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Chapter Text

July— 

Hinata was confused when he opened his eyes. Most of his dreams so far were filled with laughter and joy. His soulmate was always there in some capacity, either in bed (naked), or they were somewhere in the comfort of their home doing something mundane like chores, bickering and teasing each other. 

But this time was different. He was as still as a statue, sitting on a locker room bench and staring at his own hands. The skin on his fingertips and palms were rough and calloused, far more than they were currently. Blue veins pushed up through his skin, snaking around his knuckles toward his wrists. He didn’t seem to be very old, however, he could feel the ache in his bones from years of pushing his body to the limit. 

His future self’s thoughts couldn’t be heard, but Hinata could feel the deep sorrow spreading through his chest like ice. It was different from losing a game; some battles were won, and some were lost. This was an eternal defeat, and his age had won the war.

His eyes were dry, his emotions burying all the tears he wanted to shed. The sounds of his teammates shuffling around him were hushed from his inner turmoil, but Hinata could tell they were happy. It further confirmed that it wasn’t a loss of a game that was eating away at him.

Hinata gasped softly when someone knelt in front of him, someone not wearing their team jersey. Long, graceful hands slipped over his own, cradling them like a baby bird. A small smile crept up Hinata’s lips as he sighed.

“They let you in here?”

“Of course. Soulmates get special privileges you know.”

Hinata pinched his lips tight, his self-control waning as tears began welling up in his eyes. Another set of hands rubbed his shoulders and he closed his eyes, his back shuddering with a sob. It comforted Hinata to know that not only was he supported by his soulmate, but he had supportive teammates as well.

Lips brushed across his eyelids and down the bridge of his nose. He didn’t dare open his eyes and disturb the tender kisses that soothed him like a balm.

“Come on, idiot,” his soulmate chuckled, his breath warm against Hinata’s face. “I’ve been telling you for years that there’s more to life than volleyball. Now you can finally pay more attention to me.”

Hinata laughed out a sob and lunged forward, wrapping his arms around his soulmate’s shoulders. “You’re spoiled enough as it is.”

“I think we all know I’m not the spoiled one, I want special treatment, too,” his soulmate replied coolly, although there was no bite to his words. Hinata wondered why the voice almost seemed familiar yet at the same time not sounding like anyone he knew. He wanted to ask, wanted to see. Any clue he could get to help him figure it out. 

“It’s been a part of me for so long… can I really be myself without volleyball?”

“We don’t bring a volleyball into bed with us… you don’t spike while you’re shoveling an obscene amount of food down your throat. It isn’t because you hold a volleyball in your hands that draws people to you. I swear you’re like a flame and all the rest of us are moths trying to beat each other up to get as close to you as we can. I hate it, it would be easier if people didn’t love you so much.”

His teammate rubbing his shoulders laughed and wrapped his arms around Hinata’s waist, draping himself over Hinata’s back. “Can’t handle the competition?” he taunted his soulmate. Hinata worried that such an embrace would piss his soulmate off. Why didn’t his future self tell him off? But he’s always been open to physical affection, especially with close friends and teammates; it makes sense he would be comfortable with it. What was his soulmate going to do about it though?

To Hinata’s surprise, his soulmate snickered. “Please, I know who Shoyou loves the most.”

“Alright, that’s enough guys,” Hinata laughed, shaking everyone off. “I think… I think I’m ready to go home now.”

“That’s the spirit!” his teammate cheered and roughly ruffled his hair. Hinata smiled and preened from the attention.

“Good, because you really stink. Get in the shower, you sweaty monster.”

“Take that back!” Hinata growled, opening his eyes to glare at his soulmate. It was difficult to see since the soulmate dream was cloudy and his gaze seemed to fall directly onto his soulmate’s lips, curled up in a smirk.

“It’s only the truth. Go on, get cleaned up or I’m not taking you out for a celebration dinner.”

“Ack! Okay, I’m going!” 

Hinata sprang up from the bench and dashed toward the showers, leaving behind articles of clothing like a trail of breadcrumbs. Echoes of laughter chased after him, soothing the ache in his soul. It hurt Hinata to see himself at this point when his greatest love was taken away from him. But hearing the voices behind him, cheerful and teasing, made him realize that volleyball won’t always be his greatest love.

Hinata woke up with a start, blinking quickly in confusion at the strange ceiling above him. It took him a few minutes to register that he was sleeping in a classroom, the sounds of his teammates emerging from their own futons assisting his brain in catching up. He sat up with a groan and rubbed his eyes, not ready to come back to reality.

He was still sixteen, just sixteen since a few weeks ago, and he was no professional volleyball player. With ravenous hunger, he was trying to learn all the skills he could, desperate not to be left behind. Kageyama was working on his own skills with setting, so he needed to focus on his own issues. 

He was thankful that the third gym occupants allowed him to join in on their training. Getting the chance to observe Bokuto up close was just what he needed, and he had three skilled middle blockers to face-off with for practice. Well, two skilled middle blockers since Tsukishima was picking up on Kuroo’s tips quick. Lev still needed work, but his height and speed made him a serious adversary even without the experience he sorely needed.

His dream had been sad; no one wants to think of retirement when they love what they do. But knowing that one day he would make it so far filled him with joy. And he certainly wouldn’t be going through it alone. He’d have his soulmate by his side.

Hinata followed Tsukishima and Yamaguchi to the restrooms, a sappy smile spreading across his face. He’s had several soulmate dreams already, some far in the future and overflowing with domesticity and playful bickering. Two of them, however, Hinata didn’t allow himself to think about for very long, at least not in public. He wouldn’t admit it out loud to anyone, but knowing his soulmate was deliciously tall filled him with quivering anticipation.

“Oof,” he grunted when he ran smack into someone’s back.

“Watch where you’re going,” Tsukishima snapped over his shoulder.

“Then why’d you stop?!”

“Some people were coming out. Pay attention.”

Hinata trembled with fury and wanted to yell back, but Tsukishima didn’t give him a chance as he disappeared inside the bathroom.

“Grrrrr, that guy.”

“You alright, Hinata?” Yamaguchi asked, trying to hide his smile. 

Hinata took a deep breath, already calming down and nodded. “Yeah, I’m alright. He just pisses me off.”

“That’s Tsukki for you. But you seemed distracted before.”

“Oh, um, I was thinking about my soulmate dreams.”

Yamaguchi lit up. “You’ve started having them?! Can you tell me about any of them?”

“They’re great! I really like my soulmate. He’s sweet and caring, and I think he really likes me too!”

“Pfft, I should hope so,” Yamaguchi snickered. “That’s exciting… I can’t wait until I turn sixteen.”

“It’ll come sooner than you think! Besides, we have a lot to worry about before then.”

“Ugh, you’re right about that.”

“Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima’s voice came from the cracked bathroom door, only one of his sharp eyes visible in it.

“Sorry, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi yelped and joined his friend into the bathroom. Hinata rolled his eyes and followed him, wondering who would ever choose to be friends with someone as rude as Tsukishima. 

Unfortunately, playing in the third gym meant he had to spend more time with his least favorite teammate. It wasn’t that he disliked Tsukishima. He admired his skill and game sense, and it seemed that he was starting to find his passion for volleyball. It was more that Tsukishima didn’t seem to like him and never hesitated to promote the idea to Hinata’s face. 

It was their final night of camp and his last chance to learn what special skills he could from Bokuto and Akaashi. Despite being sweaty and exhausted, Hinata was brimming with energy because Bokuto-san had taught him a sweet new move, complete with a kick-ass name. Akaashi, on the other hand, was hanging out by the net and teaching Tsukishima something else. 

Hinata focused on draining the contents of his water bottle, pushing down any feelings of jealousy. He admired Akaashi as a setter, especially working so fluidly with such an impressive wing spiker like Bokuto. It was almost surprising that they weren’t soulmates, but Bokuto was extremely vocal about his and it definitely didn’t sound like Akaashi.

“AkHaaashiiiii! When are we getting back into it?!” Bokuto yelled beside Hinata, tapping his empty water bottle against his leg. Akaashi turned and held up a finger, going right back into his discussion with Tsukishima. Bokuto huffed, but his irritation disappeared when Kuroo started talking to him. 

Hinata’s eyes lingered on the pair still on the court, wondering what they could be talking about. Akaashi was minimal with his gestures, using mainly words to convey his meaning to Tsukishima. If it were him, he’d probably need something more than that, but Tsukishima was nodding and soaking up everything Akaashi had to say.

Damn it… he’s probably going to level up again.

Tsukishima spun the ball in his hands, pulling Hinata’s gaze to it. Another bout of jealousy gripped him that his hands were so much larger, spreading over most of the ball. It allowed him to control it better than Hinata could, but he was determined to practice more. He wouldn’t be beaten out by Tsukishima.

Watching the ball spin in his hands, however, eased Hinata into a calmer state. It was pleasant, the rhythmic movement and blur of colors, only to be stopped by Tsukishima’s nimble fingers. His long, beautiful fingers…

“What are you looking at?” Lev’s voice blasted into Hinata’s ear.

“Jeez! I’m not deaf! Nothing, I was just distracted.”

Lev’s grin widened as he puffed up his chest. “You can’t afford to get distracted! If you do, you’ll never catch up to me. Well, I guess you’ll never catch up to me in height,” he mused, and Hinata didn’t know if he was more or less pissed off that he didn’t even mean it as a jab.

“Damn you, stupid giant! I’m going to kick your ass when we meet on the court, and not even your height will save you!”

“Oh yeah?” Lev taunted, bending over slightly. Hinata smirked and jumped just high enough to wrap his arm around Lev’s neck, yanking him down to the floor. He was able to take Lev by surprise and pinning his arms down, but there was nothing stopping Lev’s stupidly long legs from locking around him and yanking him back to the floor.

“Oy, oy! Cut that out, you two.” Kuroo smacked Lev’s leg to get him to release and helped Hinata to his feet. “Daichi will murder me if I let one of his teammates get hurt.”

“What about me?” Lev cried from the floor. 

“We’d be fine without you. Inuoka would be happy to get his spot back.”

“Besides,” Bokuto interjected, wrapping an arm around Hinata’s shoulders, “you guys shouldn’t be snuggling like that unless you’re soulmates. Wait… you’re not soulmates, are you?”

“Ha! No,” Hinata assured him, grinning smugly at Lev. “My soulmate’s tall but he’s not a dumbass.”

“Heaven forbid,” Tsukishima said as he and Akaashi joined them. “That much dumbass combined would probably destroy the world.”

“Tsukishima, you jerk!”

“No, no, he’s right. Um, in a way!” Kuroo said quickly when Hinata gasped in offense. “Your soulmate isn’t like you; that’s what I mean. It’s usually balanced.”

“Ooooh yeah, that makes sense! Mine’s definitely calm and cool… and so good looking,” Hinata trailed off, his mind whirling with images of a broad chest, long, nimble fingers, and kissable lips. He was startled from his reverie when Tsukishima snickered.

“Good looking, huh? If the relationship’s so balanced, I guess you just dissed yourself.”

“Hey!”

“Nah, it has nothing to do with looks,” Kuroo assured him. “If that was the case, I wouldn’t have ended up with such a prime specimen.”

“Yeah, same here! Although I haven’t met him yet,” Bokuto sighed, hanging his head. “I just know he’s stunning.”

“There, there, it won’t be too long before you meet,” Kuroo said as he patted his back. “Come on, now! We can still practice a bit before bed. Who’s with me?”

Bokuto and Hinata whooped and ran onto the court with Lev struggling to get on his feet. Despite his earlier grumpiness, Hinata glanced over his shoulder and flashed Tsukishima a grin. He received an eye roll in return, but he could see a genuine smile sneaking onto Tsukishima’s lips. Hinata didn’t know why, but that felt like a greater victory than winning a volleyball game.

September—  

Tsukishima sighed as he ran his towel over his neck, mopping up tendrils of sweat. His body was exhausted from the increased training he was going through. His mind was cool and focused on what they needed to do, and his spirit was rising the more he let go of his past.

The Tokyo training camps helped immensely, giving him more skills to help their team fight in the preliminaries. It was daunting, to say the least. Even if they made it past Seijoh this time around, there was still Shiratorizawa as a barrier keeping them from Nationals. Ushijima’s shadow was hovering in his mind like a constant reminder of what he needed to face. He wanted to block one of his spikes, he was hungry for it. But wanting and being able to are two different things.

He turned toward Yamaguchi, hoping for a distraction. His friend, however, seemed distracted himself as his gaze lingered on their new manager, Yachi Hitoka. Tsukishima snickered at his friend’s obvious crush and wondered if there was any hope for him. Yamaguchi’s sixteenth birthday wasn’t until November, so he had a while to wait until he had his own soulmate dreams. Tsukishima’s dreams, however, were lingering on the horizon with only a week to go before his birthday.

“Yamaguchi… Oy, Yamaguchi!” Tsukishima snapped, jabbing his water bottle into the side of his friend’s face. Yamaguchi yelped and whirled around, his face flushing bright red. 

“What is it, Tsukki?”

“You need to get your head in the game.”

“But we’re not playing right now?”

“I mean generally. Besides, you shouldn’t get your hopes up when your soulmate might not be Yachi.”

“What?! I wasn’t hoping— I mean, it would be great! But I wouldn’t dare hope.”

“Pfft, relax. If it’s meant to happen, it’ll happen.”

“You seem pretty chill, considering you’ll start having your dreams soon.”

Tsukishima shrugged as he drank down the rest of his water. “Soulmates are supposed to be your perfect match, right? So, why should I worry? If they’re perfect for me, they should be a considerate person who respects my need for peace and quiet.”

Yamaguchi stared at him a moment and then began to snicker. “Sorry, Tsukki, but I’m not sure it works like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, soulmates aren’t somebody who fits neatly into our lives. They are, however, perfect for us and complete us in a way we don’t even expect.”

“Wow, listen to you, the expert.”

“I’m not, obviously. My mom and I have talked about it a lot. I’ve always liked the idea that there’s someone out there for me… that is, as long as I do have a soulmate. There are people who don’t have one.”

“There’s no sense worrying about it until after your birthday,” Tsukishima said, and he watched Yamaguchi nod glumly. He chuckled and nudged his shoulder against his friend. “Come on, I’m sure you’ll have one. Not having a soulmate is rare.”

Slowly, a smile spread across Yamaguchi’s face. He nodded with more confidence this time and gazed back at Tsukishima. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry, I’ll try not to think about it until my birthday comes around. For now, we’ll just have to focus on yours. I can’t wait to find out who it is.”

“Relax, who figures it out after the very first dream?”

Yamaguchi shrugged. “You might, you’re pretty smart.”

“Nobody can figure it out if they haven’t met the person yet.”

“Hmm, maybe you have, though?”

“Shut up, Yamaguchi.”

Yamaguchi giggled before following with his usual, “Sorry, Tsukki,” and that was the end of the conversation.

