Chapter Text
“I’m serious!” Kindaichi exclaimed. “Kageyama, the dictator king, was actually working with his team!”
“Are you sure you didn’t just misunderstand things?” you asked. “I mean, this is the setter that you and Kunimi were always complaining about because of his crazy tosses back at Kitagawa Daiichi.”
Kunimi shook his head. “Kageyama has changed since then…You could see it in the way he plays. He’s not trying to win all by himself anymore.”
The three of you sat around a round table in a crowded café, a cup of hot tea in front of you while Kunimi and Kindaichi both had coffee. It had become a regular occurrence for the three of you to meet up every weekend ever since you decided to go to Karasuno and the two had gone to Seijou. Despite no longer seeing them in the classroom every day, your friendship with the pair was still as strong as ever. You texted them daily and tried to see as many of their volleyball matches as possible, as they were both on Seijou’s volleyball team. Right after they had defeated Karasuno in the Inter-High Tournament, Kindaichi had texted you to tell you about the change he had seen in Tobio Kageyama, your former classmate from Kitagawa Daiichi. Hearing him and Kunimi describe Kageyama’s newfound ability to work with his teammates instead of against them, you wished that you had been able to see the match for yourself.
“It probably has to do with that number ten shrimp,” Kindaichi said. “He finally has a spiker who’s fast enough for him.”
You didn’t miss the hint of bitterness in Kindaichi’s voice. You knew that despite the tough front he put up, Kindaichi had been hurt by Kageyama’s constant criticism in middle school for not being able to hit his tosses. He and Kunimi had often ranted to you about how condescending Kageyama had been at practice. It was one of the things that had drove a wedge between you and Kageyama’s friendship during middle school.
“You haven’t seen him being…different now?” Kunimi asked, turning to you. “I mean, you see him around since you go to the same high school right?”
You shook your head. “Not really. He’s not in my class and I’m assuming that he’s with the volleyball club during his free time. I haven’t talked to him since, you know, middle school.”
Kunimi and Kindaichi both nodded, looking down, as silence enveloped the three of you. The two of them had never been close to Kageyama, having only bad experiences with him at volleyball, but they knew that the two of you had been childhood friends. You didn’t even remember how you and Kageyama had met; it was like you’ve always known each other. In elementary school, you had met up each morning to walk to school together and you always waited for him in the halls to walk home after his teacher was done scolding him for dozing off in class. When middle school had started, you didn’t think anything would change. You walked to school together, listening to him talk about how he was going to join the Kitagawa Daiichi volleyball team and how they were going to go to Nationals. You two weren’t ever in the same class in middle school, but you were classmates with Kindaichi and Kunimi, who you quickly befriended. You and Kageyama would still meet up at the school gates when you were finished with student council duties and Kageyama finished with volleyball and walk home together every day.
It had been a comfortable pattern for the two of you for the first two years of middle school. You didn’t see each other much during school- you had Kindaichi, Kunimi, and your other friends from class and knew he preferred to be more of a loner anyways- but you had your walks to and from school to look forward to. On weekends, he often came over to your house as you helped him out with his homework. You would go to his volleyball games to cheer him, Kunimi, and Kindaichi on.
It was in your last year of middle school that things began to change. Kageyama grew quieter on your walks to and from school and only gave one-word answers when you asked him anything. His visits on the weekend grew more infrequent, and Kindaichi and Kunimi began telling you about his behavior at volleyball practice. Their stories, about the condescending, unforgiving King, were jarring against your image of your childhood friend. Sure, Kageyama was straightforward and blunt, but you couldn’t image him yelling and berating his teammates over a sport.
