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Chapter Text

It first happens when Shouyou is fourteen– he is aware that he is dreaming and that the memory playing out in his mind does not belong to him. Instinctively his body moves down and his arms stretch out together in front of him, a volleyball hitting them seconds later. His vision focuses on the man who had thrown the ball his way, and he feels sad, even though he doesn’t recognize him, yet. He then wakes up, cold in sweat, almost hyperventilating. Shouyou understands, he puts a hand over his chest, trying to decelerate his hurried heart– he has a soulmate, and he has just experienced a memory of them.

The second time it happens Shouyou is still fourteen– he is taken by surprise this time, and doesn’t quite get it until he wakes up. He is running, and he is a little afraid, but also angry. He doesn’t quite understand why he is running in a school gym, but he is somewhat relieved it is a volleyball court he is making laps around. He is tired, so he stops suddenly, just to be tackled by someone who was running behind. Was he following me? He is fighting this other boy who had been chasing him around, and doesn’t quite hear the words he is screaming or what the other boy is screaming, and he doesn’t quite see the boy who is fighting him, but he does understand the coach yelling “Twins, stop it!” before he wakes up.

Shouyou is confused, his hand once again over his chest, trying to console his terrified heart- does he have another soulmate?

And, well, soulmates exist; a by-product of many things, evolution, change of the chemical composition of the ozone, microplastics– scientists don’t actually know. Soulmates haven’t been around for all that much time, nor are they common. Though their number increases every day, they are still an anomaly of some kind, one-in-a-million type of situation. Almost embarrassing, corny even. And though cases are rare, when they do exist, they always find each other, and naturally, they get married. It’s not that they are obligated to do so, of course, but it seems like that’s what their nature inspires them to do.

You will know you have a soulmate if you dream a memory of them. There’s no real pattern on when these dreams start or how often you have them, but they are always vivid– you feel exactly the way your soulmate did at that moment, and you see everything the way they saw it.

And so, that’s kind of how Shouyou Hinata knows that he has two soulmates. He dreams often of them, sometimes even more than once a week (which, according to a couple of google searches, that is more than the average once or twice per year other people with soulmates have reported), and the dreams feel differently, Shouyou understands it is because these two, they live differently.

It gets to a point that he knows whose memories he is dreaming about as soon as it starts.

For example,

Shouyou feels butterflies in his stomach one day. Well, in their stomach, you get it. His soulmate is watching someone at a distance. They are in a gym and volleyball nets are set up. The guy he is looking at is practicing jump serves, and from the way he feels like he’s going to pass out, Shouyou understands his soulmate has a crush. He finds it adorable and terrifying at the same time, for some reason. He walks towards the other boy and feels choked up.

“Oikawa-san, please show me the basics of a serve toss.”

He knows he is not smiling, but he feels bubbly. Like he will blurt out nonsense, caught up in the moment somehow. The other boy doesn’t respond right away, and is staring back with intensity. When he finally reacts, Shouyou sees him lifting his hand and moving dangerously towards his soulmate, stopped just in time by another boy who was (by chance, maybe) watching the scene develop from the back of the court. Shouyou is hit by a wave of sadness and disappointment, like never he has had to experience in his own life.

“Well, those are the survival instincts of a balloon,” Shouyou complains, after waking up from the memory.

He’s barely heard the voice of this soulmate, and their memories are usually things like eating and practicing volleyball. Lot’s of volleyball. He doesn’t complain about that, he feels like he is also in practice himself, and so he tries to incorporate some things he sees his soulmate do in his own everyday exercises. But he literally never sees them with friends- and this is one of the few times (if not the only time) where his soulmate spoke to someone else in a memory.

Shouyou calls this soulmate his lonely crow, and he worries for him.

And also,

Shouyou is filing his fingernails– he sits across some other boys on the edge of a volleyball court. “Today I played wonderfully,” the air in the room thickened with every word leaving Shouyou’s- I mean, his soulmate’s mouth.

“I could feel the ball leave my hands just as it was supposed to.” He got up and walked towards three boys sitting in a semicircle, “... I could also see the blockers very well.”

He stops, he feels a distinct kind of anger in him.

“Do ye have a problem with my sets?”

One of the boys is quick to respond, nervously. “No, there’s nothing wrong with them.”

“Then, why did ye not score us more points?”

Shouyou then feels a little drowsy, next thing he knows is he is swallowing rice and has who he has recognized as his soulmate’s brother, in front of him.

“The other ones hate yer ass.”

He struggles to talk with so much food in his mouth. “Amph so what?”

His soulmate’s twin frowns and huffs, “I’ll never be like ya.”

Shouyou wakes up with his fingers sored, as if he had been practicing drills all night, and his head hurts, too.

Most of the dreams Shouyou has of this soulmate end up the same- Osamu, his soulmate’s twin brother, either hitting his soulmate or avoiding a hit by his soulmate. This soulmate also plays lots of volleyball, but from the one or two times he has seen memories inside a classroom, he guesses he is at least one year older than Shouyou, and he’s almost the polar opposite to his lonely crow in most things. He talks and cries a lot, and fights with this brother a lot more. Shouyou can’t imagine ever screaming at Natsu the way his soulmate screams at Osamu– however, he knows it's never badly intentioned. His soulmate loves his brother like none other, and actually feels a bit jealous of how well they play volleyball together. And how well they get each other.

Shouyou calls this soulmate his witty fox, and he worries for him.

And so the life of Shouyou Hinata goes, he sleeps and he sees visions that don’t belong to him, and feels things that don’t belong to him, and even though it is tiring and frustrating– he also needs them. Like water to drink and air to breathe, he needs to live these memories, because those moments in the dead of the night, are the only ones he can share with his soulmates. And he longs for them, like he wishes to eat tamago kake gohan on any given day, like he wants to play volleyball forever.

But that’s okay, he will sorrow in his craving and he will survive. Shouyou gaslights himself into believing he doesn’t have any urges instigated by the dreams themselves. Damn them, his best friends, his worst enemies.

So Shouyou Hinata continues life as normal, he pretends he doesn't care about the concept of soulmates, and he uses his free time to practice volleyball. When he finally gets a chance to play a real game at the middle school volleyball tournament, he loses, and he meets someone.

He thinks he is high on adrenaline or that his breath was taken away by something in the boy in front of him, but Shouyou promises a stranger his life. He promises and he cries and he tells this boy, who they call King of the court, that he will defeat him one day.

Later, Shouyou is in his room and he feels embarrassed. Why did he say all that? If it's true that he is one to wear his heart on his sleeve and he’s not shy to say what he thinks, isn’t it unfair to promise something that belongs to someone else? He feels roped around these people he doesn’t know, a crow and a fox, both with anger issues, people he is going to make sure he never meets so that they’ll never know about his dreams.

He sighs and closes his eyes. He can promise his life to whoever he wants, then.

Months later, as he tries to live a life to achieve those same promises he made outside of a court, he goes to Karasuno high school to join their volleyball club. He is immediately surprised by the presence of that same boy he pledged to, his name spoken with familiarity in his mouth, Tobio Kageyama.

You see, Tobio is obstinate and frustrating to deal with, but an amazing setter nonetheless. So Shouyou puts up with Tobio– and they actually click very well together. Besides their freak quick attack, Shouyou learns that everything with Tobio comes naturally to him. Yeah, let’s stay later to run a few more drills; of course, I’ll go to your house so that we study together; I’ve also never kissed anyone… you want me to be your first? Okay, sure, you’re my best friend after all, why wouldn’t I do that with you!

And yes, he still gets dreams, but funnily enough most of them have been of the fox lately. Shouyou is too busy with Tobio to be thinking about that, it’s whatever. He’s got other things to worry about– like, he knows what having a crush feels like, he’s felt it before through his soulmates, but Shouyou realizes he’s never had that feeling of his own, and feels bad because he should be feeling the butterflies and dizziness and dryness of mouth and loss of breath and many other health problems associated with falling in love whenever he is with or thinks about Tobio. But he doesn’t. And it’s weird, because Shouyou does not want to spend time with anybody else than Tobio Kageyama.

Shouyou is struggling to put name to his feelings, and finding where the fuck do they hide the line between friendship and something more, when Karasuno makes it to Spring Nationals. He’s excited for the games, of course, and he’s also excited to be spending so much time with his friends– especially with Tobio, of course. But life has comedic timing, and on the first night of the tournament, as they are reviewing who will be their next opponent (Inarizaki high school), Shouyou’s heart stops for a second as he recognizes Osamu Miya on the screen Coach Ukai is playing videos of their matches.

So, Shouyou starts thinking, trying to stay as calm and composed as he can, if Osamu is here, then so must his foxy soulmate. He hears the name leave Coach Ukai’s lips and it immediately imprints onto his heart.

“... but the one that will cause more problems is that one who knows how to use his spikers. The setter, Astsumu Miya. Kageyama must have seen him at camp…”

He feels Tobio hold onto his hand tight, as they continue to talk about the rival they would face the next day– Shouyou’s soulmate included by the way. He feels a little dizzy and the high from winning the first game had been changed to something dark and heavy. Shouyou shakes his head and tries to focus on today, on the sensation of Tobio’s hand on his, of winning the game against Inarizaki tomorrow. He shakes his head again and remembers that he promised his life already, and that his soulmates are not supposed to know about him, anyway.

That night he fights to find sleep, and when he does, he dreams.

He’s cold. No, his soulmate is. Not Atsumu. Shouyou recognizes the street he is standing on, it’s the road that comes down from Karasuno, the route that he and the rest of the team takes to Sakanoshita to buy buns after practice. His soulmate holds a paper bag in his hands. He is scared and anxious, but in this memory Shouyou’s soulmate seems to be so happy, it’s hard to keep track of all that he is feeling. Or his soulmate is feeling. Or both.

