Chapter Text
Chikara takes a deep breath. Everything was fine, nothing was wrong, and he had nothing to worry about. They had won their first match! He should be celebrating! He should be very very happy right now, ecstatic even, and probably also another word that expressed extreme happiness. So many happy words.
Instead he's been trying not to scowl as Seijoh plays on the court below him, while he peels his pre-game snack.
Really it wasn’t Seijoh’s fault that they were in the same bracket as Karasuno again, or that Johzenji was also in their bracket. While it was kind of Yahaba’s fault that he had woken Chikara up at four am, yelling unintelligibly about something he then promised to explain later, Chikara was trying not to hold it against him. He was tired now, unable to fall asleep after the call, but he would be kind.
But it definitely didn’t help that Futakuchi was making faces at him from across the gym. Probably trying to remind him that Dateko didn’t have Seijoh or Johzenji in their bracket, Chikara thinks bitterly. That not only did Karasuno have Seijoh and Johzenji, but they also had Kakugawa in their bracket again, and would most likely have to play them next. Futakuchi had been sending him texts about his future tournament matchups since they had been revealed, and Chikara could most definitely hold that against him.
He sighs, it was mean of him to assume that Futakuchi would do something like that just because he was winking and making stupid kissy faces at him. He was probably just over thinking things because he was stressed about their upcoming matches. Futakuchi was probably just being Futakuchi right now, as unfortunate as that was. He made a mental apology as he carefully put his mandarin peel in his lunch bag.
Across the gym Futakuchi winked again and held up his phone, shaking it as Chikara's own phone vibrates. He raises an eyebrow but checks it, finding a message notification from Futakuchi.
Futakuchi (?) from Datekou: Looks like Johzenji’s about to win their match :)
Futakuchi (?) from Datekou: Ya know, Johzenji… and Terushima with his new and improved team that currently holds a vendetta against yours and are determined to beat you into the ground ;)))
Chikara wants his sigh back, fuck Futakuchi.
He shoots Futakuchi a scandalized look, he just winks back, obviously trying not to laugh his ass off. Damn it, Futakuchi knew he was worried about playing Johzenji, especially after Johzenji had beat them in straight sets during a practice match that Chikara tried not to think of too much. This was just rubbing salt in the wound.
He gestures at Futakuchi’s slightly shaking frame to Aone, silently asking him to do something about his menace of a captain. Aone looks at Futakuchi, who was now doubled over and openly giggling, then back toward Chikara and shrugged, going back to watching Seijoh play. Chikara would deny the deep sense of betrayal he feels after that to the end of his days. He didn’t know Aone all that well but really, where was his solidarity when he needed it. Before Chikara could run through all of his interactions with Aone and wonder where he had gone wrong, Tanaka leans over and tries to glimpse at his phone.
“Was that Futakuchi? What’d he send?”
“Nothing!” Chikara replies quickly, voice cracking as he turns his phone off.
He hadn’t told anyone on his team about the concerns he had about playing Johzenji, and he had no plans to let anyone find out now. He’d managed to keep this under wraps from everyone except the stupid captain group chat Daichi had put him in 6 months ago with nothing but a small ‘I’m Sorry’ and ‘You can’t leave it’ as an explanation.
Chikara hadn’t understood why Daichi had been so apologetic until the first day Yahaba and Shirabu were online at the same time.
Still, like hell was anyone else finding out about his concerns. A small voice in his head, that sounded suspiciously like Narita, was scolding him about keeping his concerns bottled up, and the consequences of that. But this was different and Chikara wasn’t bottling it up, he was just conveniently leaving it as a topic of conversation for another time. For example, after they’d all graduated from University and weren’t playing volleyball anymore. So Narita could shut up. Ennoshita knew what he was doing.
He hears Narita sneeze from two seats over, and turns to look at Tanaka to avoid his suspicious gaze, holding his phone close.
“What?” Tanaka asks, trying to lean over and look at the phone, “Just show me what he sent it’s probably funny,” Tanaka’s voice had an odd quality to it, and his smile looked tight.
What was that all about?
Before he can ask why Tanaka was being weird another notification popped up on his phone.
Futakuchi (?) from Datekou: Why’s your baldy so mad lmao
Chikara rolls his eyes and starts responding, not noticing Tanaka leaning over to peak.
Me: Maybe he just hates you enough that even seeing your texts makes him angry
Futakuchi (?) from Datekou: Flattery will get you nowhere
Me: That was absolutely not a compliment
Futakuchi (?) from Datekou: How does he even know I’m the one texting y
Futakuchi (?) from Datekou: HAVE YOU STILL NOT CHANGED MY CONTACT NAME
Chikara couldn’t help but release a snort at that, peaking across the court to see Futakuchi’s angered expression.
