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Yamaguchi had never expected much on his sixteenth birthday, really.
He never expected much for himself, in general, because as a whole, he always came second to someone. It wasn’t as if he minded, or was complaining at all, because it really is what suited him best! Tsukki was always the more dominant one of their friendship, but because that’s what was best for both of them. As a whole, Yamaguchi was hesitant and indecisive, while Tsukki was cool and blunt. They balanced each other out. Yamaguchi was a pinch server, called in only when necessary, but when he was, he could support his team in the best way he knew how. Yamaguchi Tadashi was suited for background work and supporting roles. And he had come to terms with that a long time ago.
However, he equated that with not having a romantic soulmate. Since he and Tsukishima worked together so well, he assumed that he would get a green tattoo symbolizing platonic soulmates for his best friend. And while he was right in that regard, he also got a different tattoo. One in a gorgeous and terrifyingly familiar aqua blue.
‘Oh, Pinch-server-chan, from Karasuno! Small world, huh?’ was written in neatly looped handwriting. On his sixteenth birthday, there was nothing more terrifying than seeing that on his wrist for quite a few reasons. First of all, they knew about him, and somehow remembered him from volleyball. No one remembered him, period. It was something Yamaguchi wasn’t used to. But more so, it was scary because that was not the first time Yamaguchi had seen that shade of blue. He wasn’t going to ignore the facts, and frankly, neither was Tsukishima, when he saw it.
“Yamaguchi.” Tsukishima said blandly as he examined the freckled boy’s wrist, but he could tell that the blond cared. He held onto him delicately, golden eyes softening when they met coffee brown.
“Yeah, Tsukki?” Yamaguchi replied.
“I’m glad you have a romantic soulmate,” Tsukishima started, his voice growing what everyone else who listened in may consider cold. Yamaguchi knew it was concern and worry. “But you know where we’ve seen this color.”
“I know.” Yamaguchi replied quietly. He had seen it on TV, on magazines, and on the other side of the court when they had lost.
The color was the exact shade of Aoba Jousai’s uniforms.
“And there’s only one person obnoxious enough to call you… ‘pinch-server-chan’,” Tsukishima continued, his upper lip curling in distaste. Yamaguchi flinched, but nodded. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know, Tsukki.” Yamaguchi whispered softly, his eyes downcast.
“Yes, you do.” Tsukishima stated firmly, and once again golden honey eyes trapped him, forcing him to face the truth.
“He deserves to know.” Yamaguchi admitted after a shuddery breath. The blond nodded.
“Will you tell him next match?” Tsukishima asked, and Yamaguchi shook his head.
“No, I don’t think so. It says ‘small world, huh?’, so I don’t think that this will happen in a match.” Yamaguchi smiled sheepishly, but there was a glint of determination in his eyes. “But I’ll make him remember me.” Tsukishima gave a fond huff of annoyance as he gave the slightest of smiles to his freckled friend.
“Tell me if the King or Shrimpy give you shit about the Grand King.” Tsukishima called lazily over his shoulder as he continued to walk on their path home, and with a smile, Yamaguchi caught up, practically skipping all the way back.
“That’s it, Tsukki?” Yamaguchi asked hesitantly after a moment, how brow furrowed in worry.
“What, did you want me to have the ‘So you’re gay’ conversation with you? Because I thought you'd want to avoid that." Tsukishima droned, giving a side glance to his friend.
“I mean-“
“Are you gay?” Tsukishima deadpanned, and Yamaguchi was momentarily taken aback, but recovered quickly.
“Well, yeah.” Yamaguchi replied shyly as they walked. The blond made a 'there you go' motion with the wave of his hands, though it apparently didn't satisfy his curiosity.
“How did you know?” Tsukishima hummed as they continued, his long strides lazy and calm.
“Remember Akihiko from class 3B in middle school?” Yamaguchi started sheepishly, and the tall blond wrinkled his nose.
"Really?" Tsukishima asked incredulously. "He was obnoxious and annoying."
"His hair was flawless!" Yamaguchi defended, his cheeks dusted a light pink as they turned a street corner.