He hears a voice at a distance, approaching quickly, the sound of a bicycle with the voice.

“Hey! Wait up! Couldn’t you wait 60 more seconds? Stingyama-kun. Can’t trust you no more!”

Shouyou is horrified, staring at himself, while his soulmate is warming up on the face and chest, sugar cooking up his heart and thoughts.

His soulmate grabs onto his head and almost caresses through his curls. “If I had waited even one more second, the curry buns would’ve been sold out, dumbass!”

Shouyou’s soulmate feels like smiling, but isn’t. Shouyou remembers from his own memory what happens next– he is handed a bag with the last meat bun and he eats it happily, while struggling to walk and push himself slowly on the bike.

From his soulmate’s perspective, he walks behind Shouyou, purposefully, his vision lingering on his hair, his shoulders, his cheeks as they change in size, being stuffed with food. He remembers this feeling from memories in the past, he has a crush. But much more. Heavy on the stomach, but also a boost. Like being hit with a bright sunray. Full of energy, tiring and burdensome.

They walk past Sakanoshita, where some members of the club are still buying snacks. Shouyou feels his soulmate’s head turning to their teammates as they say goodbye when he catches his reflection on one of the vending machines.

His lonely crow was none other than the once-stranger who he had willingly promised his life to, Tobio Kageyama.

Shouyou wakes up gasping. He covers his mouth and turns to see Tobio sleeping profoundly on the futon next to his, leaning towards his side, of course. He gets up slowly and silently, hoping not to wake up anyone in the room. When he finally makes it to the bathroom, Shouyou cries. He rubs his eyes too hard; life is unfair and has the shittiest timing ever. Not only has he learned the identity of the people he was supposed to never meet, he is best friends with one of them, and he will meet the other one in a volleyball match the following day.

He freezes for a second and wonders if his relationship with Tobio was genuine– ever. Does everything click because of the promise they made each other or because they are inevitably tangled together, whether they like it or not? Was their promise sincere even? It didn’t matter how Shouyou felt about soulmates and his particular situation in hand, the mere idea of losing Tobio to his pride was unbearable, so he desists all. This was a problem for future Shouyou. Today’s Shouyou had a Tobio to cuddle tonight, an Atsumu to defeat tomorrow, and volleyball to play for the rest of his life.

With the same stealth, but a much calmer heart, Shouyou returns to his futon, and Tobio spreads over half of it. He settles easily with his friend’s body between his limbs and he realizes that the way they fit so well together almost feels unnatural. He forces his eyes closed and coerces his mind to conciliate sleep.

Formalities fly by the next day- he now stands face to face with Atsumu Miya and he wishes it was his mind playing games with him, but he does feel it. There’s that itch– similar to what he feels with Tobio, but not quite the same. But he knows it is there.

When Karasuno hits Inarizaki with their famous freak quick attack during the first set of the second round of the Spring High Tournament, performed by Tobio Kageyama and Shouyou Hinata, Shouyou sees a spark appear in Atsumu’s eyes, and feels the air between him and Tobio change somehow.

If a person’s essence could be seen out of their body, Shouyou imagines that his, Tobio’s and Atsumu’s would be holding onto each other, across the net, from one corner of the court to the next, a woven thread. It doesn’t feel messy, not the kind of knot that could choke you and constrain your breathing; but much more like a braid, like it’s meant to keep you together and safe, rather than hurt you. Shouyou distrusts his heart as much as he does his mind, so he forgets about that on behalf of winning the game.

And they do, they win. Shouyou’s last jump in the match was one made purely out of instinct, something in his guts telling him to do it, something in his heart telling him Tobio would do it too. Then, they fight about it, of course. I blocked that ball, not true– I blocked that ball you dumbass! And Shouyou doesn’t stop voluntarily to look on the other side of the net, because he thinks he feels it before it happens,

“One day I will set for you,” accompanied by a pointing finger, and a promise that Shouyou’s heart needs but does not want. A promise that feels bittersweet and it's tearing him apart. It was now clear in Shouyou’s mind. He has two soulmates, but he has none at all.

That night, as the first years are taking a bath, Shouyou mindlessly wanders in the water, happy to be able to stay on the court for longer, and continue to fulfill his word to Tobio; but also overwhelmed with everything that he has learned in the past 24 hours.

He thinks about Atsumu and what he promised. To Shouyou, they are also fated, sure. But how much is destiny playing a part in his name? After meeting Atsumu today, and feeling what he felt sharing a space with both Tobio and Atsumu, Shouyou is confident, he needs them both like he needs food everyday to survive. They exist like waves crashing on shore, prescribed by nature, breaking energy with every move.

Tadashi materializes next to him, waking Shouyou from his thoughts.

“Doing okay Hinata? You got silent suddenly,” his eyebrows arched in worry.

“No– I mean, yea. I’m okay,” Shouyou stumbled on his words and was cursing himself for it. “Yamaguchi, how do you know you love Tsukishima?”

Tadashi coughs so hard he starts choking on air. Shouyou was confused, their relationship has been public for years for all he knows.

“Oh– I’m. Well, haha.” Tadashi fights his throat and groans a little before answering Shouyou. “Are you wondering about what your feelings mean?”

Shouyou frowns. Well yes, but also– “sorta, I just feel like maybe I’m feeling something that is similar to something else… and I can’t tell them apart.”

“Ah, I see. Well, I think that when you love someone romantically, assuming that’s what you mean…” Tadashi continued as Shouyou nodded, “that person’s happiness is as important as your own, like the things, feelings or experiences you share with that person you can’t ever have with anyone else. Does that make sense?”

“Hmm, sure. Thanks Yamaguchi!”

Shouyou got up from the bath and started to get dressed, leaving the tub a little more confused than how he got in.

By those standards, Shouyou was in love with everyone in Karasuno’s volleyball club. And Nekoma’s probably. Don’t get him started with Fukurodani’s.

There’s unquestionably something different about the way he felt about Tobio and Atsumu, but Shouyou is not sure if he should call it romance. He loves all his friends just as much, he just feels fuller, much more Shouyou Hinata when he is near either of them. Today’s match was just that times a thousand– their presence combined amplified the feeling.

He shakes his head and goes to bed uneasily. His head hurts and lives through another restless night full of dreams, memories he now recognizes before they play in his mind, from a perspective outside of his own.

The next day Karasuno plays Nekoma and wins, again. Shouyou silently thanks his soulmate connection with Tobio. Whether Tobio knows of it or not, Shouyou thinks it has much to do with how he was able to stop all of Kenma’s efforts to shoot him down as a spiker. But every feeling and thought badly stored in Shouyou’s heart and mind take a toll on him, and he breaks down in a fever during their next game.

Shouyou hates that his body can’t resist this, but hates more the fact that Tobio knew and felt the same all along. “He has a fever, doesn't he? His hands are hot,” Tobio says as professor Takeda reminds Shouyou that life, as in volleyball, there’s much more at play than luck. He must sow to reap. Before leaving for the hospital with Yachi, Shouyou wonders if Atsumu is somewhere in the gymnasium. He wonders if he can feel it, too.

Shouyou hates to know that Atsumu probably feels it, too.

Karasuno loses that game, and Shouyou feels like he loses too, when later, as Tobio sits across the hallway from him and smiles while he tries not to choke, eating and crying.

“What are you smiling about?” Shouyou asks, half sobbing.

“I think I love you, isn’t that the craziest thing ever?” Tobio says, words slipping off his lips smoothly, it soothes Shouyou.

Shouyou’s heart races and he is left speechless, doe eyes shining with the imminent threat of a crash.

“Oi, Hinata,” Tobio snaps him out of it. “I’ve been having dreams.”

Oh, no.

“I think Atsumu Miya is my soulmate.”

So it’s true, Shouyou thinks. He has two soulmates, but he has none at all.

Chapter Text

I hope you are not thinking about Tobio's confession. Performing an open-heart surgery without any experience probably is less distressing than this situation. After dropping it on Shouyou, as if it was nothing, as if he was just retelling some old volleyball match he watched on TV some days ago, he continued to talk normally.

And Shouyou, well, he played along.

He loved Tobio, oh Shouyou knew that much. But he also felt scared. As a reminder, he loves all his friends– but that was exactly why the dreams and knowing Tobio’s feelings and seeing his memories was much more agitating to Shouyou. He settled on this, then: he is probably the problem at hand, and therefore he shouldn’t take Tobio’s confession as a call to action.

So, even though Shouyou changes absolutely nothing about his relationship with Tobio– he does correct people when they call them partners. Erhm, romantic partners, that is. Boyfriends if you will. They are not that. They kiss and they cuddle when they stay over each other’s house, which is often, and they hold hands sometimes– every time Shouyou is caught in surprise by the action. He does not do it consciously, of course. And yeah, they practice together, but that’s the very least everyone expects of them. But no, they are not dating. Shouyou reminds everyone in their life constantly about it, and Tobio, who seems to not understand the concept of social interpersonal perception, doesn’t correct him.

They start their second year at Karasuno, and on the side, Shouyou keeps track of Inarizaki. He learns that Atsumu is this year’s captain, and though he virtually does not know Atsumu at all, he feels proud every once in a while. He also feels guilty about it; unconsciously Tobio tells Shouyou about Atsumu– what he dreams, what they text about (since they seem to be in a texting-each-other-every-week type of relationship), what Tobio likes and dislikes about the way Atsumu plays, and his way of being in general, etc.

Tobio is not one to be talking much, but after the winter break of their second year at Karasuno high school, Tobio Kageyama wouldn’t shut up about all Atsumu Miya was about during that year’s National Youth Training Camp.

