Chapter Text
It was in their second summer camp that Shouyou began to really notice Tobio as more than a teammate. After the disappointment of losing to Date Tech in the very final of the qualifier, they had immediately planned for a more intense summer camp to better help along the new first years on top of developing their already existing line-ups, and it was just Shouyou’s luck that he and Tobio have to share a room.
If he’s being honest, Hinata had been somewhat conscious of Kageyama for quite some time. After all, it’s hard not to when they spent most of their time together, both in and out of school, in and out of court, but until then, he could never actually quite put his fingers on what that exactly means.
But then, he watched as Tobio came into their shared room after a shower, towel slung around his neck, wearing only a form-fitting boxer without any shirt on, his bare body upward from his waist entirely exposed for Shouyou to see, muscles glistening from the still dripping water of his body.
“Oh.”
It was just like that, that Hinata Shouyou become aware of his sexual attraction to one Kagayama Tobio for the first time.
“Kageyama?!”
As soon as the words left his lips, Shouyou immediately regretted it.
The dark haired boy in question turned toward him, a confused look in his face.
“How do you know my name?”
Shouyou cursed internally for the slip up. They had never met before in this time, so it’s probably really weird for him to know of Tobio’s name. Also, yeah, that cute frown, the way that he hold himself, even the stupid parting of his hair. That’s definitely Tobio, he realized with some despair.
Trying to think of an excuse, Shouyou went with the easiest one that he could think of.
“Uhh, I heard the other kids around here talking about you?” He tried, hoping that ten years old Tobio was gullible enough to fell for it. Shouyou had never been good at lying, but Tobio had never really been the sharpest tool in the shed either.
Much to his relief, Tobio seemed to accept his explanation easily enough, and Shouyou picked up the volleyball that rolled not far to a spot from him, the one that Tobio asked him to throw to him previously.
“Do you play?” Little Tobio asked.
“I won’t be here if I don’t.” Shouyou replied with a teasing grin. It’s so much easier to talk with Little Tobio now that the awkwardness is gone, though Shouyou can’t help but be a bit wary about interacting much, since he still have no idea what the hell is going on with the whole time travel stuff.
Little Tobio blushed, stuttering slightly. “A-ah, I guess so.”
Shouyou laughed. God, who knew that 10 years old Tobio was this cute? Sure, the Tobio that he knew had his own cute moments, what with his severe social awkwardness and all, but this Tobio made him want to go over to the boy, hug him, and pinch his cheeks, consequences be damned. If only he’s still in his eighteen years old body. The things he wanted to do was so much harder to do in the body of a ten years old.
“Uhh.” Shouyou watched as Little Tobio struggled with his words for a moment. “W-what’s your name then?”
“Hinata. Hinata Shouyou.” Shouyou replied easily enough, smiling widely. Well, even if the whole things was just a dream, or something that won’t last for longer than a day, the idea of getting along with the younger version of Tobio doesn’t seem all that bad.
“Kageyama. Tobio Kageyama.” Little Tobio stated, as if to reassure both Shouyou and himself. “In case you doesn’t know.”
“Well, nice to meet you then, Tobio~” Shouyou replied cheerfully.
Little Tobio honestly looked offended by the fact that Shouyou had just called him by his given nime. Gripping the volleyball in his hand a little more tightly, he glared (pouted, really) to Shouyou and pretty much issued him a challenge. “Y-you only got to call me Tobio if you can spike my set well enough!”
Hinata grinned. “Challenge accepted.”
“So, is there anything you want to do, Tobio?” Shouyou asked teasingly, putting a certain emphasis on the part where he said his name. It’s definitely very immature of him to be teasing the ten years old version of his rival slash best friend slash crush when he’s mentally an eighteen years old, but dammit, he’s cute. Besides, on the off-chance that the whole thing was just a dream or very much temporary and he’s gonna be dragged to his own time anytime, he wanted to have as much fun as possible.
Also, maybe that’s the way he could differentiate between the Tobio he knew and the small Tobio in front of him. Tobio and Kageyama. It’s ironic, really, despite the three years they’ve spent together as best friends, as partner on the court, they’ve never really got the point of calling each other with their first name all the time. Yet, here he was, already calling the ten years old version of Kageyama with his first name in their first meeting.
Tobio glared (pouted) at him. Shouyou have been teasing him about the fact that he managed to spike a toss from Tobio on second try despite Tobio tossing it in a way that Shouyou knew tend to give others plenty of difficulty due to the fact that Tobio was just like… that. He’s pretty sure he would have been able to get it right in first try, but he was caught off guard by the shorter limbs and lower jump and missed.