“You could do better than him, he was an asshole.” Tsukishima stated, and a warmth flooded the freckled boy.
“Either way, I tried to fool myself into thinking that I was bi for a little while, even convinced myself for a while when I met Kiyoko. Then I realized that literally everyone has a phase of liking Kiyoko, because she’s Kiyoko.” Yamaguchi giggled, and Tsukishima gave a hum of allowance.
“Not your type, though.” Tsukishima verified with a knowing little half-smirk, and Yamaguchi gave him a radiating smile in return.
“Definitely not,” Yamaguchi laughed. “And I can’t exactly deny it now, with the tattoo and all.”
“And what do you think of the Grand King?” Tsukishima mused, and Yamaguchi thought for a while before he spoke.
“Oikawa is very driven. He’s hardworking, strong, and charismatic. He can turn any old intramural team into a nationals-worthy team, and that’s a little terrifying to me. I… I don’t feel worthy, I think.” Yamaguchi admitted quietly, wringing his hands.
“No one deserves you, but especially not that asshole.” Tsukishima said dryly, and his friend gave a soft smile.
“Thanks, Tsukki.”
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“Gwah! That’s a pretty blue, Yamaguchi!” Hinata exclaimed as he bounced up and down on his heels at morning practice, cooing over the freckled boy’s new tattoo. Unfortunately, the orange-haired decoy’s loud volume caused Kageyama to walk over.
“Hinata, what’s so… interesting…” Kageyama started grumpily, but he soon trailed off as he caught sight of Yamaguchi’s tattoo. He stared for a long time, and Yamaguchi could practically see the wheels turning in his head. By the time Kageyama looked up, his face was scrunched in dislike, and Tsukishima had appeared behind the freckled boy for backup if needed.
“What is it, Kageyama? You look more constipated than usual.” Hinata asked innocently, completely unaffected by the vibes coming off the two taller first-years. Kageyama, however, was looking right at Yamaguchi.
“He may be annoying, but he has good intentions. Good luck, Yamaguchi.” Kageyama stated with tight lips and weary eyes. With that, he gave Hinata a smack on the head and lead the distracted ball of energy to the court.
“That went better than expected.” Yamaguchi sighed in relief, and the blond huffed.
“What was better than expected?” A melodic voice behind them asked, and they both jumped as they turned around to face Suga.
“Nothing, Suga!” Yamaguchi laughed nervously, holding up his hands in surrender only to let his sleeves fall down and reveal his new tattoo. The silver-haired boy stared at it for a moment or two before a scarily sweet smile arose on his face. The two first years felt shivers run down their spines.
“I do hope you weren’t planning on hiding this from us, were you? We’re family now, there’s no need to keep from telling us this, even though I can understand why you would be scared.” Suga shot a soft glance at the more excitable first year duo, who had forgotten all about the encounter earlier that morning.
“I wasn’t.” Yamaguchi reassured, and Suga gave him a smile.
“See me after practice, okay? I think I have something that could help you.” Suga grinned, and Yamaguchi nodded.
Practice passed in a blur, after that. Tanaka and Noya were riling each other up. Daichi was practicing timed attacks with Tsukishima and Asahi, Kageyama and Suga switching out as setters. Ennoshita, Kinoshita, and Narita were doing some blocking practices, and Hinata and Yamaguchi were working on their serves. Specifically, Hinata was trying to actually serve well, and Yamaguchi was perfecting his floating spike. Time flew by with Hinata’s random jokes and whines and happy cheers when he or Yamaguchi spiked well. Before he knew it, it was time to clean up and head home for the night.
“Tsukishima, mind if I borrow Yamaguchi for tonight?” Suga called to the blond, who gave the freckled boy a questioning look. After being reassured that it was fine, he nodded and left. The third year and the first year made quick work of the gym, and it was soon left in pristine condition.
“You want to impress him, right?” Suga asked, breaking the comfortable silence as they were putting the ball cart away. He didn’t need to ask who ‘he’ was. Suga knew. It seemed he always knew, which was a little terrifying, but no one questioned it. Yamaguchi nodded.
