Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Afternoon practices at Karasuno were always chaotic. No matter how hard Daichi tried, it felt like there was always something going on that he’d really love to prevent. Tsukishima was antagonising someone, or Tanaka was whipping his shirt off, or Hinata and Kageyama were fighting. This one had been going well though. Much too well for comfort. Daichi knew it was only a matter of time until something went wrong, he just knew it, but for a moment he let himself enjoy the (relative) calm. 

The moment was abruptly interrupted when Takeda rushed in looking particularly disheveled. Never a good sign, and Daichi took one last look around the room in all of its blissful peace and sighed as he prepared for it to fall to pieces. 

“Excuse me, can I get you all to gather around for a moment?” Takeda was grinning ear to ear, another sign of imminent disaster or at the very least chaos. “We’ve just received a very exciting invitation from Date Tech.” Hinata shot up, eyes wide.

“Do we get to play against the Iron Wall again? We’ll win again for sure, we’re even stronger now!” 

“Hinata, let’s sit back down and let Takeda finish,” Daichi reprimanded. Hinata glanced at him, face turning red, and sat back down with a quick apology. “As I was saying, we’ve received a very exciting invitation from Date Tech. Before the Spring Tournament Preliminaries, they’re hosting a week-long training camp with some of the other schools in the prefecture, and we’ve been invited!” Ukai shot him a suspicious look.

“You weren’t begging them, were you?” “No! They extended the invitation, they want to give the Miyagi prefecture an edge at nationals, for whoever makes it.” Tsukishima raised an eyebrow.

“Won’t be much use for us, then,” he mumbled. Daichi was fairly confident most of the team didn’t hear him, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Yamaguchi frown and elbow him. He smiled. Yamaguchi was good for him.

“Well, I think I speak for everyone when I say we’d like to go.” Daichi smiled at Asahi and Suga. Asahi nodded as Suga gazed off. Strange.

“Which of the other schools will be there?” Suga turned back to face Takeda now. Something was definitely up with him. “Let me see… Date Tech obviously, along with Johzenji, Wakutani Minami, and Aoba Johsai.” At the mention of the last school, Suga’s expression shifted slightly. Daichi raised an eyebrow. Whatever that was, it was new. He hadn’t noticed Suga taking any particular interest in Seijoh before. Hopefully this wasn’t a problem, Daichi thought mildly. Karasuno certainly had strong enough feelings about Seijoh and their so-called Great King already. He could hardly justify turning down such a beneficial opportunity though. At the very least, it should be entertaining. 

☆

Iwaizumi was about ten minutes into afternoon practice and he was already pissed off. Their team captain, the one who was supposed to be responsible and manage everything, was late. This was a pretty rare occurrence— usually Oikawa was the first one to the gym and the last one to leave, but if he’d been up until sunrise trying to prepare for the Spring Tournament, Iwaizumi would make sure he regretted it. Lucky for him, Oikawa strutted in with Coach Irihata a few minutes later. 

“You’re late, asshole,” Iwaizumi called. 

“Iwa-chan, there’s no need to be rude! In fact, you should be thanking me,” announced Oikawa, looking far too smug for someone who had shown up fifteen minutes late to practice. He was practically asking for a black eye. “And why the hell should I do that?” “Because we have just received an invitation to a week-long training camp, hosted by Date Tech, for all the best in the prefecture!” His dramatic reveal had certainly captured the team’s attention, and the first years burst into excited chatter, even Kunimi looking interested. Iwaizumi just stared at Oikawa. “Why would we be thanking you for that?” “It was obviously my charm that convinced them to invite us!” Rolling his eyes, Iwaizumi elected not to say anything for fear of somehow inflating Oikawa’s ego even further. 

“We’re totally going, right?” Asked Kindaichi. Oikawa nodded. “It’s right before the Spring Tournament, it’s a valuable opportunity.” “And do you think Karasuno will be there?” Kindaichi still hadn’t quite moved past his rivalry with Kageyama, noted Iwaizumi. He wondered if Karasuno’s setter was of the same mind or if he was too focused on beating Oikawa. Maybe if he just let the first years wear each other out Oikawa would be able to focus on something else for once. 