So many times, he’s heard people describe their own soulmate dreams. He expected the cloudiness, the inability to read his future self’s thoughts, yet physically feeling the same things. When his subconscious slipped into his first soulmate dream, there was nothing but darkness. His bones were aching, his voice rattling and his limbs resting heavily against a mattress. He coughed, the action stinging his throat and causing him to cough several more times. It was quiet otherwise, silent enough that he could hear a clock ticking on the wall.

He rested for a while, drawing in rattling breaths as he wallowed in misery until he heard a doorknob turning. His eyes finally cracked open, his lids sticky with some gluey substance that he didn’t want to think about for very long, and he was just able to see that he was in a bedroom and the door was opening slowly. 

Before he could see who was shuffling through it, Tsukishima groaned and dropped his head back on the pillow.

“Shouldn’t you be at practice?” he asked, his voice coming out as groggily as a frog’s. 

“Coach let me go early. I’m meeting up with a few others this evening to work on the drills I missed.”

“Wow… the most volleyball obsessed idiot ditched practice to look after me? I’m honored.”

“You look like shit.”

“What do you expect? I’m dying.”

“You’re not dying. Jeez, whoever thought you were the mature one? Sit up, I brought you some soup.”

Tsukishima scrunched up his face at the idea of moving. When his soulmate laughed softly and lightly pinched his nose, he couldn’t hold back a smile.

“Fine. As long as you feed me properly.”

“I never would have believed how much you love being spoiled when we first met.”

“Doesn’t everybody?” Tsukishima groaned as he shuffled upright, tossing his arm out to feel around for his glasses. When he found them, he slipped them on, giving a clearer view of the room. His soulmate was standing next to the bed, fluffing the pillow for him to lay back on.

“Mostly, but you were so rude and snobby. I wouldn’t have thought that secretly you wanted any kind of lovey doviness.”

“Less talk, more feed.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Tsukishima huffed but didn’t argue as his soulmate sat next to him and held out a spoon full of mouth-watering soup. He leaned forward and snatched the spoon in his mouth, closing his eyes and humming as the soup ran down his throat. His soulmate chuckled and quickly fed him some more. 

It was frustrating that his future self kept closing his eyes or focusing only on the spoon in front of him. He wanted to see his soulmate’s face, damn it. In the background, he could make out a bright red T-shirt hugging a muscular frame. The most surprising thing was his soulmate’s size which, despite being athletic to the point of nearly bursting his shirt, seemed extremely small. 

Even though his gaze never moved up to his soulmate’s face, his future self had no issues with ogling the biceps swelling from his soulmate’s sleeves. He had to admit that he craved to wrap his hands around them, curious to know if his long fingers could completely cover them. They were so distracting that Tsukishima missed the spoon entirely and the soup dribbled down his chin.

His soulmate snickered as he picked up a napkin he had brought and proceeded to wipe up Tsukishima’s face. “You alright, Kei? Perhaps it’s the fever making you flush?”

“Asshole, it’s your fault for wearing such a tight shirt. Do you seriously wear that to practice?”

“Yup! It keeps people from underestimating me when I’m on the court.”

“I thought you liked it when they do that, so you can prove them wrong.”

“Yeah, that’s good too. Are you feeling better?” his soulmate asked as he stroked his fingers through Tsukishima’s hair. He sighed and leaned into the touch, closing his eyes once again. It was starting to piss Tsukishima off, feeling like his future self was doing it just to torment him. 

“A little better. The soup tasted good, thank you.” Tsukishima gasped as a pair of lips caressed over his and his eyes flew open, viewing another set of bright brown eyes. “Idiot, you’re going to get sick!”

The brown eyes crinkled in the corners as his soulmate smiled and giggled. “Nonsense, I hardly ever get sick. It’s because I eat more than you do, Stickyshima.”

“Tch. That has nothing to do with it. You’re just a weird… monster… idiot.”

His soulmate’s eyebrows lifted, and he burst out laughing. “I think maybe it’s both things. Come on, settle down. You should rest a while longer.”

Tsukishima felt his chest ache and he reached out to curl his fingers in the front of his soulmate’s shirt. He wanted to shiver when he felt the hard muscle underneath, but his future self seemed used to it, enough to maintain control of himself anyway.

“Are you leaving?”

“I don’t have to. Want me to stay?”

“Yes.” 

His soulmate yelped when Tsukishima grabbed hold of his arms and yanked him down. Before he could get away, Tsukishima wrapped his arms around him and shifted to his side, keeping his soulmate beside him. He wiggled in his grasp, but Tsukishima knew he could fight harder if he wanted to. 

There in the dim light of his future room, Tsukishima chuckled with his soulmate as they got settled, melting against each other in the extremely large bed that they shared. His future self was calming down and getting sleepy again while Tsukishima himself was beginning to feel cold with dread. The entire time he had been searching for clues so that one day he would be able to figure out who his soulmate was. He didn’t expect to have his face buried in a very familiar mop of red hair. 

It couldn’t be…

One dream. He had one… stupid… dream and he already knew who his soulmate was. And he wasn’t a peaceful sort of person that would fit neatly into Tsukishima’s life. Oh no, he was a hurricane. The type of person who would never let him have a moment of peace. 

Yet that didn’t seem to be entirely true. When he dreamed of the future, he was miserable and sick. He felt himself relax and gain a smidgen of energy when Hinata entered the room. Tsukishima gritted his teeth thinking about how happy his future self was to pull him into the bed with him. It was warm, comfortable and… peaceful. Shit.

They were just easing into October. With it came a couple more weekends in Tokyo to train with the other teams, and then preliminaries. There were so many obstacles to face before they had a chance to go to Nationals; Tsukishima couldn’t let himself be distracted by any soulmate business. Besides, he had no clue if Hinata had figured it out yet. 

As much as he tried to focus, not every moment could be filled with training. His eyes naturally strayed to Hinata in those moments, watching him beg for more tosses from whatever setter he could find if Kageyama wasn’t willing. 

Desperate…

How could he ever come to understand such a volleyball-obsessed idiot? He admitted that he was enjoying it a little more. His thirst to improve was taking over his other desires for rest and quiet, but he still couldn’t imagine being like Hinata who lived and breathed volleyball. 

As the weeks ticked by, Tsukishima’s suspicions were confirmed when he had yet to dream again. And the further time moved on from his one soulmate dream, the more Tsukishima became anxious to talk to Hinata. They had never spoken of his soulmate dreams, however, and just mentioning it out of the blue would be suspicious. Should he just blurt it out? Nah, that’s what he would do, which also confirmed that the idiot didn’t know. 

While he was paying closer attention to Hinata, however, he noticed something else; Hinata was watching him too. Probably not consciously, but in moments when he wasn’t bouncing around like a volleyball himself, his eyes seemed to linger on Tsukishima’s hands or occasionally another part of his body. He seemed either mesmerized or he would be concentrating, almost as if he was on the cusp of figuring it out.

It made Tsukishima a little self-conscious to feel Hinata’s gaze on a part of his body. He wondered what was happening in his dreams that would draw his attention like that. The thought made Tsukishima’s face heat up in an uncomfortable way and he forced his mind to focus on anything else. 

“Tsukki? Are you okay?” Yamaguchi whispered, so no one else could hear.

“I’m fine.”

“If you say so…”

Tsukishima sighed and glanced at his friend. Yamaguchi was avoiding his eye but the way he was pressing his lips together, Tsukishima could tell he had more to say. He wasn’t convinced. 

It wasn’t that he wanted to keep it from his best friend. It was more the distaste that would fill his mouth when he uttered the truth out loud. And not only that, he needed to focus. The preliminaries were just days away.

Still, not talking about it was twisting his stomach into knots. 

“Fine, I’m going to tell you something. You have to promise you won’t make a big deal about it, not bother me about it, and absolutely will not discuss this around anyone else. Do I have your word?”

“Yes, of course,” Yamaguchi assured him. He seemed to be excited that Tsukishima was going to reveal something so juicy that he didn’t want him talking about it. It made Tsukishima want to bury himself alive.

He gulped and glanced around the gym. There was no one in the vicinity and everyone seemed busy trying to fit in a few last minutes of training before they cleaned up. His eyes inevitably fell on Hinata, his scary eager face on as he waited for Kageyama to toss him a ball. Pathetic.

“Tsukki? You were going to say something?”

“Yeah, um, I know you’ve been curious about my soulmate dreams.”

“Yes! You’ve had them then?!”

“One. I’ve had one dream.”

“Only one?”

“That was all I needed.”

Yamaguchi gasped and slapped his palms against his mouth. “You know who it is?!”

“Unfortunately.”

Yamaguchi giggled and bounced on his feet. The more excited he got, the more miserable Tsukishima felt.

“So, who is it? You’re killing me, Tsukki!”

“Shhh, people are starting to look.”

“Sorry.”

Tsukishima closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was harder than he ever imagined, saying it out loud. At last, he mumbled a soft, “Hinata.”

“What did you say?”

He opened his eyes and glared at Yamaguchi, but his friend didn’t seem as intimidated as he usually was. He was too eager to hear the name.

“I said… Hinata.”

Yamaguchi’s eyes grew large, his gasp soft and considerably less dramatic than the last one. Tsukishima could hear the gears turning in his head as he put it together. Him and Hinata. Slowly, Yamaguchi’s face turned as a quiet giggle began to bubble in his throat. 

“Hinata… you and— pfft.”

“Shut up, Yamaguchi.”

“I can’t, I just,” he started, but soon he was laughing too hard, holding his stomach as he bent forward. 

Tsukishima sneered down at his friend, contemplating different forms of torture to inflict on him for this kind of insolence. As if having Hinata as his soulmate was bad enough. Around the gym, their teammates had stopped their drills to see what the commotion was, and Tsukishima began to panic. When Hinata even paused to glance their way, Tsukishima karate chopped the back of Yamaguchi’s head.

“Everyone’s staring, you idiot,” he hissed, and finally Yamaguchi straightened up and zipped his mouth shut. He gave their teammates and apologetic smile, waving them off, and gradually they all went back to what they were doing.

“Sorry, Tsukki. It’s just too funny.”

“I’m glad you think my life is hilarious. Prepare yourself for the worst kind of teasing once you start having dreams.”

“There’s no way it’s going to be as funny as this.”

“I’ll do my best to make you miserable.”

“So, I take it you’re not happy with Fate’s decision to pair you with Hinata?”

“Would you?”

“He’s not my perfect match, but if he was, I would be eager to make it work.”

Tsukishima glanced back across the court. Hinata and Kageyama were getting into another bicker session that ended with a scuffle and Kageyama throwing Hinata into the air. He rolled his eyes.

“I can’t imagine this working.”

“No? Was it working in your dream of the future?”

“Hmph.”

Yamaguchi snorted. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“There was something… something comforting about his presence. I guess he has a lot of maturing to do before then.”

“Perhaps he’s not the only one.”

“What was that?”

“Ha, ha, nothing, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi giggled nervously, holding up his hands. “So, are you going to tell him?”

“I don’t know. We need to focus on preliminaries.”

“And you focused right now?”

Tsukishima had meant to sigh, but it came out more like a disgruntled growl. “No. But it might distract him.”

“I don’t think so. If he does start getting distracted, I’m sure one of the others can knock some sense into him, Kageyama, Tanaka, or the captain.”

“Yeah… maybe.”

“Is that the only thing holding you back?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is there any other reason you wouldn’t want to tell him? Is it only about volleyball?”

“I think so… I can’t think of any others except that it would feel like a defeat admitting to the shrimp that he’s the only one for me.”

“Aw, it sounds sweet when you put it like that.”

As Tsukishima’s anger spiked, he channeled it all into a fierce glare that he pinned right on his best friend. It didn’t help his rage at all that Yamaguchi didn’t seem intimidated, simply side-stepping away from Tsukishima with lips pressed tight to hold back his laughter. 

When has that look stopped working on him?

With a start, Tsukishima realized practice was over and everyone was already cleaning up. He joined Yamaguchi in gathering up spare balls as his friend eyed him warily. 

“Relax. It’s not like I’m Kageyama and I’m going to throw you across the gym.”

Yamaguchi snorted and pulled the ball cart toward him. “He only does that with Hinata. I wonder if his soulmate would ever be bothered by such an act of physical violence?”

“I’m pretty sure the shrimp is made of rubber and muscle. He just bounces off the ground.” Tsukishima smirked as Yamaguchi snickered at the description, but it slipped away as his eyes traveled across the gym to Hinata. The pressure to reveal the truth to Hinata has been eating away at him, but it felt like something was holding him back although he wasn’t aware of what it was. 

His mind was in a daze as he picked up random balls and helped Yamaguchi wheel the cart into the storage closet. The more he sorted through his potential reservations for not telling Hinata, the closer he came to the real reason behind it. He knew that it required him to admit something to himself and he wasn’t sure he was prepared to do it.

Oh well, I’ll just tell him after preliminaries. There’s no reason for me to tell him now.

As they gathered their things in the club room, Yamaguchi kept sending glances his way. Tsukishima frowned and shook his head. As impertinent as Yamaguchi could be sometimes, he knew when to back off. Even if he looked disgruntled about it.

Like a noisy whirlwind, Hinata rushed through the clubroom chattering on about the upcoming games. Tsukishima tried to ignore him, but Hinata’s cheerfulness was making him more miserable for some reason. What was he to do? Tell Hinata that they’re soulmates so he can be less distracted but potentially throw Hinata off his game? Or keep silent and let the idiot continue thinking that he had a kind soulmate who looked out for him?

The last thought stung harder than Tsukishima though and he finally realized what was holding him back. It was Hinata’s face, watching that bright blinding smile disappear with horror when he realized that his soulmate was Tsukishima. Such a vision would plague Tsukishima with nightmares, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to handle it. No matter what he told Yamaguchi, no matter what he told himself, he was terrified of Hinata hating him. 

He knew that he’ll need to get over whatever misgivings he had himself and be kinder to Hinata, but it went both ways. He wanted support as well, to be understood. At least in the future, he knew that they would have some semblance of that. Hinata was sweet when he came home early to take care of him while he was sick. And although Tsukishima snapped at him a couple of times, it was still gentler than the way he spoke currently.

“I’m off! See you guys tomorrow!” Hinata chirped and rushed out the door of the club room as goodbyes from their team members followed behind. Tsukishima slammed his locker shut, snatched up his bag, and chased after him. He should have at least shouted a farewell to his teammates, particularly to Yamaguchi, but he would never catch Hinata in time if he did. 

When he reached the bottom of his steps, Hinata was already jogging away with his bicycle beside him, about to hop into the seat.

“Hinata!” he shouted as he charged forward. 

Hinata scooted to a stop and whirled around. “Tsukishima?! What’s wrong?”

“I… uh… wanted to talk,” Tsukishima panted, pausing to cough as he stopped in front of Hinata, “wanted to talk about something. Can we?”

“Sure, um, I’m going this way,” Hinata said, gesturing over his shoulder. He seemed confused by Tsukishima’s request, but at least he didn’t seem opposed.

“I only go down this way for a bit, but I don’t mind traveling further.”