“... and then I tried doing the freak quick with him, but this time with him setting for me, it was impressive that we did that after not training with each other for so long, you know?” Tobio’s eyes sparked, it made Shouyou sick. He wasn’t jealous of Atsumu’s effect on Tobio, that was inevitable. He was jealous of Tobio for being able to hang out with Atsumu for a whole week.

“Yeah, yeah, and then you did it a couple hundred times, alternating. Right? Don’t get me wrong, I like hanging out with you, Kageyama-kun, but this is like the 30th time you tell me this story,” Shouyou fought the urge to roll his eyes.

Tobio pouted. “He told me he would win the next time he played against us.”

A shiver ran through Shouyou’s body, he frowned, determined to prove him wrong.

“I'd like to see him try.”

Inarizaki wins over Karasuno in the third round of the Spring High National tournament that year. If anything, Shouyou was expecting sparks and a little electricity flowing in and through the court, not a thunderstorm. Even though he felt just as overwhelmed as he was last year, he enjoyed the fire he felt vibrating within him with every interaction he had with Tobio or Atsumu, and even with every glance Atsumu threw Tobio’s way, or any comment Tobio made about Atsumu.

After the game, Tobio was held back immediately by reporters. He kept catching the public eye, and Shouyou understood why. No, yeah, he’s not my boyfriend, but I know the guy is good looking. And a genius of a setter.

So as Shouyou was cooling off and stretching with the rest of his losing team, he was caught off guard when Atsumu Miya approached him, walking awkwardly amongst the Karasuno players who were giving a stink eye.

“That’s still one hell of a quick, Shouyou-kun…” Atsumu starts saying. He didn’t ask Shouyou anything before helping him stretch by pressing onto his back as he spread out on the floor. The touch made Shouyou quiver for half a second, then it felt familiar, almost nostalgic.

“Well, we try to stay in shape, you know,” Shouyou keeps stretching, not giving Atsumu the chance to feel welcomed in the conversation, but he thinks it’s too late for that anyways.

Atsumu helps Shouyou get up and when they are face to face, Atsumu bows politely before opening his mouth again.

“It’s been fun to play against ya, and my promise still remains. One day I’ll set for ya.”

Shouyou tried not to think about the way Atsumu felt at that moment, because yes, he has dreamed of it from at least two different perspectives, and has had innumerable nightmares about it from his own point of view. He knows Atsumu’s words are not thin, he knows that his whole stomach and his whole heart and his whole strength was put into that oath, and that saddens Shouyou.

“Do you believe in destiny, Sho-kun?”

“Hmm, what do you mean?” Shouyou felt like he was about to die. He better not mention dreams, or soulmates. Or Tobio.

Atsumu laughs, “Oh, nothing really. When I see ya on the court it just feels right. Like I’m meant to see ya,” he sighs for God knows how long, Shouyou has been holding his breath the whole time.

What the hell?

“I mean, I also feel like we would play very well together, Atsumu-san. But I don’t know if I’d go as far as saying that is fated, s-sorry.” Shouyou felt anxious, it killed him to say that, but he needed to maintain distance between him and Atsumu, because how do you even start to explain this shit? Enough with playing house with Tobio back in Miyagi, he can’t begin a situationship with his other soulmate.

As if Shouyou had called him with his mind, Tobio comes into the room they are in, and Shouyou sees Atsumu tense up, but he quickly masks it up with a smirk.

“See ya, Tobio-kun, Sho-kun. I’ll be waiting for ya both in Division 1.”

Shouyou feels Atsumu’s absence as soon as he turns away from them. He looks at Tobio and realizes he does, too.

When they are back home and fall back into their routine, Shouyou decides to interrupt it. Sorry I can’t come over this weekend, my mom needs me for something. I told Chibana from my class I’d stay later with him to study for our geography test- no, you can’t join. What if we practiced some drills with Yamguchi and Tsukishima too?

Little by little, Shouyou took steps away from Tobio, and then dug a chasm between them. And then he left the bridge-building job to Tobio.

Hitoka looked weary the one time she approached Shouyou to ask about it.

“What’s with the cold treatment all of the sudden? I know my opinion hasn’t been requested, but are you going to start worrying until it inevitably affects Kageyama-kun’s playing?”

Shouyou hadn’t been scolded by Hitoka ever. Tobio is having bad days, Shouyou thought. He knows first hand how draining it is to miss Tobio- that and add all the recent dreams with memories of him drowning in disappointment. Shouyou knows the pain Tobio is going through right now, he has felt it, too.

“I’m sorry, Yachi-san. Maybe I’m taking too many precautions, but I’m drawing boundaries for both of our sakes.” Shouyou hoped Hitoka could stop worrying about them. He was sure that soon Tobio would do something about his relationship with Atsumu, and then he would be at the top of his game, again. Shouyou needed Tobio and Atsumu to find each other.

Hitoka sighs, “I guess you guys were not ever really together, then.” She looks into Shouyou’s eyes and squints before walking again.

Shouyou sighs, too, and thinks of what will be of him once his two soulmates realize they are each others’. And so, Tobio grows a little apart from Shouyou.

It makes Shouyou happy to see Tobio in Atsumu’s social media posts often, just as they are finishing their second year. They seem to be putting an effort to see each other often, and as Shouyou predicted, Tobio is back to his full self– at least volleyball-wise.

He is scrolling through instagram when he laughs at the sight of Osamu’s face looking annoyed at the camera, with Atsumu and Tobio just talking through a net standing in an empty gym in the background. The caption was ‘do they know they can exist outside of a court’ and Shouyou responds in his head, no. He has seen this moment in his dreams from both perspectives, and it was quite sweet. Tobio had been invited along with the rest of the National Youth Training camp attendees, Atsumu included, to a set of try outs that would bring them a step closer to becoming Olympians. On the way back, he stopped by Hyogo for a day; Atsumu was about to graduate, and in Shouyou’s mind, this was their celebration.

Atsumu took Tobio to see their gym, and they did some drills together, naturally. While a lot of people knew about Atsumu’s interest in Tobio since they played against each other in Shouyou’s first Nationals tournament, no one predicted Tobio actually would humor him into accepting Atsumu’s attempts. Shouyou knew Atsumu was nervous, and Tobio felt quite expectant. With each drill they came close together, until standing face to face. Atsumu cleared his throat before speaking.

“When ye were little, uhm, did yer sister cut yer hair so badly that it made yer mom cry when she see ya?” He was looking at the floor between them while he spoke, quickly, anxiously.

Tobio’s heart beat fast, Shouyou could feel it in his own chest, “y-yeah, when I was like four. How- how do you know that?”

“Tobio-kun, have ye been having dreams that feature Samu, perhaps?” He grinned, trying to play it cool.

It worked enough to make Tobio smile, and it made Shouyou laugh.

“Glad to finally meet you, soulmate.” Tobio held his hand out to Atsumu under the volleyball net of Inarizaki’s gym. Atsumu shook it, and then held it softly between both of his.

“It’s an honor to dream your memories.” Atsumu smiled, and both of them blush from head to toe, Shouyou woke up sweating every time he dreamed about it. It was all too warm, and it made him happy, and so undeniably jealous, but not in a way that you or I would suspect. He just missed his soulmates.

And with that, you and I might expect that it would be fine– I mean Atsumu and Tobio were a couple, for all that it mattered, and even though some nights were restless for Shouyou (dreaming and all that,) he was happy that his soulmates were together. It was as if it was good for him too. But Shouyou knew he was hiding behind his own feelings and memories and dreams he had yet to tell anyone about, so of course, it was not fine.

It was the summer of their third year, Shouyou doesn’t quite avoid Tobio, but everyone that knows them knows that they had a bit of a fall out. They get better at volleyball every day, stronger together and stronger by themselves, but otherwise they are not as close anymore. Their first-year juniors would look at you all confused and weirded out if you tell them about how the whole team thought Shouyou and Tobio were dating in their first year. And I get it, really. Atsumu and Tobio have this thing when they are together, when they walk together, when they talk to each other, even if they play against each other– it just makes sense. Shouyou gets it, too. He gets it better than any of us.

They are in Tokyo, training at summer camp, when Shouyou, who is not quite avoiding Tobio, goes for a run early in the morning. Earlier than he ever does, but not because he doesn’t want to bump into anyone or anything. He’s not even 500 meters into it, when he hears footsteps approaching, and Tobio appears on his periphery, teasing him by getting ahead by a step or two every once in a while.

Blame Shouyou, he’s just a guy, and he lets himself get drowned in it, and they end up running up a hill, lost, a little dehydrated, but with the most beautiful sight of Tokyo either of them have experienced. They sit on a bench, catching their breath, and Shouyou quickly realizes he’s fallen into a trap.

“I’ve stopped having dreams.”

Oh, Shouyou knows. He has seen them. Tobio twitching underneath Atsumu’s touch, sweat falling along their faces, the air thick and a feeling in the gut that Shouyou has never felt outside his soulmates’ visions.

“Congratulations, I guess,” Shouyou says absent-mindedly. He feels bitter and he feels green and greedy but not for reasons you and I would think. He remembers the first time he felt that way, when he dreamed a memory of him and Tobio making out late, after practice inside their club room. Shouyou liked kissing Tobio because it meant spending time with Tobio, but he wished it could be for so much more than that, like it was for Tobio.

Tobio huffs, then laughs. “You know, I thought one day I’d fall asleep and dream about your room, I’d be a little confused at first, why am I suddenly waking up at Hinata’s?”

Shouyou loves and hates where this is going.

“But then my body would’ve gotten up on its own and I’d be getting ready for school and dumb orange curls would get into my field of vision and as I’m about to leave, Natsu would jump on my back yelling have a good day at school, onii-chan!” Shouyou couldn’t help the smile on his face– Tobio’s imitation of Natsu was horrible.