“The other schools in attendance will be Johzenji, Wakutani Minami, and yes, Karasuno,” supplied Coach Irihata. Johzenji should be interesting. Iwaizumi remembered hearing rumours that they only practiced by playing two on two matches, so they could pose a challenge. Wakutani was another powerful school, with a shorter player like Karasuno’s number 10. And of course, the flightless crows themselves.

He was admittedly looking forward to playing them again; it had been a close game, and he was sure they’d improved since then, but so had Seijoh. The only downside was that Oikawa would be absolutely insufferable. Iwaizumi would have to keep an even closer eye on him than usual leading up to the camp, their captain couldn’t afford to be sleep deprived going into a tournament and Iwaizumi had already caught him staying up to rewatch tapes of Karasuno’s games more than a few times. He’d even gone digging for their matches from last year, god knows why, but gave up on them pretty quickly. Hopefully he’d come to his senses since then, but at the very least, it should be entertaining.

Chapter Text

No matter what anyone thought of Oikawa Tooru, no one could call him a slacker. It simply wasn’t true— not in regards to volleyball or anything else. He’d passed all of his exams with flying colours, obviously, and he’d worked until he damn near collapsed, of course. Iwaizumi had been his only saving grace, bringing him snacks in the middle of the night when he hadn’t stopped to eat for hours and dragging him away from his notes, despite his protests, when he knew that it was on the verge of too much. Without Iwaizumi, as obnoxious as he’d been about it, Oikawa wasn’t sure he would have been in any shape to write the exams, nevermind attend the training camp shortly afterwards. He could never admit that to Iwaizumi though. God no. 

So despite his Japanese literature teacher’s best efforts, his grades survived intact, and now he could focus on volleyball. A training camp was a rare opportunity to practice with other schools, to study them up close and understand them a little better before they met on the court as rivals. This one in particular came with a nice little bonus— Karasuno would be there. 

Some people would say Oikawa was obsessive. He would disagree; he was simply thorough in whatever he pursued. Now, admittedly he had watched Seijoh’s match against Karasuno more times than he’d brushed his teeth within the past few days, and some might say that was obsessive behaviour, but those people just didn’t get it! Their match had been too close for comfort, full sets with an agonizing deuce at the end, and he needed to avoid that at all costs next time they went up against each other. 

He kept going back to the second set, to that third year setter that had been subbed in. Mr Refreshing, also known as Sugawara Koushi, had completely disrupted the flow of the game and almost swung it back in Karasuno’s favour. He was a threat, and the worst part was Oikawa couldn’t even find much information on him. He’d gone back to matches from previous years but it didn’t seem like he’d played much then, either. Maybe the training camp would reveal a little more about him. 

The bus ride was quiet, through some small miracle. Iwaizumi was his usual, vulgar self, and Oikawa made sure to remind him that no girls would want to kiss a mouth like that. Makki and Mattsun were disgusting and couple-y and were leaning on each other for the entire ride, and Oikawa was happy for them, he really was, especially considering how long they’d been pining for each other, but he was certain this was worse than he’d ever been with any of his girlfriends. 

He caught his mind drifting to Mr Refreshing a couple times. There was an odd sensation when he thought about him; excitement, perhaps, to face off against such an intriguing opponent. He’d certainly made an impression. Oikawa wondered if Mr Refreshing had fans at Karasuno the same way he had fans at Seijoh. The thought of that irked him. As if anyone could compete with him in terms of good looks!

The bus finally arrived at Date Tech, and it seemed they were the first ones there, much to Oikawa’s satisfaction. He watched Date Tech file out to greet them. The team was mostly second years now, after the third years all retired. 

“Oh look, the second-best team in the prefecture!” So Date Tech’s new captain was the smug asshole, Futakuchi. Great. Oikawa reached out to shake his hand with his brightest, fakest smile. 

“If it isn’t the backup captain for the team that didn’t even make the top eight! Hoping to learn something from us?” Oikawa asked through gritted teeth. “Not sure we have much to learn from a team who’s never made it to nationals, but we’ll see!” “Not sure we have much to learn from a team who’s never made it to the finals, but I decided to give you the privilege of playing against us anyway!” 