Futakuchi (?) from Datekou: Dude, I thought we had something
Futakuchi (?) from Datekou: You’ve truly wounded me this time… Babe…. I’ll never recover… this is the end…
Me: Good
Chikara was too busy laughing at Futakuchi’s affronted expression to bother reading his next message.
Futakuchi (?) from Datekou: BABE
Chikara snorted as Futakuchi’s expression shifted from one of offense to one of sadness and he began attempting to pout at him from across the gym. He was too busy laughing at Futakuchi to notice Tanaka leaning over and reading the message on his phone. By the time Chikara had gotten over Futakuchi’s pouting, Tanaka had already leaned away with an odd expression on his face. Chikara leaned over to point out how funny Futakuchi’s expression was. If there was someone that anyone could laugh at, it was Futakuchi. Chikara ignored the voice in his head that pointed out he also just wants to hear Tanaka laugh.
Except, instead of leaning in like he usually would, Tanaka instead leans further away and looks a little uncomfortable at the close proximity. Chikara turns to look at him, was something wrong? Tanaka had never really seemed to care about people getting into his personal space, if anything, he was usually the one getting in Chikara’s personal space.
“Tanaka, is there something wro-”
“Don’t worry about it Ennoshita!” Tanaka cuts him off quickly, still not quite looking at Chikara.
Chikara’s nose scrunched at the use of his last name. Tanaka had been calling him Chikara since their second year, what was going on?
“Tanaka, what’s wrong-” Chikara was once again interrupted, this time by the sound of the whistle, the game below them picking up again.
Chikara sat back with a huff, he hadn’t been paying too much attention to it, but he knew Tanaka would ignore anything not volleyball related now. Added onto the fact they had another game soon, might as well wait until after to ask about it. Wait and hope it wouldn’t affect their dynamic on the court.
Would Daichi wait?
No. No thinking about Daichi, Kinoshita and Narita had forced that out of him, with their passive aggressive comments and texts, and what Kinoshita defined as “friendly” punches. Ennoshita winced at the thought of them. No comparing himself to Daichi! He just had to have confidence in his decision and not doubt himself. Everything would be fine.
Hopefully.
Chikara focuses on the game as a cheer rises from Wakutani South’s cheering section. It no longer had the entirety of the captain’s family from last year, but still it seemed their volleyball team had grown a bit in popularity. Wakutani had just pulled ahead and the score was now 16-14 for them. Chikara needed to pay attention, they would have to leave soon for their own game but it would be good to see how this game would start. If all went well, Karasuno would be playing one of them later.
After a few deep breaths Chikara was completely focused on the game. He was interested in seeing how Wakutani would do without their own little giant from last year, and with the loss of their third years. He had heard good things about their new ace, and by how annoyed Yahaba was starting to look, it seemed they were true. Wakutani cheered again as their ace scored another point, the ball landing right in front of Kyoutani. Chikara winced as he watched Kyoutani glare at Wakutani’s ace. Yahaba had been texting him basically every day about his developments with Kyoutani, whether in the group chat or individually messaging him. It seemed that Yahaba had been pretty sure that Kyoutani could control himself when it counted, but based on how often Wakutani was targeting him, Chikara wasn’t quite sure if he’d be able to resist responding.
As the game progressed, Kyoutani and Wakutani’s ace developed a back and forth that even Futakuchi seemed invested in. It seemed Seijoh had begun to get into the swing of things, and began scoring point after point, leaving Wakutani stuck at 17. After a particularly nice shut down of Wakutani’s ace by Kyoutani, even Chikara found himself cheering, though he would never admit it. He didn’t play favorites, but it was hard not to cheer for someone you’ve gotten daily updates on for what was probably the past two months.
At some point during the game Johzenji had walked in, with Terushima immediately running to get a seat by Chikara to properly annoy him for everything that had happened, and also to inform him their court would probably be ready soon. And of course, that Johzenji had won. Chikara tries not to think about the upcoming game against them.
Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
Right, if their court would be ready soon he needed to start getting into game mode and make sure everyone was around so they could get straight into warm up. If they even wanted a chance to play Johzenji, then they needed to get past their next opponent first. Focus on the opponent ahead of you.
As he begins to do a headcount he's suddenly startled by half the audience screaming. Chikara turns around to see the ball rolling on Wakutani’s side of the court, their ace’s eyes wide, and the entire Seijoh team attacking Kyoutani. Chikara looks around, trying to find out why everyone had screamed. The score read 20-25 for Seijoh, and the thrill of bagging the first set was obviously riling up the entire team.
