Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warning:
Categories:
Fandom:
Relationships:
Characters:
Additional Tags:
Language:
English
Stats:
Published:
2021-08-21
Updated:
2022-09-01
Words:
4,688
Chapters:
6/?
Comments:
77
Kudos:
416
Bookmarks:
48
Hits:
5,721

Unfitting

Summary:

Tooru stares at Ushijima, for once in his life at a loss for words. Before Tooru can stop him, Ushijima reaches out and touches Tooru’s hand. Immediately, the pain stops. Tooru inhales sharply and instinctively takes a step back.

“Don’t just touch me without asking!” Tooru snaps.

Ushijima looks at Tooru like he’s some kind of bizarre insect. “It hurt.”

That comment is the last straw.

“How can you be my soulmate?! You’re too old!”

Tooru’s skin crawls. He can’t stand the guy! They are going to drive each other mad! Tooru spent years imagining how it would feel like to finally beat Ushijima, and now he’s supposed to come to love and appreciate him? No way. Not in a hundred years.

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

As soon as Tooru gets into the car and starts driving, he calls Iwaizumi. He only remembers what time it is when he hears Iwaizumi’s annoyed “What” from the other end of the line. He woke up an hour earlier than usual.

“Iwa-chan, guess what.”

Iwaizumi groans. “I don’t wanna guess. I’m too tired for your shit.”

Tooru pouts. It’s not the response he was hoping for, but at least Iwaizumi didn’t hang up. “Mean, Iwa-chan. I’ve got exciting news for you and all you do is complain.”

“I’m sure those exciting news can wait until school starts.”

“I’m not coming to school today.”

There is a long pause. Then he hears rustling, which probably means Iwaizumi is sitting up. Tooru grins. Looks like he got Iwaizumi's attention, after all.

“Fine, you got me. What’s going on?”

“My soulbond! It became active!”

“Oh. That’s... great.”

Tooru frowns. “What’s with that tone? Shouldn’t you be happy for me?”

“I am. It’s just... I know how long you’ve waited to meet your soulmate. I don’t want you to get disappointed because the reality doesn’t hold up to your expectations.”

“That won’t happen.”

“Oikawa, let’s be real. You built up your soulmate so much in your mind that even small things will tick you off. Just admit it.”

“That’s not... hold on.” Tooru frowns and looks around. He hadn’t been paying attention to his surroundings. He’d simply been trying to follow the pulling in his chest as best as he could with his car, not looking where that took him. Now, though, he notices something.

“What’s going on?”

“My soulbond is taking me suspiciously close to Shiratorizawa.”

“And that’s a bad sign, because...?”

“You know why!” Tooru snaps. “I don’t want my soulmate to have any kind of relationship with Ushiwaka-chan!”

“That’s what I mean. You have those high standards that no person can possibly meet.”

“Not wanting my soulmate to be friends with Ushiwaka-chan isn’t a high standard! It’s the bare minimum!”

“So if your soulmate likes Ushiwaka, you’re going to reject them?”

Tooru grimaces. Of course, Iwaizumi had to ask a question like that.

“No…”

“Great. It’s good to hear that you can be reasonable.”

“Hey! How would you feel if Akane-chan had been friends with Ushiwaka-chan?”

“Honestly? I wouldn’t have cared all that much. Soulmates may have a life of their own, you know? You don’t have to like the same things and people. You wouldn’t want to date someone who’s basically another version of yourself, right?”

Tooru snorts. “I’m not that self-centered. But... come on. It’s really annoying when someone idolizes Ushiwaka-chan. I can’t stand the idea of my soulmate doing that.”

Iwaizumi sighs. “Who says it has to come to that? Anyway, why don’t you look at it from the bright side? If your soulmate is a student at Shiratorizawa, they probably like volleyball or even play themselves. You’d like that, right?”

“Yeah...” For a moment, Tooru can see it very clearly. What it would be like to play volleyball with his soulmate, being perfectly in tune with them and feeling connected through the sport he loves with all his heart. “That’d be great.”

“Listen, Oikawa. Just don’t expect too much. Don’t be disappointed if not everything looks perfect at first. Genuine affection and attraction only develop over time, so just... wait and see.” Iwaizumi pauses for a moment, probably to give Tooru the chance to process his words. “I need to get ready for school, so I’m gonna hang up now. Don’t call me in half an hour to tell me what a snotty little brat your soulmate is, okay?”

Tooru huffs. Iwaizumi really knows him too well. It’s scary.