“Seriously? You hate doing more than you have to.”

“Just walk,” Tsukishima huffed, shoving his hands in his pockets and marching past him. 

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Hinata asked as he caught up, keeping his bike between them. Tsukishima pursed his lips, wondering how to begin. He already regretted the impulse to chase after Hinata, but he was already in it now. 

If I don’t look at him when I tell him, then I won’t have to see his expression change.

“Just about whatever,” Tsukishima said as he nonchalantly scratched the back of his head. He focused on his breathing and kept his gaze forward, but he could feel the burn of Hinata’s eyes on his face. “You, uh, turned sixteen a while ago, right?”

“Yup! In June. Is this about soulmate dreams? Did you have one? Do you want some advice?”

“I don’t need advice from you, shrimp.”

“It’s okay if you just want to talk about them. I know Yamaguchi hasn’t had his yet, so it must be hard.”

Tsukishima chanced a quick look down at Hinata. Instantly his chest clenched at seeing his bright understanding smile. There was no reason for him to treat Tsukishima so well; he didn’t deserve it. Especially when he was about to destroy all his hopes about the soulmate of his dreams.

He tore his eyes away from Hinata’s face, focusing instead on the upcoming street that he usually turns down. It was right there, his escape route from doing something ridiculously stupid. His heart was pounding as they neared it, his muscles twitching to make a run for it when he felt a gentle touch on his arm.

“Tsukki? Are you okay? You can talk to me about anything.”

He couldn’t bear to look at Hinata, to see his concerned face. As they began passing by the next street, however, he kept moving forward. He knew he needed to get it off his chest before it killed him. Save himself while delivering terrible news to Hinata; yeah, he was selfish like that.

“I’m fine and I did have one. A soulmate dream.”

“You did? That’s great! Was it nice?”

Tsukishima wrinkled his nose as he remembered the details. “I was sick in the dream, so it felt like shit.”

“Oh,” Hinata replied, but Tsukishima could hear the tremble in his voice like he was trying to hold back a laugh. “Your soulmate was there at least?”

“He was, he took care of me.”

“Aw, that’s sweet. In the future, you let him take care of you, right?”

“Yeah, after some chastising remarks of course.”

“I don’t know what that means, but it sounds like you,” Hinata snickered. There was something affectionate in his voice, and it did weird things to Tsukishima’s heart. He’s been borderline cruel to Hinata at points and yet it didn’t seem like he was hated for it. It sounded like Hinata knew him well, as a close friend would, and was fond of him regardless.

“You think you know me that well?” Tsukishima asked, his curiosity trumping his cowardice.

“Hmm, there’s still a lot I don’t know about you. You’re not the most open person. I’m sure there are things even Yamaguchi doesn’t know about you, but that’s okay. I can only tell from things I’ve observed.”

Tsukishima snorted, feeling a bit more comfortable with the conversation than before. “Wow? And how far have your intelligent observations taken you?”

Hinata laughed softly. “I don’t know, I have the feeling I’ve only scratched the surface. I know that you’re extremely protective over people you care about.”

“What? I am not.”

“You get a funny scowly face whenever you overhear someone talking shit about Yamaguchi.”

Tsukishima opened his mouth to protest, but he closed it without saying anything. Did he do that? He admitted it was irritating whenever someone underestimated his friend, but he hardly ever let his emotions show on his face like that.

“Okay, well, it’s not like I’m the only one. You guys get defensive of him as well.”

“True… and then there’s how much you actually care about volleyball. It’s different from how I do, your past was obviously different from mine. But I know that look on your face when you’re really getting into it. And above all, no matter what you say, I know that you want to stop one of Ushijima’s spikes.”

“I… what?! That’s impossible, I told you.”

“That’s not what you said. You said you may be able to stop one or two and then you got that hungry look in your eyes. You’re craving to stop him.”

Tsukishima clenched his teeth. He hated this, why did he think this was a good idea? The worst part was that he couldn’t deny it. Ushijima was practically a god in the volleyball world, at least in their age group. And if there’s one thing Tsukishima loves to do, it was knocking people off their pedestal. 

“What if I am? I’m a middle blocker, and so are you, I might add. If your blocks weren’t so pathetic, you would probably be thinking about it as well instead of just spiking like an idiot.”

“Spiking isn’t for idiots. Look at Tanaka-san!”

“You’ve hardly proven my point.”

“Tsukki!”

Tsukishima laughed, unable to stop himself. He didn’t want to admit it, but sometimes talking to Hinata was fun. Especially when he could talk circles around him and get him riled up. 

He glanced back over his shoulder to find the street he needed to go home was fading out of sight. It wasn’t even hard to turn away from it and keep moving forward, his lips remaining fixed in a content smile. He frowned, however, when he noticed that Hinata was quiet and glanced beside him. Hinata was staring at him, his bright eyes large with wonder.

“What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Sorry, it’s just… you were laughing and smiling. It was kind of nice for a change,” Hinata mumbled, turning his face away to hide his expression. As they passed under another streetlamp, Tsukishima could see a hint of a blush spreading across his cheek. 

“What’s your soulmate like?” Tsukishima asked before he could stop himself. He saw Hinata flinch from the question, but he relaxed as he stared up at the inky blue sky above them. The moon was only at half-capacity, but its light was still able to reach them and conquered over the garish yellow of the streetlamp. Tsukishima’s stomach gripped at the sight of Hinata smiling at the sky with the pure light of the moon caressing his face. There were moments he could be beautiful, almost ethereal like a sprite from a mythical world.

“I don’t know, he’s not as bwaahhh as I am.”

Figures he’d answer like that.

“Bwah? Care to speak Japanese?”

“It’s like what Kuroo-san said about balance. He’s calm and cool, yet still comforting and loyal. His hands always have a way of finding me, touching me gently… he has the most beautiful fingers,” Hinata sighed, his lips darting out to lick his lips. A haziness had taken over his eyes and Tsukishima could almost see the lewd memories flooding Hinata’s mind that haven't even happened yet. Meanwhile, it felt like Hinata had set Tsukishima’s skin on fire. 

“That’s, um, nice,” Tsukishima said, clearing his throat when his voice came out like a frog’s. “Would you be disappointed if he ended up not being what you thought?”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe he’s not kind, or gentle.”

“But… he is? Over and over he was sweet to me.”

“That’s in the future!” Tsukishima snapped, his voice echoing coldly down the empty street. “I’m talking about when you meet him, and it ends up that he’s not sweet. Maybe he’s a total asshole and you actually hate him. What would you do?”

“Tsukki?”

“Would it crush your soul? Knowing that Fate paired you up with a total dick?”

“Tsukki!” Hinata cried, grabbing hold of his arm and turning him sharply. 

Tsukishima gasped and tried looking away. He hadn’t meant to spew his words out and he wasn’t ready to see Hinata’s face. It was only a glimpse before he managed to look back the way they came; it was an expression filled with concern and the process of understanding something. He was figuring it out.

“Sorry, I don’t know what I’m saying. See you,” he said quickly and wrenched his arm out of Hinata’s grip. And then he ran. He clenched his hands over his bag strap and moved his legs faster than they were meant to go. If he could just make it to that street, he would be safe. And he’d never mention any of this again, soulmates be damned. He’ll just crawl in a hole and die, Hinata will be fine without him.

Arms grabbed hold of his waist suddenly and he yelped as he almost fell. The grip holding onto him was strong, however, and it helped keep him on his feet. It also held him firmly in place.

“Where are you going?!” Hinata cried. “Did you actually think you could outrun me?”

“Why did you chase me?!”

“Because you’re an idiot!”

“I’m not an idiot, you are!”

“Only an idiot would say such a lame comeback!”

“Oh, and you come up with plenty of clever ones.”

“Better than that, Stupidshima!”

Despite his horror at being caught, the air burning in his lungs, and the monster holding onto him with a vice-like grip, Tsukishima laughed. It poured out of him like water from a broken dam. He buried his face in his palms as his stress transformed into exasperated laughter.

The manic laughter, at last, faltered when a delicate touch stroked down his hands. Gently they were pulled away from his face and cradled in Hinata’s hold. There was no way to escape Hinata’s eyes then, his expression that wasn’t in any way horrified.

Hinata’s smile was soft and understanding. Slowly, his gaze drifted down from Tsukishima’s face, traveling over his shoulders and chest and finally landing on his hands. His smile widened as he began stroking over Tsukishima’s palms and fingers.

“I knew I’d seen these hands somewhere before… I kept staring at them, unable to put my finger on it.”

“That’s because you’re an idiot,” Tsukishima murmured, though the jab was filled with affection. Hinata heard it and huffed out a laugh. He lifted Tsukishima’s fingers and pressed his lips to them, and Tsukishima wondered if idiocy was contagious because he was certain he didn’t have a cognitive brain cell left after that.

“Did you think that I would hate you, Tsukki?” Hinata asked, squeezing his hand as he gazed back at him.

Tsukishima pressed his lips tight. There was no lying to a face like that.

“Yeah… I did.”

“I don’t hate you. I’ve never hated you. You piss me off sometimes but that’s just your personality. Do… do you hate me?”

“No,” he whispered quickly, squeezing Hinata’s hand back. “I’ve never hated you.”

The moonlight didn’t have shit on Hinata’s smile. It was blinding, beaming up at him with the force of a machine gun pelting little colorful hearts, with the softness of being shoved into a cotton candy machine. It was beyond Tsukishima’s wildest dreams; there was no way he could have imagined Hinata would be so happy knowing that he was his soulmate. 

“You’re my person, Tsukki,” Hinata giggled. “We’re going to have so much fun together!”

“Yeah, I guess we will,” Tsukishima snickered.

“I can’t wait to kiss you. Oh! But we don’t have to do it until you’re comfortable. I’ll wait as long as I need to, although I’m really looking forward to—”

Tsukishima shushed him, pressing his fingers against Hinata’s lips. Immediately, Hinata stilled, his eyes wide over Tsukishima’s hand. 

If I knew it was so easy to quiet him, I should have done this long ago, Tsukishima thought with a smirk. His fingers slid off Hinata’s lips and stroked along his cheek. He remained obediently quiet and still as Tsukishima tilted his chin up with his thumb and leaned closer. 

It was just a soft kiss. He wasn’t ready for anything bigger than that; there was plenty of time to get to that. For now, this was what he wanted and Hinata seemed satisfied as well, humming as he pressed a little further into it. It may have been perfect, but it still made it hard pulling back.

“Um, you should get going. It’s late,” Tsukishima said, looking away as soon as their lips parted.

“Huh? Oh, I guess so.”

“Can you— Can you text me when you get in?”

He couldn’t see Hinata’s expression, but he could tell it was annoyingly bright.

“Sure! I’ll see you tomorrow, Tsukki!” Hinata cheered, giving him a quick hug around the waist and then he was off in a blur. Tsukishima turned to watch him run back to his bike, which he had apparently thrown down when he chased after him. Once he reached it and pulled it up, Hinata gave him a wild wave and then hopped aboard. Tsukishima chuckled as he disappeared quicker than he should have, knowing his energy levels were probably beyond capacity.

He stood there for a few minutes, alone on the quiet street and watching the place Hinata had been. Finally, he turned away and walked back to the street that would lead him to his house, his hands shoved into his pockets. As he turned on it, his gaze lifted from the pavement to the sky, viewing the glorious spread of stars that couldn’t compete with the moon in terms of giving off light. Tsukishima smiled, thinking that he had no right to feel so happy, doing nothing to deserve it.

October—

Hinata vibrated in his seat, ready to skyrocket out of it with the sheer joy he was feeling. He was certain that the only thing keeping his butt in the chair was how starving he was after playing so many sets against Shiratorizawa. Filling his stomach was his primary focus for the moment, otherwise, he’d pass out and he didn’t want to go to sleep just yet. He wanted to keep feeling this way for as long as possible.

“Slow down, shrimp. You’re making me sick,” Tsukishima’s voice whispered in his ear. 

Hinata swallowed and grinned up at him. “And you haven’t eaten enough! We just played a huge game and you played harder than you ever have. You need more.”

“I’ve eaten plenty. Unlike some people, my stomach isn’t a black hole.”

Hinata stuck his tongue out at him. As Tsukishima narrowed his eyes at it, a smirk slid on his lips and for a moment it looked like he was going to do something to it. Hinata quickly brought his tongue back in and leaned away, but Tsukishima’s arm slipped around his waist to keep him from moving any further.

“What’s wrong? Am I making you nervous?”

“What? No! You don’t make me nervous,” Hinata laughed as a bead of sweat slipped down his face. 

“Sure about that?” Tsukishima purred, flicking his tongue over his smirking lips. Hinata’s mouth fell slack at the action and Tsukishima could no longer hold back his snickering. 

“Tsukki, leave him alone.”

“Stay out of this, Yamaguchi. He’s my soulmate and I can do what I want with him.”

“That doesn’t mean you can torture him.”

Tsukishima turned his face to glare at his friend across the table, giving Hinata a little reprieve. 

“Torture? Please, he’s enjoying this.”

“Tsukishima,” Daichi called, his voice stern enough to make Tsukishima flinch. “You can tease Hinata like that in private, the rest of us are trying to eat. Besides, you shouldn’t push him too far with that shit. You should treasure your soulmate.”

“Oh, um, yes, Daichi-san,” Tsukishima mumbled and went back to picking at his food. It wasn’t often he was reprimanded by Daichi. 

“Relax, Tsukishima, he’s just sensitive because he has to deal with it himself, and he can’t cope.”

“Suga—”

“Don’t Suga me, I’m pissed off beyond belief at you right now!” Sugawara snapped and proceeded to attack the food on his plate. Daichi winced and turned back to Hinata and Tsukishima. 

“Sorry, it’s just me he’s angry at, he’s going to be okay.”

“Ha! That’s hilarious, how can I be okay?! Ugh, I was so close!”

“You know who he is now, it’ll be easy to reunite you two.”

“Shut up, I will not listen to rationality right now.”

“Fine, just stop scaring everyone.”

“Hmph.”

Hinata shifted in his seat to face the other half of the table, the ones still excited about their win. He glanced up at Tsukishima who was attempting to eat just a little bit more, and Hinata pinched his lips shut before he said anything. It filled him with pride that he could have any sort of influence over someone as strong-minded as Tsukishima. It filled him with pride just knowing that he had such a soulmate period.

“What are you smiling about? You look creepy.”

“I was just thinking about how amazing that block was, the one you did against Ushijima. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

He peeked up from his food to see a slight blush spreading across Tsukishima’s pale cheek. 

“It was alright. I wouldn’t have been satisfied if I couldn’t block him at all.”

“And all those one-touches, too! If it wasn’t for you, Tsukki, we wouldn’t have won!”

“That’s not—”

“He’s right!” Tanaka shouted, pointing a finger in Tsukishima’s face. “You really came through for us Tsukishima!”