Tobio laughs again, “instead I kept fighting Osamu-san, and one time cried over not being able to stay at practice because I was sick– well, Atsumu was sick.”

Shouyou stares at Tobio who stares at the sky and corrects him in his mind. Atsumu cried because of how considerate his captain was, dumbass.

He feels shell-shocked and considers what to say. So Shouyou just laughs it off, “didn’t know you liked me this much, Kageyama-kun!”

Tobio looks serious, he turns at Shouyou who is a couple seconds away from crying. He dreads the days he will dream about this moment from Tobio’s perspective.

“Neither did I.”

Time didn’t stop, so neither did they. Atsumu went to become a starter setter for the MSBY Black Jackals almost immediately as he was recruited into the team. Shouyou knew he was serious when he had said that he would be waiting in division 1. It made him sick how happy he was. Karasuno got third place in the nation a little before Shouyou and Tobio were about to graduate.

And that is how on a random morning of March, Shouyou Hinata stands in front of Tobio Kageyama and Atsumu Miya (who had traveled all the way from Osaka just for the occasion,) and tells them he is leaving to go to Brazil. Shouyou was happy that his soulmates were together, but he still remembered the promises he made years ago, and he still loved volleyball, and he still needed to get better, and he also needed to get used to living through their memories and nothing more. So he needs the distance.

Never mind minutes later, when Tobio serves a ball for the last time in Karasuno’s gym, just for Shouyou to receive it perfectly, and Atsumu to witness the scene from the side of the court.

“See you later, Kageyama-kun!” Shouyou smiled, thinking about the dreams he will have about this moment.

“Yeah, see you later,” Tobio smiled at Shouyou and then at Atsumu, thinking about the next time he’d share court with both of them.

Well, what do you think happened next? Yes, the tabloids would talk about the power couple Atsumu and Tobio were, and how they were suspected to be literal soulmates, and how they made volleyball so much more interesting now, playing in different teams. Pictures of Atsumu kissing Tobio’s hand on a date night out, of Tobio wearing Atsumu’s jersey on a MSBY game, of them going to Olympic practices together, paparazzi feeds from young lovers like them. You’re probably wondering, what about Shouyou? He slowly learns portuguese and spanish, he learns to cook meals for one (maybe two, if his roommate Pedro was around,) he tans under the sun when he plays beach volleyball and rides a bike around a city he doesn’t know to deliver food he can’t say the name of correctly yet.

Despite all the propaganda surrounding the volleyball hotshot setter couple, Shouyou knew there was something going on, because well, he can’t not know. When Tobio and Atsumu had recently found out about being each other’s soulmates were moments that could only be described as filling and abundant, right now Shouyou felt quite the opposite as he lived more recent memories of them through his dreams.

This creates conflicts in Shouyou’s mind. He’s thousands of kilometers away from Atsumu and Tobio, and these dreams are the only thing he has kept of them. Dreams that are to him like friends. They keep him company when he can’t bring himself to reach out to anyone (locally or digitally,) they remind him that despite it all, there’s two people back home that he will be eternally connected to, even if one-sided.

Lately, though, the dreams have been… weird. You see, anyone that personally knows Tobio Kageyama knows that he doesn’t really give a fuck about what other people think about him (or about his relationship with Atsumu, for that matter,) but there are times when Shouyou closes his eyes and as soon as he starts to see the world through Tobio’s eyes, there’s this poignant and revolting feeling that travels through his veins and is stored later in his chest. It took Shouyou a while to understand what it was, but he realized Tobio feels like a fake. It seems like some of their appearances together as a couple seemed to be staged– or at least planned to a degree.

He can’t really tell what is going on from Atsumu’s perspective, most of his dreams revolve around Olympic preparations, and even though Atsumu knows that he is third maybe even fourth in the list of setters to represent Japan in Rio de Janeiro, if you asked Shouyou, it seemed like Atsumu was exerting himself in ways he had never seen before, not even when he was on the watch to become a player for MSBY.

So, what happens a little after might sound a little counterproductive. Shouyou grabs his phone on the night that the Olympics start, he scrolls far back a couple of months, maybe even a whole year, and finds his conversations with Tobio. Last few things they had talked about were about Shouyou’s apartment in Brazil, and how it was hard to connect with his roommate, and how Tobio had to move to Tokyo to play with the Adlers and how Atsumu would come every weekend and how he loved Osamu’s onigiri.

Me

hey yamayama! r u ready for the olympics? It’s so weird that we are in the same time zone right now

Shouyou thinks he probably should’ve not send that message. If you were to ask me, which you haven’t, I also think it wasn’t the best idea. In any way, Shouyou is logical at best when it comes to his soulmates. Crazy at worst.

Tobio leaves him on read for a good whole day, and Shouyou is surprised by the text he receives instead.

fox soulmate

Shoyo-kun! I hope the beach is treating you well. Hope to see you soon back in Japan.

And get ready, I’m still setting for you someday.

Shouyou knows the day Tobio and Atsumu land on Brazil– soulmate connection or some mystical shit he can’t explain and can’t be bothered to look up; and for the entirety of the time they are there, Shouyou does not feel at ease, except from the few moments after he sent that text message to Tobio until a little after he got the text from Atsumu.

He tries not to think about it, but worries even if just a little.

The Olympics start and finish, team Japan packs and leaves Brazil, leaving Shouyou feeling the distance between and his soulmates even more present than before. He is aware that he is in Rio to become stronger and further fulfill both the promises that exist between him and his soulmates. He is set to defeat Tobio in a pro court, and the amount of emails he had received from MSBY representatives upon hearing of his desire to return to Japan, might as well mean that Atsumu will be setting for him after all.

A few more months fly by Shouyou, and in the blink of an eye he is Osaka, wearing the black MSBY uniform, and sharing lockers with Koutarou Bokuto, Kiyomi Sakusa, legends from his high school days, and, oh– of course. Atsumu Miya.

“So, Shouyou-kun, how was yer first week with the Jackals?” Atsumu lays his back on a closed locker so he can face Shouyou who is putting on a fresh shirt after coming out of the showers.

He feels giddy sharing space with Atsumu like this. He feels like he shouldn’t, though. “Oh, it’s been great, Atsumu-san. Thanks to you and the rest of the team, I feel super integrated in the team already!”

Shouyou was good at talking, phew, thank God for that. Hopefully Atsumu doesn’t read into that.

They were the only two left behind after practice at this point. And it was getting a little late. “Honestly, ye make it so easily, y’know? It feels almost instinctive to play with you– not to mention how comfortable it is talking to ya,” Atsumu surely could be quite charming when he wanted too. It’s not the first time Shouyou seen this side of Atsumu, but it is always from Tobio’s memories instead of his own perspective.

Atsumu continued smiling at Shouyou as he spoke, “since we don’t have practice tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to go out for some drinks, what ya think? Welcome to MSBY Black Jackals drinks!” He crossed his arms and smirked.

Shouyou’s mouth spoke yes, before his mind or his heart had any time to process the question. So then we find Shouyou Hinata and Atsumu Miya, stellar starting players of the MSBY Black Jackals, sharing some drinks in the back of a small bar near their gym. He feels more lightheaded with every word Atsumu says and every sip he takes from his cup, Shouyou realizes he is stepping on dangerous territory and that he shouldn’t confuse dreams with reality.

So he chugs half of his third drink and calls it a night, feeling deflated when he sees Atsumu’s sad face when they say goodbye and falls asleep immediately after getting back to his apartment.

The dream starts abruptly and it scares Shouyou, but he realizes quickly he is seeing a memory from Atsumu. He must be at a hotel, or a convention center, a place of that nature, and he has Tobio in front of him, looking distressed, a phone in his hand. Both of them dress Team Japan attire, so they must be at an Olympic event. At first Shouyou can’t make any words that come out of Tobio but then it clears up,

“I can’t keep living like this, Atsumu,” he sighed deeply, and a tear fell onto his cheek.

Shouyou feels his throat blocked, like he can’t breathe from all the things he is feeling right now, but even in that he reaches out to hold Tobio’s face and cleans the tears for him– Atsumu really is Tobio’s perfect soulmate.

“We need to wait a little longer, Tobio-kun… Sho-kun is…”

Shouyou wakes up screaming, drenched in sweat. Why were Atsumu and Tobio talking about him? He feels nervous and there’s something that builds up on the back of his throat.

He thinks that he should’ve probably never come back to Japan, and even less so, back to the ones he had once promised to never meet outside of his dreams.

Chapter Text

That weekend Shouyou spends miserable mornings with a dry mouth and heavy eyebags. He tries to make sense of what has happened so far since he moved back to Japan and started playing for the same team as one of his soulmates. If you don’t remember, no worries, here’s a recap,

Atsumu Miya invited Shouyou Hinata to a dat– not a date. Drinks. He invited Shouyou for drinks. Shouyou accepted (though he thinks he shouldn’t have.) Shouyou was having a great time until he felt a little too enchanted by Atsumu and decided it was time to call it quits.

That same night Shouyou goes home and doesn’t sleep– he dreams. He dreams of his soulmates fighting, crying and calling his name. He realizes some of those dreams are nightmares, but some of them are certainly memories.

And that’s it. I guess it wasn’t all that much, but after being in Osaka for less than two weeks, Shouyou thinks he has had enough already.

When Shouyou sees Atsumu again, they play incredibly well together, as always, as it was intended for them to do– but then he also showers super quickly, and sorta avoids bumping into Atsumu. The rest of the week he manages to work it the same way, and so Shouyou creates a routine. He wakes up, goes to train with the rest of the MSBY Black Jackals, eludes any attempt of Atsumu to have a conversation with him alone, he showers and goes back to his apartment.

