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They say that two years isn’t much in the scope of things, but Shoyo disagreed. Two years was a lifetime when you are apart from the people you love. Life gets messy. You have to learn to live a life there in that moment even when everything is pulling you home. He was happy here. This was exactly where he wanted to be, but that didn’t make it easier. He had his own dreams to follow and he knew that they loved him no matter what. But that didn’t make the distance easier. When Kei looked like he was going to cry over a difficult assignment and Tobio looked worn out desperately trying to stay awake at the only time they could around their busy schedules. Suddenly it all just came to a halt. Suddenly it all became too much and… it was mutual, sort of.
That’s not to say that things had always been easy before this. In Shoyo’s opinion, the fact that they had ended up together at all was a miracle. He sometimes hates how long it took for them to sync up. The points when his head was filled with pining. He remembers that very first kiss. He could never forget the moment he realized that Kei was his soulmate or the breath after that Tobio was too. Tobio was his king, and Kei was the god of the moon that he prayed to every night. He loved them.
That’s why it hurt so bad to leave them. He always planned on coming back. This wasn’t like Oikawa who adored Argentina and could never imagine moving home. He needed to get stronger before he could stand on the same stage as his king. He wanted to reach the top. He wanted to fly higher. They understood that. Tobio understood that when they shared their first kiss pressed tight up against the gym with Shoyo’s heart racing out of his chest. Tobio had been so painfully shy his fingers soft and hesitant his kisses clumsy. Shoyo could have lived in that moment just as much as his first kiss with Kei.
Kei’s reaction had been devastating and Tobio understood. He had seen the way that Shoyo had looked at Kei and accepted it. He had wanted Kei too. Hinata had almost told him then that they were all soulmates, but he had stumbled. He didn’t want Tobio to feel the rejection he did when Kei walked out on him for his soul mark. He knew that he had caused it with his reaction, but it didn’t make it hurt any less. Shoyo tried to make things easier for Kei. He tried to be as normal as possible, but it didn’t help the way that he lingered in Kei’s space whenever he could. It didn’t help the way their conversations were stilted where they would once be bickering playfully.
That rough start made when they fell together so much better. They were a team bickering over movies and music. They fell in love over late-night study sessions and dates in the park. They took it slow. They took it painfully slow, but Shoyo knew it was worth it. He already knew Kei and Tobio when they finally made the jump from platonic to romantic. He knew that Kei got anxious when he tried to talk about his feelings. He knew how to quiet down and let Kei open up slowly when he was ready to. He knew how Tobio would go silent if problems weren’t confronted head-on. He knew how to needle Tobio into talking even when he doubted himself. They both knew him. They both knew his unyielding ambition sometimes got in the way of him talking about what was on his mind. They knew to lure him into talking over the promise of snacks and a movie night to make sure that he didn’t run himself into the ground.
That didn’t mean that the first kiss wasn’t perfect. He would always remember the sight of Kei’s flush when he pulled back. He would never forget the way that Tobio had smiled at them his cheeks flushed pink and his eyes soft. They had fallen together flawlessly. Shoyo never wanted it to end. He got to watch them all grow in their relationship. He got to see their hearts over late-night talks and early morning walks to school. He got to learn how Kei liked his music soft so that he could hear what Yamaguchi said if he started rambling. He got to see how Kei would always make sure that he said hello to Natsu when he came to the house letting her climb all over him even if he got overwhelmed. He got to learn how Tobio still checked the profiles of his old teammates wishing that he could have been a little more aware of their needs as well as his own. He got to see Tobio fly higher every day.
He didn’t know exactly when the promise of the future had stopped being enough. He had just been so tired of watching them struggle to keep him a part of their life. There was only so many times that he could watch them fall asleep over video call obviously exhausted. That twelve-hour time difference made things difficult when often they were busy during normal working hours. It just became too hard. He needed to live his life. He needed to let them live theirs. It hurt. It hurt so bad, but Shoyo held out hope for a better tomorrow when he finally came back. He could relearn everything about them just like he did the first time. He didn’t plan on both of them running the second he landed.