Hinata giggled as everyone at the table joined in, cheering Tsukishima on and complimenting his skills during the game and watching Tsukishima’s face contort with horror. Daichi didn’t have to worry about their relationship; he had his own ways of teasing his cool soulmate. He laughed even harder when Tsukishima zipped his jacket up all the way and tried to bury his face in the collar like a turtle. 

It was only then that he shouted about Kageyama’s skills as the setter, and all the focus of the table shifted away from Tsukishima. Hinata shared a knowing smile with Yamaguchi and went back to his food, determined to consume every morsel on it. He left Tsukishima to himself, knowing he was stewing inside his Karasuno jacket. 

He’ll come out eventually.

As he suspected, Tsukishima did eventually emerge from his jacket, but it was only when everyone was getting up from the table to make the trip back home. In fact, Tsukishima didn’t say anything else for the rest of the night, even when it was just the two of them walking home with Hinata’s bicycle rolling between them. Hinata wasn’t worried; he knew Tsukishima wasn’t angry and his mind was still consumed with the game.

They walked with each other for a while until they came to the place where their paths parted. Tsukishima paused and glared at him, but there was no heat behind it. Hinata giggled and lifted himself on his toes, puckering his lips. Tsukishima arched an eyebrow, showing no intent to give Hinata what he wanted. 

Luckily, Hinata was patient. With a huff, Tsukishima bent forward and kissed him gently. When he pulled back, he smirked and flicked his fingers against Hinata’s forehead before walking away.

Hinata felt like he was flying as he biked home. His muscles were screaming at him for all the physical exertion they’d gone through. His spirit kept him going, the high from their win fueling his energy and all his sappy feelings about getting a kiss from Tsukishima. It shouldn’t be possible to feel so happy, Hinata wondered if he would explode from it.

Of course, the second his head hit his pillow that night, he passed out completely. His body sank heavy into the mattress, his limbs stretched out across it as he began to snore. His little sister Natsu snorted when she glanced at him right before sneaking into her own bed. Their mother beamed at them both as she shut the lights off and shut the door.

Hinata was humming as he opened his eyes, his wrist flicking as he cracked open an egg. Streams of sunlight flooded through the window, giving the kitchen a warm, dreamy appearance. He took a deep breath, the aroma of coffee filling his senses.

Hinata doesn’t drink coffee… at least, not yet. Ha, what a weird dream, Hinata thought, but dread began to coil its fingers around his stomach as he realized that it wasn’t just any kind of dream. His vision was cloudy, and he could feel everything in the dream but couldn’t hear any thoughts except his own. 

What the hell was happening? He shouldn’t be having any more soulmate dreams, he figured out already that it was Tsukki! Was he broken?!

His thoughts whirled into chaos while his future self was as relaxed as he could be, scrambling some eggs in a pan. He reached down and scratched an itch on his leg, and Hinata realized that he wasn’t wearing any pants and his shirt was so large it was hanging off his shoulder. As he reached up into a cabinet to grab some spices, the draft across his bottom let him know that he wasn’t wearing any underwear either. 

Hinata wanted to bury his face in shame, close his eyes and block it all out. But Fate wanted him to see this for some reason, to tell him something. There must be something in the dream that he was missing in the others. 

There was a loud yawn somewhere behind him, but Hinata didn’t turn around. Instead, he smiled and hummed louder, giving his hips a playful shimmy to the beat of the song. Right on cue, a pair of large hands stretched over his waist and pulled him back, pressing their bodies together. The bulge in the man’s pants was unmistakable, fitting perfectly between Hinata’s butt cheeks. 

Hinata wanted to scream, but his older self giggled as he leaned his whole body against the man. He was exceptionally tall and from what Hinata could feel, packed hard with muscle. The man groaned as he dipped forward, pressing a line of kisses from Hinata’s bare shoulder into the crook of his neck.

“Sho… you damn brat. You know how I feel when you wear my clothes.”

“I do. Why do you think I stole it?”

The man growled and spread his mouth over Hinata’s throat, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut and gasp. The man had good self-control, however, and grazed his teeth over his sensitive skin, instead of giving him a good suck. His older self whined with need as he stretched his hand back to slip through the man’s hair, but Hinata wasn’t feeling any of the pleasure.

This man wasn’t Tsukki. There was something familiar about his hands, but he couldn’t place it just yet. But he was stronger and rougher than Tsukki, his voice deeper, and his body thicker. If Hinata didn’t already have a soulmate, he would have thought he was hot, but he couldn’t think like that right now. He was a cheater, fooling around in their future kitchen with some other guy and moaning like a total—

“Are you two for real?” a cool voice came from the doorway. Hinata and the man both glanced over to see an adult Tsukishima Kei standing there in an old T-shirt and pajama pants, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Hinata’s heart broke at the sight of him. How could he do this to him, the person he treasured most? All thoughts flew out of his brain though when a smirk curled on Tsukishima’s lips.

“Rise and shine, Kei,” the strange man laughed behind Hinata as he rested his chin on top of Hinata’s head.

Tsukishima raised his eyebrows as his gaze fell to the man’s crotch. “Something’s rising alright.”

“Boo!”

“Lame!” 

Tsukishima laughed at the heckling and sauntered closer to them. “Just let me get a cup of coffee. It’s too early for this shit.”

“You don’t want to join us?” The man suggested, his fingers already slipping under the hem of Hinata’s shirt to graze across his sensitive skin.

“Ugh, no thank you. Unlike you two horny monsters, I have some self-control.”

“You want us to move to the bedroom?”

“No, it’s fine. I love a bit of real-life pornography with my coffee.”

The man’s chuckles were deep, reverberating into Hinata’s back. As he watched Tsukishima fill his mug and wander over to the kitchen table, Hinata felt himself calming down. He wasn’t cheating on him; they were all together. But why? 

Hinata gasped as a wet finger slipped between his cheeks and prodded at his entrance, slipping inside without hardly any give at all.

“Fuck, Sho, are you still loose from last night? God, I love Saturdays where you don’t have a game.”

“Hmph, I don’t! I prefer playing volleyball.”

From behind them, Hinata could hear Tsukishima click his tongue and a newspaper flutter open. The man holding him snickered and swirled his finger around inside him, causing Hinata’s body to go rigid. A tongue licked up Hinata’s ear, and the man’s other hand was beginning to slip up Hinata’s stomach, his calloused fingers dragging against skin.

“I’ll make you take that back. Volleyball can’t make you cum like I can.”

Hinata laughed between his heavy breaths, his hand clawing at the man’s forearm. “Prove it.”

The finger pumped in and out and Hinata had to brace himself on the counter to keep straight.

“Challenge accepted.”

“At least turn off the stove before you really get into it,” Tsukishima called. “I can smell those eggs burning from here.”

Hinata’s arms shot out, his trembling hands fiddling with the stove dial. Once it was off, he was yanked further away from it and shoved forward onto the countertop. His feet dangled against the cabinets, no longer able to touch the floor. He stopped struggling when two firm hands grabbed onto his ass and spread his cheeks further. Hot breath ghosted over his hole, giving him an ounce of warning before a tongue slid inside. 

Hinata cried out as the wet heat swirled around, teasing him open. It was both embarrassing and excruciatingly hot, feeling the man eating away at him like he was some treat. Hinata wished he could get away, end the dream as soon as he could, but he didn’t get his wish. His older self seemed eager to feel it longer, even spreading his legs as best as he could.

His mind grew hazy with lust, both the younger and the older Hinata losing themselves to the pleasure of being worked open. There was no way of telling how much time had passed as more fingers slipped into him, and the thought of Tsukishima watching the whole thing from the kitchen table was a distant memory. It wasn’t until there was no tongue and no fingers filling him that shocked Hinata back into reality.

He whined pathetically and was answered with a chuckle. 

“Ready for me, baby?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Good, because I’m starving.”

With a growl, the man tore Hinata’s shirt off and turned him around. He had a feeling the man wasn’t wearing a shirt but to be faced with the spread of his broad chest and hard muscles trailing into his lounge pants was like a slap in the face. His future self seemed to have the same idea as he moaned and dragged his hands down the man’s stomach. Hinata was thankful for it, he hated to admit how much he wanted to feel them for himself.

Except his hands didn’t stop moving. By the time his hands reached below the man’s belly button, Hinata began stroking his fingers through the patch of black hair trailing down into the man’s tented pants. As he dipped his hands into the man’s waistband to pull it back, his eyes traveled back up, glancing at the sheen of sweat collecting on the man’s chest. Hinata smirked as he unleashed the man’s erection and leaned forward, grazing his teeth against the man’s ample pec.

The world blurred as he was picked up and slammed back down on the kitchen table, rattling all the contents that had been sitting on it.

“Hey! You almost spilled my coffee,” Tsukishima snapped, snatching his mug up and holding it protectively toward his lips. Hinata stared at him for a moment, noting the blush settled on his cheeks and his eyes darkened far past their normal golden hue. Tsukishima’s eyes raised to meet his and the asshole had the gall to smirk back at him.

“Enjoy the show, Kei,” the man said with a chuckle as Hinata’s knees were pushed up against his chest. “It’s going to be a wild one.”

“If you get cum on my breakfast, you’ll both be punished for it.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of every last drop.”

Hinata’s back arched off the table as heat pushed inside him. His breaths came quick and heavy as he adjusted to the stretch. The man took his time, entering bit by bit until he was fully sheathed inside him. He gently spread Hinata’s knees apart and hovered over him, kissing up Hinata’s neck until their lips finally met. 

It was quickly apparent that he was in no mood for anything chaste. Their lips opened wide and their tongues pressed together. It was messy and lewd, almost as sexy as the friction burning inside him as the man began thrusting. Hinata whispered several dirty words between gasps, his hands slipping into the man’s soft hair. He groaned when Hinata gripped into it, finally pulling their lips apart.

Hinata fluttered his eyes open but still couldn’t see the man’s face. Just a mess of black hair between his fingertips.

“I wish you wouldn’t gel up your hair. It’s perfect like this.”

The man huffed out a laugh, the warm breath tickling across Hinata’s chest. “It would look a mess if I didn’t.”

“No, I like it better like this.”

“What would he do with all his stocked-up hair gel if he stopped using it?” Tsukishima asked, watching them intently as he sipped on his coffee. “I guess he could donate it. It’s not as if we don’t know a lot of idiots who would die if they couldn’t get their hands on some hair gel.”

Hinata laughed and then yelped as the man thrust hard into him.

“What’s with all the conversation? Am I not distracting you enough, Sho?”

“That’s right, ride him hard, Yuu,” Tsukishima chuckled.

“Brace yourself, Kei. You’re next.”

“I’m what?”

But the man didn’t answer. His hands flattened against the table on either side of Hinata’s face and that was the end of Hinata’s cognitive functions. The grueling pace of the man’s thrusts made his senses go haywire and all Hinata could do was reach back and grip onto the table to keep himself in place. 

More than any of his other dreams that involved sex, Hinata couldn’t remember feeling so exhilarated. Not that the other times weren’t good, but there was something about having sex with one person with Tsukishima watching. It was fucking hot. 

But he hardly had any time to experience it before his vision was going white. Hinata wanted to scream again, but this time he wanted to stay. He wasn’t ready to wake up and face the harsh reality of his present time.

Hinata’s eyes flew open. It was still dark in his room and as he slowly sat up, he could feel sweat clinging to his body and his sheets wrapped around his leg. There wasn’t much light, just a slight illumination from a night light in the plug across the room. It was just enough to see the obvious erection in his shorts as Hinata’s gaze fell to it.

There were so many feelings flooding him that he almost felt numb. He couldn’t understand what was happening, why he would have another soulmate. He was fine with Tsukishima, why would there be someone else?

They were happy though, all three of them. Whoever their third soulmate was, he told Tsukishima that he was next. They all were together, and they made love to each other; that was good news, right?

Hinata groaned and plopped back onto the mattress. He was already calming down from the dream and instead was consumed with dread for the next day when he had to face Tsukishima. How on earth was he going to explain this?

Chapter Text

June—

It was a beautiful day, the sun shining brightly past puffy white clouds, but Kindaichi hardly noticed. He picked at his lunch as he stared off into space, his mind whirling with questions. His sixteenth birthday was a couple of weeks ago and already he’s had several soulmate dreams. Unfortunately, they’ve created more confusion than giving him accurate clues to who his soulmate is.

“What’s up with you?” Kunimi asked, startling Kindaichi from his daydream. He gulped as he turned to his friend, unsure of how to respond. Kunimi’s birthday wasn’t until March and he had no idea what the soulmate dreams were like. He was his best friend though…

“Um, it’s about my soulmate dreams. They’re kind of weird.”

“Weird how? Don’t tell me you get into some freaky stuff later,” Kunimi said, arching an eyebrow though his lips curled into a teasing smirk.

“What? No! I mean, they are sexual,” Kindaichi mumbled, staring furiously into his bento.

Kunimi snorted. “That happens a lot when people become adults and get together with their soulmate, though not every time if they’re not into it. So, what’s weird about it?”

Kindaichi licked his lips. “In my first one, we were, um, together.”

“Spare me the details.”

“I will! So, my eyes were shut, and I couldn’t get a good look at him, but I could feel him. He’s tall, tall as me, I think… His body was long and slender.”

Kindaichi’s gaze wandered into the grass, quickly losing himself in the reverie.

It was embarrassing for this to be his first dream. His lips traveled across a broad shoulder and into the dip of his soulmate’s neck, grazing his teeth over it. He smirked at the sound of a gasp enveloped between heavy pants and then a filthy moan.

“Like that, baby?” he asked, rolling his hips up to shove his dick further into his soulmate’s ass as he bounced on Kindaichi’s lap. His back arched away from him, but Kindaichi’s hands pressed firmly against his chest to bring him back. “Sounds like that’s a yes.”

“Sshhhut up,” his soulmate snapped. “Are you going to get moving or are you going to tease me all day?”

Kindaichi hummed instead of giving a proper response and proceeded to rub his hands across his soulmate’s chest and down his lean, muscled stomach. Sixteen-year-old Kindaichi wanted to scream at his older self’s lewdness, and yet he wanted to marvel at his confidence. Where the hell did it come from?

His soulmate seemed to be reacting well to his touches, pressing his body against his palms and whining desperately. Occasionally, he would gasp and moan obscenely loud when Kindaichi didn’t seem to be doing anything in particular. His eyes were shut, so perhaps his soulmate was busy touching himself at the same time. Regardless, his older self didn’t seem to mind one bit. 

His tongue slipped out, spreading over the top of his soulmate’s spine and tasting the saltiness of his hot skin. He dragged his tongue all the way up the back of his neck and slipped his hands down his soulmate’s sides until they landed at his hips. His fingers gripped tighter and Kindaichi began thrusting up at a rough pace. 

Kindaichi had always been a little shy about watching porn but he had to admit he watched it on occasion. Honestly, who didn’t when they needed a good release? Nothing he’s ever seen compared to this, even with the cloudy film over his vision. He could see everything his future self did, although his eyes were squeezed shut most of the time. He could feel everything as well and he knew that back in the real world he was probably sporting the hardest boner he’s ever had. 