Some weekends Shouyou goes back home– he sees his mom and Natsu, who is (to no one’s surprise) already getting ahead of Shouyou. He laughs, calls Pedro to not lose his Portuguese, invites Hitoka for lunch and sometimes Tadashi and Kei even come along. He dreams sometimes, yeah, but not anything again involving his soulmates fighting each other and crying out his name, thankfully.

The thing is, it only works for about a month and a half, and then the inevitable happens. The MSBY Black Jackals are scheduled to play against the Schweiden Adlers, and the awaited debut of Shouyou Hinata against none other than Tobio Kageyama is bound to happen. Shouyou is dreading it.

The day before the game, the whole team travels to Sendai, and they practice lightly at a local gym, when they let a few press members come in. After flooding Shouyou with questions about Brazil and about being back in Japan, they move to MSBY’s setter. Shouyou breaks his routine and stays particularly close to listen.

“It is not the first time you have to play against your beau, but what are your expectations for tomorrow night as you set across the net from Tobio Kageyama?” The journalist smirks as he speaks.

Atsumu huffs and smiles flirtingly at the camera, the way he moves and breathes makes this PR shit seem so easy, he’s too good at it, Shouyou thinks. “It’s never been a problem for me to play my absolute hardest against Tobio-kun, ya’ll know that,” his posture and tone become serious, suddenly, “but tomorrow night is not going to be about me and Tobio– there’s a much important reunion happening then…” Atsumu finds Shouyou from the corner of his eye, because of course Atsumu would spot Shouyou like that.

He feels flustered and his heart beats hard, like it’s trying to escape his chest. That Miya charm be damned.

“Oh, you mean Karasuno’s freak duo, huh? Doesn’t that little rivalry between them make you even the tiniest bit jealous?” Shouyou didn’t like the way this journalist was directioning this conversation. He knew he couldn’t intervene directly, but something in him wanted to do something drastic.

He is left a little speechless when he sees his soulmate not react, not even flinch at the words thrown his way, looking all smug and confident as he said,

“Why would I? My two favorite volleyball players in the whole world are playing each other, and I get to be part of it?” Atsumu leans into the mic slightly and stares at the camera. “If ya ask me, that’s pretty fucking awesome.”

Shouyou realizes he is tranced by Atsumu’s words when Koutaro has to literally shake him to get his attention.

“HI-NA-TA, do you mind practicing with me? I wanna try something with my serves…”

“Oh, sorry about that Bokuto-san! Of course, where do you need me?”

Atsumu does not bring up the interview, and Shouyou, being a professional-soulmate-avoider, also does not talk about it. Some of their coworkers complained about journalists coming into their practice, something about bringing the wrong kind of attention to the game, something about being distracted.

The team packs up into their bus and is dropped off at their accommodations, during the drive there Shouyou decided he would talk to Atsumu. Why? He wasn’t sure. It didn’t necessarily feel safe in his head, but it felt right in his heart. And that’s why we are seeing Shouyou Hinata pacing back and forth in front of Atsumu Miya’s room on a random Thursday in a cold Miyagi night.

In terms of his soulmate instincts, Shouyou has learned to contain them. Kinda. Think of it as teaching a dog to go potty. This puppy Shouyou keeps with him at all times, entertained at nights and well trained during the day. However, on this particular night Shouyou feels braver and lets his heart decide, so he releases the dog’s leash.

Shouyou knocks twice on Atsumu’s door. Atsumu answers immediately. Shouyou feels a little shell shocked and speechless, he’s never seen Atsumu like this, not outside of Tobio’s perspective anyway. Atsumu wears a fluffy headband with fox ears, his face looks fresh and smells like fresh laundry in the pajama set he wears that Shouyou recognizes is Tobio’s. He looks as surprised as Shouyou, holding a phone between his ear and his shoulder.

And Shouyou feels guilty. He wishes he could feel the flight of butterflies in his stomach and the lightness of head he has felt in Tobio’s memories before. He knows Atsumu is beautiful and pleasant, but his palms don’t sweat nor his heart races because of this. Don’t get him wrong, he loves Atsumu. Oh, how he loves Atsumu! He loves him and he loves Tobio, maybe in the same way you love your childhood cat, and in the same way you cared for your first best friend in kindergarten– but a little differently too. I don’t think I could explain it fully with words, and I’m sure Shouyou wouldn’t be able, either.

Think of Shouyou’s love like a spark, the start of a fire. It grows as he gets to know people more, and it warms you up, like sunlight in the spring; but with Atsumu and Tobio it was more like forest fire, a volcano eruption, all-consuming, never-ceasing, scorching-hot love. It made Shouyou’s face and chest heat up. But not in that way.

“Can ya hold for a second Tobio-kun, Sho-kun just showed up at my door…” Atsumu said into his phone.

“WHAT! HINATA!-” Shouyou couldn’t really make out what else Tobio was screaming through Atsumu’s phone.

Shouyou coughs awkwardly, suddenly remembering where he is and what things he let himself get carried away by. He hears Tobio’s faint voice still screaming through the phone that was now on one of Atsmu’s hands, and he freaks out. Just as he tries to turn around and walk away to his own room, Atsumu holds Shouyou’s arm with his free hand. Gently.

“Can I help ya with anything?” Atsumu says softly, his eyes fixed on Shouyou’s. It feels like amber burning into them.

Goosebumps run through Shouyou’s body and he feels an impulse to say things he has never had the nerve to even think about, so he lets his urges take over and almost screams in response, “I– I didn’t think you valued me so much as a player!.”

He covers his mouth immediately. Instinctively. His stomach hurts and he feels like throwing up.

And with tenderness like he never thought he’d experience in his own flesh, Atsmu pulls Shouyou towards himself, and sighs deeply as they embrace.

Atsumu whispers into Shouyou’s ear, tickling it with his breath and lips, “oh, you have no idea, Sho-kun.”

Then time seems to stop, just for a little while. Shouyou hears Tobio’s breathing coming from Atsumu’s phone; he coughs again, determined instead of awkwardly this time.

“Uh, I’ll see you both tomorrow,” he says as he peels off of Atsumu’s persevering arms. “Goodnight”

He doesn’t wait for a response before sprinting back to his room. He also doesn’t turn back to see Atsumu’s face.

Later that night, when Shouyou gets in bed, he turns and turns and turns again; the only thing that finally helps him find sleep is the sense of responsibility he feels from the match the next day. When he wakes up, he thanks the universe that there were no dreams to disturb him, but he also curses his existence when he sort of jumps on his seat on the bus that is going to take the MSBY team to Kamei Arena Sendai, when Atsumu sits next to him.

As nonchalant as ever, Atsumu just sits there, saying hello to whichever player is walking past him towards another seat, one earbud in, humming, looking away from his left, almost as if Shouyou wasn’t there. Shouyou, who has learned to observe his soulmates closely, knows that something is up. Atsumu’s left leg keeps bouncing and bumping into Shouyou’s right leg. Don’t think Shouyou is imagining things, but he knows that physical touch with his soulmates is recharging, even if it comes in “accidental” leg brushing.

Shouyou decides to be a little selfish again and ignores it, deciding to turn his face to watch outside the window. After the abrupt escape from last night, and the interruption of that hug, he needed this bit– for good luck in the game of course.

Once the bus was about ten to fifteen minutes into the trip, Atsumu finally looks at Shouyou, and Shouyou feels him, of course, and turns before Atsumu says a word.

“Any plans for tomorrow night, Sho-kun? I’m assuming Tobio-kun and y’all from Karasuno are getting together tonight, right?” Shouyou nods absentmindedly and lets Atsumu continue, “well, then, Tobio-kun and I were thinking,” Atsumu clears his throat, Shouyou has to stop himself from smiling at the sight of his soulmate flustered, “do ya wanna have dinner with us? At Tobio-kun’s house. I heard ye spent lots of time there together after school.”

Shouyou blinks a few times, staring at a blushed Atsumu, who is scratching the back of his head for longer than the average person would.

“We did spend a lot of time there together…” Shouyou extends the conversation, trying to avoid giving him a response– at least right away. He knew he’d say yes, I mean how could he not? Last night made him realize he missed his soulmates (and specially Tobio) much more than he’d like to admit. “His parents still live there?” He tried to sound casual.

“Ah, yes and no. The house is still a property of the Kageyma family, but for a while they've been living in an apartment in Tokyo instead. Closer to work, apparently.” Shouyou just nods (a little nervously, if you ask me.) He turns to face the window again.

“So, what do ya say, Sho-kun?” This time Atsumu gets a little closer to Shouyou, they could feel the warmth of each other’s faces once Shouyou turned to see him again. “We never really got time to hang out, the three of us. I know Tobio would greatly enjoy it as well.”

Damn Atsumu Miya and that smirk of his. Shouyou blows raspberries softly, then groans.

“Ugh, sure. Why not? I’ll drop by after having lunch with my mom and sister.” Shouyou intended to sound annoyed, but covered his face just in case he was blushing, or his excitement was bleeding unintentionally.

“Sounds good!” Atsumu looks satisfied, his leg stopped bouncing, but now it is intentionally stalled next to Shouyou’s. They spend the rest of the ride in silence, probably thinking about their match coming up– or their plans for tomorrow. Shouyou even might have been thinking about Tobio, I’ll let you be the judge of that. He gets off the bus quickly and is overwhelmed with familiarity. Shouyou Hinata is home.

The next few hours play in fast motion in front of Shouyou’s eyes. The adrenaline that came with playing a match was one thing, but then there was also this feeling underneath his skin, he was here with Atsumu and Tobio was somewhere in the building.

Ah, that. He was in the same place as both of his soulmates for the first time in years. He had forgotten how much electricity ran through him whenever that was the case.