“I make no promises,” he responds lightheartedly and ends the call before Iwaizumi can call him an idiot.

Iwa-chan is too pessimistic. My soulmate will be great. I know they will.

Tooru turns the radio on and starts driving a little faster.

Chapter 2

Chapter Text

Tooru isn’t surprised when the soulbond really does lead him to Shiratorizawa. After all, it’s a boarding school, and a lot of teenagers sleep there. Tooru drives around Shiratorizawa once, just to be sure, but his soulbond keeps pulling him towards the school, just as expected.

Tooru parks in front of the school buildings and makes sure his hair looks fine before jumping out of the car.

The soulbond is pushing him forward rather insistently now. It’s starting to hurt, and it gets worse the closer he gets. Tooru quickens his pace and starts jogging.

While making his way across the school grounds, Tooru has the misfortune to spot the last person he wants to see right now.

Of course, Ushijima has to be out running this early in the morning. For a second, Tooru considers taking a small detour so that the guy can’t try to start a conversation with him. However, the pain in his chest is almost unbearable by now, and so he grinds his teeth and starts running faster. Maybe, if he’s fast enough, Ushijima won’t be able to say more than a couple of words before Tooru is out of earshot again.

“Oikawa? What are you doing here?” Tooru is pleased to see that he can detect some puzzlement in Ushijima’s usual stoic expression.

“None of your business!” Tooru responds cheerfully and sprints past him.

Suddenly, something weird happens. One moment his soulbond is pulling him forward, then, less than a second later, it pulls him in the opposite direction. It’s such a sudden and unexpected change that Tooru stumbles and almost loses his footing.

Trying to catch his breath, Tooru wonders what just happened.

Of course, this can realistically only mean one thing, but he refuses to believe he has that much bad luck. Tooru franticly wrecks his brain for another possible explanation. Anything.

Nothing comes to mind.

He hears footsteps behind himself and holds his breath. Then the direction his soulbond is pulling him towards changes again, but more gradually this time. He watches as Ushijima walks around him and comes to a stop right in front of him.

Tooru stares at Ushijima, for once in his life at a loss for words. Before Tooru can stop him, Ushijima reaches out and touches Tooru’s hand. Immediately, the pain stops. Tooru inhales sharply and instinctively takes a step back.

“Don’t just touch me without asking!” Tooru snaps.

 Ushijima looks at Tooru like he’s some kind of bizarre insect. “It hurt.”

That comment is the last straw.

“How can you be my soulmate?! You’re too old!”

Tooru’s skin crawls. He can’t stand the guy! They are going to drive each other mad! Tooru spent years imagining how it would feel like to finally beat Ushijima, and now he’s supposed to come to love and appreciate him? No way. Not in a hundred years.

Ushijima just looks at him for a long moment. He seems to be unaffected by the revelation that they’re soulmates, which pisses Tooru off. It’s not surprising, of course. All Ushijima cares about is volleyball. He probably doesn’t even want a romantic relationship with anyone, soulmate or not.

“We have a polybond,” Ushijima eventually says.

“What?” Tooru says, startled. “How do you know that?”

Ushijima blinks. “Can’t you feel it? The pulling hasn’t stopped. It has just gotten a lot less severe.”

Tooru's eyes widen. Now that Ushijima mentioned it, he can feel the faint pulling in his chest as well. He probably would’ve felt it sooner if he hadn’t been so distracted by what just happened. Tooru shakes his head.

“A polybond,” Tooru says quietly. That makes sense. Your soulbond becomes active when the youngest person turns sixteen. If they didn’t have a polybond, Tooru’s soulbond would have become active over two years ago, when Ushijima turned sixteen.

Tooru takes a deep, calming breath. Yes, the situation sucks, but there is a silver lining. Tooru has a second soulmate, someone he might actually get along with. It’s a cold comfort, but Tooru will take what he can get.

“Great,” Tooru says tiredly. “How about you go pack your things now?”

Ushijima blinks. “Pack my things? Why?”

“What do you mean, why? We have to find the third person in our bond.” Tooru looks at Ushijima for a moment. “You do know how soulbonds work, right? The three of us will have to stay close to each other for at least a couple of days so that the bond can properly establish itself. Even someone like you should know that much.”

Ushijima nods slowly. “Give me thirty minutes.”

Ushijima turns around and jogs towards the nearest building.

Tooru shakes his head. “Meet me at the parking lot in front of the school!”