His soulmate’s voice was getting higher-pitched, quickly losing control as his muscles tightened up. Kindaichi was craving release as well, feeling every quick drag of the encapsulating heat over his dick. It was humiliating to admit it, even to himself, but it was the best thing he’s ever felt in his life. He was really living the dream… well, his future self will. 

As soon as he thought it, everything began to fade white. A harsh reminder that when he woke up, he would be alone with his bed with nothing but his own hand to relieve him. 

“Cut it out!” Kunimi snapped, slapping the back of Kindaichi’s head.

“Ouch, what?!”

“Your face is flushed. Stop dreaming of sex, you pervert.”

“I wasn’t— okay, sorry. Did you say something?”

“Yes! What was so weird about it?”

“Oh, it wasn’t that dream, in particular, that was weird, but I had a good feeling of what my soulmate… felt like.”

“Ew. Go on.”

“But then I had another dream.”

“That’s standard.”

“He didn’t feel the same.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was another, um, sexual dream, but this time I kept my eyes open most of the time and he was… small.”

“What, like his dick?”

“No, well, it was smaller. Actually, I was impressed by the size considering the ratio—”

“Ahhh I don’t need to know that.”

“You asked specifically about his dick!” Kindaichi yelled and watched as Kunimi winced and looked around them. Kindaichi followed his gaze, realizing that they were still on school grounds and anyone hanging out in the vicinity had heard what he had said. Two girls rushed away, giving him disgusted looks over their shoulder.

“Maybe we should go somewhere else,” Kunimi whispered. “Before you ruin both our reputations.”

“What reputations?”

“You just implied that I was interested in someone’s dick.”

“It wasn’t implied,” laughed a familiar voice behind them, and both Kindaichi and Kunimi cringed. “He blatantly said you were interested in dick, Kunimi-chan!”

“Thanks for clarifying, Oikawa-san.”

Oikawa giggled as he leaned against the back of the bench, hovering his head over Kunimi. Kindaichi felt sick that he had not only heard, but his senpai seemed extremely delighted about the subject matter. He was relieved when another familiar hand patted his shoulder.

“Just ignore him, but seriously is everything alright, Kindaichi?” Iwaizumi asked, leaning on the bench next to Oikawa.

“He’s having soulmate confusion.”

“Hey! I told you that in confidence.”

“You didn’t say it was a secret and in case you forgot, almost everyone in the area knows about it because you can’t keep your voice down.”

Kindaichi groaned and hid his face in his hands. Iwaizumi chuckled and squeezed his shoulder.

“Hey, Oikawa and I are older and have had many dreams. Although we haven’t met ours yet, maybe we can help. And we won’t make fun of him for it,” Iwaizumi growled the last part, no doubt directing it at Oikawa.

“I would never make fun of my precious kouhai about his soulmate! Come on, Kindaichi, give us the dirty details.”

Kindaichi let his hands fall in his lap as he gazed up at them, his misery apparent on his face. “I had one dream where I know my soulmate was tall. Like the same height as me, I’m pretty sure. Then I had another where he was much smaller. It’s hard to tell because I couldn’t see everything, but I know for sure that my hands fit over, um, most of him,” he finished with a cringe. He was thankful that both Oikawa and Iwaizumi seemed thoughtful about it as they nodded. 

“I think it’s obvious that it’s not the same person, right?”

“Huh? But why would I be making love to someone who isn’t my soulmate? And which one is it?!”

“In each of these dreams,” Oikawa began as he scratched his chin, “it was just you and one other person, right? No one else was there?”

“I… think so. In the second one, I definitely didn’t see anyone else. In the first, though, my eyes were shut for a lot of it, and— holy shit.”

Oikawa barked out a laugh at his uncharacteristic use of bad language in front of a senpai, but Kindaichi’s mind was moving a hundred miles an hour as he began putting together the pieces.

“What is it, Kindaichi? Did you figure it out?” Iwaizumi asked, sending Oikawa another look of warning.

“In my first dream, my soulmate would sometimes,” he paused, unsure of how much he should say. As if in answer to his worries, Kunimi covered his ears and Oikawa leaned in eagerly. “He was enjoying what I was doing, but other times he seemed to be enjoying things suddenly when I wasn’t doing anything. Someone else must have been there! Does this mean… do I have two soulmates?!”

“Wooo, jackpot!” Oikawa cheered and even Iwaizumi was smiling proudly at him.

“Sounds like it, you lucky guy.”

“Lucky? But— no! It’s hard enough finding one soulmate, but now I have to find two!”

“And apparently you’ll find them without any problem. Good luck, now get to your next class and stop yelling about dicks on school property.”

“Oh, yes! I will.”

“Ah, Kindaichi has two lovers,” Oikawa sighed as they wandered away. “I’d be jealous if my own soulmate wasn’t so thick.”

“Ugh, for the last time, I don’t want to hear about it...”

“You alright?” Kunimi asked once Oikawa and Iwaizumi were out of earshot.

“Yeah… yeah, I’ll be fine. I’m just shocked.”

“Maybe you could keep a journal by your bed. You know, one column about Tall Soulmate and one about Shorty. That way it’ll be easier to collect clues about each.”

“Hey, that’s a good idea!”

“Of course. Now, let’s never speak of this again.”

“Thanks. Whenever you start having your dreams, feel free to talk to me anytime.”

“I probably won’t, but thanks for the offer,” Kunimi snickered. 

Kindaichi pouted, wanting to be in the loop whenever Kunimi had his own dreams. But the school bell rang, and he knew he had to focus on other things. 

Fat chance of that happening. 

November—

Tsukishima scrolled on his phone, not really paying attention to whatever slipped onto his screen. His lunch was finished, and his headphones were on, enjoying a little peace before his classes started back up. It was nice, relaxing, and… horrible.

He sighed as he set his phone down and glanced around the room. Ever since Hinata found out they were soulmates, he had been plaguing him everywhere. He would show up in the hallways in between classes and he almost always had his lunch with Tsukishima. 

It irritated him at first, it was definite overexposure. But he had already grown used to Hinata being there and ever since they’d won the Shiratorizawa game, he wasn’t. It irritated Tsukishima more that Hinata was obviously avoiding him than when he was constantly around. What on earth did he do to piss his soulmate off? For once, he had no idea.

I’ll just corner him sometime during practice.

It was a solid plan since it was the one time during the day when they were guaranteed to be in the same room. Instead of his usual loitering after class, he rushed through the school to make it to the clubroom the same time as Hinata. When he burst through the doors, out of breath, Ennoshita was already there.

“Where… is… he?”

Ennoshita raised his eyebrows but his smile knew exactly who Tsukishima was talking about. He narrowed his eyes at his senpai to let him know he wasn’t in any mood for joking around and received a rude snicker in return.

“He’s already in the gym practicing with Kageyama.”

“What? How did he get here so fast?”

“Are you seriously asking that? It’s Hinata. If you need to talk to him about something, you should change quickly. You might have some time before we get started. That is if you can pry him away from Kageyama.”

“Oh, I’ll pry him away,” Tsukishima seethed and began tearing off his uniform. He ignored Ennoshita’s stifled laughter and focused on shoving his volleyball gear on. If he didn’t receive a straight answer from Hinata, he was going to roast him.

As expected, Hinata was practicing his quick with Kageyama. Tsukishima paused in the doorway to watch them, specifically Hinata’s face as he played. He seemed as energetic as usual, but Tsukishima could tell that his smile wasn’t as large, and his cheer wasn’t as loud. And when Hinata spotted him from across the gym, he froze like a deer in headlights. 

That wasn’t how someone should look at their soulmate. As Tsukishima’s anger spiked through the roof. He took a deep breath to quell his rage and motioned for Hinata to come closer. Hinata didn’t move a muscle.

Well, at least he didn’t run away.

Tsukishima motioned again, harder this time, and Hinata winced. He glanced around the room as if looking for an escape route and nearly jumped out of his skin when Kageyama came up beside him. Tsukishima snarled when he saw Hinata relax and spoke to Kageyama. He was about to lose his shit.

Several of their teammates filtered in, surprising Tsukishima. He had been so focused on Hinata that he was quickly losing track of the time. As Daichi passed by him, however, he patted Tsukishima’s shoulder reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get him.”

“Thanks, Daichi-san.”

He watched as Daichi crossed the gym and spoke softly to Hinata, giving his shoulder a squeeze as well. Even from that distance, Tsukishima could tell he looked like he was about to cry. But he soon nodded and began dragging his feet against the gym floor, slowly making his way to Tsukishima with his head hanging low. When he finally stopped in front of him, he refused to lift his head, his hands playing with the hem of his shirt.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

“What was that? I think I heard some moron attempting to communicate, but I’m not quite sure.”

Hinata’s head finally shot up, his face scrunched in a comical glare. “I’m sorry!”

“Well, now I just don’t believe you.”

“Grrrr, you’re making this so hard.”

“I am? Excuse me… I am?! You— Ugh, come here,” Tsukishima said as he snatched the collar of Hinata’s shirt and yanked him into the corner of the gym, away from their curious teammates. “Why have you been avoiding me? Did I do something wrong?”

Hinata’s anger disappeared instantly, replaced with encapsulating guilt. “No… you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“So, you did something wrong?”

Hinata’s face screwed up as he thought about it, and Tsukishima pinched the bridge of his nose as he exhaled slowly.

“That wasn’t a hard question.”

“It is in this case!”

“Just tell me what happened.”

“Promise you won’t get angry?”

“I’m pissed beyond all belief right now; how much worse could it get?”

“Maybe angry wasn’t the right word… it might hurt your feelings.”

“Shrimp, don’t flatter yourself. Nothing you say could hurt my feelings.”

Hinata stopped gathering the front of his T-shirt in his hands and gazed up at Tsukishima. It was contemplative, and Tsukishima couldn’t for the life of him wonder what the hold-up was. He was relieved that Hinata had finally stopped looking so nervous and guilty; it was making him paranoid.

“Okay… it was the night we won the Shiratorizawa game.”

“That makes sense, you started avoiding me after that.”

“Right, well that night I had a dream.”

“So?”

Hinata winced. “It was a soulmate dream, Tsukki.”

Tsukishima’s face fell; all the breath in his lungs expunged at once as if Hinata had slammed a sledgehammer into his chest. Hinata’s gaze was unwavering and annoyingly sympathetic. At last, Tsukishima gulped and found enough breath to speak.

“What are you talking about?”

“I couldn’t believe it at first, it didn’t make sense. I knew you were my soulmate; I still know it! You were in the dream with me, just like always, except…”

“Except?”

“We weren’t alone.”

“Who was there?”

Hinata licked his lips. “Another soulmate.”

It finally made sense, Hinata avoiding him even if neither of them had done anything wrong. It didn’t make Tsukishima angry, and it didn’t hurt his feelings. He was crushed.

“You have another soulmate.”

“We do, Tsukki!”

“No, I have only had one soulmate dream and that was over a month ago. You have two.”

“You might still have one though.”

“Stop, it— this is just how it is, okay? Isn’t this great for you? If you’re pissed at me, you can just run into your other soulmate’s arms and they’ll comfort you.”

“It won’t be like that.”

“Won’t it?”

“Tsukki!” Hinata said sharply, grabbing the front of his jacket. It startled him; Hinata had never used that tone with him. His eyes were blazing as they stared up at him, passion and concern mixed together in a dangerous concoction that threatened to swallow Tsukishima up. “I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t shake my fist at Fate and ask for another soulmate; I was happy with you. I still am! I didn’t ask for this,” he choked out, tears beginning to slip down his cheeks. 

Tsukishima’s breath shuddered, his arms itching to draw Hinata in close and hug him like never before. But this was too much; he had to get away.

“Let go, I-I need to think about this.”

“No, Tsukki, wait.”

Tsukishima grabbed Hinata’s arms and pulled them off, but he didn’t let go right away. “Listen, you’re right. This isn’t your fault, this isn’t my fault, but I just need some time to think about it, okay? I’m not mad at you.”

“Then stay with me.”

“I can’t,” he said, his voice cracking under the emotions tearing him apart. He released Hinata’s arms and turned away; Hinata didn’t grab hold of him again. He walked a few steps away and paused, glancing back over his shoulder. “In this dream you had, with your other soulmate… were you happy with them?”

Hinata squeezed his eyes shut, more tears slipping out as he nodded. “Yes.” As Tsukishima turned back toward the gym doors and quickly changed shoes, he could barely hear Hinata’s voice as he said, “So were you.”

It felt strange to be walking home so early, the sky just beginning to blush with pinks and oranges as the sun drifted toward the horizon. It was beautiful, but Tsukishima wanted to vomit all over it. He never asked for Hinata to be his soulmate but when they finally got together, he couldn’t imagine him not being his soulmate. They had a long way to go before they completely understood each other, a lot of growing to do on both sides. But they were in it together, the two of them, partners. They didn’t need anyone else.

Tsukishima paused and stared at the pavement, his flesh turning to ice at a harsh realization. Maybe Hinata did. Maybe Fate knew that he would never be enough for someone as open and affectionate as Hinata. Already Tsukishima had failed, and they’ve barely even started their relationship. 

Tsukishima held back a sob and started to run. This whole time he was avoiding passion and developing a love for volleyball, anything to avoid what Akiteru had gone through. He didn’t want to care. Had he become so cold that he couldn’t be enough for Hinata? 

The thought of his other soulmate being a volleyball freak like Hinata made Tsukishima’s fists clench. He had avoided being jealous of other people so far, knowing how Hinata is, but he couldn’t restrain it any longer. For the first time, he had a perfectly good reason to be jealous, and he hated it. 

His mother was alarmed when he burst into the house, but he didn’t wait around for her questions. She’ll understand. He knew if he stopped and said anything, he would lose all control and weep like a baby, something he hasn’t done since he was a baby. 

The door slammed shut behind him and it was only then that he realized that he left his stuff in the club room locker. The only thing he still had with him was his cell phone sitting in his jacket pocket. His headphones were in his bag still at school; the one thing that might have comforted him at that moment. 

He leaned back against the door and slid down it, crumpling into a heap on the floor. Wrapping his arms around his legs, he dropped his forehead against his knees and breathed. It hurt, almost like every intake of air had to scrape against the walls of his sorrow in order to make it to his lungs. But he was still breathing and wasn’t weeping.

Time ticked by and he hardly moved. He didn’t need to glance up to know the room was growing darker, the sun no longer reaching through his window. His mother knocked softly to let him know when dinner was ready, but he could tell from her voice that she didn’t expect him to join them. Still, he grunted back a response.

Occasionally his phone would buzz in his pocket, but he didn’t bother checking it. Maybe it was Yamaguchi, or Akiteru since their mother always filled him in when he was being moody. It could be Hinata, but he doubted it. His soulmate was quickly learning when he needed space. 

A part of him knew he was being irrational when he contemplated outrageous kidnapping schemes, to snatch Hinata and make a run for it. Can’t have another soulmate if they couldn’t find them. But then it would be just the two of them and without his other soulmate present, he would just make Hinata miserable. It wasn’t often that Tsukishima couldn’t stand himself, but when he did, it was pretty debilitating. 

