PROPOSE BEFORE ME?!" Shoyo yelled.
"WHAT ARE YOU ON ABOUT?!" Kageyama yelled back, ears violently red.
"I WANTED TO PROPOSE FIRST!"
"WELL TOO BAD, I'M DOING IT!"
"NUH UH!"
"YUH HUH!" Kageyama quickly checked up at the banner, triumph spreading across his features.
Shoyo followed his gaze. Suga had finally finished the banner and was beaming down at them like a benevolent spirit.
It did, in fact, read MARRY ME SHOYO.
By the time Shoyo turned back around, Kageyama was on one knee. "You fu-"
"Another one to me," Kageyama smirked. He fished about in his pocket; after a minute, Nishinoya ran up and presented him with the ring. Shoyo giggled, but didn't comment. Kageyama glared at him anyway. The blush on the tips of his ears still hadn't left.
"You can do it!" someone called from the back. An underclassman, Shoyo thought; Yamaguchi's successor as captain. Kageyama huffed, but opened the ring box anyway.
"Shoyo," he began.
Shoyo immediately felt tears welling up in anticipation; he smacked Kageyama's shoulder. "Stop it, idiot!"
"Stop what?" Kageyama asked, genuinely puzzled for a moment. When he spotted his boyfriend's shiny eyes, he grinned. "I see. I don't think I will."
Shoyo shoved a hand over his own eyes. "Hurry up then!"
Kageyama rolled his eyes. "Shoyo," he tried again. "When I was very young - before you found volleyball, probably - my grandfather told me something. He said someone better would find me."
Shoyo gasped, forgetting his tears for a moment. "You're not about to tell me I'm-"
"I am," Kageyama nodded. "You're my someone better, Shoyo - I was meant to find you. I've been looking for you my whole life. Everything I've done, everything I've been working towards, it would all be pointless if I hadn't been working towards you. Though I guess I didn't know that at the time..."
"Don't get distracted!" Daichi called from the food table.
"Right." Kageyama held the ring box out to Shoyo. "Marry me?"
Shoyo could hear the echoes of Suga's facepalm at Kageyama's bluntness. He sighed. "You're such an idiot, Yama."
"....Is that a no?"
"Of course not! I'll always marry you!" He snatched the ring from his boyfriend - FIANCE!!!! - and shoved it onto his finger. "There! See? You're stuck with me now."
Kageyama stood up properly. "Unfortunately."
Shoyo punched him. "You can have your ring when we back."
"WAS THAT IT?" Noya yelled from where he'd retreated after delivering the ring. "ARE YOU GUYS ENGAGED?"
"YEAH!" Shoyo yelled back.
"HELL YEAH!" screamed Tanaka, rushing forward to (attempt to) envelop them both in a hug. Suga practically catapulted down from his balcony, followed by Asahi who took the stairs one at a time like a normal person. What seemed like hundreds of people - though it was probably only about twenty - pushed them towards the food table; the cake read CONGRATULATIONS, which Daichi cut for them while trying not to cry.
"Took you long enough," Tsukishima commented while being shown the ring.
"Hey," said Yamaguchi. "Where'd the camera crew go?"