Once Ushijima is out of sight, Tooru closes his eyes.

What a mess. Looks like Iwa-chan was right to warn me.

Chapter 3

Chapter Text

“Iwa-chan, I think the universe hates me.”

Iwaizumi utters a long sigh. “I knew you’d call to complain. What happened? Is that Goshiki kid your soulmate?”

“Worse.”

“Hm. Is it someone who’s a dead-hard fan of Ushiwaka?”

“Worse.”

“I give up. I don’t know what would be worse in your eyes.”

“It’s Ushiwaka himself! Ushijima Wakatoshi is my soulmate! Apparently, I have a polybond. Right now, I’m sitting in my car, waiting for Ushiwaka to get here with his shit so that we can start looking for them.” Tooru throws his head back and groans. Saying it out loud somehow makes it even worse.

When he doesn’t get a response, Tooru frowns and looks down at his phone. “Iwa-chan, are you still there?”

“I... yeah, I’m still here,” Iwaizumi says slowly. “Sorry, I’m just at a loss for words.”

“Aren’t you supposed to tell me that everything will be alright?” Tooru grumbles.

“Is that what you want to hear? That you, Ushiwaka, and whoever is your other soulmate is will become one big, happy family?”

“No!” Tooru responds instinctively.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

“Iwa-chan, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do!” Tooru whines. “I can’t stand the guy! But I… I can’t just ignore that he’s my soulmate, right?”

Iwaizumi sighs. “I can’t tell you what to do, Oikawa. It’s your decision, not mine. Just try to do what will make you happiest, okay?”

“And how the hell am I supposed to know what will make me happiest?”

“Honestly? I have no idea. I could tell you to listen to your heart or some shit like that, but that won’t actually help you.”

Tooru smiles. Listen to your heart is not a phrase Iwaizumi would ever use. That he mentioned it now - even the way he did - speaks for itself.

“I think…” Tooru sighs and rubs his forehead. Why is this so hard? “I think I will wait until I know who my other soulmate is.”

“Sounds like a plan. I honestly didn’t expect you to have that much foresight.”

“Hey!” Tooru responds, offended. “If you keep insulting me, I’m gonna hang up!”

“I didn’t insult you. It’s just the truth.”

“Iwa-chan!” Tooru whines. “Stop being so mean to me.”

“You called me in the middle of the night, remember? Don’t think I already forgot that.”

“I had a good reason, didn’t I? And I didn’t look at the clock before calling you, okay? It’s not my fault.”

“I swear you have the weirdest logic ever.”

Tooru opens his mouth to respond, just as the passenger door opens. Ushijima leans forward to look inside the car. “I will put my things into your trunk if that’s fine with you.”

Tooru waves his hand. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hurry up, Ushiwaka-chan. I don’t have all day.”

Ushijima nods and pulls back. Tooru hears a sigh coming from his phone. “You know, maybe you should try being a little nicer to Ushiwaka.”

“I’m always nice!” Tooru snaps.

“No, you aren’t,” Iwaizumi responds, and Tooru knows Iwaizumi is rolling his eyes by the sound of his voice alone. “You know that as well as I do. There are two people on this planet that bring out the worst in you, and Ushijima is one of them.”

“Fine, you may be right,” Tooru grudgingly admits. “I’ll try to be civil.”

“You should do that if you want a chance at Ushiwaka and you becoming-”

“Please don’t say it out loud.”

Iwaizumi chuckles. “You make it sound like you already decided.”

“I haven’t. I’m just... Iwa-chan, why does this have to be so hard?”

“Relax. No one expects you to decide what kind of relationship you want to have with your soulmates right now. Akane-chan and I weren’t sure if we wanted to date each other at first, too, remember? Just wait and see how it goes. Or, if you don’t want to do that, you could always ask Ushiwaka what he thinks about all of this.”

Tooru grimaces. He glances to the side when the door opens, and Ushijima sits down next to him.

“Yeah, right,” Tooru drawls. “There’s no way in hell I’ll do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because he doesn’t have any social skills! I’m not even sure he has ever really thought about it before. He’s too focused on,” Tooru glances at Ushijima briefly, “other things.”

“Other things... You mean volleyball.” Iwaizumi sighs. “You really shouldn’t talk about this with me while he’s in earshot. It’s rude, and god knows there are already more than enough things standing between the two of you.”

Tooru pouts. Iwaizumi is right, of course, but he isn’t just going to admit that.

“Whatever. I gotta go now. Bye, Iwa-chan!”