When he finally raised his head, his back screaming at the fresh movement, he could hardly see anything in the pitch-black room. Cautiously, he got to his feet, holding onto the desk for support as his legs wobbled beneath him. He lumbered straight to his bed, stripping off his clothes as he went, and flopped onto it. He used what little energy he had left to reach for his charge cord and plug it into his phone, still refusing to glance at the screen. 

He closed his eyes, preparing himself for a full night of no sleep. There wasn’t even time for surprise when he drifted off almost instantly.

Tsukishima squinted as he exited a building, the sun’s rays glaring down on him and harsh enough to battle the cloudy veil over his vision. He walked a little quicker down the sidewalk, most likely anxious to get under some shade. It seemed to be springtime, delicate blossoms swirling through the air as the temperature was beginning to rise. In Tsukishima’s current time it was winter, a stark contrast to the warmth flourishing around him in the dream. 

“Kei!” a voice called behind him. Tsukishima froze, startled by the call but immediately relaxed. He must have recognized the person calling him. His given name had been used as well, which hardly anyone used unless they were family.

Tsukishima glanced over his shoulder as the man joined him, his gaze drifting straight to the man’s smiling lips. “What are you doing here? Your office isn’t that close.”

“The air conditioning’s out, getting fixed this afternoon. It’s too hot to work in those conditions, so they let us work from home for the rest of the day. I thought I’d pop over here to take you out to lunch, sound good?” he asked gently as his arm snaked around Tsukishima’s waist. 

Tsukishima didn’t know whether he was more shocked by the intimate touch or his future self’s comfort in it. He chuckled and leaned into the other man, even closing his eyes as he turned his cheek toward him.

“I think I can be persuaded, but it better be good.”

The man chuckled and brushed his lips against Tsukishima’s cheek. “Whatever you want.”

Tsukishima smirked and wrapped his fingers around the man’s tie, dragging them down the satin fabric. “Good, let’s go. You know I don’t like PDA, especially in the middle of the street.”

“Yeah, you look really bothered by it.”

“With that kind of tone, I’m going to order everything on the menu. And you’re buying.”

“Jeez. Well, that’s fine, we can take the rest home for Shoyou. He’s always starving after practice.”

“He’s always starving, period.”

The man snorted and Tsukishima beamed. His mood was vastly improved by the man walking in step with him, he could tell even without reading his future self’s thoughts. As warm breath stroked over his ear, his skin erupted in goosebumps.

“Maybe we should pick up food instead and take it home.”

“And why would we do that?”

“So we can have a very fulfilling lunch break, of course,” the man said slyly, his hand slipping around to Tsukishima’s ass but was slapped before it could make it all the way. “Ouch!”

“Serves you right. We’re in public. And as for your suggestion, it’s impossible. I don’t get to laze around and work from home. I need to get back to work as soon as I’m done eating.”

“You can’t take the afternoon off? Say something came up?”

Tsukishima snickered and boldly glanced down at the man’s crotch. “Something’s about to come up, alright. Why are you in such a horny mood?”

“I’m a healthy young man.” The man huffed when Tsukishima snorted. “I’m not an old man!”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Fine, you want to be boring, I’ll just take you someplace around here.”

Tsukishima subdued the smirk on his face and slipped his arm around the man’s waist. He could just barely make out the way the man’s lips were twisted into a pout as he rested his head against the man’s shoulder.

“Aw, you mad at me, baby?”

“No.”

Tsukishima chuckled and slipped his phone from his pocket. He flipped through his contact list and pressed a name he didn’t recognize. It brought up his conversation with the person, all business-related things it appeared, and he proceeded to type out a message.

 Hey, is it possible to move the rest of my appointments this afternoon? Something’s come up.

Sure, Tsukishima-san! You only have one more appointment, so it shouldn’t be a problem. I hope everything’s okay.

Yeah, everything’s fine. I just have some things I need to work on from home.

Of course. Have a good day!

 “What kind of food did you want to take home?”

“I thought you didn’t want to?” the man asked, his voice still adorably petulant. 

“I just told my secretary I’ll be out the rest of the day, so I have no choice now.”

“Hm, you still don’t sound excited about it.”

“Come on, I’m getting in the mood, stop being so pouty.” 

When the man grunted in response, Tsukishima felt something stir in his chest. It was a newer feeling to his present self, but he recognized it all the same. It was a competitive thirst to win and conquer; apparently, he will carry the feeling long past his volleyball days.

Tsukishima glanced over his shoulder. There was a group of tourists behind them, taking pictures of the buildings and the line of cherry trees along the street, not paying any attention to them. He slipped his hand past the man’s waist and gave his ass a squeeze as he leaned into his ear.

“You know, if Shoyou walks in from practice and sees us fucking without him, he’s going to get really rowdy.”

“I love it when he gets like that.”

“Exactly, and he gets off in a little over an hour,” Tsukishima said, glancing at his watch. “Let’s grab some food and get home so we’ll have time to get started before he gets home.”

The man laughed and wrapped his arm around Tsukishima’s neck to pull him in for a quick kiss. He had no way of knowing how long they’ve been together, but it seemed it still gave his stomach butterflies.

“I love it when you’re a complete asshole. Come on, I know the perfect place.”

Tsukishima opened his eyes and glanced around his room. The sky outside wasn’t completely dark but it certainly wasn’t bright enough for him to be awake. He was exhausted, his body still aching from the day before, but it felt like a massive weight had been lifted off him.

We both have another soulmate.

He didn’t need to share Hinata with someone else; they were all three going to be together as equals. He thought about Hinata and how excited he’ll be when he finds out, but at the same time guilt clenched its icy fingers around his gut and squeezed. Guilt for reacting the way he had, his obvious hurt at finding out Hinata had another soulmate and Hinata feeling every bit of it. His tear-streaked face was like a brand on Tsukishima’s mind.

It wasn’t Hinata’s fault; he said that at the time. Yet he knew that Hinata was probably still feeling guilty about something he had no control over. Even before he told Tsukishima the truth, he’s been just as distracted as Tsukishima, perhaps even more.

It was disgustingly early in the morning, but Tsukishima felt it was necessary to call Hinata anyway. He knew Hinata’s been losing sleep over it, dark circles hanging under his unusually dim eyes. Even if he did wake him up, the news would be an instant relief.

He grabbed his phone and his glasses off the nightstand at the same time. Shuffling onto his stomach, he slipped his glasses on and quickly found Hinata’s number. He bit his lip as he listened to the phone ring, his stomach practically fizzing with nerves.

“Hello?” Hinata’s groggy voice came through. Tsukishima fought down a smile, wishing he could stop thinking how cute his idiot soulmate could be sometimes.

“Hey, it’s me.”

“Tsukki?” Hinata gasped, suddenly awake. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry if I woke you.”

“I was just dozing. I haven’t been sleeping well.”

“I know, neither have I. That’s why I felt like I had to call you and tell you right away.”

“Huh? Tell me what?”

“I had another one, Hinata. Another soulmate dream.”

It was silent for a few moments, and Tsukishima wondered how long it would take for Hinata to work it out. His brain was slow on a normal day.

“You did?! Did you see him then? He’s your soulmate as well?”

“Yeah. Well, I didn’t get a good look at him, but he’s as tall as me, I think.”

“Yes! That’s him! That’s why it was so confusing in the beginning because you’re the same height! But his voice is different, and he’s more snuggly than you are. And more muscular…”

“Okay, I get it,” Tsukishima snapped, although he knew he couldn’t refute any of it.

Hinata giggled. “That’s okay, Tsukki. I love you just the way you are. I mean— I’m going to! Not that I don’t like you already, aarrrggg!”

“Relax, I know what you mean, you idiot,” Tsukishima said coolly, thankful Hinata couldn’t see how red his face had gotten. 

“Fine, I just want you to know that I would have been happy with just you. You’re not lacking in anything. Maybe Fate knew we’d be happy on our own, but we’ll be even happier with this other guy with us!”

“Pfft, Fate’s not a person.”

“Well, there’s a reason we all have soulmates! Otherwise, we’d be all over the place, trying to see who fit with us.”

“Ugh, you’re right, that would be terrible. Anyway, I should let you go. You can probably still get more sleep before class.”

“No way! I’m going to go for a run before I start biking into town. I’m so excited, I’ve got energy to burn! I’ll see you later, Tsukki!”

“See you,” Tsukishima said softly and ended the call. He buried his face into his pillow, wishing he could smother away the huge grin on his face. It felt completely unnatural and it was beginning to hurt his cheeks. 

Now all they had to do was find one more soulmate. Tsukishima and Hinata found each other easily enough, how hard could the new one be? Tsukishima wondered if he already knew that he had two different soulmates and how he felt about it. He winced thinking about it. He and Hinata were a handful by themselves, their new soulmate was probably a saint.

December—

They were all lined up, the participants in the Miyagi first years training camp. Kindaichi was nervous but excited; it had been disheartening when the third years finally retired from volleyball club, all their hopes of making it to Nationals obliterated by the game against Karasuno. Now he had something new to look forward to, sharpening his skills to help bring the team to victory in the next bout of competitions. He couldn’t let them down.

There was an odd tension in the room, however, all of it radiating toward the end of the line where Tsukishima Kei was sweating bullets. Kindaichi glanced down with the others in confusion, wondering why Hinata Shoyou was standing next to his teammate. He had no clue why Hinata hadn’t been included on the list of participants since he seemed to be an obvious choice. But he knew for a fact that he wasn’t, so why was he here now?

“Why are you even here?! Did you actually think you could get away with this?” Tsukishima hissed at Hinata, the shorter one leaning back from the impact. Kindaichi learned further forward to view the spectacle better. It was surprising enough that Hinata had shown up uninvited, but nothing compared to Tsukishima Kei losing his shit.

“What were you thinking?! You dingus! You are… an absolute… moron!”

Kindaichi continued gaping at the pair as he leaned in toward Kunimi. “Wow, never imagined the glasses dude from Karasuno could actually lose his cool like that.”

“That vocabulary though…”

Before Tsukishima could tear Hinata a new asshole, one of the coaches rescued him and took him aside for a chat. Kindaichi watched as Tsukishima pinched his nose and forced his breath through his teeth with a hiss. Kindaichi pressed his lips together to avoid laughing. It wasn’t that Seijoh was completely devoid of goofballs, but they certainly had nothing like Hinata.

The camp had a detailed schedule, but with Hinata crashing their party, it had been derailed slightly. Instead of starting their drills, they hung out in the gym and talked quietly amongst themselves while they waited for the coaches’ return. Kindaichi crossed his arms, listening to the idle chatter about what Hinata’s fate would be.

“I don’t see the big deal,” he finally snapped, causing a few of the others to flinch. “S’alright, they could just let that Karasuno shrimp join in… He’s just one extra, warm, body.” The itch to redeem himself against Hinata was turning into a burn. Sure, it would feel good to battle against Tsukishima, but Hinata’s entire existence was impossible to ignore and he would give anything to battle him without Kageyama by his side.

“I’ll get him good this round,” Goshiki murmured next to him, gripping his volleyball like it was a cannon he wanted to hurl at Hinata’s head.

Koganegawa nodded along even though he never got the chance to face off against Hinata himself. “Someone that Aone-san acknowledges is made up of different mettle from the others.”

The room was growing thick with battle vibes, even with the players who were quiet. Karasuno’s strongest decoy seemed to have the same effect when he wasn’t playing; he showed up and he was all anyone could see. Tsukishima, however, had seemed to calm down after his initial tirade as he stared at the gym doors. In fact, if Kindaichi wasn’t mistaken, he seemed a little concerned.

When Tsukishima straightened up and focused, Kindaichi followed his gaze to the gym doors where Coach Washijo entered the gym. Following right behind him was Hinata, his face flushed as bright as his hair. Everyone startled when Hinata bent forward in an awkward bow.

“I’d like to apologize for interrupting your training!” As he straightened up, Hinata took a deep breath, the kind that prefaced something monumental. Kindaichi naturally braced himself for it. “I’m Hinata Shoyou, first-year from Karasuno High School! One hundred and sixty-four centimeters! I’ll be the ball boy!! Please to make your acquaintance!”

Kindaichi was stunned. Hinata’s declaration was definitely not what he expected, but his determination was apparent. All the tension that had been in the room had zapped straight into one electric bolt, connecting Washijo and Hinata. What the hell happened?

Regardless, the training camp began. They didn’t have time to focus on Hinata as they poured all their energy into drills. The whole point of it was to sharpen their skills and learn from each other, and Kindaichi was determined to pick up whatever he could.

However, it was impossible to ignore Hinata entirely. The shrimp was struggling with his task since his attention constantly being drawn to the practice. Kindaichi could feel his longing to be included, and as much as Hinata was his enemy, he wished there was something he could do about it. From the tight-lipped expression on Tsukishima’s face whenever he glanced Hinata’s way, he must have felt the same way.

Unfortunately, their first night ended and they still had school the next day. Kindaichi slipped his jacket back on and made for the gym doors with Kunimi by his side. A volleyball hitting the wall drew his attention, and he turned to see Hinata handling it by himself.

Kindaichi paused, watching him for a moment. Even though the movement was simple, tossing a volleyball against a wall and catching it when it returned, Hinata’s small hands were in complete control of it. Old memories he had long since buried of his final year of middle school flooded Kindaichi’s mind. But instead of remembering Kageyama and his harsh dictatorship over them, he recalled the first time he had seen Hinata. 

He was a complete amateur back then without even the basics of volleyball as a skill. His athleticism was undeniable, but what good was it without any refinement or focus? The present Hinata, however, was nothing like that. 

Koganegawa’s voice cut across the gym, whining about starving or something. Kindaichi shook his head and followed the others out, leaving Hinata behind to practice by himself. He ignored the craving to go back and join him. 

“Where’s your water bottle?” Kunimi asked when they were near the end of the hall. Kindaichi flinched and looked down at his hands and glanced inside his bag; his water bottle wasn’t there. Kunimi sighed. “Go on and get it, I’ll wait for you.”

“Thanks, I’ll be right back!”

Kindaichi sped back down the hallway, his muscles burning after all the work they already endured from the practice. He was nearly to the open gym doors when he heard Tsukishima’s voice inside. His tone was different from before when he had lost his temper. This sounded more like him, snide and deprecating as he laid into Hinata. Kindaichi couldn’t resist hovering outside the door to listen.

“...What can you do, right? You reap what you sow! Wanna try telling the coaches ‘Actually, I’ve decided to quit’ and begging for mercy?”

Kindaichi stifled a snort and peeked around the corner. Tsukishima’s smirk was almost as vicious as his words and Hinata looked like he was being stabbed to death by each cutting remark. Kindaichi grinned as he watched the pair of them, finding them more entertaining than even his favorite television program.