“HE DID THE PARALLEL RUN UP THAT BASTARD,” Tanaka yells, words angry, but a smile on his face, and Chikara could understand why. Pulling off the run up and winning the first set? It must’ve been an amazing feeling, especially considering how pushy Wakutani’s new ace had been. Chikara glances down at the court and tries to fight down the smile he feels forming at the fond look Yahaba was giving Kyoutani. It seemed they really had worked things out.
Before Chikara can think of the proper way to tease Yahaba for this, Kyoutani escapes the clutches of his teammates and runs to the edge of the court, drawing the crowd's attention. He cups his hands around his mouth as the cheering sections chants slowly morph from ‘Kentarou’ to ‘Mad Dog’, and lets out a howl that echoes throughout the entire gym.
Chikara feels his eyes widen and makes eye contact with Futakuchi, who looks less shocked and more amused, his eyebrows raised as the howl dies out. Chikara was ready for the ref to yell at Kyoutani for being so loud, or blow the whistle to gain some order again, but instead, to the surprise of the rest of the gym, the Seijoh cheering section responds.
If Chikara had thought Kyoutani had been loud, he was nothing compared to the entire Seijoh cheering section howling in unison, and he feels his mouth drop open with shock. He can see people from around the gym looking over to Seijoh’s court, probably wondering what the fuck just happened. Even Tanaka had stopped his pouting and watched the court as Seijoh continued to celebrate. Chikara was pretty sure he heard Terushima murmur, ‘that was so fucking cool’ and didn’t even have the mind to scold him for it.
Shit, Chikara thinks as he stares at Kyoutani and his literal horde of cheering fans, He’s really settled in.
This tournament was going to be an interesting one.
Across the court even Aone looked surprised by the noise, and Chikara could see one of the Dateko members covering their ears and wincing. Chikara felt bad for them but it seemed everyone else was too busy trying to process what on earth the Aoba Josai cheering section had just done.
The ref looked unphased by this, and Chikara briefly wonders if she had already seen them do this. Seijoh had already begun to calm down, and Wakutani had gotten over the shock of Kyoutani’s parallel run up, looking more annoyed than anything at this point. Their ace’s face had become troubled, and Chikara couldn’t help but feel a little bad for him. He was a second year ace, a title that already held so much pressure, going up against a third year powerhouse like Kyoutani couldn’t have been easy.
Chikara settled back into his seat, the ref had already brought the whistle to her lips so the players could settle properly. He might as well try to watch whatever he could, and since Ukai hadn’t officially announced they were going to go warm up yet, he could watch them finish up this break.
It seemed Kyoutani had other plans.
Instead of going back to his coach like the others had begun to, Kyoutani ran over to Yahaba, who seemed just as confused as everyone watching. Kyoutani then proceeds to throw his arms around Yahaba, pick him up, spin him around, and in what would become the first page of every local newspaper’s sports section for the next two weeks, kisses him.
Chikara felt the world as he knew it end.
It felt like the simplest thing in the world, Kyoutani kissed Yahaba and then the world began to end.
Futakuchi’s mouth falls completely open, Seijoh’s libero makes a sound that Ennoshita wasn’t sure humans were supposed to make, Hinata squeaks, Yamaguchi chokes on his water, Ukai chokes on the snack he had been eating, and even Tsukishima seems shocked by Kyoutani’s boldness. Kageyama is the only member, and maybe the only person watching, who is completely unaffected by this development.
This was Yahaba. The same Yahaba that had tried to hide his pining under paragraph after paragraph of explanations about why Kyoutani was DEFINITELY STILL BAD, but maybe not as bad as he originally thought? Who had texted Chikara every. Single. Day. About Kyoutani for the past two months. Who had lamented time after time about how much he just wanted to hold Kyoutani and tell him every good thing that everyone else missed, and also tackle him into the ground and beat him up for being annoying. Acting like Kyoutani didn’t look at him like he had the ability to tear the world apart and put it back together again. Like Kyoutani hadn’t found a way to take all the fear out of that look and instead pack it full of respect, and excitement, and love.
What Chikara was trying to say was that Yahaba was a mess, and now Chikara has to know Yahaba is a mess with a boyfriend???
Then Terushima breaks the silence,
“I KNEW IT,” he screams, then stands up and points straight at Futakuchi, “YOU OWE ME 2000 YEN!”
This seemed to be the opening of the floodgates, as everyone in the audience immediately started talking and murmuring to each other. Cameras flashing and the cameraman zooming in on Kyoutani, who currently had Yahaba hiding his face in his chest, ears so red that Chikara could see them from the stands.