“Here,” Suga said, handing over a slip of paper with an address on it. “I know you can’t always use this gym, so this is my favorite intramural gym. Mention me, and they’ll let you practice.” The third year said with a wink.
“Thank you, Suga!” Yamaguchi exclaimed as his eyes lit up, bowing deeply as the modest man waved him away.
“Don’t thank me, use it!” Suga called to the retreating figures of the two first years. His phone then buzzed.
1-xxx-xxx-xxxx: why do you ask?
Suga smiled.
Me: no particular reason!
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The year went by quickly, for Yamaguchi. They won games, lost games. They went to training camp again, and Tsukishima found his romantic soulmate in the form of the Nekoma captain, Kuroo Tetsurou. Yamaguchi liked him, he was funny, kind, and knew how to push his blond friend in the right direction. However, Tsukishima still spent time with him, and soon, that time was usually spent at the gym that Suga had given them the address to. The first time they visited, it was a little awkward, but then Yamaguchi mentioned Suga’s name, and everybody absolutely lit up. It seemed that his likeable personality had charmed not only the volleyball team, but everyone else he had met as well. They warmed up to Yamaguchi quickly as well, some of them even to Tsukishima.
In any case, the staff allowed the two friends to practice on the weekends at the place, and eventually were known as regulars there. Yamaguchi perfected his float serve, and eventually, he and Tsukishima stopped coming together, as they didn’t want to spend all of their free time together playing volleyball. The blond still stopped in from time to time, but now it was mostly the freckled pinch server who came in. Maybe it was for the friendly atmosphere, maybe it was for all the progress he made, but for whatever reason, Yamaguchi was always drawn back to the place. It was special to him, and he always thanked Suga for it whenever he could.
The whole team eventually found out about who his tattoo represented, and admittedly a few were skeptical at first, but mostly of Oikawa himself rather than the pinch server. However, a sly yet innocent-looking Suga lightly mentioned that this could mean that Yamaguchi could get special volleyball secrets, and that was all it took to get the skeptics (aka, Tanaka and Noya) to get fired up. Yamaguchi tried to point out that Oikawa could do the same thing, but they didn’t hear him. Or perhaps they didn’t care. Either way, it all worked out for the best.
The months passed quickly, and they won in their rematch against Seijoh. He saw the sweat roll down a particular face, his soulmate tattoo bussing and trying to get him to leap over the net. He saw those intimidating brown eyes fall on him. He saw the grimace of loss and acknowledgement of power. Yamaguchi felt a flicker of pride in his stomach. Yes, remember me, his mind seemed to yell.
As expected, however, Oikawa was swept away by his team afterwards, and they didn’t get a chance to speak. The team tried to console the freckled boy, but he waved them off - he expected this, after all. Besides, after such a defeat, he figured it wouldn't exactly be the best time to approach him. What would he even say- 'Hey, I know my team just totally crushed your last chance at nationals and the last person you want to talk to right now is me, but surprise, I'm your soulmate!'- no. He left the tournament that day without talking to to him. He told himself that it was probably for the best. That didn't mean that the feeling of disappointment in the pit of his stomach disappeared.
A few days after, he had returned to his favorite gym, greeting the elderly woman who worked the front desk.
“Tadashi, wonderful to see you again!” Hirami cheered, her wizened features pulling up into a smile that the younger boy happily returned.
“And you, Hirami-san! Anything happen while I was gone?” Yamaguchi asked as she handed him the keys to the gym.
“Actually, yes! A boy around your age has been stopping by, I didn’t catch his name yet. You might share the gym today!” Hirami recounted, and Yamaguchi blinked in surprise - this wasn’t that popular of a practice spot, especially at this time of year. He shrugged, though, dismissing it. It wasn't as if he minded much, anyways.