It was refreshing, seeing these other sides to them. They seemed so intimidating when on the court, Hinata with his unquenchable passion and outrageous plays and then Tsukishima with his cold calculations and observations. Somehow, it made Kindaichi happy to see them as regular teenagers giving each other shit.

“...Give it your best as the ball boy. I’ll be rooting for you. Try not to make a complete waste of these precious five days leading up to the Spring Tournament, alright buddy?”

“God damn it!” Hinata shouted as he ran away, speeding toward the side door to the gym. Kindaichi snickered and was about to enter when Hinata suddenly stopped. Quickly, Kindaichi ducked back out of sight as Hinata whirled around and darted straight back to Tsukishima. 

He stopped right in front of him, his eyes large and pleading. His posture made him seem even smaller and the expression on his face made Kindaichi crave to comfort him. It was like seeing a sad little puppy on the side of the road that just wanted a home. 

Tsukishima, however, gazed down at Hinata with cold, narrowed eyes. His smirk was no longer present, but his lips were twisted to the side with the remnants of his irritation. Finally, he sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Fine, but make it quick,” he mumbled, bending forward. 

Hinata’s face lit up. Kindaichi gasped at the sight of it, recognizing it as the face Hinata gets when Hinata knows that Kageyama’s toss was meant just for him. As if that wasn’t astonishing enough, Hinata wrapped his arms around Tsukishima’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss.

Kindaichi’s mouth dropped open. That was… unexpected. In a million years he would have never thought those two had that kind of relationship.

He watched as Hinata’s lips finally broke apart from Tsukishima’s with a giggle bubbling out of him. Even Tsukishima was smiling, not the cold-hearted smirk from before, but something tender and affectionate. Kindaichi was beginning to think he’d fallen into some sort of an alternate reality.

“Thanks, Tsukki. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, yeah, be careful going home. Text me when you get there.”

“I will!” Hinata shouted and sped off in a blur of movement. Tsukishima laughed softly and shook his head. As he did so, he caught sight of Kindaichi hovering by the door.

“I didn’t take you for a spy, Kindaichi.”

“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean to,” he apologized quickly. Scratching the back of his head, he shuffled inside, feeling his cheeks flush with embarrassment. “I came back for my water bottle.”

Tsukishima blinked at him and then looked around. “It’s over there.”

“Ah! Yeah, thanks.” Kindaichi avoided Tsukishima’s eyes as he ran for it, scooping it off the floor. His towel was also beside it and he rolled his eyes at his own negligence. Stuffing them both in his bag, he turned around and froze at the sight of Tsukishima waiting for him. Those golden eyes were watching him closely, a slight smirk forming on his lips.

“You coming?”

“No, I mean— yes!”

“Pfft, relax,” Tsukishima snickered, gesturing with his head for Kindaichi to follow him out of the gym. “You can ask, I know you’re dying to.”

“You and Hinata?!”

Tsukishima laughed from sheer amusement and Kindaichi felt his stomach do a flip flop. “Yeah, me and Hinata. He’s my soulmate.”

“No shit! How long have you known?”

“I’ve known since the end of September and we talked about it a week later, or something like that.”

“Wow, and you two… get along?”

“More or less. It may sound funny but kissing a lot has helped.”

“I’m surprised you’re so open about it.”

“Because my soulmate’s an idiot? Meh, it happens.”

“Ha, no, I mean you seem like a private person.”

“Oh,” Tsukishima said, casting him a side glance. “Well, it’s not like it’s a secret. Our whole team knows of course, and it might be easier on me if everyone here knows as well.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because of how people react to Hinata.”

“What do you mean? I guess he’s very distracting.”

“You’ll understand this week, as long as he’s allowed to come back. No one’s immune to his… ugh, this is going to hurt saying this, charms.” He paused to scrunch up his face, disgusted with himself for even saying it. Kindaichi laughed; he had seen soulmates together before but none of them were as interesting as Tsukishima and Hinata. 

It took Kindaichi a couple of days to understand what Tsukishima had meant about Hinata’s charms. He was taking the role as a ball boy seriously and to everyone’s astonishment, he was improving. Yet even as he was focusing more on his role, Hinata was paying attention to other things as well.

“Please show me those razor-sharp straights of yours!” Hinata begged Goshiki as they were about to start some free practice. 

Kindaichi smirked as he watched Goshiki blush furiously as Hinata gushed over his skills. “So, that’s what he meant,” he muttered softly.

“What did you say?”

Kindaichi startled and shook his head at Koganegawa. “Nothing. Come on, let’s get set up. Goshiki will probably be joining us.”

That wasn’t the only time, however. It seemed every time Kindaichi glanced Hinata’s way, he was watching someone like a hawk, observing even the most basic of movements. He could almost see the wheels in his head turning and it gave Kindaichi the shivers. It was incredible to see someone soak up so much information and automatically put it to good use.

What didn’t make sense to Kindaichi was why it was irritating him. There was no reason to be jealous of Hinata, not with his skill and his height. No, that wasn’t it, yet he couldn’t deny the spike of anger whenever he saw Hinata watching someone and then light up when they did something he found impressive. 

“Kindaichi!” Koganegawa called, sending him a nice high toss.

Even he’s getting a little better, Kindaichi thought as he ran up to meet the ball. He snapped his hand against it, sending it like a bullet onto the gym floor. Unfortunately, it ricocheted off and nailed Hinata in the crotch when he wasn’t looking.

Kindaichi gasped as the whole gym fell silent, sympathetic stares all pinning on Hinata as his eyes began to water.

“Th-That’s so my bad!” Kindaichi tried apologizing, but he wasn’t sure Hinata could even hear him. Washijo unhelpfully reminded Hinata to keep his eyes on the ball, to which Hinata was finally able to reply. Kindaichi felt like he was going to collapse from his guilt; he hadn’t meant to do it. If he hadn’t been channeling so much of his irritation, the ball probably wouldn’t have smacked so hard.

He glanced down the line at Tsukishima, feeling like perhaps he should also apologize to him. Tsukishima was too busy looking at Hinata in disappointment to seem angry at Kindaichi. It struck him suddenly that Tsukishima has had no difficulty at all remaining focused, even with Hinata lathering compliments on everyone. Perhaps he was used to it; he did, after all, predict that it was going to happen. Still, Kindaichi couldn’t help being curious.

“You’re asking me if I get jealous? Seriously.”

“Why not? It’s a normal thing, isn’t it?”

Tsukishima wrinkled his nose and took a long drink of his tea. When Kindaichi first grabbed his lunch in the cafeteria, he had apologized to Kunimi and darted to the end of the table where Tsukishima was sitting all by himself. He prepared himself to be snapped at since he was used to it when he barged in on Kunimi’s peace, but Tsukishima didn’t seem put out at all by his presence.

“There’s nothing to get jealous over, that would be ridiculous. The shrimp likes to compliment everyone, and the incredibly simple-minded ones eat it up like they’re starving.”

Kindaichi coughed, hoping that his face wasn’t turning red. He didn’t want to admit that he wanted to be complimented himself and that Hinata hasn’t done so once during the camp. It was infuriating.

“You’re not bothered that he looks at them with his big puppy dog eyes?”

Tsukishima snickered. “Listen, he may be a compliment whore, but most of it his thirst to improve. People are more likely to help you and show you things if you butter them up first. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not smart enough to realize he’s doing it.”

“Oh, I see.” Kindaichi nodded as he stared down at his food. He wasn’t sure if that made him feel any better. Was there nothing he could teach Hinata? They’ve played against each other several times, maybe he thinks he’s seen everything Kindaichi can do? Maybe he has…

“More than that though,” Tsukishima continued, drawing Kindaichi’s gaze back up. “He’s my soulmate, and ever since we’ve found out, I’ve seen several sides to him that no one else has. Not even Kageyama’s seen them; they’re all mine. At least, for now,” he finished quietly with a strange sort of smile.

It made Kindaichi feel strange. It was bewildering why he was so fascinated by the pair to the point where he felt like he was pressing his nose against the window of their relationship. He was craving to know more, to somehow slip through the window and join them. 

It wasn’t until Tsukishima flinched that he realized he was leaning close to him, hovering over his tray of food. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You’re smiling.”

“I smile.”

“You sneer, typically. That was an actual smile,” he said, pointing at Tsukishima’s lips. “Bring it back! It was so cute.”

“Wha— it was not.”

Kindaichi snickered and rested his chin on his palm. “It was adorable, you really should smile like that more often. What’s this, are you blushing?!”

“Piss off,” Tsukishima snapped and stood up from the table.

“Oh, come on, don’t leave, Tsukki!”

“Don’t call me that,” he muttered over his shoulder, although Kindaichi had the feeling he didn’t really mean it. 

He laughed as Tsukishima threw out half the food on his tray and left the cafeteria. Once he was out of sight, however, Kindaichi pouted and turned back to his food. It felt lonely now that Tsukishima was gone, and it was a shame that Hinata wasn’t allowed to eat with them at all. 

“Hey,” Kunimi said as he sat across from him, much of his tray still full of food like Tsukishima’s was.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“I was just going to ask you that. Why are you being so weird?”

“Huh?”

“I’ve never seen you tease anyone like that, not even me and I’m your best friend.”

“Are you jealous?”

“Ugh, like I’d want to be teased like that,” Kunimi said, cringing at the thought. “But seriously, you were teasing Tsukishima, of all people, and him blushing like that... And then there’s the deal with Hinata—”

“What’s wrong with Hinata?” Kindaichi asked quickly, his heart beating a little faster. 

Kunimi didn’t answer right away, just stared back at him as if he’d lost his mind. He shrank back and focused on eating, his face growing uncomfortably hot.

“That’s exactly what I mean,” Kunimi whispered, glancing further down the table to make sure they were alone. “You’re becoming a little obsessed with them. It’s creepy.”

“I’m not obsessed! I’m interested, there’s a difference.”

“Why are you interested?”

“I don’t know, they’re just fascinating. They’re hilarious as a pair and they’re fun to watch. It’s always surprising when they’re actually soft toward one another… it’s sweet.”

“You’re becoming a sap. Stop that.”

Kindaichi huffed out a laugh. “Fine, I’ll chill out.”

“Promise?”

“Yeah.”

He meant to back off, honestly. His interactions with Tsukishima were minimal and the guy was back to his usual aloof self. Working with so many different players from other teams was having a good effect on his adaptability, and it kept him on his toes whenever they were doing drills or two on two. 

But Hinata was still there and he couldn’t deny the shiver of pleasure whenever he caught his gaze on him. It might not mean anything to Tsukishima, who got to see those special sides of Hinata, but it was still a compliment to his skill. Kindaichi still had questions he wanted to be answered, however. Not specifically about Hinata’s relationship with Tsukishima, but about Hinata himself.

When he was finally able to take a break, Kindaichi glanced around to find Kunimi still in the middle of their match. He took the chance to slip underneath the net and stand next to Hinata, whose eyes were glued on everyone still playing.

“You… Why’re you like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like… so gung-ho, so amped up about everything.”

Hinata was thoughtful for a moment and then he straightened up with his chest puffed out. “Because I decided that I’m going to defeat Kageyama! But right now, he’s the one at ‘Japan’,” he said through gritted teeth, his fists clenched up into tight balls. 

Kindaichi snorted. “Is Kageyama the pinnacle in your eyes? Sure, he’s good, but you know if he’s at that youth camp, don’t you think it’s possible he could very well be getting wrecked right about now?”

Hinata’s mouth fell open with a gasp, his eyes wide as he stared up at him. Kindaichi bit his lip, struggling to hold back his laughter. 

“You’re right,” Hinata whispered as his gaze fell away. “The best of the best are there… They could be destroying him.”

Regardless that Hinata was just the right partner for Kageyama, Kindaichi enjoyed that Hinata loved to talk shit about him. Maybe that was immature of him, but nobody was above a little pettiness. At least not at their age.

“But still,” Hinata sighed, his shoulders sagging with it, “I didn’t get invited anywhere.”

“Look, I don’t know why they left you out of this camp. Even without Kageyama, you’ve obviously got talent. Heck, just retrieving balls for everyone you’re gaining skills. Not everybody can do that.”

“You, uh, really think so?” Hinata asked softly, a hopeful smile spreading across his face. 

Kindaichi felt conflicted. Hinata was still his enemy and on the court, he was determined to squash him like a bug. That didn’t change the fact that he wanted to slip his fingers into his hair and ruffle it or to wrap him up in a tight hug.

I bet he’d be really nice to snuggle with.

“Yeah! Of course,” Kindaichi assured him, opting to squeeze Hinata’s shoulder instead of something more intimate. He gave Hinata a reassuring smile and leaned a little closer toward his ear. “You’re the kind of person I crave to compete against. I look forward to facing you again in a match.”

He chuckled and gave Hinata’s back a pat before walking away to fetch his water bottle. He didn’t see the way Hinata’s face had flushed and how he could hardly move, his eyes glancing around as if searching for an answer to a question he didn’t even know. Neither of them saw the way Tsukishima had observed the entire scene from the other court, his face devoid of any expression at all. And nobody saw the way Kunimi was watching them all with his mouth slightly agape.

On the last morning of camp, Kindaichi woke up slowly, wrinkling his nose at the sunlight pouring in the windows. His body was aching, and he wasn’t sure if it was from the training or sleeping on the hard mattress a few nights in a row. Probably both. 

He took a deep breath and slipped his fingers into his hair. There was no gel in it at the moment and he knew if he didn’t get up soon, he might not have time to style it. He shouldn’t care considering it was just a training camp, but for some reason, he wanted to look his best regardless. 

“Hey,” Kunimi said, dropping himself on the mattress next to Kindaichi, causing it to bounce.

“Hey, what’s up.”

Kunimi shrugged and played with a bit of string coming off his shirt. “Nothing, I was just curious… have you had any dreams lately?”

Kindaichi frowned and propped his head up on his arms to see his friend better. The others were still in the room, some in bed and some milling around to get ready for the day. His dreams were never a secret, but it wasn’t like Kunimi to mention them in public.

When he took the time to consider the question, his stomach clenched. “Now that I think about it, the last one was a couple of weeks ago… no, three? That’s weird, isn’t it?”

“Maybe, it’s not like they’re easy to predict. You could be close to meeting them both, or one at least.”

Kindaichi winced as everyone in the room paused and glanced their way, making it obvious that they were all listening. It was completely silent, and Kindaichi took the opportunity to glare at his best friend. Kunimi smirked in response.

“Did you just say both of them?” Goshiki asked, strands of his bowl cut curling up from his sleep. “Like, you have two?”

“Um, well, about that, it’s really just—”

“Yes, he does,” Kunimi answered for him.

“Dude! That’s crazy!” Koganegawa yelled, rushing across the room in just two steps and diving to the floor in front of Kindaichi’s bed. “Tell us about them!”

“Doesn’t it get weird, having two soulmates?” Goshiki asked as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. 

Kindaichi sighed and sat up straight, attempting to shove Kunimi off with his feet. “I haven’t met them yet but from the dreams, it doesn’t seem weird at all.”