You were proven wrong when you went to watch Kitagawa Daiichi’s last match in middle school. Kunimi and Kindaichi’s seemed even angrier than usual towards Kageyama in the weeks leading up to the match, but you had chalked it up to nerves and stress over having such an important game. The game didn’t seem to be going well for your team, with their spikes being stopped no matter what strategy they tried. You were in the bleachers above the Kitagawa Daiichi side of the court, when you saw the ball go to Kageyama, who tossed it up at a speed that your eyes could hardly follow. It fell to the ground besides Kindaichi, who had jumped, attempting to hit it. Your eyes had widened as you heard Kageyama yelling at Kindaichi, just like Kindaichi said he did during practice, about how he had to jump faster. Kindaichi had retorted that his tosses were “unhittable,” and the next time the ball went to Kageyama, the same thing happened when his toss flew past Kunimi and hit the ground. You could see the frustration and anger on Kindaichi and Kunimi’s faces as this continued to happen, until a few tosses later, nobody on the team even attempted to hit Kageyama’s toss. The entire gym seemed to fall silent as the ball clattered to the ground and the Kitagawa Daiichi team turned their backs on Kageyama, who was quickly benched for the rest of the match.
Kageyama had been silent when you walked to school the next day as you hesitantly tried to comfort him about their team’s loss. He hadn’t said anything as you attempted to string something together about how he had tried his best and would have another shot in high school. It was when you started to say that his team had overreacted from the stress of the match, he turned with the most menacing glare in his eyes that you had ever seen.
“Shut up!” he had shouted. “You have no idea what you’re talking about!”
“I’m sorry, Tobio,” you had whispered, shaken from his sudden outburst. “I just-“
“You think you’re making me feel better?” Kageyama had continued to yell. “Trying your hardest doesn’t matter if it’s not enough to win! It doesn’t matter because we lost! The only people who try to justify their losses with “trying their hardest” are the people who are weak. You’re just as useless as the spikers on my team were.”
He had stormed off after that, leaving you standing alone on the sidewalks, as tears silently dripped down your face. Your hands clenched at your sides as you held in a sob. You weren’t even sure what you were most upset about: him yelling at you or the fact that he called his teammates and your friends, Kindaichi and Kunimi, useless.
You had tried to cover up your swollen eyes in the bathroom once you reached school, but Kunimi and Kindaichi had immediately noticed that something was wrong. In the corner of the classroom, you had quietly recounted what had happened that morning to them, and they assured you that it was Kageyama, not you, who had been in the wrong. They had called Kageyama “a heartless jerk” and “emotionless King,” and for once, you didn’t defend him. From that day on, you left the house half and hour earlier and walked to school alone. Kindaichi and Kunimi would wait for you afterschool, even after their volleyball club stopped meeting, so you could walk home together once you were done with student council duties. You hardly saw Kageyama; he no longer came to study on the weekends and never texted or called you after your fight.
Kindaichi and Kunimi had wanted you to go to Aoba Johsai with them for high school, but you had chosen Karasuno instead, for their top-ranked college preparatory classes in your area. You only knew that Kageyama also went there because you happened to see him at the new student orientation at the beginning of the year, which had been a shock. Ever since middle school, Kageyama had talked about wanting to go to Shiratorizawa, the top powerhouse volleyball school in the prefecture, for high school. You had wondered what he was doing at Karasuno for only a moment before reminding yourself that it didn’t matter. He clearly didn’t care about you. It was a waste of time to be caring about him.
“Oh wow, it's already this late,” Kunimi said, glancing down at his phone. “Sorry guys, it’s time for me to head home. I have an essay for Modern Literature that I need to finish for tomorrow.”
“You haven’t done it either? I honestly have no idea what to write for that,” Kindaichi said. “Honestly, I have no idea how you manage to take all college-prep classes, go to cram school, and be student council president. I can barely finish my homework before it’s due.”
“That’s probably because you spend all your time playing volleyball,” you teased. “But if you need me to take a look at it tonight, just shoot me a text.”
Kindaichi nodded, as the three of you stood up to leave. “Thanks. You’re the best.”
“Someone has to help you two pass high school.”
“Don’t worry, if volleyball ever becomes a college-prep subject, we’ll be sure to return the favor,” Kunimi said.
The three of you parted ways after promising to meet up again the next weekend and you started your walk home. You had some work that you wanted to get a head start on too but hanging out with Kindaichi and Kunimi was good for your soul. While you loved your Karasuno friends, Kindaichi and Kunimi reminded you of all the good times you had in middle school. When you were with them, it was almost like you went back in time. You could pretend that nothing had changed, that the three of you were still classmates, and though you’d never admit it to anyone, that you and Kageyama had never fought and were still friends.