Futakuchi stands up as well, ignoring Terushima’s yell and points straight at Yahaba.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU! WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE FRIENDS AND YOU DIDN’T EVEN TELL US YOU HAD A BOYFRIEND? YOU B-”
Aone covers his mouth and pulls him back into his seat before he can continue, having the good grace to at least look mildly embarrassed. Futakuchi continues to struggle a bit, then just settles for pointing at Yahaba and making various gestures Chikara didn’t have the patience to decipher.
Still, the cherry on top was his phone vibrating, and Terushima’s phone vibrating, and Futakuchi was across the gym but Chikara had good money on the fact that his phone also vibrated. As Chikara checkes his phone only one thing appeared on the screen, a notification from the captain chat, with a message from Shirabu that just reads:
Unfortunately, Shirabu: Yahaba was first assholes. You all owe me 1500 yen.
Then, because Shirabu was classy,
Unfortunately, Shirabu: Fuck all of you btw.
And if Chikara had to pinpoint a moment he personally started to lose it, it was probably that text message. Terushima groans behind him, probably mourning the loss of the majority of the 2000 he was pulling from Futakuchi. But Chikara just stares at his phone in awe. Shiratorizawa was in a match. Shirabu wasn’t just their captain, but also their setter, Chikara hadn’t even been able to really see their match. Shirabu should have still been playing??? He couldn’t process this.
Later Chikara would blame his future actions on the adrenaline and the fact that all the other captains had been doing it and he’d just gotten excited. Narita would respond to this excuse by asking him if all the other captains were jumping off a cliff would you? Only to scold him when Chikara’s immediate answer was, “Yes.” But Narita wouldn’t be able to stop him this time, because this was when everything starts to connect in Chikara’s mind. Yahaba had called him at four in the morning. Yahaba is, on a good day, unnecessarily violent towards anyone who talks to him before six. Instead, when Yahaba had called, he had sounded happy, something Chikara hadn’t noticed because it had been four in the morning. There was also no way Yahaba had been dating Kyoutani for long. Chikara had gotten his daily Pining text from him at 8 o'clock sharp last night. Even Yahaba wasn't sadistic enough to keep those going if he was already dating Kyoutani. Chikara stares at them, sill basically cuddling on the court, Yahaba had awoken Chikara from his precious sleep, the day of a tournament, for this.
And he hadn’t even told him during the call.
There is a general disclaimer about Chikara, that all who are close to him have a general understanding of, whether from experience or from being told. When he feels very angry, happy, annoyed, or really very much of any emotion, he cannot take responsibility of what his hands do. Chikara’s hands have a checkered past, having landed him in his room, the counseling office, and on one very memorable occasion, mall jail. It is not as big of an issue as it seems, as on most days Chikara does not find himself very notably angry, or happy. Even his teammates have failed to make him overly angry, instead simply bearing witness to the few times that something had pushed Chikara over the edge in front of them.
This was one of those times. Later Chikara will admit this was dramatic, and that really, it wasn’t solely Yahaba’s fault, and that he might have blamed him for things that weren’t necessarily his fault. It was a combination of his lack of sleep, stress from volleyball, and school that really did him in.
But this was now, and the only thing going through Chikara’s mind now was that Yahaba was a bastard who had woken him up at four, had left him alone with Futakuchi and Terushima, put him 1500 yen in debt to Shirabu, and who now had a boyfriend while Chikara was still pathetically pining. Chikara was done with the continuous lack of solidarity today.
Another important note, that Chikara felt should be mentioned if only to justify his thought process, was that there was a reason he’d had a mandarin as his pre-game snack. After a particularly unfortunate day at Seijoh, where they’d almost gotten kicked off campus because Hinata and Kageyama had started a food fight during a break for a practice match; Ukai had banned onigiri and meat buns at practice games and real games. It had been a tragedy they all felt deeply, none more so than Hinata and Kageyama themselves, their monster attitudes only matched by their monster appetites. But it was a necessary evil, and Chikara had found an easy replacement in Mandarins. They lacked the protein, but were light enough not to bother him, and tasty enough to satisfy him.
So, when Chikara finally stands to yell, “YOU WOKE ME UP FOR THIS?” and also, “THEN DIDN’T EVEN TELL ME???”, and perhaps also a few choice insults he will not repeat here, he does not notice when he throws his hands behind him in anger. Nor does he remember about the mandarin he had in his hands when he clenches his fists in anger.
So when Chikara notices that his hand felt really gross, he is brought to his sad reality by the image of his crushed snack. As if to twist the knife, Chikara realizes that he was also oddly dry, the majority of the mandarin guts avoiding him. Instead, he had managed to soak the person sitting behind him.
Coach Ukai.
Chikara blinks at him. Ukai blinks back, frozen in place.
Oh my god, Chikara thinks staring at Ukai, the Seijoh cheering section's yells now the sad soundtrack to his life, They’re going to ban mandarins.
And then he runs.