“Fine with me! Tell him that I’ll leave it unlocked.” Yamaguchi replied with a smile, and with that, he was off into the gym, his own little sanctuary. He forgot all about the possible newcomer as he practiced his jump-float serves, the sweat and adrenaline making his thoughts hazy as about an hour passed. With his hair now grown out, he often had hair ties clinging to his wrist at all times, but now his ponytail was swinging serve after serve. His arm was arcing perfectly as the ball swayed in the air and fell just short of the line. This was his space, he was in the zone.
Then, just as he started to spike, his hand nearing the ball, time seemed to slow down. He heard the door click open as his hands were left to their own devices, because his brain was going a mile a minute.
He saw the familiar chestnut hair, perfectly styled. The warm brown eyes scanning the gym floor. The pale skin was slightly flushed - did he run here? He saw that familiar baby blue on the Seijoh uniform.
Oikawa Tooru had just entered the gym, and Yamaguchi had just spiked the ball right into his soulmate’s face. Oikawa, of course, tried to duck, but it was a perfect float serve. It hit in square in the face, and Yamaguchi paled as he ran over.
“Oh, Pinch-server-chan, from Karasuno! Small world, huh?” Oikawa said with a smile as he sat up, ignoring the shock and pain suddenly striking him. A small portion in the back of Yamaguchi’s mind was screeching about how he had been waiting for this moment, it was his soulmate, don’t screw it up, but mostly he was panicking because holy shit he just hit him in the face.
“I-I’m so sorry, I was working on my serve and, well, it worked, but I didn’t mean to hit you- I’m sorry!” Yamaguchi finished breathlessly, his eyes frantically scanning for any greater damage, but it looked like there was none. No bleeding, no bruising that he could see. He let out a sigh of relief and finally, reality set in. A jolt of electricity ran down his spine as chocolate eyes met coffee brown, recognition sparking between them.
“I knew there was something different about you,” Oikawa whispered reverently, his face breaking out into a huge grin. Everything about him was bright. The shine in his hair, the spark in his eyes, the contrast of his skin against the warm tones of the gym, and he was solely focused on Yamaguchi, who could feel himself growing redder. “What’s your name?”
“Yamaguchi Tadashi.” Yamaguchi murmured quietly, eyes shining with hope and happiness and pure joy. Oikawa found himself basking in it.
Oikawa wasn’t lying when he said he remember the pinch server, of course. His first memories were vague, of a boy with blurred facial features, longer brown hair, and tan skin dotted with freckles. Most of those memories were overridden by their moment of victory, making everything else seem inadequate. Then, they had their rematch. He remembered the bounce in the pinch server’s feet, the innocent demeanor being suddenly overtaken by sheer focus when he stepped onto the court. He remembered how he looked straight at Oikawa as his serve floated in-bounds and smiled beautifully, a clear reminder to not underestimate those on the bench. He remembered that his wrist had pinpricks throughout that whole game; he had written it off as a few too many strong serves.
Oikawa cursed his past self for ignoring what was now obviously a sign that his soulmate was there.
The setter scanned his soulmate, and goddamn, he was even cuter up close. Tanned skin was dotted with darker freckles, eyes a warm chocolate brown. His hair was long and pulled back into a ponytail, which kind of made Oikawa want to drool - that was new. He was shorter, of course, but still rather tall. He looked adorably nervous, his feet shuffling as he absentmindedly picked at his nails, but this was what Oikawa never knew he wanted. What he never knew he wanted, but absolutely needed.
“Oikawa Tooru, soulmate extraordinaire!” Oikawa cheered, throwing on his winning grin. “Come here often, Yamaguchi?”
“Seriously?” Yamaguchi giggled at the cheesy comment, his tense shoulders relaxing. “I come whenever I can, really. It’s like a-” He counted on his fingers, his mouth silently counting. “Fourth home.”
“Fourth?” Oikawa asked, confusion playing on his features.
“Well, I mean, there’s my actual home, there’s Tsukki’s house-” Yamaguchi listed off.
“That blond middle blocker?” Oikawa interrupted curiously, eyes flicking to the other’s green tattoo.