Despite the annoyance and protests, Shouyou could tell though that Tobio was absolutely delighted to find someone that can keep up with him. He guessed that even eight years in the past, Tobio still have difficulty finding a partner in volleyball. Apparently, that’s not a problem that only began in middle school for Tobio, but from even earlier.
Shoyou paused for a second. He guessed maybe if the whole time travel turns out to be permanent, helping Tobio through middle school would probably be one of his priority. It’s not like knew what else to do, since he didn’t sign up for time travel in the first place. Besides, a lot of Tobio’s later issues, especially his social and trust issues seemed to stem from the whole not having anyone to translate his awkward ass and the “betrayal” in middle school.
He’s pretty sure that if he stuck around Tobio, he’d be able to help with that. Who knew, maybe that’s why he’s back in time in the first place.
“Also, you should’ve brought water with you.” Shouyou chided, handing a bottle of water to Tobio who accepted it with a quiet ‘thank you’.
“Well, you didn’t bring water with you too.” Tobio mumbled, his face morphing back into a pout. God, how the hell did he not meet Tobio as a kid the first time around? He really missed a lot of things. Shoyou watched as Tobio hesitantly took a seat in the living room of his house, the water bottle at hand.
Once they’re finished playing, Shouyou decided to bring Tobio back to his house after he found out that Tobio was supposed to wait at least three more hours alone in the court if he hadn’t been there. His grandfather had dropped Tobio there, apparently due to the old man not being able to bring Tobio to his coaching job, and his older sister was busy as well. The one running the court was Tobio’s grandfather’s friend and allowed Shouyou to bring Tobio with him, handing him Tobio’s grandfather’s number so they can call him later.
Also, apparently Tobio lived with his grandfather and older sister, and both his parents were dead. That’s another thing that Shouyou never knew about Tobio. If he could help it, he’s definitely gonna try everything to make sure that Tobio never got to the point of just closing himself off and never really share about himself even to his closest friends.
But first…
“Also, back to my question, do you have something you want to do? Unfortunately I don’t have a console.” Shouyou stated.
Tobio turned to the television in the living room. “Do your house have cable?”
Shouyou grinned. “Yup! Volleyball match?”
“Volleyball match.” Tobio nodded and Shouyou quickly went to work to search for a channel that have a match on and immediately plop himself next to Tobio on the sofa once he’s done. “It’s just starting!”
Right as they got comfortable in their position, a loud rumbling came out of Tobio’s stomach, prompting laughter from Shouyou. His mirth didn’t last long, however, as his own stomach made a similar sound not long after Tobio’s did.
“Okay, give me a second. I’m gonna make us lunch.” Shouyou said to Tobio, who tried to hide his blush by looking away from Shouyou. He prayed that his father left him enough leftovers to feed both him and Tobio, since obviously he wasn’t anticipating that he’ll be bringing home a friend, much less said friend being Tobio.
Opening the fridge, Shouyou quietly thanked his father when he found some fried chicken on a plate, wrapped in transparent plastics, enough for both him and Tobio. Shouyou also saw there’s some eggs left, and he’s pretty confident in his ability to make some mean tamagoyaki. Putting on an apron that’s definitely too big on him, being his father’s and all, Shouyou took the eggs and quickly went to work. He struggled a little at first, trying to get used with him being shorter and having shorter limbs, but he quickly got the hang of it.
As he cooked, Shouyou saw from the corner of his eyes Tobio staring intently at the match going on in the television. A V-League match, it seemed. Shouyou wondered how long Tobio have been obsessed with volleyball, considering Shouyou himself only really got into volleyball late in his elementary school years and never really got the chance to play in an official match until that fateful match against Kageyama.
When the eggs turned golden, Shouyou killed the fire and put it on a plate. Putting it on the counter, he then moved to put the fried chicken into the microwave before getting two bowls out and fill it with rice. Once a “ding” resounded to signal the completion of the reheating process in the appliance, Shouyou was also finished with putting the rice in the bowl and immediately moved to get the fried chicken onto a plate.
Shouyou turned to call for Tobio, but apparently, by the way Tobio have seemed to completely turn away from the TV and instead looked at the food on the dining table while practically drooling, definitely from the hunger. Chuckling a little, Shouyou gestured toward the still steaming food. “It’s done, come over here.”
Tobio didn’t waste any time before practically dashing toward the dining table, taking a seat across Shouyou.
“Ittadakimasu.” The two of them said at the same before scarfing down their meal.
Looking at Tobio stuffing his mouth full with rice, Shouyou had to pause for a bit and give himself a light chuckle. God, if this really was just a dream, then it’s definitely one of the best he’s ever had because ten years old Tobio was just way too damn adorable. Also, he finally got to make Tobio eat his cooking willingly. He never got to make Kageyama did, since he’s way too suspicious of Shouyou’s cooking.