He ends the call and puts his phone away. Then he takes a deep, calming breath.

“Do you want me to drive?” Ushijima asks in his usual, even voice.

Tooru frowns. “Why?”

“You look distressed. It’s not a state of mind one should drive in.”

“I’m not distressed!” Tooru snaps. “And I’m perfectly capable of driving, thank you very much!”

Ushijima looks at him for a long moment. Then he nods slowly. “Okay.”

Tooru rolls his eyes and starts the car.

How the hell am I supposed to survive the next couple of days?

Chapter 4

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

“I should have listened to you,” Ushijima says, thirty minutes into the drive when Tooru was starting to believe that he might get through this without having to talk to Ushijima.

“What?” Tooru says, a bit confused. “What do you mean?”

“You warned me about Karasuno. You said they are a bigger threat than I think. You were right.”

Tooru rolls his eyes. “Obviously. Now you know what it feels like not to make it to Nationals. Sucks, right?”

Ushijima doesn’t respond at first. When Tooru glances at him briefly, he sees him looking out the window thoughtfully. “I’m more upset that I wasn’t able to play against you one last time than I am over us not making it to Nationals.”

Tooru’s heart skips a beat. Ushijima doesn’t lie. He says what he thinks, always.

Tooru didn’t know Ushijima values playing against him this much.

Then he snorts. “I told you, my volleyball career is far from over. I’m sure we’ll play against each other again, eventually.”

Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees that Ushijima turns to look at him.

“What will you do after graduation?”

“None of your business,” Tooru responds cheerfully. “I’ll keep playing volleyball. That’s all you need to know.”

Ushijima keeps looking at him, but Tooru refuses to acknowledge him. “Stop staring at me, Ushiwaka-chan. It’s rude.”

Finally, Ushijima turns his head to the front.

The next few hours go by relatively quietly. Ushijima criticizes his driving style a few times, but apart from that, they don’t talk. The longer they drive, the more restless Tooru becomes. Just how far away does their soulmate live? It’s just his luck that Ushijima lives much closer to him than the soulmate Tooru might actually want to get to know.

Then finally, he can feel the pull steadily getting stronger. Tooru knows they are getting closer and closer towards Tokyo and wonders if the pull will lead them into the city or just through it. Since Tokyo is such an insanely large city, the likelihood that their soulmate lives there is pretty big, of course.

The pull is starting to get painful when Tooru sees Ushijima sitting up straighter. “I know where we are.”

Tooru raises his eyebrows. “You’ve been here before?”

“Yes. The Youth Intensive Training Camp took place somewhere very close from here.”

Tooru grimaces. “I wish you wouldn’t have told me that. I don’t need to know that Tobio-chan is somewhere around here.”

Ushijima frowns. “Who?”

Tooru has to force himself to keep looking at the road, even though he’d like to do nothing more than stare at Ushijima incredulously. “Kageyama Tobio? Karasuno’s starting setter? Kunimi told me he isn’t at the little Training Camp that’s being held at Shiratorizawa, so that must mean he was invited here.” Tooru shakes his head. “The two of you are so alike it’s annoying.”

Tooru notices that his voice sounded a little bitter at the end and bites his lips. He thought he got his jealousy under control, but apparently, it will still rear its ugly head from time to time.

“I know who Kageyama is. I just forgot his given name.” Ushijima pauses for a moment. Then he adds, “I don’t think Kageyama and I are alike at all. If anything, he reminds me of you. He told me he wants to surpass you and become the best setter in the prefecture.”

Tooru narrows his eyes. “The two of you talked about me? Should I feel flattered?”

“If you want to.”

Tooru rolls his eyes. What kind of bullshit answer is that? “Anyway, it doesn’t matter what Tobio-chan said. The way I know him, he probably thought he surpassed me the moment he beat us in the semi-finals.”

“No. He said something similar after the finals.”

“Oh,” Tooru says, blinking. Well, isn’t that interesting?

“We should start looking for a parking place. Our soulmate has to be within walking distance by now.”

“Okay,” Tooru responds.

Less than five minutes later, they step out of the vehicle and start following the pull on foot. After a minute or two, Tooru starts jogging. The pull is getting really painful now, and he can’t wait to get rid of the feeling.

“We’re getting closer to the building where the Youth Intensive Training Camp took place.”

“How about you just call it Youth Camp, like a normal person?” Tooru says through gritted teeth. “And I don’t see how that’s relevant. Unless you think our soulmate was invited there?”