“Can you tell us about one?! Or, uh, are they all dirty?” Koganegawa asked, his face automatically turning red at the thought of it. 

Kindaichi hesitated, glancing around the room. Everyone seemed to be waiting expectantly, one gaze feeling more heated than all the others. Kindaichi for some reason didn’t want to look in Tsukishima’s direction, even though the subject shouldn’t have interested him in the slightest. He was one of the only ones to have already found his soulmate; he was lucky.

Kindaichi never had much self-control, however, and he stole a glance in Tsukishima’s direction. He was still lounging on his bed, propped up by his pillow with his headphones on. His eyes were pinned on Kindaichi, however, and it was then that he noticed one of his headphones had been slipped back off his ear.

He yelped when Kunimi kicked his side and he finally snatched his ankle and whipped his friend onto the floor. As the room filled with laughter and Kunimi’s grumblings, Kindaichi felt himself relax a little bit. He sighed and ran his fingers through his messy bedhead.

“Fine, I can tell you about one, I guess. The last one I had was really nice, one of my favorites actually.”

“Why was it your favorite?” Koganegawa asked, settling himself in for a good story.

“I don’t know, it felt more intimate than even the sex dreams in a weird way.”

“But—”

“Maybe you should let him tell it,” Kunimi said, his irritation causing Koganegawa to stiffen and purse his lips tight. “Go on, Kindaichi.”

“Well, the dream started off with just two of us one evening… I’m not even sure how old we were.”

When Kindaichi was aware that he was in his dream, he couldn’t see a thing. His eyes remained closed, but he was still conscious, idly stroking his hand through layers of thick, soft hair. From what he could feel, he was laying on a sofa and with the heavy weight on his body, he imagined his smaller soulmate was draped over top of him. 

Kindaichi smiled as he listened to soft snores coming from on top of his chest. His eyes remained closed, however, until the sound of a door opening came from another part of the house. He blinked slowly, but his vision was still bleary with drowsiness, clouding it even more than the usual soulmate dream. 

A tall figure strode into the room, long fingers unbuttoning the jacket of a suit that fit his lean body perfectly. It made Kindaichi’s mouth water, both his future self and the now.  At the sound of an amused chuckle, Kindaichi frowned.

“What’s so funny?” he yawned.

“Look at you, two old men. It’s not even eight.”

“Whatever, it was exhausting.”

His soulmate hummed and knelt beside him. Kindaichi could barely make him out, but the thick, black glasses frames were unmistakable on his face as he stared at the heap on Kindaichi’s body. He laughed softly again, slipping his hand into the mop of hair and not minding the way his fingers grazed over Kindaichi’s.

“I’ll never understand how you do this.”

“Do what?”

“Knock him out like this.”

“You could if you weren’t so busy riling him up,” Kindaichi chuckled.

“I guess I deserve that. It’s still amazing.”

“It’s easy actually. Just bundle him up and keep him warm, and he’s out like a light.”

“Ah, that would explain why I can’t do it. I’m always cold and I never snuggle.”

“You do sometimes… and you’re warmer than you think,” he said, removing his hand from one soulmate’s head to stroke across the other’s. His soulmate’s golden eyes closed, and he leaned into Kindaichi’s touch.

“Seeing you guys like this makes me want to go to bed as well.”

“Hmm, sounds good. Let’s all go to bed.”

“It’s eight. It’s against my principles.”

Kindaichi snorted. “Going to bed doesn’t mean sleeping.”

“True. Come on, let’s see how long it takes him to wake up while we’re fooling around on top of him.”

“It won’t be long. He smells sexual intent like a bloodhound.”

“I’mnotadog,” Shorty mumbled, burying his face against Kindaichi’s chest. 

“Awww, who’s my cute boy?” Kindaichi cooed, ruffling his hair. 

Despite the complaint, Shorty giggled and nuzzled higher into Kindaichi’s neck. A soft, wet tongue began lapping at the sensitive skin, causing Kindaichi to drop his head back with a moan.

“Oy! I thought you said it wasn’t dirty.”

“Sorry I forgot! I mean, this dream didn’t actually show anything.”

“Still,” Koganegawa whispered, cradling his face with his hands, “it sounded so nice.”

“It was. I mean, I had one that was almost an outright battle we were all bickering so much,” Kindaichi laughed at the memory. Even though it had been a fight, eventually the sharp words had descended into a caveman-like grunting and then pillows and sofa cushions got involved; it was a mess. Or, would be.

“Are your soulmates a lot alike?” Goshiki asked, stirring Kindaichi from his thoughts.

“No way,” he laughed, “they’re opposites.”

“He actually has a list in his bag to keep them straight,” Kunimi added, earning another sharp look from Kindaichi. He stuck his tongue out and continued, “There are hardly any similarities between them at all, but it helps to know which one’s which. 

We should go, practice will be starting soon.”

Groans and grumblings filled the room as they all finished getting ready. Kindaichi swore under his breath, further behind than any of them. He didn’t spare Kunimi a second glance as he grabbed his bathroom kit and sped out of the room. It was his fault, after all, that he was behind.

His heart was pounding as he went through his morning routine at lightspeed, trying to splash water on his face while trying to brush his teeth. His shirt was getting soaked, but he didn’t have time to care; he would just change it again in a few minutes. As he did a final rinse of his face, taking remnants of toothpaste with it, he could hear the bathroom door open behind him.

Huh, seems like I’m not the only one who’s behind.

Kindaichi shut off the water and felt around for his towel with his eyes still closed. When he couldn’t find it where he left it, he frowned and grappled around. He froze when it stroked the back of his hand.

“Looking for this?” Tsukishima’s cool voice slipped into his ear and Kindaichi yelped, his neck retracting into his shoulders. He snatched the towel and wiped the moisture from his face, so he could see properly. As soon as he could, he glanced over his shoulder to find Tsukishima hovering right over him.

“What’s with you? Aren’t you finished getting ready?”

Tsukishima arched an eyebrow and made no move to distance himself from Kindaichi. It was weird considering Tsukishima never liked to get close to anyone. The worst part was how it forced Kindaichi to notice how handsome Tsukishima actually was. It was too early in the day to freak out over being attracted to someone else’s soulmate.

“Yes, but I’m not quite finished with you.”

“Huh?”

Tsukishima snickered as his hand wrapped around Kindaichi’s arm to tug him around. Even when he was facing Tsukishima properly, the other made no move to step away. Kindaichi gulped as Tsukishima’s eyes traveled over him, lingering on certain parts of his body without any shame. 

When his eyes finally traveled back up to meet Kindaichi’s, his lips twisted into a pout. “I was hoping you’d be smarter than this, but I guess that’s my lot in life. Riddled with two idiots instead of one.”

“What?!”

“All this time you’ve had this list and you still haven’t realized it,” Tsukishima sighed, holding up Kindaichi’s notebook with his soulmates’ characteristics listed inside. 

“Where did you get that?!”

“Kunimi pulled it out for me.”

“What the hell, that’s private, Tsukishima!” Kindaichi yelled and tried to grab it, but Tsukishima held it just out of his range.

“Damn right, it’s private. Nobody should know about my one ticklish spot, and if you divulge that information to Hinata, I will make life very difficult for you.”

“Why would I— holy shit,” he whispered. It was like he had a scattered puzzle with only a couple pieces together, and suddenly in a flurry, they all flew into place. His brain felt like it was spinning and leaned back against the sink before he fell over. Tsukishima stepped closer and held onto Kindaichi’s waist, keeping him steady.

“You alright?”

“Yeah, I just… this is a lot.”

“Here, it might help if you read over your list again,” Tsukishima said with a gentle laugh. 

Kindaichi plucked his notebook from his hand, glancing up at Tsukishima’s face as he did so. He was smiling in that way that made Kindaichi’s body turn into jelly; it was a wonder he could even grip onto the notebook and remain on his feet. He gulped and glanced down at the list, split into two separate columns marked Tall and Short.

“I would start here,” Tsukishima suggested, pointing a finger to the Tall. 

Kindaichi blinked and read through the list. It was a mixture of physical descriptions and aspects of his personality, some simple like office job, pale, lean, low energy, light appetite, glasses. Others were more specific, such as pretty freckles on back, gets riled up if provoked, thinks I’m sexy but won’t admit it, ticklish on hips, hates being tickled. 

Tsukishima was right; he was an idiot. If someone had found the list at camp, they would have immediately thought of Tsukishima reading through it and yet he didn’t even think about it. But he only pulled the list out if he had a dream, and it had been weeks since he’s had one. 

He gasped when Tsukishima leaned closer, craning his neck to glance at the list himself. He smelled good.

“Did you look through the Short list yet?” Tsukishima asked and snickered. “This is very insightful; I didn’t know about that amoeba-shaped birthmark on his ass cheek. Everyone knows that he’ll eat anything and everything, it’s kind of gross. Oh, about my sweet tooth, I like several desserts, it’s just that strawberry shortcake is my favorite.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll remember that.”

“High energy, muscular, always wearing workout gear, yeah none of that’s new. Good to know he’s ticklish anywhere.”

“Yeah, but he likes it.”

“Hmm, good point. It would be more fun if he disliked it,” Tsukishima chuckled and glanced up from the notebook. “You feel better now?”

Kindaichi was certain his face was bright red with how hot it was. His heart was pounding like a taiko drum and he was painfully aware that he didn’t have the chance to put on deodorant while he was sweating like a pig. Surprisingly, he felt amazing.

“Yeah… better. I didn’t know you two had a third soulmate.”

“Sorry, I realize now it would have been advantageous to announce the fact since we were still on the lookout for him… for you,” he said in almost a whisper, his hand slipping up to stroke Kindaichi’s cheek. 

He couldn’t believe it was happening. The guilt of being so curious and attracted to both Tsukishima and Hinata had been overwhelming, but now it was okay. There was nothing wrong with it, and they belonged to him just like he belonged to them. 

Kindaichi smiled and leaned into Tsukishima’s touch. 

“I’m seriously relieved.”

Tsukishima raised his eyebrows. “You are? I wouldn’t have expected that. It’s not going to be easy with us two as your soulmates.”

“I think I’ll get along fine. I’m relieved because I was feeling so guilty, wanting to be around you both… part of you both. It was lonely.”

“Ah, I see… it won’t be so lonely anymore, Hinata would hardly stand for that.”

At the mention of Hinata, Kindaichi’s heart began to sink. “What’s he going to think when he finds out? Do you think he’ll be disappointed?”

“What’s with that?” Tsukishima snickered. “He’s going to be obnoxiously happy if anything. Seriously, you should brace yourself for a tidal wave of affection.”

“I hope so, that sounds nice.” He smiled at the thought of it, Hinata’s blinding smile and aggressive hugs. He was almost used to it already, having several soulmate dreams that consisted of Hinata’s affection, whether they were making love or not. It was just a part of who he was. 

“Hey, I’m here too,” Tsukishima said, narrowing his eyes. 

Kindaichi chuckled and leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Tsukishima’s. “I know. I’m glad you are,” he murmured, wrapping his arm around Tsukishima’s waist to pull him in tighter. Tsukishima’s lips parted with a soft gasp, all the coolness in his gaze replaced with a strange vulnerability. Tsukishima probably hated to feel like that, but Kindaichi loved it. He thought it was sexy.

Warm breath tickled across Kindaichi’s lips, inciting him to flick his tongue over them. Tsukishima gulped as he glanced down at them, cocking his head slightly to line them up.

The door swung open suddenly, slamming against the wall and startling them both.

“There you guys are, they’re all wait—” Hinata started and froze, gaping at them in shock. 

Kindaichi’s heart went haywire, guilt wracking his every thought.

What the hell was I thinking?! Hinata doesn’t know that I’m his soulmate, he probably thought— shit, what am I going to do? This wasn’t how he was supposed to find out, what must he think of me? It’s going to take so long for him to forgive me, maybe I should—

“I knew it!” Hinata shouted, jerking a finger in Kindaichi’s direction. “I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!” he repeated as he sped through the bathroom and grabbed Kindaichi’s arm. To Kindaichi’s overwhelming relief, he didn’t seem angry in the slightest. 

“Calm down, can’t you see you scared him shitless?” Tsukishima growled, digging his fingers into the top of Hinata’s head.

“Ouch, Stupidshima! Can you blame me? We finally found him and we— Hey! Why do you get to kiss him first?”

“Because you’re too slow.”

“Wait, wait,” Kindaichi said, rubbing his forehead that was beginning to ache. “Hinata, you said you knew? Since when?!”

“The other day when you were encouraging me about Kageyama! You touched my shoulder and hggnnnn you have such a nice grip, it reminded me instantly of a couple of dreams. And then you spoke in my ear in that voice,” Hinata whined, covering his face as his cheeks grew pink. “You can’t do that, Kindaichi! I almost combusted.”

Tsukishima snorted and sputtered into his fist. “Yeah, that’s what I thought was happening.”

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to.”

“Are you apologizing for being too sexy for Hinata?”

“I… guess so?”

Tsukishima chuckled. “That’s cute,” he murmured and leaned in, brushing his lips over Kindaichi’s.

“Tsukishimaaaaa! Damn you!”

Kindaichi could feel Tsukishima’s lips curl up in a smile. Between that and Hinata grumbling and tugging at their arms, Kindaichi felt all his stress and worry melt away into nothing. They broke away from the kiss with chuckles tumbling after and turned to Hinata, who was pouting with his arms crossed in front of him.

Slipping away from Tsukishima, Kindaichi rubbed his hands over Hinata’s arms as he hovered over him. Like a switch, Hinata’s anger disappeared, and he stared up at Kindaichi with those big, pleading eyes.

Finally, Kindaichi thought, having Hinata’s undivided attention for once. He smiled as he dragged his hands up Hinata’s arms and gently cradled his face.

“Well, Hinata? I’m right here, at your disposal.”

Hinata’s body shivered suddenly and Kindaichi wondered if he accidentally did the voice. He leaned forward at the same time Hinata lifted himself on his toes, gulping in anticipation. His lips were warm when they touched, his small hands gripping into the front of Kindaichi’s shirt. Although Hinata pressed deep into the kiss with a sigh, it was softer than Kindaichi imagined it would be. It was sweet and perfect, but he couldn’t wait to do more. 

Hinata pulled away from him with a gasp, his eyes flying open. “We’re late! You need to get changed, everyone’s already started!”

Kindaichi yelped as he was dragged out of the bathroom, leaving his bathroom stuff behind. He was already across the hall and nearly to their dorm room when he glanced over his shoulder to see Tsukishima following, holding up his stuff so he could see it. It wasn’t what he imagined his first time would be, being stripped down by his soulmates. But seeing Hinata pause and gape at his shirtless torso for the first time made it all worth it. Tsukishima even snapped a picture of his reaction… and then one of Kindaichi for good measure.

“You never know,” Tsukishima said with a shrug as if that would properly explain his reasons. 

Kindaichi laughed and grabbed his shirt from Hinata’s clenched hands. He was certainly going to have his hands full with the pair of them. He couldn’t wait.