Okay, sure, the first few attempts from Shouyou to cook by himself ended with someone (Hitoka) spending an entire hour in the bathroom, but he’s gotten better, especially with his mother busy with her business and leaving Shouyou and Natsu to themselves at times. So he found his teammates’ aversion to any of his cooking to be annoying and somewhat insulting.
“It’s… good.” Tobio practically forced out the compliment. While watching Kageyama struggle with his words especially when trying to compliment others was hilarious, though at times annoying because dammit, how hard is it to say “good job”? Watching Tobio do the same thing, was absolutely adorable. Though, if Shouyou could do something about it, getting Tobio used to giving and receiving compliment smoothly would be yet another one of his mission.
Shouyou grinned. “Thanks!”
“I-Is there more?” Tobio asked shyly, his cheek turning red from the embarrassment.
Shouyou laughed. “Sure. We’re out of fried chicken though, so it’ll only be rice and tamagoyaki if you’re okay with that.”
“It’s fine, I like the tamagoyaki and I-I don’t want to impose.”
Shouyou waved it off. “It’s fine~ Besides, I want to make more anyway.”
After that, Shouyou quickly whipped up another portion of tamagoyaki for the two of them, get more rice, and before long, they already finished their second serving, now full and pleased. They returned to see that the match was still going on and was then on the third set. It didn’t take long for the two of them to be completely immersed in the game again.
“And he was just like whoosh and bam!” Shouyou gushed about the play that just occurred in the television. “Then everyone was like gyaah, and the ball goes fuwaa!”
Tobio nodded vigorously, apparently fully understanding whatever it is Shouyou was talking about.
“Man~, Pros sure are amazing!” Shouyou exclaimed then turned toward Tobio. “Hey Tobio, do you want to be a Pro someday?”
Tobio nodded. “My grandfather told me that’s where all the strong players are, so yes.”
Ah, of course. Honestly, Shouyou shouldn’t have been surprised that even at ten years old, Tobio’s mindset was still “I want to go where the strong ones are”. It’s the same with Kageyama, so why would it be different for Tobio? He’s quite possibly the most consistent and unchanging person he knew, Shouyou swears. Perhaps that’s why even if Shouyou tried, he would never really be able to make it work with Kageyama, though that steadiness was also exactly the thing that made Shouyou love him.
Though, the one he’s facing was ten years old Tobio, who probably have no idea what the hell was a ‘romance’. Shouyou guessed he’ll just enjoy the time he have with Tobio and push any thought of Kageyama as far as possible to the back of his mind, hoping that maybe, just maybe this whole thing wasn’t just a dream or a temporary thing, and that he really did get a chance to change things and lives it out.
Looking at the clock, Shouyou was suddenly reminded of something. “Oh crap, we still haven’t called your grandpa!”
“Wait, where’s the piece of paper with your grandpa’s number on it?” Shouyou patted around his clothes, looking for it. Tobio reached into his pocket and hands said piece of paper to Shouyou. “Here.”
“Okay, I guess I’ll talk then. To convince your grandpa you’re with another kid and not with some creepy adult.” Shouyou stated as he began dialing the number on the paper. Though, now that he thought about it, would him being mentally eighteen count as him being a creepy adult? A food for thought.
After some time, someone finally picked up. “Hello, uh…” Shouyou turned to Tobio who mouthed to him that his grandpa’s family name was the same as his, “Kageyama-san?” The conversation with Tobio’s grandfather went smoothly enough, the older man being a very much pleasant person and very friendly. Shouyou couldn’t help but wonder how did Tobio and Kageyama turns out like that when the grandfather was like that.
Shouyou then gave the older man his address, and was told that he’d come to pick Tobio up at 7 PM, since Tobio asked to allow him to have more time to play with Shouyou. After a final thank you from Tobio’s grandfather for feeding his grandson, the call ended.
“Well, now that’s done…” Shouyou turned to Tobio. “Rewatch the game?”
“Rewatch the game.” Tobio nodded in agreement.
Apprently, at some point both he and Tobio fell asleep on the sofa, because the next thing that Shouyou knew was the sound of a phone camera going off and the bleary sight of his father standing over him and Tobio, his phone taking pictures of the two of them on the sofa.
“I see you brought a friend home.” His father commented with a cheeky grin on his face. “Also, you used up the eggs. Since when can you cook by yourself?”