“-That’s him! He’s my platonic soulmate. And then there’s the Karasuno Gym, or just the volleyball team in general, because we’re all kind of a big family, which is basically home, right? And then there’s here!” Yamaguchi finished with a shy smile, apparently noticing that he had been rambling. Oikawa couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’re adorable.” Oikawa explained as he simply looked at his soulmate, drinking it in with pleasure that Yamaguchi then seemed to overheat and was unable to form another coherent sentence. Gracefully, he decided to change the subject. “So, still working on your serves? I could help, as I’m told my serves are monstrous~!” The mischievous glint in his eyes told Yamaguchi just how well his soulmate knew that.
“You will? Wouldn’t that be helping Karasuno, though?” Yamaguchi asked innocently as he tried not to smile. He failed miserably.
“While it may seem like a betrayal to my beloved team, I like to think of it more as a way to not only help my soulmate, but also for you crows to pummel Shiratorizawa into the ground in my stead.” Oikawa preened, giving Yamaguchi a wink. A small (read: large) part of Yamaguchi panicked - was this flirting? Was Oikawa flirting? Probably, it was practically the guy’s job. Was Yamaguchi flirting back? DID YAMAGUCHI KNOW HOW TO FLIRT? The answer to this pertinent question was, he didn’t know.
“Ah, thank you?” Yamaguchi squeaked.
“No problem, Yamaguchi,” Oikawa beamed, emphasizing each syllable in the pinch server’s name. “Shall we get started?”
They smiled at each other.
“Yes.”
EPILOGUE:
“So that’s why you started coming to our gym?” Yamaguchi asked, completely flabbergasted as he sat on his couch with Oikawa. Even though Oikawa was off at university most of the time, he still made time whenever he could to come out and visit Miyagi, and more importantly, his second-year soulmate. It wasn’t too far by train, either, so it wasn’t inconvenient. Besides, they both adored it when he visited. Yamaguchi found that he missed him terribly when he was gone, as if a part of him (a part that commented on passerby’s outfits and had no regrets, given) was empty that he didn’t know he had before. It was strange, though not in a bad way.
“Yeah! Iwa-chan mentioned that a new YMCA had open gyms, but he didn't have the address. He said Refreshing-kun did, though, so he gave it to me a few months ago!" Oikawa explained as his head rested on Yamaguchi’s lap and he smiled contently as familiar hands ran through his brown locks.
Yamaguchi blinked. Wow. So Suga was the mastermind behind all of this, and to a lesser extent, Iwaizumi as well. He didn’t know whether to be mildly horrified at how Suga seemed to know everything, including how he thought Oikawa would need a new gym to practice at once he had graduated and that he would probably scout one out while he was still at Seijoh. He also simultaneously felt like he should call Suga up and thank him profusely, because who knows if he would have crossed paths again with Oikawa for a long time, if not for their meeting at the gym? Something else may have been on his wrist. Or it may have been the same thing, who knows? Fate worked in funny ways.
“But I surely helped you perfect your serving, didn’t I, Tadashi?” Oikawa hummed playfully, his voice oozing with underlying meaning and innuendo. Yamaguchi’s cheeks promptly turned a light pink and he swatted at him while the brunette laughed good-naturedly.
“You got a lot better at receiving, as well.” Yamaguchi huffed back, before his blood turned to ice because he didn’t mean to play along oh my god- Oikawa laughed brightly, clearly noticing his mortification, and pressed a kiss to his forehead.
“If you’d be interested, I think we could schedule in a little practice for that.” Oikawa said smoothly, and Yamaguchi felt like he might die.
Oikawa truly did complete him though, he felt like. He pushed him to try new things, to work hard, and to complete things he never, ever thought that he could do in a million years. He believed in himself a little more when Oikawa was at his side, cheering for him and smiling so brightly. In return, Yamaguchi cared incessantly for Oikawa. He helped the best he could with the little things, like quizzing him for a big test coming up and helping him when his knee was acting up and and making sure he never felt like he was second-place to anyone. They calmed each other down and pulled each other up, smiling and laughing and crying and doing everything in between together, with each other.
“You know,” Yamaguchi started, a small smile on his face. “I think I can give it a try.”