Soulmate-ism and all, there were also all these promises and all these rivalries that would be revisited today after years of waiting. Forget Atsumu and Tobio (who had their own pledges with Shouyou), everyone in that arena probably had some kind of feud with Shouyou Hinata. Probably even you and I.

And so it goes, Shouyou bumps into Tobio on his way to the bathroom, because the bathroom is a place to meet your enemies,... and your soulmates. In this case, both. Atsumu is incredibly lively and playful, including Shouyou in some of his jesting towards Tobio, something the couple is known for if they are playing against each other.

Shouyou doesn’t have time to think for long enough about any of it to escape because he’s met with at least half of the people he played with or against in all his three years of high school. Don’t get me wrong, you see– if Shouyou has ever truly fallen in love, it has been with volleyball. He has spent so much of his teen years and early adulthood worrying or avoiding his soulmates, that he hasn’t realized how much his actual playing has gained him traction. It was the reason he was back in Japan, anyway. It was the reason there are so many known faces in the bleachers right now. So Shouyou thinks it’s okay to be selfish this one time. It’s okay if I let myself feel and act the way I want. Love brought me here, and I’m happy.

So he plays, and oh, so do his soulmates. The arena is hot all around, there’s sweat running down Shouyou’s skin as soon as he steps on the court, and he hopes with every breath he takes, that Atsumu and Tobio feel as sparked as he does, all the electricity and spikes suddenly turned into fire and stars and the sun itself shining from the ceiling down, blessing their match.

Almost as if it was destined by the heavens, meant to be.

Shouyou has no time to feel sad or self-hatred, Atsumu is screaming from the side of the court and he is already mid jump, in the air, ready to hit the ball that his soulmate assuredly sent his way. Only one person across the net could ever stand against Shouyou’s quick– the other half of Karasuno’s freak. Tobio jumps mighty high and barely misses the ball that Shouyou smacked milliseconds ago. Time stops for Shouyou, as it usually did in moments that involved both parts of his soul. Blue eyes locked on his as he falls back on the court from making a point, he turns to his right, brown eyes locked on blue ones away from his.

He wished he could live here and now forever, a little safe pocket with his soulmates, away from what society expected from him, from what soulmate experts said, away from what his own stomach and heart felt. Just Shouyou, this motion that made everything under his feet vibrate, life flowing through a line from Atsumu to Tobio to Shouyou to Atsumu to Shouyou to Tobio.

Maybe it was not a bad idea to come back home after all.

And before Shouyou could realize, and before you and I could help ourselves with another portion of onigiri, four sets had gone by. And the MSBY Black Jackals had won the game against the Schweiden Adlers. He screams and laughs, and sees his high school best friend, the first and only person he has kissed, Atsumu Miya’s boyfriend, across the court, smiling wide, not like when Tobio poses for a photo or when he tries to appear friendly to children, he smiles in a way Shouyou hadn’t seen in person in years, and lately could only enjoy from Atsumu’s memories.

Shouyou feels arms around him, there’s people hugging him, people screaming, people celebrating with him, and then an understanding comes to him. He looks down at his hands and ponders for a few seconds. One, two, three. As a fifteen-year-old Shouyou promised a little crow for a boy that he would take how many years he needed to stand in a court for longer than him. Four, five, six. At sixteen, a charming fox vows he’d be there for Shouyou, a sturdy tower to ground him and help him fulfill his promise. Seven, eight, nine.

That’s how on a cold night of November, at Kamei Arena Sendai, Shouyou’s life feels a lot fuller and a lot more fulfilled than before. He smiles as he closes his fists hard, poking fun at younger Shouyou, who is scared of whatever magical or supernatural connection keeps him glued to Atsumu and Tobio, and oh I don’t need to love them differently. I just need to love them.

Again, where time seemed to have stopped, it accelerated, and Shouyou was now standing in the MSBY side of the locker room, eagerly recounting the whole game to Atsumu.

“And then, and then, I didn’t realize but BOOM,” Shouyou gets on his tiptoes, “I had jumped and then FWAH! You had sent the ball right there! To my hand!”

Atsumu giggles, he sits close to Shouyou, who has been too distracted to put his stuff away and finish getting ready for dinner with the team plus probably half of the people in the arena.

“I hadn’t seen ya so enthusiastic about a game probably since we were both in high school!” Atsumu laughs and the sound spans across the whole room. When did the rest of the team leave? “This really suits you, Sho-kun.”

Shouyou feels warm– not like during the game, exhausting and crushing; it’s more cozy, familiar. He looks down at Atsumu and drowns in his eyes, big and comfortable; his cheeks are hinting rosy pinks and his ears are red. Shouyou doesn’t realize he’s touching them until he feels Atsumu’s hands around his waist. He holds Atsumu’s face in both his hands, and he lets one of his fingers trace his features. He had seen it up close, if only from Tobio’s memories– but to him it counts.

His soulmate smiles like a drunk in love, wasted in Shouyou’s curious touches, before he speaks again.

“Sho-kun, I–” one of Atsumu’s hands reaches for Shouyou’s bottom lip, and just as his thumb finishes sketching it, Shouyou rushes to kiss him.

And, you know, maybe Shouyou missed kissing. He didn’t ever want to kiss anyone while he was in Brazil, but he often remembered high school days, and all the times he went to Tobio’s house and they both would rot in bed and in each other’s mouths for hours to no end. Sometimes when he dreamed back on those memories from Tobio’s point of view, or lived any kisses between Tobio and Atsumu, he wondered what it would be like to kiss Atsumu, what was he willing to give away to kiss Tobio again.

Tobio gave him relaxed kisses. Lethargic and slow, faint and tired almost. When they hid in each other's arms and savoured each other’s lips, Shouyou and Tobio were quite the opposite of what they were in the court. Tobio gives Atsumu hurried kisses, as if they were running out of time. Sometimes they are rough and sometimes they are a little aggressive but they are always hot and loud. When they connect outside of the court, Atsumu and Tobio are as energetic and passionate as they are inside of it.

So when Atsumu kisses Shouyou calmly, gently, with softness and yet, determination, Shouyou is overwhelmed by it. He doesn’t feel a buildup in his guts and he knows he doesn’t want to do more than this, he wants to keep getting closer to Atsumu, but not in a way you and I suspect. If he could, he'd reach for Atsumu’s heart and put it next to his just to keep it warm and safe. They break apart and Shouyou cries and hugs Atsumu who barely can stop himself from pecking any part of Shouyou within his grasp.

Before Shouyou’s cries turn into sobs, Atsumu grabs his face between his hands and cleans the tears wetting his cheeks. Somehow Shouyou ended up sitting on Atsumu’s lap and it scares him how comfortable he feels. Like a little bit of his soul has returned to him, an ache he had learned to live with was now completely gone. So he lets a smile take over him, and it makes him happy to see Atsumu’s features change from concerned to relieved and satisfied. Atsumu huffs in between giggles that were initiated by Shouyou and they kiss again. And again. And again.

And Shouyou is so intoxicated in something he hadn’t tried in so long, he doesn’t quite realize what is happening until Atsumu breaks them up to turn and look around. There’s sounds of steps and Shouyou panics. He gets up from Atsumu’s lap, but doesn’t run away because his soulmate tugs slightly on his wrist and holds him close. He’s not being forced to stay, but Atsumu’s touch on his hand makes him feel like maybe he is wanted here. Shouyou is once again so distracted that it takes him too long to realize that the person that just walked into him and Atsumu making out was none other than Tobio Kageyama.

“Oh, Tobio-kun!” Atsumu is blushing, “I’m sorry to make you wait…”

Shouyou yanks his hand from Atsumu’s touch and is completely flabbergasted at the way Atsumu is reacting to his boyfriend seeing him kiss another man.

Wait.

What the fuck!

Tobio just walked into Shouyou kissing Atsumu!

“I’m so sorry–” Shouyou runs out the lockers despite both his soulmates screaming his name trying to make him stay. He gets on the first bus he sees outside the arena and cries on his way to wherever it was taking him. He cries and he feels shame grabbing him by the neck, choking him.

Shouyou cleans his eyes with the end of his sleeves, he rubs them so hard it makes him want to cry again. God knows how long after, he gets off the bus somewhere somewhat known and takes a taxi to the izakaya where everyone was supposed to meet after the game. He hears loud conversations happening inside and feels nervous, but he is two steps away from entering when he recognizes voices yelling his name and its calming, familiar.

Many of his high school friends are here, people he hasn’t seen in years, people he is, by all means, in love with; but with every set of arms around him, every pat on the back, every new cup that is replaced on his hand, he grows anxious. After two drinks down his system he scans the place and with no signs of Atsumu or Tobio he relaxes a little. He is sitting in between Daichi and Asahi, amongst other Karasuno alumni, as they all listen to the hundredth story of Koushi’s elementary school class. Kids these days, you know. Shouyou thinks he should not be drinking at all.

Then he feels them before he sees them.

Sturdy shoulders, charming heads, handsome glowing faces, people unconsciously sigh when they see them, and many others start whispering amongst each other.

“So the couple finally bothers to show up!” Koushi interrupts his story to bother his beloved underclassman. “Did the soulmates get lost on the way here?” He swings an arm around Tobio and messes with his hair. Atsumu is greeting everyone at the table and sits across from Shouyou, who has sweat drops falling down his back down his neck down his temples, and he chugs another shot of whatever was on the table, just as Tobio is finally free from the affection of his upperclassmen and sits down next to Atsumu, also across from Shouyou.