Shouyou immediately cursed himself for completely forgetting that he’s not supposed to be able to cook by himself yet. In fact, he’s about seven years too early on that matter. Trying to look for a plausible excuse, Shouyou blurted out. “I found a really helpful video online.”
His father frowned. “How did you figure out the computer’s password?”
Oh crap, he didn’t have a phone yet, which means that the only way he could access the internet was through the family computer. Which he’s not supposed to know the password of yet (It’s his birthday, apparently).
“I tried guessing.” Shouyou replied meekly. ‘It’s my birthday right?”
“Good job on the guessing then.” His father stated dryly. “You didn’t use the computer for anything bad right?”
Shouyou shook his head. “Nope! Just to look for cooking videos.”
His father still looked skeptical but ultimate dropped the subject and turned to the still sleeping Tobio, “So, your friend. What’s his name?”
“Tobio.” Shouyou replied. “We met in the nearby volleyball court.”
“Ah.” His father nodded. “When did he have to get back home? You’ve called his parents right?”
Shouyou huffed. “Of course I did! It’s not like I kidnapped him here. His grandpa is picking him up at 7.”
His father nodded before grinning and ruffled Shouyou’s hair. “Well, it’s good to see you making friends and feel comfortable enough to bring them home.”
Shouyou pouted, trying to get his now even messier than usual hair back down. He looked at the clock. 5 PM. Well, looks like his father went home early.
“Wait, where’s mom?” Shouyou asked. She and Natsu were only supposed to go for a doctor visit, after all and should’ve been back by then.
“Your mother met some of her friends at the doctor and was dragged into a mall.” His father replied with a hint of exasperation in his voice. “She’ll be back a bit late, so I guess she’ll have to wait a little on meeting your new friend.”
Considering his mother’s reaction to Kageyama, which involved intense cheek pinching and lots of hugging, Shouyou considered it a win to delay the meeting between his mother and Tobio.
“Oh, by the way, welcome home.” Shouyou said to his father, who was staring at something. It took him some time to realize that the thing that his father was staring at was the now awake Tobio, who upon realizjng that he had both Shouyou and his father’s attention, immediately got up from the sofa onto his feet and bowed to Shouyou’s father.
Shouyou watched as Tobio introduced himself as politely as possible, clearly trying to make a good impression. It’s really cute.
“Tobio, right?” His father asked as he put down his suitcase and shed his suit. “Since your grandpa won’t be coming until later, do you want something to eat?”
“I-I don’t want to impose-!” Tobio stuttered, but in a repeat of what happened earlier that day, his stomach growled to signal that he, indeed wanted to something to eat.
Shouyou laughed, happy that this time around his stomach didn’t follow suit with the growling. “Come on, don’t be shy. Besides, I think you’ll be coming here often from now on, so you better get used to eating my dad’s cooking.”
Whatever opposition that Tobio have was immediately gone once he got the reassurance from Shouyou. “Oh… uh, thank you.”
Shouyou grinned and gave a light slap on Tobio’s back. “It’s fine! We might just meet today, but you’re great in volleyball and I’d love to play with you again.”
Shouyou then bounds over to the kitchen with his father, asking whether there’s something he could help with. If he had taken a look at Tobio, however, he would have seen the closest thing that Tobio can muster to a soft, genuinely happy smile.
Tobio’s grandfather came not long after they’re finished with dinner in what Shouyou recognized as a pretty beat up, old (Even for eight years ago standard, Shouyou reminded himself) Mitsubishi sedan.
“Thank you for looking after my grandson!” The old man thanked with a bow. “I hope he doesn’t make any trouble for you.”
Shouyou’s father waved it off with a small laugh. “Oh no, he’s a very well behaved kid. I would love to him over again.”
Shouyou nodded eagerly. “Yeah! I had a lot of fun with Tobio. We should play again!”
“Well, if he wants to then I’ll happily allow him to.” Tobio’s grandfather said, looking at Tobio. “What do you think?”
Tobio gave a shy nod. “I want to play again.”
“Well, it’s a good thing our house isn’t too far from here!” The old man exclaimed, he then gave Shouyou’s father his address so they can bring Tobio home if they have to, and told them that they’re free to come over whenever.
“Tobio can be a bit difficult, but he’s a great kid.” Tobio’s grandfather said to Shouyou. “I hope you and Tobio can be good friends.”
Shouyou grinned. “I’m planning to!”
That earned him a smile from the old man, who gave one last thank you to him and his father before leaving with Tobio.
Shouyou’s mother and Natsu returned about one hour after Tobio left, Natsu in particular upset that she didn’t get to meet her nii-chan’s new friend.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get to meet him soon.” Shouyou assured his baby sister. After all, he too was looking forward to meet Tobio again.