“Yes, I think that’s very likely,” Ushijima raises his arm to point at something. “That’s the building I was talking about. The pull is leading us straight at it.”

Tooru grins and quickens his pace. The thought that his second soulmate most likely plays volleyball as well is exciting. He couldn’t imagine spending a lot of time with someone who doesn’t understand his passion for the sport.

They have almost reached the building when someone steps through the door.

Someone Tooru instantly recognizes.

Tooru stumbles and stops running all at once.

No. No, no, no. This can’t be true. First Ushijima and now this? Tooru can’t possibly have that much bad luck.

“O-Oikawa-san? Ushijima-san?” Kageyama’s voice sounds higher than usual. “What are you doing here?”

Notes:

I know that Kageyama’s sixteenth birthday technically takes place after Youth Camp, but I decided to change that up a bit to make the plot more interesting.

Chapter 5

Chapter Text

Tobio makes sure to keep the pain off his face when he reaches for the door handle. He doesn’t want the first thing his soulmate sees of him to be a grimace, after all. But it’s hard, much harder than he thought it would be. Tobio had heard time and time again how it would feel like when the pull would start. He knew that it would hurt a bit, especially once he got really close to his soulmate. But no one had warned him that it would feel like someone was trying to pull his heart out of his chest.

Tobio clenches his teeth and yanks the door open. He can’t wait to touch his soulmate to get rid of the pain. Maybe they’ll be able to explain why the pull seems to be stronger than it should be.

But when Tobio steps outside, he sees not one person jogging towards him but two. His eyes widen when he recognizes them.

“O-Oikawa-san? Ushijima-san? What are you doing here?”

What are they doing in Tokyo? One of them is probably his soulmate, given the sharp pain in his chest, but why did the other one come along? Tobio thought they didn’t like each other.

Tobio’s eyes flicker back and forth between the two third years. Oikawa stares at him with huge eyes. His face is much paler than Tobio is used to. Ushijima, on the other side, looks pretty unfazed. He blinks a couple of times like he’s mildly surprised. Then he steps forward and brushes his hand against Tobio’s. Immediately, the pain in Tobio’s chest reduces significantly, though it doesn’t go away entirely. Tobio exhales sharply. Does that mean...?

Ushijima steps to the side and looks at Oikawa expectantly, which pretty much answers Tobio’s question. Hesitantly, Tobio glances at his former captain.

Oikawa looks like he just ran into a door. His eyes dart around, looking anywhere but at Tobio. Slowly, his expression shifts into one of disdain and anger. Oikawa sneers and turns around.

“Fuck this.”

Tobio’s heart clenches painfully, and that has nothing to do with the pull in his chest. His hands start to shake as Oikawa takes a step away from Tobio and Ushijima. Wait. Don’t go...

Oikawa doesn’t make it very far. After two steps, Ushijima grabs his upper arm. Slowly, Oikawa turns around, and Tobio flinches when he sees the anger in his brown eyes.

“Let go of me.”

“No,” Ushijima says calmly. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“Excuse me?”

“If you walk away now, if you don’t wait a couple of days to let the soulbond establish itself, all three of us could suffer health consequences.”

Oikawa curls his lips. He looks to the side, maybe to avoid Ushijima’s gaze, and his eyes come to rest on Tobio’s chest. Something in his expression shifts, and Tobio can hear him gulp. With a jolt, Tobio realizes that he’s rubbing his chest, and he hastily drops his hand. He doesn’t want to guilt Oikawa into staying. That doesn’t seem to be a good way to start things off.

“Goddammit,” Oikawa mutters. He pushes past Ushijima without giving him a second glance. Tobio tenses up more and more with every step Oikawa takes towards him. Before Tobio knows it, Oikawa stands right in front of him, and a smell that vaguely reminds Tobio of his Junior High days reaches his nose.

Oikawa keeps his eyes carefully turned away from Tobio’s face as he reaches out and brushes his hand against Tobio’s, just like Ushijima did.

Tobio exhales sharply and closes his eyes as the pain turns into thin air.

“Thank you,” Tobio mutters instinctively.

Oikawa scoffs, and Tobio hears him taking a couple of steps away from him. “I’m getting my things.”

Tobio snaps his eyes back open and stares at Oikawa’s retreating back. He’s... going to come back, right?

Tobio’s eyes flicker towards the bag beside Ushijima’s feet. Why didn’t Oikawa carry his stuff with him the way Ushijima had in the first place?