After the conversion calms down and the table breaks down into smaller talk, Atsumu extends one of his arms on the back of Tobio’s chair and pulls him closer, without breaking eye contact with Shouyou, who is absently listening to Ryunosuke tell a joke while trying not to laugh. Everything is too warm, too loud, too bright, and another drink disappears from Shouyou’s hand into his stomach. Tobio leans into Atsumu’s side and caresses one of Atsumu’s legs, slowly he turns back up to see Shouyou, and seems unsurprised to see him staring.

A cup and a cup and a shot and a phone call and awkward goodbyes and oh thank you! I hope to see you more often now that I’m back in Japan and he’s about to get in a taxi when he thinks he sees Tobio calling out for him, we’ll take you home, dumbass. No, no, it’s okay. See you Kageyama-kun, see you Atsumu-san.

And Shouyou wakes up sore as hell, with half his organs trying to come out through his mouth. How did he let all get so fucked up!

“Mom! I think Sho-chan is awake!”

“Natsu,” Shouyou groans, “not so loud, please.” He rubs his eyes with the back of his hands and realizes he didn’t even make it to his bed. He has a blanket over him and sees the pillows on the ground next to the couch he woke up in.

“Tobi-chan said they’ll come pick you up for lunch by the way, change of plans or something,” Natsu says standing behind the couch, so Shouyou sees her upside down.

“Hm? When did you see Kageyama?” panic rouses Shouyou, but his head hurts too much and his throat is too dry to care about that right now, so he just sits up and takes a water bottle his baby sister is offering him.

“Please take a shower before they come, you smell gross,” she fake gags at her brother while swinging her school bag on one of her shoulders. “Him and Miya-san came to check on you almost immediately after you came from the after-party or whatever thing you were getting wasted at,” Natsu smacks Shouyou’s shoulder slightly, just enough to startle him. “Don’t be an inconvenience to your coworkers, or Tobi-chan, okay?”

She smiles brightly at Shouyou before exiting the front door, and he feels warm. “Make me proud!,” he yells after she said goodbye to their mom.

“I already do!” she yells back from outside.

A long hot shower, about twenty outfit changes, and a million water bottles later, Shouyou stands outside his family’s house waiting to be picked up by his soulmates. His mind had been yelling at him all morning, not only because of the hangover, but also because he thinks this is a terrible idea. How will he face Tobio after what happened yesterday? Forget that, how will he also face Atsumu?

Shouyou feels like he has not processed the situation at all. Was kissing Atsumu the best thing that had happened to Shouyou in years? Maybe. Yes. But this all was getting too complicated for him to track.

Even though the dreams and promises he had with his soulmates (and many other friends) were fulfilled when the MSBY Black Jackals won last night, Shouyou had promises with himself as well. Promises he was scared to break. Promises he yearned and wished to break. Promises that seemed so easy to break now, as Atsumu and Tobio pulled in a black car in front of family Hinata's house. Atsumu lowers the window and flashes Shouyou a smile.

“Howdy Sho-kun! I hope ya slept well! Get in!”

Shouyou bows shyly at both of them before getting in the back of the car. The trip to Tobio’s house is not long when you are in a car and when you are not pushing a bike and when you are not being kissed every three steps, Shouyou realizes. None of them talk, the only sounds inside are of the radio, and Atsumu humming along every once in a while. Tobio asks for Atsumu’s hand about half way through the drive, and Atsumu gracefully yields for the rest of it. Shouyou watches from the corner of his eyes, and feels it in his heart every time Tobio holds tighter to Atsumu’s hand, and feels guilty about it.

Once there, Shouyou is invited inside and he makes himself at home quickly. It’s normal, routine, usual. He’s been here a thousand times, why would he deny his belonging to this place? The three of them sit at the dinning table after Atsumu and Tobio brought about a hundred dishes to it, refusing Shouyou’s attempts to help around. When they finally start eating, Shouyou assumes that either of them will clear their throat and start talking awkwardly– most probably Atsumu.

But it never happens. Tobio scolds him for not eating much of something, he scolds him for not asking for seconds; Atsumu serves him tea, he laughs at things Tobio says and messes with both Shouyou and Tobio’s hair.

It’s too comfortable and it’s familiar and it’s making Shouyou sick.

Atsumu hands him a bottle of Ukon no Chikara and a couple of painkillers saying don’t let it get to your head, Sho-kun. Tobio slides him a cooling eye mask across the table, you should always carry something like this, you never know when you might need them, dumbass.

Ah, there it is.

These two– they were his soulmates after all.

Whether they are conscious about it or not, they are attuned to Shouyou's feelings and needs, and it disturbs him.

“Are you not going to–” Shouyou says, just as Tobio comes walking back into the living room, carrying a DVD in hand, so he stops talking.

“Wanna watch our last match against Itachiyama in third year? I forgot I had this here until Atsumu mentioned he wanted to watch it.”

Atsumu has his back to them in the kitchen, washing the dishes. He whistles from time to time.

“S-sure.”

Shouyou spends the rest of the afternoon dangerously shifting places in family Kageyama's living room. Sometimes sandwiched between his soulmates, sometimes with his head resting on Tobio’s shoulder, sometimes with Atsumu’s head laying on his lap. And it’s all too comfortable, all too known.

And so this kinda becomes a routine. Shouyou talks and talks and talks with Atsumu, call it regaining the years he actively tried to get away from him. They talk and they practice and they play against other teams. They win sometimes. Most of the time they do. On weeks when they have two or more days off they plan.

Tobio-kun is coming to Osaka for the weekend, want to binge-watch all of Lost? Ya have never seent it? There’s no way! Hey runt, you should come over to Tokyo this break. Yeah, of course Atsumu will be here too. We should visit Natsu-chan, doesn’t she have a game this week?

And Shouyou gets used to it. He talks to Tobio again, like they never stopped. He cooks for them and he sleeps over and he is perilously dancing in places he thought he’d never seen in person, experiencing closeness like he’d never before.

So, it’s still true. Shouyou Hinata loves Tobio Kageyama and he loves Atsumu Miya, but not because they are his soulmates. Shouyou loves them because he knows them and because they are his friends and he loves all his friends. And if you are wondering about Shouyou’s dreams, yeah he still has them. He closes his eyes at night and replays joyful moments between the three of them over and over again. His dreams had become his friends again– no longer a foe to fear, but someone to expect to come over with good news.

Until that one time, of course.

Let me tell you all about it. It’s honestly much more dramatic right now than it will ever be in the future. We’ll all laugh at it in the years to come, probably.

ramp cock

atsu, tobichan and you

atsu

5 minutes ago

say, sho-kun, are u busy this coming week? we have off starting wednesday,,,

tobichan

5 minutes ago

Atsumu and I want to go to Okinawa. We haven’t gone to the beach together, and thought well, since you know so much about beach volleyball, maybe it was a good idea to bring you, too.

tobichan

3 minutes ago

Unrelated but can I please change the name of the group chat?

Me

2 minutes ago

dude

no

we all voted and ramp cock was elected democratically

Me

Just now

i’d love to come to okinawa with u 2

let me know if you want me to pack something in particular

ദ്ദി(｡•̀ ,<)~✩‧₊

tobichan

Just now

Is it really a democracy if it's always 2 vs 1?

Excited to play beach volleyball with you.

After an afternoon full of sand, sun, ice cream and attempts to keep his soulmates not sunburned, Shouyou heads happily to bed. Not afraid of the visions anymore, and not escaping from feeling wanted by his soulmates. He closes his eyes, one door away from Atsumu and Tobio and Shouyou dreams.

This is Tobio, he realizes quickly, and it’s barely morning. He wakes up next to Atsumu and is changing into running attire. Tobio has always had a very strict routine for himself, so Shouyou assumes he’s about to see his soulmate run for an hour or two, when he hears movement in the living room. He (well, Tobio) walks silently towards the door and once he crosses it he sees himself asleep on the couch. They have a spare bedroom in Tobio’s apartment which basically has turned into Shouyou’s, but he remembered that night, he had just fallen asleep watching something on TV, but it wasn’t a big deal, home is also where you can harmlessly fall asleep on the couch for a night.

Tobio walks towards Shouyou and he feels a little sting in his chest. Shouyou is having a hard time determining what Tobio's feelings are here. It sorta feels like the same when Tobio is adoringly staring at Atsumu, but bitterly. Sorta like what it felt back in high school days, when Tobio only had eyes for Shouyou, but rancorous. In the memory, Shouyou shuffles a little where he sleeps, murmuring who knows what and frowning hard. It makes Tobio huff and giggle.

He then feels the tears showering his face, a lump clutching his throat and he runs towards the room he uses as an office. After closing the door behind him, Sho– I mean Tobio cleans his tears and breathes in and out to calm down. He opens a closet and pulls out a shoebox that was in the back. He sits down on his desk and opens the box, almost full to the brim of pieces of paper folded in half. They all looked like they had something written on it, but before he can read one of them, he bursts into tears again, and the feelings are so intense, they wake up Shouyou altogether.

Shouyou gasps hard and sits up fast, the sounds of cicadas and leaves rustling outside remind him where he’s at and it frightens him. He is alone in this room, but he hears the movement outside. The couple is awake and are probably waiting for him to talk about what they would do that day. But suddenly none of that mattered to Shouyou anymore. He’s scared again. He’s scared and he wants to leave and he wants to be forgotten because he doesn’t want to break his soulmates’ hearts.

So he packs his bag and he is determined to just leave without saying much, and he tries. Oh he tries. As soon as he opens the bedroom door, he is welcomed by breakfast aroma and that little itch that reminds him his soulmates are here, too.

“Good morning, Sho-kun, how didja– wait, wait, where are ya going? Ya tired of us already?” Atsumu smiles and jokes, but his face turns into something gloomy once he realized Shouyou was actually trying to leave. He gets up and grabs Shouyou’s bag and turns towards Tobio.