That one seemed to piss off Futakuchi, but before he could come up with any kind of cutting retort, that tall blocker without any eyebrows stepped in and held Futakuchi back. He bowed to Oikawa, before turning slightly to face Iwaizumi and pointing at him wordlessly. Iwaizumi nodded at him. “Aone! Cut that out!” Futakuchi cut in, shoving the blocker’s arm down. 

“Anyway,” Futakuchi continued forcefully, and Oikawa can’t help but feel like he’s won, “the gyms are just over there, and you’ll be staying in the building on the other side of the school. We’re still waiting on everyone else to arrive but you can start heading over there if you want.” 

“I can show them around!” A taller blond guy shifted forward, grinning ear to ear. Futakuchi glanced at him. “Sure, Koganegawa, go ahead,” he said dismissively. 

Koganegawa must be a first year, mused Oikawa. He didn’t recognize him from any of Date Tech’s earlier matches. He led them towards the gym, going on about how excited he was to be Date Tech’s new setter. “Well, setter is the best position to play!” Oikawa smiled at him. “Exactly!! And when you line it up just right, man, it’s so cool! Hey, have you played against Karasuno? I heard they have a great setter. But you’re Seijoh’s setter, right? So you must be crazy good too!”

Before Oikawa had time to answer any of the rambling questions being shot at him, another team was walking into the gym. Their bright yellow tracksuits, as well as their new captain’s shitty bleach yellow hair, identified them as Johzenji. 

They’d been interesting opponents in the Interhigh. Energetic and impulsive but out of sync. Oikawa couldn’t help but look forward to playing against them again. 

Makki leaned over to Oikawa with a snicker. 

“How much you want to bet Karasuno shows up last? Probably late, too.” “That’s certainly one way to get all the attention,” Oikawa replied, a little jealous that he hadn’t thought of it first. 

Sure enough, Wakunan arrived next, an energetic group led by a shorter player. They were friendly and made small talk, though it was clear their captain was really interested in Karasuno’s Little Giant. Oikawa wasn’t sure he really had to worry; Wakunan’s captain, Nakashima, was leagues ahead of Hinata from what he could tell.

It seemed he wouldn’t have to stay in suspense for long though. Oikawa heard boisterous laughter and turned in time to see Karasuno’s volleyball club, just barely on time, making their way into the gym, their manager and coach trailing just barely behind. He scanned the crowd, watching intently for silver hair and pretty brown eyes. 

There he was. Near the back of the group, chatting with Karasuno’s ace and looking as collected as ever. They locked eyes for a moment as Oikawa stared. Mr Refreshing tilted his head ever so slightly and gave a polite, albeit confused, smile. 

His train of thought was interrupted by a fist making contact with the top of his head. “Ow, Iwa-chan, so rude!”

“Don’t be a creep. Stop staring at the other teams and get started warming up, asshole.” “I really think you need to come up with a more creative insult than asshole,” Oikawa replied cheerfully while dodging another swing. 

“Alright everyone, please get warmed up. We’ll be doing a few practice matches shortly,” announced Date Tech’s coach. Oikawa reluctantly turned away from Sugawara and began leading his team through stretches.

The first set paired Seijoh up against Wakunan, and they were certainly impressive. Their captain wasn’t dissimilar to Oikawa himself; he seemed to know the rest of his team inside out, and his encouragement kept them going. It was a tight match but Seijoh ended up taking it 25 to 23. 

The uneven number of teams meant there would always be one team observing instead of playing, and since Karasuno arrived last they were assigned to take that position first. 

“At the training camp we went to earlier this summer, after losing a set we did a penalty lap of diving drills,” volunteers Sawamura, rather unhelpfully. But of course the coaches think that’s a wonderful idea, so diving drills it is. What a joyous way to spend a summer. 

Wakunan didn’t seem bothered though, as Nakashima led them through the penalty. While they worked through that, Karasuno took to the court opposite Aoba Johsai. Oikawa felt a hint of disappointment when he saw Kageyama step onto the court instead of Mr Refreshing. 