“Oikawa packed too much stuff to carry it all while running.”

Tobio licks his lips. “Shouldn’t we help him carry, then?”

“No. I think it’s better to leave him alone for now. Don’t worry, he’ll be back. He cares too much about his health to risk driving away.”

Tobio swallows and ignores the hollow feeling in his chest as best as he can. This is not what he expected to happen when he woke up today with the sensation of a faint pulling in his chest.

“Kageyama?” Ushijima says and waits for Tobio to look at him. “Happy birthday.”

Tobio gulps. “Thanks.”

Chapter 6

Notes:

Sorry for the long wait!

Chapter Text

It takes almost half an hour until Oikawa returns. During that time, Tobio opens his mouth more than once to ask how far away they parked. He closes his mouth every time without having said anything, though, not wanting to hear his own fears out of Ushijima’s mouth.

Still, Tobio can’t help but let out a sigh of relief when he finally catches sight of Oikawa, carrying a backpack and two duffel bags. Seeing him like that instantly reminds Tobio of the training camps he went to during his first Junior High year. At the time, he didn’t understand why Oikawa packed so many things.

Well, I still don’t do, actually.

“Let’s go,” Oikawa says gruffly and readjusts the straps of the duffel bags on his shoulders.

Tobio licks his lips. “Do you need help carrying-”

“No. Just show us where I can lay this down. I assume Ushiwaka-chan and I can sleep here for the duration of your training camp?”

Tobio nods. “I asked right after I woke up in the morning. They already gave me a second futon. We’ll have to ask for a third one, but that probably won’t be a problem.”

Oikawa snorts and nods towards the door. “What are we waiting for, then?”

***

Tobio looks at Oikawa from the corner of his eye, waiting for his verdict. The room they will sleep in is nothing special. Tobio doesn’t really care since he doesn’t intend to spend much time in here anyway, but Oikawa might.

“Where are the other guys who were invited to Youth Camp? Do they all have their own room?”

“They do.”

“I didn’t ask you, Ushiwa- What are you doing?”

Tobio turns his head towards Ushijima just in time to see him pulling his shirt over his head.

“What does it look like?” Ushijima opens his bag and pulls out a new shirt.

“What- You-“

Tobio watches as Oikawa’s face turns slightly red. If he were anyone else, Tobio would assume that he’s embarrassed. But that can’t be, right? Oikawa wouldn’t let something as simple as this derail him.

“Their gym is pretty big. I’m sure they will let us practice in a corner of the room.”

“You…” Oikawa shakes his head. “Unbelievable.”

Oikawa grabs his backpack, walks to the bathroom, and pulls the door shut behind himself. When Ushijima reaches for the waistband of his trousers, Tobio rubs the back of his head. He sees boys his age in various stages of undress almost every day. This feels different, though - probably because Ushijima is his soulmate.

“I’m gonna wait outside,” Tobio mutters and walks to the door without waiting for a response. His head feels hot, and he wonders if his face is as red as Oikawa’s.

***

“Who else was invited?” Oikawa asks on their way to the gym. “Anyone I know?”

“Depends. I don’t know who you know, Oikawa-san.”

Oikawa remains silent for a moment. “Fine. Give me the few names you remember, then. Those will probably be the only ones worth mentioning, anyway.”

“Are you that bad at remembering names?” Ushijima asks, his voice as deep and even as always.

Tobio hesitates. He never got the impression that he is worse at keeping names straight than others before. On the other hand, Tobio is aware that many things go over his head.

“Not as far as I know.”

Oikawa shakes his head and repeats his words quietly enough that Tobio can pretend he didn’t hear him.

“Was Kiyoomi-kun invited?”

“You mean Sakusa-san? Yeah, he’s here. He asked about you, actually.”

“Really?”

Is he imagining it or is that curiosity in Ushijima’s voice? Ushijima isn’t exactly very expressive, and Tobio often has a hard time reading people’s emotions.

“Yeah. He wanted to know why Shiratorizawa lost in the finals. When I told him that we stuffed you twice, he seemed surprised.”

“Once,” Oikawa interjects. “You stuffed him once. Chibi-chan doesn’t count.”

Ushijima stops walking and cocks his head. “How do you know how many times I was stuffed? Did you watch our game?”

Oikawa’s eyes dart around, refusing to meet Ushijima’s or Tobio’s. “Maybe. Or maybe someone just told me the highlights. Now, where is this gym?”