“Tch, we barely got to play anything yesterday,” Tobio had materialized next to Shouyou and was now tugging at his shirt, softly, “don’t go before I win a couple more times…”

Shouyou feels like he’s burning. He feels his cheeks and his ears and the bottom of his stomach and everything burning. He’s probably in hell, he thinks.

“What– What are we doing, really?” Shouyou looks at them and doesn’t let them answer the question before he continues. “I’m a bad third here, always interrupting your dates and your life and whatever, and and and we never talked about that kiss!” he points at Atsumu with his whole body, “because what the hell was that, we literally were making out in front of your boyfriend and you barely had a reaction?” Shouyou turns towards Tobio now, who was pouting angrily, like he usually does when he had no idea what was going on, “and you! What the fuck is wrong with you? You literally saw me sitting down on his lap, his tongue in my mouth and you invited me to lunch the next day? Cured my hangover?”

Shouyou frees himself from Tobio’s attempt to hold him, and he walks backwards with his hands on his head, “you have me over all the time, let me invade your space and you bring me to the beach, why?” He looks down and sees there’s tears straining from his face, “I won’t break you apart, I don’t want to break your heart, I– can’t! I…”

Then there’s arms over his and arms over those arms, and then there’s warmth and there’s two other beating hearts that he can feel close to his.

“Who says ya are breaking us apart, Sho-kun?” Atsumu whispers against his head.

He hears Tobio sniff, and he hates himself for it.

“You dumbass! Don’t talk like you know it all! Stupid, moron Hinata!”

Shouyou pushes himself from the embrace and looks at his soulmates’ faces, they are pink, Atsumu’s a bit more, they are gentle, Tobio’s a bit softer, and they look at him hungry and desperate.

“What?”

(Between you and me, speechless was kinda the only way I could describe Shouyou at the moment, but it came close to about to shit his pants)

“Okay, Tobio-kun. I guess it’s time to tell him.” Atsumu says as he cleans a tear off of Tobio’s face.

“My guess is that you have not dreamed what happened that day, right? After your kiss with Atsumu..”

Shouyou’s stomach felt acidic.

“Kageyama, how do you– why are you asking if I’ve dreamed anything, what are you talking about?”

Tobio just tilts his head a little to the side and smirks.

“If you are so worried about that kiss, I’ll let you know I was there for all of it. Yes, I saw you throwing yourself at Atsumu. You know, you never initiated kisses with me like that…” Tobio says while Shouyou couldn’t even guess what kind of face he was making at the moment. He comes closer to Shouyou and stares into his eyes before speaking again, “I was watching it all. I liked watching it. The only reason you heard me was because I was trying to come closer without interrupting. I wanted to see you two from up close.”

Shouyou covers his mouth with one of his hands and slightly steps away from Tobio.

“We’ll save you the details, Sho-kun, but I have to say we had this one,” Atsumu said, pointing at Tobio, “all pent up from just watching, haha. Tobio-kun and I took care of it after you left the lockers, though.” His laugh was a little awkward but it seemed genuine.

Let alone that Tobio is a freak, Shouyou already knew that– there was something that was eating him from the inside out.

“How do you know about my dreams? I’ve literally not told anyone ever. As soon as I learned that I was dreaming the memories of two people, I vowed to never ever tell a soul, and I hadn’t until now! Not even Natsu!”

Tobio closes the gap between them again, and touches Shouyou’s hair, playing with his curls until he makes his way towards his face. He rests his hand against one of Shouyou’s cheeks before talking again.

“A little after you left for Brazil, Atsumu and I started to have dreams again, dreams like the ones we had of each other… but they were your memories instead.”

Shouyou feels Tobio’s thumb run against his face, cleaning the tears that were now flowing, against his will. He looks for Atsumu, who is nodding slowly, and joins them again in another group hug Shouyou doesn’t remember starting or ever being a part of. Yet, it feels like he belongs there, like he’s always been there, and like he’s supposed to be there.

“And that doesn’t bother you?” Shouyou talks against bodies latching onto his. Somehow they had all made it to the couch in the living room.

It was Atsumu who spoke up this time, “yer memories? Never. Talking to Tobio-kun, at first we were confused about it, but the more we saw, the more we were putting together from our separate dreams, we simply started loving ya even more. Does that make sense?”

His eyebrows were arched in distress, the closeness and the talk and everything was saturating Shouyou’s system and so he let his instincts take charge again.

Shouyou grabs Tobio’s face and kisses him, deeply and strongly, like never before, like saying I’m sorry I missed you I missed you I missed you. When Tobio separates them, gasping for air, Shouyou pulls on Atsumu’s shirt, and kisses him too, sweetly but fiery, like saying thank you thank you thank you.

They spend the rest of the afternoon talking and explaining, hugging and cuddling, eating and taking turns to kiss each other, and trying to wear each other's shoes. Shouyou never thought this would ever happen so he never worried himself with the idea of conversing with Atsumu and Tobio about how he feels in general.

Then Tobio gasps softly and runs towards his and Atsumu’s bedroom and comes back with the shoebox Shouyou remembers from his dream. Tobio sits next to Atsumu and hands the box to Shouyou.

“What is this?” Shouyou holds onto it like it’s a treasure.

“There was a time when we started having the dreams that I would ask Atsumu every day to talk to you.” Atsumu holds one of Tobio’s hands and squeezes it, encouraging him to continue. “I felt guilty every time I’d wake up after dreaming of you. There were so many things I overlooked from when we were younger— and I just… I love you so much.”

Shouyou wants to cry. He didn’t know his soulmates had gone through similar if not the same kind of pain he had while he was away.

Atsumu clears his throat before speaking, “I understood why Tobio-kun wanted to tell ya, Sho-kun, but I also knew why ya needed to be away.” A lifetime of vows flashes in Shouyou’s eyes. He grew so much when he was in Brazil.

He continued, “I told Tobio-kun to write ya letters every time he missed ya. Every time he wanted to tell ya about some new thing he learned to do. Every time he woke up in the middle of the night with a new story of how in high school ya spent as much time in the bathroom as ya did in volleyball tournaments,” they all huff, Tobio even giggles.

“So he did– I, we did. Every time we couldn’t bear the idea of being without ya,” he points at the box, “a new piece of paper spawned.”

There he is, Shouyou Hinata, looking at his two soulmates, who are staring at him with such adoration and such eyes he had only ever seen in dreams with memories of each other. He didn’t ever in a million years think it would be possible to be seen with such love in their hearts.

So then, a new routine is created. Shouyou moves in with Atsumu in Osaka, and yes they each have separate rooms, and they take turns with Tobio about who travels each weekend. Shouyou grabs the shoebox whenever he feels scared and reads the letters like a book, like a bible, like sacred text that keeps him alive, like love letters– because they are. And Shouyou talks about love like he never had before, because he had never allowed himself before.

Tobio tells him he feels so full of love whenever he dreams of him, he tells Shouyou he doesn’t understand how the universe was able to concentrate so much of it in someone so small, and of course Shouyou smacks him for it but also blushes at his words.

Atsumu calls him his sunshine, because he feels so warm whenever he dreams of him. He tells Shouyou everyone that knows him feels loved because he illuminates them all like a star. And Shouyou starts understanding his love for people in a way that he never had before. In the past he would feel remorse with his own heart and what it lacked, but now his soulmates remind him every day he is not missing anything, in fact they are replete, satiated, so full, so complete, and they thanked the universe for making them soulmates because they get to see the world and live life the way they do.

Eventually, the dream does come, of course, and Shouyou sees himself and Atsumu pressed against each other in the locker rooms, and feels how his body (Tobio’s) shivers in need of his soulmates, and he feels Atsumu gladly indulging into everything he asked later. He hears them both whine calling his name, transforming touches into energy and feeling things he doesn’t ever feel while he is awake. So Shouyou, a little too aware of himself, one day drags both his soulmates into his room and while he lays between them in bed, in the closeness and ease of their bond, he asks

“Does dreaming my memories not tire you?”

Tobio frowns, of course, and Atsumu caresses his arm slowly with a smile on his face. This was something that Shouyou expected, and it soothes him to know these two as well as he does.

“Of course not, don’t be a dumbass,” Tobio almost hisses.

“Come on, Tobio-kun, ya know what he means!” Atsumu laughs airily after grabbing onto Tobio’s cheek for a second.

“Do you get tired of our memories?” Tobio asks, softly this time.

Shouyou turns quickly towards Tobio and pecks his lips. “I used to be scared of them, but I think I love them. They keep me close to you.”

Tobio smiles at Shouyou, and Shouyou feels how he and Atsumu hold hands on his torso. Then he kisses Shouyou and starts standing up, then kissing Atsumu before walking out of the room.

“The dreams keep us close to you, as well. I guess, if you ever feel ready to stop dreaming our memories we can do it, but don’t feel like you have to. We know what it is to feel with your body, remember?” Tobio says without turning to see Shouyou and Atsumu still laying in bed.

Ah, of course. They do get it. They love each other and they love Shouyou because they know. Because they get it.

Shouyou turns slightly to see Atsumu nodding at him and then kisses him before standing up too.

“Oi, Sho. Race you to the supermarket, whoever loses has to carry more bags than the other two,” Tobio screams from the living room.

“Do NOT include me in this, somehow I always end up with way more bags than both y’all!” Atsumu says promptly after Shouyou got up and screamed in agreement with Tobio’s bet.

They all leave to the supermarket while screaming, pushing and holding hands, laughing, thinking about tomorrow and the day after that and after that and after that.

That just leaves you and me, then. Don’t worry about the three of them, by the way. If you are here you probably already know they somehow end up in three different international leagues. As I said, don’t you worry. They’ve learned their love is not faint, and they always find each other when they go to sleep.

Fin.