“What’s with the pout, captain?” Mattsun laughed. “Yeah, weren’t you excited to play Karasuno again?” Makki joined in. “Excuse you, I do not pout,” pouted Oikawa. “I’m hurt by the mere suggestion that I would do something as childish as that!” “Maybe we wouldn’t suggest it if you weren’t so childish,” Makki pointed out, clearly looking to make Oikawa suffer. 

He was saved from his teammate’s harassment by the referee. He was up first to serve and nearly delivered a perfect service ace, but Karasuno’s libero was under it at the last second. Oikawa grinned. Those damn crows never stopped moving. 

The game was going well and the score was in Seijoh’s favour until the whistle blew and Kageyama was walking off the court. With the scoreboard reading 19-16, Mr Refreshing stepped in. 

Of course he was up first to serve, and Oikawa was almost disappointed when it wasn’t sent to him. Instead it flew across the net towards Iwaizumi, forcing him to lunge forward to receive it.

That really was an excellent serve, observed Oikawa. It was in a good spot, forcing their ace to receive and making him late to the attack. And all from someone as unassuming as Karaasuno’s backup setter? He was a much better player than he let on, and Oikawa got the sense that if Kageyama hadn’t gone to Karasuno he would have gotten a lot more of the recognition he deserved. 

With his mind somehow stuck on Mr Refreshing, Oikawa realized he was half a second late moving, and maybe that was the real trap. He lures you in and distracts you and leaves you unable to play at your best.

Scrambling slightly, he throws up a quick set to Kindaichi and watches as it goes up just a bit too low. Fuck. Of course Four Eyes was in the front row to spot this, and abruptly shut it down. 

“My bad, that one was a bit low!” Oikawa called over cheerfully. “We’ll get the next one!” Four eyes just scoffed. Oikawa forced his smile even wider. 

It took another three rallies before they could get that number two out. He stole four whole points, dragging Karasuno back into the lead. Oikawa couldn’t tell if the sigh he let out after Kageyama was finally back on the court was relief or disappointment. 

Seijoh pulled themselves together after that, and were able to take the set. They grabbed water and towels and watched Karasuno begin diving drills. “So, Shittykawa, you want to explain what happened in the middle of the game there?” Oikawa flinched slightly, almost imperceptibly, but he was sure Iwaizumi saw. Clearly he had also noticed his play had dropped below his usual standard when Mr Refreshing had been subbed in. 

“Iwa-chan, show your captain a little grace! We all have off days,” he said, trying to brush off Iwaizumi’s concerns. “Off day my ass. You were playing fine before Sugawara got subbed in.” “He changed the flow of the game! We haven’t played against him very much, it’s only natural that we need to adjust,” insisted Oikawa. “Or maybe you got distracted.” 

Yahaba, in all his glory, actually laughed out loud at that.

“When has Oikawa ever been distracted by anything when it comes to volleyball? Usually volleyball is what’s distracting him.” Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow. “Iwa-chan, if you try to think about this too much, you might exhaust your feeble brain!”

Iwaizumi barely responded to the provocation, which was bad. That meant he had noticed it was a distraction, and that he wasn’t going to drop this. “Just try not to focus on Sugawara too much. There’s a whole team of other players too, you can’t afford to get tunnel vision.” “Of course not. When have I ever let down my team?” 

Iwaizumi just nodded at him. “Have some water and get ready for the next set.” Oikawa took his suggestion, grabbing one of the water bottles and watching the set between Johzenji and Date Tech. 

His gaze drifted back over to Karasuno, and Mr Refreshing as they finished up the penalty lap. Four points while he was serving. That was certainly no small feat. There was something in his chest as he watched him running his hand through silver hair, looking impossibly well kept and untouched by sweat. There was something about him that just made Oikawa want to keep watching. 

He resolved to keep an eye on Mr Refreshing in preparation for the Spring Tournament. If he was subbed in again, it could cause problems, so Oikawa would just have to stick closer to him and figure him out. Maybe he wasn’t a genius at volleyball, but he could still study his opponent. What was that saying; keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

Oikawa caught himself smiling as he watched Mr Refreshing. He would beat him. He would figure out exactly who he was and take him apart. 

If the thought of spending time around Sugawara made him a little happier than it reasonably should… he was sure that would go away on its own.